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2014 - February Testimonials

Cole Remington – South Lake, Big Hook Camps, Ontario , Canada

Lure: Musky Killer

Fish Caught: Pike, Northern

Using an old, beat-up, Musky Killer I caught a 39" northern pike breaking my old record (27"). Thank you for the time and effort put into your lures.

Good fishing,
Cole Remington

Adrian Webb – Meander River, Meander. Tasmania Australia

Lure: Black Fury Ultra Lites

Fish Caught: Trout, Brown

MUCH TOUGHER FISHING TODAY IN THE MEANDER RIVER. 11-2-14

Clear skies,warm conditions and a North Easterly breeze wasn't the ideal conditions for fishing today that's for sure. But I went any way. Left home around 1.30 pm and headed off to the Meander River in the hope that the wind may drop by the time I arrived there at 2.20 pm. Well it hadn't, it was still there but not enough to make casting the little Mepps spinners a problem and that's what counted most of all. Nothing worse than trying to cast a light weight lure in gusty conditions. I thought I would try a new area today, one that I have been meaning to try for a couple of seasons now. By the time I walked to the area that I was going to fish the wind had dropped quite a bit but was still from the Nth East which was a pain in the butt.
The first section of river looked pretty good too, it was a nice long stretch of medium flowing water and it really did look fishy even with the sun full on it. I decided to try a different little Mepps spinner today, and so it was on with a black bladed #00 (1.5gm) Aglia Mouche Noire with a red tag attached to the trebles. Within two casts I was straight into a nice solid brown that stayed on for about fifteen seconds before tossing the lure. Still this was a good sign as it was a real aggressive attack from this fish and I was hoping that there may be a lot more like this in the river today. I moved on another ten meters or so and then in three casts I had hooked another two fish, but they too tossed the spinner.
I'm now thinking it's going to be one of those days, aggressive fish that hit hard and fast but are only lipped and don't stay on. Well the same thing happened again in the next section of fast water where I hooked another two browns with the same result. I am now really starting to get a little ticked off by this and so it was time for a change of spinner. It wasn't that there was any thing wrong with the Aglia Noire at all, it was only because the trout weren't taking it right into the mouth and staying hooked. When this keeps happening then one just has to try another spinner and see if it can turn things around in my favour.
On with the ever faithful #00 Black Fury (black blade) that I used on my trip here last Friday. This worked first cast as I was onto a nice medium (620gm) brown, and it stayed on and was soon in the net. Once in the net it tossed the lure too and so I did have a bit of luck on my side this time. I did take a photo of it while I was playing it out, and that's the only one I took as I completely forgot to take one of it in the net before releasing it. Ahead of me now was a very long stretch of rugged rocky fast water that I knew was going to be pretty tough going. This stretch would have to be one of the toughest stretches of any river that I have fished for quite some time, in fact I would say it was going to be the toughest for sure. Tough it was too! Even with the spiked felt soled boots it was still hard keeping my footing here, and to make matters worse I didn't even get a follow or site a fish for close on 500 metres.
I now had approx two hundred meters of this fast water left in the hope I could find a way out further upstream on the right hand side. I couldn't exit the river from either side of it as one side was just full on heavy scrub and the other was a three meter high river bank, so I just had to press on for the next two hundred meters regardless. I was totally buggered and it was as hot as hell as the wind had dropped right off and I was fishing in full sun, which didn't make it any easier.. One good thing that came out of the last thirty meters of this fast water, was it did give up five nice solid browns from six hook ups. These were all good fish of around 500 to 600 gms and these were in great condition.
At last I could see a way out of the river and it was on the right hand side, meaning that I could walk back to the car with out having to cross back over the river. It was now 6.45 pm and I had approx a 40 minute walk back to the car and then head for home. It had been a pretty testing day today, but in saying that it was still a good one as I did catch and released six nice browns and lost just as many too, plus it was an area that I finally got to fish for the first time. Also got to take some photos of a new area I hadn't been too before. It may be a while before I do again too seeing how tough it was on the old body. Still I now know what the area is like and it does hold some good solid browns and so it ill be worth having another spin session later on in the season, around end of March I would think.
cheers
Adrian (meppstas)

Adrian Webb – Meander River, Meander. Tasmania Australia

Lure: Black Fury Ultra Lites

Fish Caught: Trout, Brown - Trout, Rainbow

PB BROWN IN A TOP SESSION ON THE MEANDER RIVER. 7-2-13

With a Nth Easterly wind this morning I wasn't even thinking of going fishing today until around 1.00pm when it died off. It was cloudy and now even a little humid and so it was on with the fishing clothes and off to the Meander River. Once there the sun had broken through, but there was also a reasonable amount of cloud around as well still making it pretty good for a spin session. The river was medium to low in height and running clear making me stick with the small Mepps black bladed Black Fury.
Today I was going to be working the fast water and nothing else as that's where the trout will be holding in these conditions for sure. The first section that fished didn't give up a fish, but the next section did. It was only a small (240 gm) brown, but it was a start and that's what counts. The next section was a deep run of fast water that tapered off at the lower end of it before it then ran off much faster. I flicked the little black fury to the opposite bank and on the second turn of the reel the lure what hit hard and fast from a massive brown. Now I wasn't expecting a fish of this size as the majority of trout have been averaging around the 300 gms and smaller this season, but this one looked ten times that size.
This brown then made a run straight into the fast water below once I hooked it, and I thought the 4 lb line will not hold this fish in this run of fast water. Then it turned and started heading back upstream turning the odds in my favour which was a relief for now. Any way after battling this fish for around three minutes (seemed like 30 minutes) and still not knowing if the line was going to hold on until I could slip the net under this beautiful brown, it tired and was soon in the net.
Wow!! what a start to the afternoon session this was. I have seen and had a few hit and misses from from large trout here from time to time, but never this size. After a few quick photos and then it was back in the water with this well conditioned female brown. It took several minutes working her in the water before I was satisfied to let her go on her way. She slowly moved off into the deeper run of this long section of fast water and looked okay. This brown went 2.9 kgs ( probably around 6-1/4 lbs) which is a PB for me in a river here in the Northern rivers of Tassie as my previous PB was 5-1/4 lb Brown taken in the Mersey River around 10 years ago. My best in the Meander was 1.3kgs. I was over the moon now and didn't care if I even caught another fish today, but I wasn't calling it a day as there's a lot more fast water ahead of me still to be worked.
The next couple of sections gave up five more medium sized browns and a very small Redfin Perch, plus hooking and losing three other browns. This is the first Redfin that I have caught in this area since Huntsman Dam was completed. I have caught them in the lower Meander River but not this far up in the fast water. I had now been in the river for close on and hour and a half and was reasonably happy with having caught and released the seven browns. I still had a lot of fast water to go though and was looking forward to increasing my catch a little (or a lot) more. I did just that as over the next three sections of the river I did pick up another six browns with the best one going 560gms and a few others that went 540gms, and also hooking and losing another four fish. So the river was fishing well and the fish were really aggressive to go with it which was great.
On to the next piece of fast water and I flicked the much battered and worse for wear black fury across the river and quack it was smashed by another big brown. Now this fish just screamed off downstream and was peeling of line quicker that I could move with it. With this area being so rocky it was impossible to keep up with this fish and it just kept on going with the flow. All I could do was keep the pressure on, but not to much as I didn't want a break off. I now only had half a spool of line left on this little Okuma reel (it only holds 110mtr x 4lb) and was starting to get a little worried what the out come is going to be. I just could not control this fish at all in this flow and after a couple of minutes of battling this big fish it was gone. It didn't bust me off as I thought it had at first, the spinner had come away from the fish as it must have been lipped. I was a little relieved in one way but also disappointed in another as I would have loved to have battled this one to the end. I reckon this fish was not as big as the other that I had caught and I reckon it would have been close to 2kgs plus.

Over the next two fast water runs I managed another brown (530gms) and a nice solid (620gm) rainbow that gave up a great battle before coming to the net. This fish I had to keep as it had engulfed the Black Fury and the gills were damaged. There was still a lot more fast water ahead of me that I would loved to have kept on working, but the body was starting to get a little too sore and so it was not worth pushing it over the limit and making it any worse for wear. There's always another day to come back and fish the area, plus it was now 6.30pm and it had been a very good session too. Fourteen browns and a nice rainbow was a pretty rewarding afternoons fishing that I was pretty happy with. The best thing was that the trout were in the bigger size range than most trips so far this season which was a good sign.
Cheers
Adrian (meppstas)

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