Spinning

[Steve Walker]

I most be so 'old school' that I can't imagine wanting to catch coarse fish when there are Brown Trout to be had.

 

In the winter?

[Emma two]

In the winter?

 

No, not in winter, here no one river fishes after the end of October. to do so would be to admit to be fishing out of season, one could insist 'Eel fishing' under the cover of a non migratory fish license, but it woul fool no one and be a kind of madness anyway.

 

Despite living in Germany and winter fishing for coarse fish there, including ice hole in Berlin at 20 below, I still feel all out of kilter with a rod in my hand in winter, apart from a few forays (usually fruitless) for Pike. We always had plenty of other stuff to do outside during that season, shooting and working dos/ferrets.

[Newt]

I set great confidence in, in line bladed spinners (Mepp, Fox) for river trout spining and for stillwater predators too.

Show us the ones which you suggest.

None that I am selling on eBay at the moment (and I like the Mepps too but they are prone to snag if there is any cover nearby).

 

Based on this topic asking about spinners specifically and for those less prone to having a love affair with a limb (or not costing too much if they do)

 

Road Runner

 

Any of a variety of smaller standard (non-inline) spinner baits

[Andy_1984]

dont forget to try some weird looking places on the water as andy macfarlane will confirm "did you catch that in there!" said Andy with a bewildered look on his face.

 

imagine a rock formation that looks like a half moon. it was at most 6 inch deep by 1ft wide by 2ft length surounded by loads of other rocks.

 

no way would fish be in there right ? surprisingly it caught me a really healthy 7-8 inch broonie

 

i have to disagree with the person who said 8lb line. 4lb line for the win. play it right and it wont snap

[Andy Macfarlane]

I make my own spinners, mainly because it's cheaper, I can make them to my own specifications and colours and it means that I can be far more adventurous with my casting. When you think that a Size 1 Mepps Aglia Decoree in gold with red spots (THE BEST brownie lure EVER designed by mortals) costs about £2.50 a time, you tend to be fairly conservative about where you cast that spinner, so as good as it is, it'll never catch as many quality brownies as my own wonderful spinners, even if I do lose more of my own in doing so.

Successful spinning for brownies should be carried out sometime in Autumn, preferably at the beginning of torrential downpour I reckon. A light shower is no good. It must be hammering vertical and it should be warm enough for T-shirts and shorts. Wading in boots or trainers will allow you to get from one rocky pool to another, far more quickly. Waders are no use because the intention is to hit as many fishable pools as possible. Travel light and if something doesn't fit in a rucksack, it's not coming along because it's just going to slow you down. Oh yes, forget trout fishing in anything more than pairs and try, if you can, to make spinning a sole pursuit. I reckon I'd catch nearly as many trout as two people fishing over the same stretch of river. Less is definitely more with trout fishing.

I normally use public transport because I'm going to cover miles of river so it's a one-way journey. I don't want to fish half as much river and then have to walk back to a car. That's expensive and it's useless. Pick two swims on your chosen river and be realistic. 2 miles of rough riverbank equates to ten miles on a flat pavement. It's tiring stuff. A bus stop or a train station close to each swim is ideal. Try to include as many shallow, fast, white-water pool runs as possible. Big, flat, deep, meandering, canal-like stretches are next to useless and they attract the most idiots. If it's deep, it must have monsters lurking in it, or so they imagine. The main reason for doing all this romping about is because trout aren't a prolific shoaling species, so you can't expect to catch that many from any one spot. Seatboxes and groundbait won't catch you more brownies.

Once you chosen your route, start at the downstream swim and make your way upstream.

A: You'll catch more fish and...

B: It's safer clambering up wet rocks, than clambering down wet rocks.

When you get to the river, make your way to your swim as quietly as possible. Crawling on your belly, dressed like Andy McNab is not required. Just walk slowly, place your feet carefully and don't make sudden movements with your arms. I've worn white T-shirts and shorts, with my milky white arms and legs poking out and still emptied pools. Mind where you place your feet It's better to take the long way over solid ground than the short route over gravel. Gravel makes a complete din and it almost always scares everything in the pool. It's cringeworthy stuff.

When you look at a pool, you're looking for a 'run'. Basically, a run is a line of rapid water, exiting from the bottom of a waterfall, a weir, a tributary,a flood-drain or even a storm-pipe; Anywhere that a large volume of water converges and then exits via one or a number of small channels. Some pools only have one run coming in, some have dozens. Man-made waterfalls are superb and it's worth covering every inch of them. Trout prefer to frequent these runs more than any other possible habitat on the river. Runs provide oxygen, low temperatures, food and cover. Your aim, is to cast your spinner into the often turbulent head of a run, address the lure as quickly as possible, retrieve the lure and steer it's path down that run. If you can do that, the trout will make their presence felt by their sudden appearance on the end of your line.

Once you've covered the the main flow of a run, you then widen your search, covering each side, the slacks and eddies, anywhere that looks like it might hold fry and minnows, under clouds of midges and overhanging branches. Experience will bolster your knowledge of likely holding areas. If you don't get hit by a trout within 3-4 casts at a chosen line, it's unlikely you'll catch anything from it so chose another. Oh yes, NEVER imagine that a run is too small. If it's deep enough to wet their backs, and hide them from view, trout might just use it. I've been shocked at how little water they'll happily accept, when to me, there are far more likely spots just feet away.

Edited September 12, 2008 by Andy Macfarlane

[Emma two]

Thank you for showing those spinners Newt.

 

I am almost with you on your fave Mepp Andy, but the copper blade with red spots does it for me.

[lutra]

I make my own spinners, mainly because it's cheaper, I can make them to my own specifications and colours and it means that I can be far more adventurous with my casting. When you think that a Size 1 Mepps Aglia Decoree in gold with red spots (THE BEST brownie lure EVER designed by mortals) costs about £2.50 a time, you tend to be fairly conservative about where you cast that spinner, so as good as it is, it'll never catch as many quality brownies as my own wonderful spinners, even if I do lose more of my own in doing so.

Successful spinning for brownies should be carried out sometime in Autumn, preferably at the beginning of torrential downpour I reckon. A light shower is no good. It must be hammering vertical and it should be warm enough for T-shirts and shorts. Wading in boots or trainers will allow you to get from one rocky pool to another, far more quickly. Waders are no use because the intention is to hit as many fishable pools as possible. Travel light and if something doesn't fit in a rucksack, it's not coming along because it's just going to slow you down. Oh yes, forget trout fishing in anything more than pairs and try, if you can, to make spinning a sole pursuit. I reckon I'd catch nearly as many trout as two people fishing over the same stretch of river. Less is definitely more with trout fishing.

I normally use public transport because I'm going to cover miles of river so it's a one-way journey. I don't want to fish half as much river and then have to walk back to a car. That's expensive and it's useless. Pick two swims on your chosen river and be realistic. 2 miles of rough riverbank equates to ten miles on a flat pavement. It's tiring stuff. A bus stop or a train station close to each swim is ideal. Try to include as many shallow, fast, white-water pool runs as possible. Big, flat, deep, meandering, canal-like stretches are next to useless and they attract the most idiots. If it's deep, it must have monsters lurking in it, or so they imagine. The main reason for doing all this romping about is because trout aren't a prolific shoaling species, so you can't expect to catch that many from any one spot. Seatboxes and groundbait won't catch you more brownies.

Once you chosen your route, start at the downstream swim and make your way upstream.

A: You'll catch more fish and...

B: It's safer clambering up wet rocks, than clambering down wet rocks.

When you get to the river, make your way to your swim as quietly as possible. Crawling on your belly, dressed like Andy McNab is not required. Just walk slowly, place your feet carefully and don't make sudden movements with your arms. I've worn white T-shirts and shorts, with my milky white arms and legs poking out and still emptied pools. Mind where you place your feet It's better to take the long way over solid ground than the short route over gravel. Gravel makes a complete din and it almost always scares everything in the pool. It's cringeworthy stuff.

When you look at a pool, you're looking for a 'run'. Basically, a run is a line of rapid water, exiting from the bottom of a waterfall, a weir, a tributary,a flood-drain or even a storm-pipe; Anywhere that a large volume of water converges and then exits via one or a number of small channels. Some pools only have one run coming in, some have dozens. Man-made waterfalls are superb and it's worth covering every inch of them. Trout prefer to frequent these runs more than any other possible habitat on the river. Runs provide oxygen, low temperatures, food and cover. Your aim, is to cast your spinner into the often turbulent head of a run, address the lure as quickly as possible, retrieve the lure and steer it's path down that run. If you can do that, the trout will make their presence felt by their sudden appearance on the end of your line.

Once you've covered the the main flow of a run, you then widen your search, covering each side, the slacks and eddies, anywhere that looks like it might hold fry and minnows, under clouds of midges and overhanging branches. Experience will bolster your knowledge of likely holding areas. If you don't get hit by a trout within 3-4 casts at a chosen line, it's unlikely you'll catch anything from it so chose another. Oh yes, NEVER imagine that a run is too small. If it's deep enough to wet their backs, and hide them from view, trout might just use it. I've been shocked at how little water they'll happily accept, when to me, there are far more likely spots just feet away.

Nice one Andy.

 

I was lucky enough as a young lad to have an older more experienced angler, one that had been spinning streams for trout since his youth show me the ropes.

 

I think one of the first things i was taught was move slowly, keep low and work your way up stream when fishing. The logic being that trout lie facing up stream into the flow and their poorest vision is low down behind them.

Edited September 13, 2008 by lutra

[petera]

Thats a great post Andy ....very informative and loads to try out !

 

I switched to float and maggot for a couple of hours yesterday, it was ok and had some bites but somehow just not as much fun ( and god I hate mesing around with those tiny shots)

 

Might get to the resevoir today where theres very little snags !

[Andy Macfarlane]

Thank you for showing those spinners Newt.

 

I am almost with you on your fave Mepp Andy, but the copper blade with red spots does it for me.

 

The water is probably peatier up here so it's a gold blade for me but when I was fishing down in Yorkshire, the water was far clearer and I switched to a copper blade. I've always used silver for dark, very peaty or spated rivers, gold for most conditions and copper for gin-clear water.