Spinning for sea trout

[lutra]

I know this is a coarse fishing forum but i might get beaten up if i mention spinning on the fly fishing one. Anyway the point is I only seem to land half of the ones I hook as the first thing they do when i hook them is go airborne & chuck the meps back at me. been using a number 4 meps & the hooks are sharp. Anyone got any tips?

[peterpikefisher]

use a mep with a flying treble about 1 -2 inches back from the main treble .

try a smaller treble .

[Vagabond]

I well remember the first day I got my sea-trout permit to fish the Sussex Ouse. Crept up to the river on hands and knees, because I could hear the "swish" as a seatrout left the water, the "whirrrr" as it hung in the air with fins vibrating, and the "CRASH" as it fell back - like a sheep falling in. (I had good hearing in those days - now long gone)

 

My first cast, with a No.1 Mepps. A huge wrench, and I was into a fish. It leapt, going wag,wag, wag in the air, flinging the Mepps out as it did so.

 

Fish lost, but consoled myself with the thought that seatrout came easily to the spinner. Some hopes! Went the rest of the season without hooking another fish !

 

Caught plenty in later years though (I'll try and find a pic).

 

 

...and yes they leap and throw the hook, or as a variant dive to the bottom and transfer the hook to a weed bed. Easily the most difficult British species to land. I love e'm

 

Usually used Mepps sizes 1 to 3, although my best fish came on a size 6 Ondex.

 

Do you cast up or downstream ? I have found, for both brown and seatrout, it is more productive to cast upstream and spin back faster than the current - you cannot spin too fast for trout or seatrout.

 

Many people make the mistake of spinning for seatrout the same way they spin for salmon - ie cast across and down

Edited June 4, 2007 by Vagabond

[lutra]

use a mep with a flying treble about 1 -2 inches back from the main treble .

try a smaller treble .

Sounds good will make some up, thank for that.

[Vagabond]

use a mep with a flying treble about 1 -2 inches back from the main treble .

try a smaller treble .

 

I've used the flying treble when fly-fishing for seatrout. Hugh Falkus use to recommend a souped up variant of the Teal, Blue and Silver fly, with a size 14 treble on a short bit of line tied into the tail - he called it the "Secret Weapon"

 

Yes, it did seem to hook more seatrout, but the downside was that the treble was more easily transferred to the water moss on the rocks when the fish dived. I can remember at least two very big seatrout that did that to me.

[lutra]

I well remember the first day I got my sea-trout permit to fish the Sussex Ouse. Crept up to the river on hands and knees, because I could hear the "swish" as a seatrout left the water, the "whirrrr" as it hung in the air with fins vibrating, and the "CRASH" as it fell back - like a sheep falling in. (I had good hearing in those days - now long gone)

 

My first cast, with a No.1 Mepps. A huge wrench, and I was into a fish. It leapt, going wag,wag, wag in the air, flinging the Mepps out as it did so.

 

Fish lost, but consoled myself with the thought that seatrout came easily to the spinner. Some hopes! Went the rest of the season without hooking another fish !

 

Caught plenty in later years though (I'll try and find a pic).

 

 

...and yes they leap and throw the hook, or as a variant dive to the bottom and transfer the hook to a weed bed. Easily the most difficult British species to land. I love e'm

 

Usually used Mepps sizes 1 to 3, although my best fish came on a size 6 Ondex.

 

Do you cast up or downstream ? I have found, for both brown and seatrout, it is more productive to cast upstream and spin back faster than the current - you cannot spin too fast for trout or seatrout.

 

Many people make the mistake of spinning for seatrout the same way they spin for salmon - ie cast across and down

Up, down, across, just try to remember where & how i got one last time & give them spots a good going over.

[Vagabond]

,just try to remember where & how i got one last time & give them spots a good going over.

 

Yes, nothing like learning the holding spots on your own patch.

 

Another point - when the spinner is travelling upstream it is more difficult to get a good hook-hold as the fish just makes a grab for the spinner and it is easy to pull the hooks out of the front of the mouth..

 

When the spinner is travelling downstream faster than the current, a following fish will grab and TURN - thus giving you the chance of a good hook-hold in the scissors. With an intercepting fish you also stand a good chance of hooking in the scissors.

 

The same applies to upstream worming for a number of different fish.

[lutra]

Yes, nothing like learning the holding spots on your own patch.

 

Another point - when the spinner is travelling upstream it is more difficult to get a good hook-hold as the fish just makes a grab for the spinner and it is easy to pull the hooks out of the front of the mouth..

 

When the spinner is travelling downstream faster than the current, a following fish will grab and TURN - thus giving you the chance of a good hook-hold in the scissors. With an intercepting fish you also stand a good chance of hooking in the scissors.

 

The same applies to upstream worming for a number of different fish.

Yes i will play around with that i mind. But they do seem to like it as it comes round high and fast sometimes its just keeping hold.

[Newt]

It will take a little fiddling but you might want to try removing the treble and replacing with a single circle hook. If you have a friend who does fly tying they could easily dress them for you.

 

Snatcher did some on circle's I sent him a year or so back. They were intended as stand-alone flies but would have done fine on the business end of a mepps.