Tough stretch of Meander River, but a few browns 29/1/2013
I fished on of the toughest stretches of the Meander River this afternoon from 2.45pm to 6.15pm in mainly overcast conditions and low, clear water. This stretch of river that I fished is around 1.5 kms in length and always gives up a few fish, but it's tough going and you earn every fish that one catches. It's full of every size rock and boulder that can trip you up at any time if your mind's not on the job. Take time and make sure you have good footing under you before taking the next step forward. It varies from water depth below the knees to waist deep in many sections in fast and slow sections of it and one slip and could be a few bruises or a wet backside. This stretch of river has many fast water areas along it which I love to fish especially at this time of year and it does give up some nice medium browns that usually average around 360 gms.
I started off with the ever reliable Mepps Aglia Mouche (black) that I have had set up on the rod for the last few trips since retiring the other Aglia and once again it produced the goods. When fishing this area I flick the little spinner into every bit of river as you'll be surprised were the trout lay in fast water.
Many people would bypass some of the water that I flick a spinner into and that's one of the reasons why they don't have a good catch rate. I have and did today catch 13 browns from 17 hook ups in a three and a half hour session in this river as well as many hit and misses. When I had caught eleven browns I thought I would get to a dozen and then call it a day, and then when I caught number twelve I decided to go for thirteen. Well trying to get number thirteen took me another 45 minutes in the end. After several hit and misses I finally had one hooked, and boy was I glad when this fish stayed on the spinner.
I was a much worse for wear after going for that last fish that's for sure. In all it was still a great time on the water today and there will be many more (hopefully) before the season ends that's for sure. The best fish went 480 gms today with the smallest being 270 gms, all fish were released for another day.
River: Meander Browns: 13 (all released)
Cheers Adrian Webb