2013 - March Testimonials
Adrian Webb – Mersey River, Merseylea. Tasmania Australia
Lure: Aglia Ultra Lites
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown - Trout, Rainbow
'' BRIGHT AND WINDY CONDITIONS, BUT STILL MANAGED A FEW '' 20-3-13
After spending a few days on the East Coast and having a spin session in the Upper Scamander River
without even spotting a fish over a kilometer of working the river, it was back to Sheffield a day earlier than originally planned. The wife and I left Scamander around 8.30 am and headed for home and once home the car unpacked, then it was a bit of a rest, some lunch and off to the Mersey River.
When I left Sheffield it was quite overcast but once I reached Merseylea it was clear skies and a gusty Northerly breeze. The river was still low and clear and so I knew it was going to be like the last trip here and that was a tough session, but still landed a few on that trip. So I was feeling confident that even with today's tougher conditions I was still in with a chance of getting a few. Using the same little #00 Mepps Black Aglia I picked up a small brown on the third cast in a fast water section, so this was a great start to the afternoon stint on the river. This fish was no bigger than the small ones from last week and that was the only disappointment to the start, but a fish is a fish what ever size it may be. Next cast I had another hook up and this too was another small brown that tossed the lure as quick as it hit it. Given that there are a lot of small fish around stands good for the future of the Mersey River, as it shows that there has been some good spawning seasons in previous years. Fished on for another 60 meters without siting a fish, but I knew there was still some good water ahead of me.
Came up to the fast water section that runs under the willows on one side of the river, and this was the area that held a few fish last trip here. It was on the second cast in and under a overhanging willow that a nice sized brown hit the spinner hard and then made a run for it. With many snags in this area that was where he headed but I manged to turn him away from them before this solid brown decided to head off with the flow. Downstream we both went, over a long shallow set of riffles and into the next pool where he decided to make a few leaps for freedom. He didn't succeed though as I could see the treble was securely set into his jaw and I new then it was only a matter of time that he would soon be in the landing net. And he was! This brown was no monster size fish, but it did give it's all to escape and fought like every river fish does. After a quick weigh of the fish (while still in the net) and a couple of photos he was soon released for another day. He went 725 gms in total after deducting the weight of the net and so this was a nice size brown and he was sitting in around 4 inches of fast water.
Fished another couple of fast waters and managed to pick up three more browns and another small rainbow from seven hits. The best brown went 340gms and the rest were just tiddlers. I did have two browns that had a dip at the spinner in the willow fast water further upstream, but I ran out of water before they could actually hit the spinner. Some of these willow covered sections hold several large fish, but it is near impossible to flick the spinner in far enough to get them to smash it. The two trout that did have a close look at the spinner were around the 1.5 kg to 2 kg mark and I think I would have had one hell of a battle on my hands had any one of these fish taken the # 00 Aglia and the 4 lb line would surely have been put to the test, and so would have I.
So give me a North West river any day and next time I go East it will be with the salt water gear.
River: Mersey Browns: 4 ( 725gms all released ) Rainbows: 1 (released )
Cheers Adrian
Adrian Webb – Meander River, Montana. Tasmania Australia
Lure: Black Fury Ultra Lites
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown - Trout, Rainbow
'' PLENTY OF WATER IN MEANDER, BUT VERY FEW FISH '' 26-2-13
Thought that the Meander River might have been worth a fish after good rainfalls over the past week and so that's where I headed to this morning. The morning was quite cool and overcast and that suited me just fine, but by the time I had reached the Meander River on Longridge Road the sun was starting to break through. Oh well, so be I thought been there before so put up with it!
The river had risen around 8 to 10 inches I would reckon and was running a little high and fast for my liking, but I'm here now so may as well get into it and have a go. So I kept the same # 00 Copper Black Fury on that I used in the Mersey yesterday as the river was a little milky (clouded) and on the first cast into a small eddy next to the pylon under Barrett's Bridge it was fish on. Took me by surprise as this was the last thing I expected, but I wasn't going to complain as this is how I like things to start. It was a nice plump little Rainbow that made several attempts to throw the Mepps with a few leaps out of the water, but to no avail. This rainbow went 340gms and was beautifully coloured, and so a quick photo and it was released for another day hopefully..
As I moved under the bridge there was another small eddy just ahead of the pylon, so flicked the Black Fury into it and bang another fish was on. What a start this was, two fish in two casts doesn't get any better than that. This fish was a small Brown that only went 270 gms and it too was quickly unhooked and released. Waded up another 6 meters or so and picked up another small Brown (250 gms) that was holding in a small piece of slack water next to the willows. Kept on working my way upstream working the edges of the river that had several areas that I thought should be holding trout, but it didn't happen. Well not until an hour after catching that second brown anyway, when I finally picked up my third brown (260 gms) for the morning. I had finished the stretch of water that I intended to fish and now it was time to move on to the next area around 5 kms further upstream.
On arriving at the next section of river that I wanted to fish I new it was going to be difficult to try and fish the river as it was just running too hard and fast. Still I did get in and struggle my way from one side of the river to the other trying to bag a fish or two from some of the eddies that were fish-able.
But after an hour of battling against the strong flow and very fast water it was time to call it off. So from what started off in a rush soon died off as quick as it started. Still four fish, even though they were small was better than even I expected when I arrived at the Meander today.
Called into Western Creek on the way home to see how it had fared after the rains and it was looking very good. Didn't fish it but went for a wade in it as it was reasonably clear and I did spot several browns darting about, and there were a few surface feeding on grasshoppers than had managed to hop in the wrong direction. So any fly fishers out there, you may want to go and have a crack at them, they are not big fish, but they are river fish and will still put up one hell of a battle on light gear. There is always the chance of picking up a decent brown in here as well as I did early in the season when I picked up a 985 gm brown. You'll never know unless you give it a go, do you !
River: Meander Browns: 3 (all released) Rainbows: 1 (released)
Cheers Adrian
Adrian Webb – Mersey River, Weegena. Tasmania Australia
Lure: Black Fury Ultra Lites
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown - Trout, Rainbow
'' MERSEY STARTING TO GIVE UP A FEW '' 27-3-13
What a great morning it was here in Sheffield this morning, not a breath of wind and a nice mild temperature to go with it. Time to hit the Mersey River once again, this time it was at Weegena. The river here was the perfect height and a light tannin colour, not like it was further down at Merseylea a couple of days ago. Still it doesn't have the very dark tannin waters from the Dasher and Minnow River running into it up here either. Lent on the bridge rail for a short time and watched a few trout rising from time to time in a few sections of the river, had no idea of what they were sucking off the surface.
I waded out to the centre of the river and started to work a section of water on the opposite bank that had a nice medium flow and a small calm strip right next to the river bank. Began flicking the # 00 Gold Black Fury into that area and with a slow retrieve and a light twitch of the rod, plus letting the spinner drift with the flow at the same time. Worked this strip for a couple of minutes before a nice medium Rainbow (295 gms) took the lure and after a few leaps and a couple of runs it was in the net.
Moved on up to another run of medium flow and noticed a fish just sticking it's nose out of the water surface feeding at the at the tail end of this long section of water. Casting the spinner up past this fish I then worked it back with the flow and lifting the rod tip and then lowering it on the retrieve hooked into a nice plump little Brown ( 280 gms) which was promptly unhook and released. Decided to change to a # 00 Copper Black Fury as it was much brighter now and this colour works well in these conditions.
There is still quite a lot of water weed in the river and this was a bit of a pain on the odd occasion, but at least the green cotton like algae had completely gone from the river. There were still a few fish on the rise further upstream, so I slowly worked my way up the river and only managed one hit and miss.
Finally I came to the next section of fast water and worked it in the same way as I normally do I hooked into a bigger Rainbow that gave me a bit of trouble as it took itself into the weeded section of the river. This is where the drop fly can be a problem as it hooked into a clump of weed and I couldn't do a thing about it. I could still feel this fish pulling on the line and staying deep, so I made my way towards it and retrieving line at the same time until I managed to grab the weed clump a free the drop fly. Then it wasn't long after that the rainbow was in the net and this fish went 345 gms. It wasn't too long before I then picked up a nice brown ( 430 gms) within a couple of minutes after the rainbow. This brown had the marks of a cormorant attack on both sides of I too.
The sun was now much higher now and it was starting to warm up so I decided to fish for another hour and then call it a day. It was a fair hours fishing too as I managed to pick up another two browns and one more rainbow in that time as well as a couple of hook ups which I lost. So I was reasonably happy with my session on the Mersey today and I kept two browns (430 & 420 gms) and one rainbow (345gm)that are now in my brine mix to be smoked in the morning.
River: Mersey Browns: 4 ( 2 kept ) Rainbows: 3 ( 1 kept )
Cheers Adrian
Joshua Murrow – North East Kansas, Kansas
Lure: Comet Mino
Fish Caught: Bass, Largemouth - Bass, Smallmouth - Bass, Striped - Bass, White - Bluegill (Bream, Brim) - Crappie (Black) - Crappie (White) - Trout, Rainbow - Walleye
To sum up this spinner anything that will feed on shad or minnows will hit a Mepps Comet Mino.
Joshua Murrow – North East Kansas, Kansas
Lure: Syclops
Fish Caught: Bass, Largemouth - Bass, Smallmouth - Bass, White - Crappie (Black) - Crappie (White) - Trout, Rainbow - Walleye
I have fished the Syclops for so long I don't remember using any other spoon. The Syclops can be casted, jigged or trolled. It is deadly throgh the ice or casting for bass. The #00 is excelent for crappie and trout and the #1 and #2 is promising for bass, walleye and other larger fish. I dont think you can fish this spoon wrong, just put it in the water and pull them out. Silver, gold and the black-and-white are good colors. The colored spoons are good with single hooks with a Mister Twister Grub.
Joshua Murrow – North East Kansas, Kansas
Lure: Black Fury
Fish Caught: Bass, Largemouth - Bass, Smallmouth - Bass, White - Bluegill (Bream, Brim) - Crappie (Black) - Crappie (White) - Trout, Rainbow - Walleye
The Aglia might be my spinner during the day, but, when it comes to low light evenings or overcast days where there is little sunlight, I go to the Black Fury. Yellow and florescent red are my faves. Just throw it and reel it in. It catches anything. Thanks, Mepps, you are my number one lure.
Adrian Webb – Mersey River, Merseylea. Tasmania Australia
Lure: Aglia Ultra Lites
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown - Trout, Rainbow
'' SMALL AND MEDIUM TROUT AT MERSEYLEA'' 15-3-13
Shot off to Merseylea late this afternoon for a spin in mainly overcast conditions and light winds, hoping to finally get a few fish and break my dry spell. Arrived around 5.00 pm and found the river to be low and very clear and it was clear of the green cotton like algae that I experienced at Weegena a while back. The river bottom was still covered in a brown slime and there was a lot of water weeds in
it, but this wasn't going to effect me today at all. Why you may ask?? Well I finally got my act together and purchased a pair of breathable waders (Reddington) and a pair of wading boots (Korkers) that came with interchangeable soles. One set of rubber and a set of felt soles. What a difference this set up made from the old reinforced Horne's heavy waist waders, it was just so much easier wading and walking.
Anyway back to the fishing! Started off below the bridge on Native Plains Rd and started working my way upstream using a Black Aglia Mouche spinner and after several casts I could only manage one light hit and miss. Fished on for another 50 or 60 mtrs and did not sight a fish at all, not even a follow. Looks like it's going to be one of those days again I thought to myself, and so it was time for a change of spinner. So it was on with a Gold Black Fury this time and after working the river from one side to the other for the next 100 mtrs the result was still the same. Not a follow or a nudge from a fish at all.
Well to cut a long story short, I tried March Brown and Stonefly Bug spinners, Copper and Black blade Black Fury spinners and all I could manage was one hit and miss in 200 mtrs of river. Decided to go back to the #00 Black Aglia Mouche once again as the sky was now completely covered in heavy cloud. Came across a small section of fast water that was flowing under some overhanging willows, so I thought I would start to flick the spinner into it without (hopefully) not snagging up in the willows.
It was a matter of casting both forehand and backhand into this tight piece of water and the first cast was spot on. No sooner had the spinner hit the water it was fish on! At last I have finally hooked into a nice solid brown, not a big fish but a nice fish that went 340 gms that was quickly unhooked and released for another day.
The next three casts into this small fast water I managed 3 more hits but just couldn't hook them. Still it was great to finally have a few fish having a crack at the spinner for a change. Thought it was time to give the trebles a bit of a sharpen with my small sharpening stone and it was then I noticed a hook missing from the treble. On with a replacement Aglia Mouche and then another cast back into the same area I had another fish on once again. This one was a very small brown of around 180 gms. I had now come to the end of this small fast water section in the willows, but did see another run on the opposite side of the river. Headed to that area and picked up another two small browns and one really small rainbow trout, these three fish would not have weighed any more than 100gms each if that. It was now getting very dark so I decided to have a couple more casts before heading back to the ''Trout Stalker 2'' and I was lucky enough to catch and release one more well conditioned brown that went 410 gms. So what started out to be a slow session turned around to be a bit of fun in the end.
Adrian Webb – Mersey River, Kimberley. Tasmania Australia
Lure: Thunder Bug
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown - Trout, Rainbow
HOT&HUMID,PERFECT CONDITIONS,OR WERE THEY ? '' 19-2-13
At last, woke up to the sound of much needed rain and very humid conditions, some thing that I have been waiting for quite some time. After a nice bacon,eggs, mushrooms and grilled tomato breakfast that the local bakery put on for me this morning for my Birthday, then it was off to the Mersey River at Kimberley for a spin fishing session.
When I arrived it was a matter of waiting for around ten minutes while a thunder storm passed over and the rain eased off to a light drizzle. By the time I had put my waders on and set off the drizzle was gone and then the humidity really increased as the sun decided to poke it head through the clouds. This wasn't what I wanted at all, as it was supposed to stay overcast. After a 100 mtr walk to the river the clouds had covered the sun and it was back to perfect conditions for fishing once again. Started of with a Mepps # 00March Brown Bug spinner that had worked well on the Meander River last week, and I couldn't see why it would not work here either. After covering the first section of river all I could manage was a couple of follows from some small browns. This was the same over the next couple of hundred meters only difference was that I couldn't even get a follow, so it was going to be a tough day from my reckoning. Is it going to be one of those days I thought to myself, I hope not!
There was not a breathe of wind here and the long slow stretches of river were like glass with only a few rippled circles on them from small fish jumping from time to time. Seeing fish jumping is not what I wanted as when they're doing that they normally won't take a spinner. Hell it was hot on the water, and the perspiration from my forehead was causing the polaroids to mist up making it like I was fishing in thick fog. This was not how the plan was supposed to be going at all!! Decided to bypass the slower sections of river and just hit the fast water sections of the Mersey. Trouble was this area I came to didn't have that many fast water sections to it, so I only was limited to a few sections of river. Well that will just have to do as I wasn't walking back to the ''Trout Stalker 2'' and then driving some 10 kms to another area to fish as I was already hot and a little ticked off. So I'll just have to stay here and put up with it and get on with the job in hand and that's ''catch some fish.'' I'd be happy just having a hit and miss for now.
On my way to a small fast run I decided to change my spinner, and it was too be a # 00 Black Stonefly Bug this time and it worked a treat too. This small run wasn't very wide so I could work it from the river bank in which I did. Casting across the river and into a small calm piece of water on the opposite bank that had some cover from tea trees I picked up a nice fat little brown that tipped the scales at 275 gms. A quick photo and then it was released, and boy it was good to finally get a hook up when it was looking like being a day of zero's.
The next fast water was one that I have always picked up a couple of rainbows or at least a brown so I was pretty confident of adding to my tally there. After covering every part of this water all I could manage was two hit and misses, not what I was expecting at all. So it was on to the next section of fast water and this proved to be much better as I did pick up a nice plump rainbow (310 gms released) and hooked and lost three browns. So this run did prove worth while, and not before time too. The next run of fast water was around 600 � 700 mtrs further upstream and I was too hot and bothered to go all the way up there to give it a spin, so decided to make my way back to the ''Trout Stalker 2'' some 1.5 kms away. Halfway back the sun broke through and it was a wise decision in the end as well, probably the smartest one that I had made all day. The Mersey River is still very slippery and this really makes it tough going most times, and it does take it's toll on the body after a few hours in it. Or is it just me ??
River: Mersey.. Browns: 1 (275 gm released) Rainbows: 1 (310 gms released)
** Both fish caught and released were taken on a '' Mepps Thunder Bug Spinner '' **
Cheers Adrian
Joshua Murrow – North East Kansas, Kansas
Lure: Timber Doodle
Fish Caught: Bass, Largemouth
The Timber Doodle has ben around for over twenty years for one reason. It simpaly catches fish. Throw it in the weeds, trees logs or fish it in slop. You can't go wrong. Fish it like a bass jig hoping it off the bottom and it's dynomite. Thanks again Mepps for years of pleasure.
Joshua Murrow – Kansas
Lure: Aglia & Dressed Aglia
Fish Caught: Bass, Largemouth - Bass, Smallmouth - Bass, White - Bluegill (Bream, Brim) - Crappie (Black) - Crappie (White) - Sunfish (shellcracker) - Trout, Rainbow
What does the Aglia "not" catch? I have caught everything from bluegill, crappie, bass and even a few rainbow trout for Mepps awards. The Aglia plain catches everything that swims.
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