Joseph Schroeder – Private Pond, Wisconsin, Wisconsin
Fish Caught: Trout, Rainbow
The #0 Black Fury with pink dots, is by far the best spinner for stocked trout I have ever used, one fish after another.
Adrian Webb – Sheffield, Tasmania. Australia
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown
'' My Best Days Trout Fishing This Season.'' 14-9-15
Another nice warm sunny day with a change forecast for later on tonight I was off to the Dasher River again to fish from where I finished yesterday when I finished the day with 10 browns.
I didn't start early, it was 9.45 am when I hit the river and within two casts I had my first brown on the little black bladed #00 Black Fury. A couple more flicks of the spinner into the same stretch of water only resulted in one more hit and miss. The next few runs didn't give up a single fish, yet it was really good looking trout water too. A few casts into a longer and deeper run and I was finally onto another brown which tossed the spinner after two leaps from the river. This was certainly a poorer start to the day than yesterday that's for sure.
The rest of the river I was going to fish was now in full sun and I'm hoping the blade blade will do the trick in these conditions like it did yesterday. I had several follows but they wouldn't take it so I changed to a copper #00 Black Fury. Well this worked because on the first cast I was onto a small brown, two cast later and another brown took the spinner. So the change of spinner seemed to have worked for now which was good to see.
As I worked my way upstream the trout shut down again and started to follow the spinner once again. The wind had picked up from the North as well which may have had an effect on them too. It was back to the black blade once again to see if this would get them back on the attack once more. It did as over the next 100 meters I hooked five browns and caught and released four of them. Long wide shallow water runs in full sun are ahead of me now for at least another 500 meters, I thought I would head back to the car and try another area that has quite a lot of cover along both sides of the river. I was pretty happy how I finished up here with seven browns caught and released.
By the time I had driven a couple of kilometers to the next area plus a 15 minute walk to the river the Northerly wind had really picked up, this was going to have an effect on fishing and casting the little black fury spinner.
Finally I was back in the Dasher River and commenced working my way upstream. The wind wasn't so bad once I was in the river because the it was protected by the trees and shrubs along it. The first section I didn't have see a fish but in the next small run I picked up a nice medium sized brown.
I moved onto the next stretch of water that was some 50 meters in length and around 300mms deep with a nice medium flow running down it. A run this long could be holding any where up to three or four browns at least, well it didn't today as it just gave up the one small brown which was disappointing. That's the thing with trout fishing, you come across runs and stretches of river that you reckon should be holding a few fish and the end result is just the one fish or at worst a big fat zero. On other trips here this stretch of water has given up three trout most times, but not today. Any way I was soon making my way back upstream working every bit of water that I thought would be holding trout. Most of them did too, by the time I had come to where I was ending my session I had caught and released another nine browns from eleven hook ups and several hit and misses.
It was 2.45pm when I finished up today in what turned out to be my best day's trout fishing this season. With 18 well conditioned browns caught and released for the day, it was a great day on the Dasher River with only four or five others being hooked and lost. This takes my season total to 54 since the 9th August when I had my first spin session on a river for the season.
cheers
Adrian (meppstas)
Adrian Webb – Sheffield, Tasmania. Australia
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown
'' Dasher River Starting To Fire Up.'' 13-9-15
Given that we had a beautiful day here with above average temperatures today I headed on over to the Dasher River just five minutes down the road for a short spin session before the V8 Supercars came on the television. I was in the river by 10.00am after a brief 15 minute walk through the paddocks. I started the session using a small gold Aglia spinner and had the first fish take the lure on the third cast. Two casts later in the same section of river I had my second wild brown trout on the spinner, it was soon on the river bank and then released. This was a good start to the day and just how I like them to start. I moved onto the next section of river and managed two hit and misses and a follow from another brown.
With the sun full on the river for the next couple of hundred meters that I was going to fish I decided to change to a #00 (1.5gm) black bladed Black Fury so it wouldn't reflect too much light in the water. This worked a treat for the next hour as I finished up having eleven more hits for eight browns caught and released before calling it a day just after 11.45am. I had only covered some 400 meters of river for a total of 15 hits for 11 hook ups and 10 browns caught and released in what was a pretty good session, and a short one at that.
They weren't big fish and never are in this great little river, the best one going 410gms. The average weight overall was around 360gms and there's nothing wrong with that either. So tomorrow I'm heading back there to start fishing again from where I finished today, I'm hoping that they will be just as aggressive.
cheers Adrian (meppstas)
Adrian Webb – Dasher River, Sheffield. Tasmania Australia
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown
GOOD FINISH TO THE TROUT SEASON.'' 3-5-15
After having 22mms of rain yesterday which was something I've been wanting for weeks, it couldn't have come at a better time. With the closure of the brown trout season today it lifted the little Dasher River by a couple of inches and put some much needed flow & life back into it. All I need now is that it brings the trout on the attack which I'm pretty sure it will. The river was a nice dark tannin colour, this meant a gold blade black fury was the lure of choice this afternoon.
The first one hundred meters it was very quiet without a sign of a fish, not even a follow which had me a little worried. This stretch of river that gave up nothing normally gives up a couple of browns. This had me thinking was I at the right area today, should I have started off in one of my other haunts of the Dasher River. Well I continued on and then I spotted a bow wave heading away from me from a brown that I had spooked in the shallows. This immediately lifted the confidence once seeing that bow wave I can tell you. The trout are here.
The next short section of river I noticed a brown sipping from the surface so I flicked the little Mepps upstream past where I spotted the rising fish. Within three winds of the reel I was onto a nice little river brown. Two leaps from the river saw it toss the little Black Fury much to my disgust, but at least I had a take which was a start. That's the one good thing about fishing these small rivers and streams the fish on the rise in them will more often than not take the spinner. Not like when fishing the large rivers when they won't even look at a lure. Onto the next run of water and it was a long shallow run in which I had three hook ups for two browns caught and released.
This went on over the next couple of stretches catching a brown here and there and having several hit and misses on the way upstream. It was looking like I could be in for a top afternoon the way it was going. Then it happened!! I was onto a nice solid brown and then the return spring in the bail arm of the reel gave up the ghost and failed. I couldn't keep any tension on the fish and it tossed the spinner. Not only that I was close on three quarters of a kilometer from the car where I did at least have a spare reel in the boot. So what was looking like a very good afternoon came to a sudden halt and I was on my way back to the car for a change of reels. Up until the reel packed up I had managed 17 hits for 13 hookups and 8 browns caught and released.
Once back at the car and a change of reel I decided to move on to another area a couple of kilometres up the road. This was on another private property that I have access to and has some pretty good runs on it as well. I have at least a two or more kilometres of river I can fish if need be here. This area started off in the same way as the previous area I fished earlier, nothing for the first one hundred meters before I had my first fish in hand. It was a small (290gm) well conditioned river brown with some very bright red spots down each side of it. The browns in these small tannin rivers are certainly beautifully coloured fish. As I worked my way over the next kilometre I did catch another 7 browns from 21 hits and 11 hook ups which finished my season on a good note. It was now 5.00pm and I'd had enough for the afternoon. The best brown for the day went 430gms with several others just reaching the 400 gm mark as well. These were all well conditioned fish too. The 16 browns caught and released today brought my season total to 485 which was an improvement on last season.
cheers
Adrian (meppstas)
Adrian Webb – Dasher River, Sheffield. Tasmania Australia
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown
' DASHER RIVER FIRES UP TODAY.'' 27-3-15
Another 17mms of rain yesterday had me heading off to the Dasher River again this afternoon for another spin session. I thought it may be on the rise, but once there it was still the same height as my previous trip. Today I'm fishing another long stretch of river on private property thanks to a land owner that I've known for many years now. The only difference to the river was the water colour. Today it was much darker, just like a strong cup of black tea. In saying that, I could still see the river bottom in most sections.
Today's session was over a one kilometre stretch of river which has a lot of shallow runs coupled with a few deeper (400mms) medium flowing sections. I started the session off using the copper #00 black fury spinner today, it's not a real bright lure but it is one that works well in this little river. The first section I fished was a short 400mms deep run and I had a hit and miss on the first cast and retrieve. The second cast to the top of it resulted in a small (270gm) brown taking the lure. This was a typical Dasher River brown, bright golden colour with bright red spots. The next cast upstream the back fury was taken again, this fish was bigger (340gm) than the last one. Great start to the session with two trout taken in the first stretch of river.
The wind had really picked up now which was making casting a little difficult with the little 1.5gm spinner as it meant I now had to adjust my casting to the wind gusts. Wait for it to drop then quickly get a cast in before it gusts up again. It's not just the wind that becomes a problem, it's the leaves and little twigs etc the come with it as they get blown off the surrounding bush. Often the lure will pick up a small twig or leaf on the retrieve which results in not catching a fish. It's days like this that I don't really mind, it's just another challenge for me to get through, plus it does hone ones fishing skills. The next couple of runs were very shallow and only gave a up a couple of hit and misses. Still, the trout are here and in an aggressive mood and that's the main thing.
Over the next three hundred or so meters I had caught and released ten more browns and lost three others. After catching the first of ten browns I lost three in a row which made for a change of spinner. The one I took of had been used for quite some time now and the trebles were pretty well worn down from continually honing them to keep them sharp. It was replaced with a brand new copper black fury, that spinner caught the next nine browns with the best fish going 440gms. The wind was predicted to get stronger as the day went on, and it did. It had reached gale force just as the BOM forecast. I fished on for another one hundred and fifty meters and caught and released another six nice river browns a lost one other, plus having several hit and misses. With the wind being like it was I called it a day. It wasn't worth fishing on any further, it was now near impossible to cast the little spinner upstream with the wind coming face on at around 40kph. With eighteen browns caught and released it turned out to be a great session in tough conditions. It has helped my tally reach 383 trout for the season. The little Mepps black fury did it's job once again.
cheers
Adrian (meppstas)
Adrian Webb – Dasher River, Sheffield. Tasmania Australia
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown
'' QUITE THE OPPOSITE RESULT TODAY ON THE DASHER RIVER.''
15-10-14
After yesterdays disappointing results in having ten hookups for only the four trout landed I was determined to turn the results around today. So late this afternoon I headed over to the Dasher River and thought I would give it a go and see what happens. Well after a 35 minute walk to the river I was ready to hit the water with a little Mepps #00 copper Black Fury. The river was a tannin colour and just the right height with a reasonable flow of water. I was busy looking to see where I would start fishing that I didn't notice the big Tiger snake that was some five feet away from me until it moved.
Boy, that wasn't something I was ready for today that's for sure, but it that time of year and so from now on I'll definitely be on the lookout for them. This is the first time that I've come across one in all my years of fishing the Dasher River. I'm always on the look out for them on the other rivers that I fish because I've come across several of them on those rivers. So with that out of the way I started my session and completely wiped the snake from my mind. It wasn't until I had fished around one hundred and fifty meters before I had my first Dasher brown on. This was a nice 340gm fish that was beautifully coloured too, a typical red spotted Dasher River brown.
I managed another four medium sized browns over the next two stretches of water before having a couple of quite sections that only gave up one hit and miss. Then it all turned around and over the next four hundred meters of river I had a great run by hooking fifteen browns and caught and released ten of them. These were a real mix of sizes too, from 190gm browns up to 340gms and they were all well conditioned fish. I had turned the tables on yesterdays results and so it was time to call it a day. Fifteen browns caught and released from twenty hookups all taken on the Mepps #00 copper Black Fury, I was much happier with that result for sure.
Cheers
Adrian (meppstas)
Adrian Webb – Dasher River, Sheffield. Tasmania Australia
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown
'' GREAT SPIN SESSION AFTER A 10 DAY BREAK.'' 19-9-14
Well after a ten day break since my last spin session at the Elizabeth River (Lake Leake) it was time to get out of the house and have a spin session once again. It was a fairly windy day here in Sheffield but at least there was no sign of rain about. I headed off to Kimberley to check out the Dasher River next to the Bridle Track Road and is was running at a medium height and a very dark tannin colour. It was a little too high for wading there, so I headed on to a private property that I'm allowed access to the Dasher River. After a short walk through a few paddocks I was finally at the river, and it was the perfect height for wading which was a relief. The dark tea coloured water really looked the goods today and it wasn't long before I was in the river to start off the session.
I was using one of my older Okuma Epixor 15a reels today as I haven't used it so far this season and I thought it needed a bit of a workout. Even though it's around 7 years old and has done a lot of work, it's still a great little reel to use. My choice of spinner to start with was a small #00 gold blade Aglia which has a slightly larger blade than the black fury that I normally use. The first stretch of river that I started to work was a beauty as it gave up three browns in the first 40 meters which was just the start I was hoping for. Now I'm thinking, is it going to stay like this or is it going to turn into a fizzer from here on like it has on the last few trips here.
The next two sections of river gave up another four small browns as well as hooking and losing another two after that. Yes, all is going to plan and I felt that I was right on my game today too. There were no poor casts so far, given the very windy conditions. Every thing was going just great. The only disappointment was losing the last two fish that I had hooked. So it was a change of lure, on with the #00 Copper Black Fury. It wasn't long before this little spinner had a fish on and then another and another. This went on for the next five sections of river, I was on fire.
I had now caught and released 14 browns in one and a half hours of fishing. I decided that I would fish another two sections of river before calling an end to the session. Well the I managed to have four more hook ups and landed three of the four fish hooked.
I now decided to end the session after having 20 hook ups for 17 browns caught and released in what turned out to be a great spin session after a ten day break. I was pretty happy with how the day turned out overall especially given the conditions that weren't that easy to fish in. And I was right on my game too, because I did not have one poor cast for the whole session.
cheers
Adrian (meppstas)
Adrian Webb – Dasher River, Sheffield. Tasmania Australia
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown
'' GREAT FINISH TO THE 2013-14 TROUT SEASON.'' 27-4-14
What a great day it was for the last day of the 2013-14 Trout Season with clear skies and hardly a breath of wind. Certainly glad it was the reverse of yesterdays gale force winds and freezing conditions and 9 degrees. I decided to head on back to the Dasher River for the last day as it fished fairly well two days ago and had a reasonable amount of water flow to it.
I headed to a stretch of the Dasher that I haven't fished for two seasons because of very low water levels and the influx of cormorants on it. By going here I can fish up to three kilometres of river if I wish to do so, plus it has some very good runs along it too. I arrived there around 10.30 am and walked for close on ¾ of a kilometre downstream to where I had to battle through the black berry bushes to reach the river. This area had certainly changed from my last trips here that's for sure. Black berry bushes are really spreading along many of rivers in the bush now days and are really out of control. I can't believe that nothing is being done to try and remove or poison them off by landowners, councils and the state government.
Finally I was in the river and working a nice shallow run and instantly had a hook up on the little Mepps black fury gold. Well it didn't last long as I lost it at the rivers edge as I tried to slide it onto the river bank. I decided not to take the landing net again today being a small river most times it's just as easy to bring the fish to the river bank. Works most of the time especially when they are well hooked. I wasn't too fussed about losing that trout as it was a good having a hook up so early in the session. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come! Well it was, as the next small couple of runs I did manage two more hook ups but they both tossed the spinner. Now that's three losses in a row and this was bringing back memories of the last day of the 2012-13 season when I went hope with a big fat ''Donut'' after a four hour session in the Mersey River at Merseylea.
Now this was a brand new spinner that I had on and so I couldn't blame the lure that's for sure, but I wasn't feeling confident with it. I really hate breaking new spinners in and even more so on the last day of the season. I pulled the lure box out of my vest and went through the other gold black fury's that I had in it and found a well used one. Changed over to that spinner straight away and put the new one back in the box. I will break it in properly at the start of next season . I had now covered a couple of hundred meters of river for just the three hook ups and knowing it's all going to turn around soon as it normally does in this great little river..
Well it did turn around, over the next few hundred meters with a variety of fast and medium flowing stretches of river I had caught and released eight browns from nine hook ups. The majority of these browns were well above the normal size for this little river too with the best fish going 530gms. The change of lure even though it was identical to the new one that I replaced seemed to do the trick. The further I worked my way up the river the better the fishing became as I caught another eleven browns from fourteen hook ups making it a '' Great Finish To The 2013-14 Trout Season.'' After fishing just on a kilometre of river I finished up catching and releasing nineteen solid above average browns from twenty six hook ups. This took my season tally to 397 trout in 65 trips for the 2013-14 season which was 27 more than my previous seasons total in 75 trips.
I will over the next few days go through all of my reports and write up on how each river fared and how many brown and rainbows were taken from those rivers that I fished and put it all together into one full season report. The Mepps Black Fury's, Aglias, & Thunder Bugs excelled once again throughout the trout season as they always do.
cheers
Adrian (meppstas)
Adrian Webb – Dasher River, Sheffield. Tasmania Australia
Fish Caught: Trout, Brown
'' DASHER RIVER BETTER SINCE THE RAIN.'' 25-4-14
I thought I would give the Dasher River a spin session this afternoon before the weather sets in again late this afternoon. I checked it out the other day after we had 25mms of rain and it was running much higher and a little on the dirty side and I decided to give it a couple of days to settle.
Today it was the perfect height and had a nice dark tannin colour making it ideal for spinning.
I intended on fishing around three quarters of a kilometre of the Dasher River today in what was cool and moderately calm conditions.
The first fifty meters was a little quiet with just two hit and misses, but I didn't mind that too much, at least the trout were there and interested in the little Mepps black fury gold once again. I knew it would only be a matter of time before I hooked and landed one, and I was spot on. The next two sections of river gave up two nice browns that were beautifully coloured too. The red spots on the smaller (280gm) brown really stood out on it. The other brown was also a nice solid (420gm) fish that hit hard and fast in a very shallow run of the Dasher.
Then it all went quiet once I had passed under the second bridge as all I could manage was three hits for the one (370gm) brown over the next one hundred and fifty metres. This area that I was now fishing above the bridge is normally better than those runs below it. I was now wondering if I should have started off fishing from further downstream and working my way back up. Too late now I'm staying put and continuing on, plus the Mepps #00 black fury gold was doing a great job as always.
It all worked out reasonably well over the next few hundred meters as I did have another nine hits for eight hookups and five browns caught and released. The best brown tipped the scales at 520gms which is a very good size fish for this little river. The others were all around 360 – 380 gm fish and were all very solid browns too. As I approached the next section just around a bend in the river I noticed the water was starting to get a little dirty and it was then I noticed around a dozen cattle in the river. Well that put an end to the session as it was not worth fishing on now once they have hit the river that's for sure. It didn't matter that much as I was only going to fish on for another hundred meters any way, so I finished a little earlier than expected.
I was happy with catching eight browns (all released) for the time I was in the Dasher River and it was good to see that the Dasher River had picked up since the latest dose of rain we had. Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty wild from what I heard on the radio, so maybe I'll give it another go from further downstream on Sunday after the weather has moderated. We'll wait and see??
Cheers
Adrian (meppstas)
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Work weed beds, submerged timber, rip-rap, undercut banks... any cover. Mepps quality throughout.
