2018 11 06 Another brown falls to the copper spinnerDull cool overcast weather with rain due around midday saw me heading to a small tannin water this morning for a spin session. Over the past three days we had just on 15 mms of rain, most of which soaked into the ground, the water level did rise a little bit which was enough to turn the trout on. I didn't walk down stream as far as I usually do because I wanted to end the spin session further upstream than where I normally finish fishing on other trips.

2018 11 17 Ready for releaseStorms were forecast to hit around midday do I headed over to the Mersey River for a quick spin session before it hit. Started of with the #1 Aglia furia and picked up a very tiny brown trout on the very first cast, it was that small I didn't bother to photographed it. The less these little trout are handle the better their survival rate is. From there I decided to head downstream for some three hundred meters and fish my way back upstream. As I made my way over a very rocky old back water I spotted a few cormorants fly over head which wasn't a good sign, then when I arrived to where I was about to start fishing two more of them took off from the edge of the river.

2018 10 22 Best trout of the day caught in the creekIt's been a week since my last spin session so today I thought I would give the Meander River another chance of giving up a few trout. The weather when I left was quite reasonable with N/NWesterly breeze at around 15 kph and there was quite a bit of cloud cover too which is how I like it. We had reasonable few showers of rain a few days ago so if the river doesn't give up any fish I new I could always fish Western Creek. I was at the river edge by 9:50 am and it was at the ideal wading height and running very clear, my lure of choice was the Aglia Furia.

As I entered the river I spooked a medium size brown which gave me some confidence there may finally be a few trout around today. It took me thirty five minutes before I had my first solid hit but the fish missed taking the spinner. I fished on upstream for at well over four hundred through some beautiful looking trout water without having a single follow. So far the spin session has been a real low for me with having just the one hit and miss over an hour in the river. I had made my mind up to fish two more stretches of river before heading back to the car going to Western Creek. I felt I had to try something different with the lures so I changed the larger #1 Furia for a small gold #00 Aglia spinner, one that I had placed a black fury sticker on the spinner blade. This is when the spin session turned around for the better, the following stretch of river gave up four medium size browns in nine casts.

I don't know what the odds are but just over two years ago I lost a small Atomic shad40 lure in the Meander River when for some reason the line parted & the lure kept going and lobbed in the middle of the medium flowing river. It was a slow sinking lure & I did go and have a look for it all to no avail, it had more than likely disappeared between the rocks on the river bottom. A week later I was back in the river and while fishing the same stretch of water and decided I'd have another look for the little ghost gill brown lure. I roughly stood in the same area from where I had cast the lure a week earlier and sort of had an idea of where the lure had landed. I then had a guess of where in may have drifted to as it slowly sank. Good thing was that the sun was out this time where as the day I lost it it was a dull overcast day. Any way I headed out to where I thought it may have drifted to.

2018 10 15 5 Best trout of the dayAnother day that is forecast for fine weather with a E/NE winds that will pick up as the day goes on so I had a slightly earlier start on the river today. It was 9:25 am when I first stepped into the Mersey River to wet a Mepps spinner and maybe, just maybe get into a few trout. The conditions were perfect as was the river level, though it wasn't as clear as what I thought it would have been. Still good enough to fish, see the lure & even fish in it and that's all that mattered. This trip I started off using a Mepps #1 Aglia TW Streamer gold blade lure just for something different, hopefully it will be the lure that will do the job today in picking up a few trout. I have used it here before and caught a small brown on it, that day the fishing was very tough going so I had to make a change of lure. Today I started out using it in a headwater where a back water entered the river & never had a single touch or follow from a fish. From there I moved into a large back water and fished my way upstream for close on fifty meters, all I could manage was a few follows from non aggressive trout.

2018 10 13 The second trout takenAfter checking the BOM river heights I saw that the Meander River had dropped 50mms since my last disastrous trip there with just the one trout being caught. I thought with it being lower plus the air and water temp on the rise it was worth another visit. My only worry was the East/North/East winds that were forecast for most of the week, not a good wind direction for fishing. It's okay if it's just a very light breeze but once it picks up one may as well head for home. Today's weather conditions were ideal with it being a dull cool to mild overcast day & the lightest of an Easterly breeze. Being so overcast I didn't hit the river until around 10:00 am and commenced casting the Mepps Aglia Furia around in the clear cool flowing water. It was quite nice to finally be fishing the river at the perfect wading height for a change..

2018 10 03 The only trout for the sessionSeeing as the Meander River level had dropped to 62 cms on the BOM river levels chart I thought it was worth heading there to see if the trout are out and about. The previous two trips here when the river was running at 77 cms to 80 cms weren't all that flash with just one brown being caught on the first trip and four on the second. Today I'm fishing a different stretch of river, so I'm hoping for a few trout to be around seeing as the day is warm and the water temp should be around 10-11 degrees which is 6-7 degrees better to what it was.. No sooner had I arrived when the wind picked up and started blowing a gale, this wasn't forecast for later in the afternoon (3:00pm) not at 10:00 am.

2018 10 01 Mepps Aglia Furia did its jobIt's been a week since my last trip to a river due to crappy weather & high river levels & I was over due for a spin session in a river. Today was one of our better days with mainly clear blue skies and a West - Nth Westerly breeze blowing, so it was good enough to go & wet a Mepps spinner. Firstly I went & checked out a small river near home only to find that there had been a lot of cattle in the river. Walked along it for around a kilometre without spotting a single trout, so I headed back to the car to try another river. So I headed on over to the Mersey River to find it was still running a little high and for some reason or another it wasn't all that clear either.

2018 09 14 Mepps Aglia tiger fluro small brownWith the Mersey, Meander & Leven rivers still running very high and a day without rain plus a temperature of 15 degrees had me heading off to the tannin water for a spin session after a nine day lay off. Until the larger rivers drop to a safe wading level I have no choice but to fish the little tannin water again. There was only one problem today and that was the wind, it was gusting at 50/60 kph from the North West so it wasn't going to be all that great for spin fishing. When I arrived I found the stream was running much higher than my last trip but still good enough to hop in and try and catch a trout or two. Like the past couple of river trips I started with the Mepps #0 Aglia tiger fluoro, it was on the forth cast when I picked up my first little wild brown trout in small flat water under some overhanging tea trees.

2018 09 03 The only trout of the sessionWith the Meander River level dropping to 73 cms in the Meander area I decided to head over there for a spin session. Even at 73 cms it's still a little on the high side and until it drops to 65 cms the water is still quite unsafe to wade in several areas along the river. Any way after arriving and then having a forty minute walk to the river I was finally in it flicking a little Mepps #00 gold aglia around in the river. The water temp here was sitting on six degrees which is still on the cold side for trout, hopefully things will turn around over the following weeks ahead. It only took ten minutes before I had a follow from a small brown before it made a dash at the spinner, it had one go at the gold aglia and missed taking it then darted off.

2018 08 13 Trout number 5 6596I headed over to the Leven River only to find it was like the rivers closer to home, running to high & fast to fish so I went and checked out a small stream that flows into the Leven. I wasn't sure if it was worthwhile getting the wading gear on to give it a go or not. After standing there for at least ten minutes looking the stream in two minds should I or shouldn't I give it a go I finally decided to get the wading gear on. A twenty minute walk though down through some paddocks and thick bush I was in the river just on 2:15 PM.

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