Swinging For Trout

After getting through a list of “jobs to do” from my wife I snuck down to the Clutha river for a quick fish. Its been high the past couple of weeks and there are limited sections to fish at times. I chose a shallower section of river I’d not been too so far this season and rigged up my Epic DH13 Spey rod with a T7 12ft Airflo custom cut sink tip and proceeded to make my way to the top of the run. I covered the run with out so much as “bump’ so decided to cover it again , this time opting to go with a 10ft Airflo Clear Intermediate Salmon/Steel-head Poly leader as I wanted my fly to be able to swing right into the shallow edge, something I wasn’t able to do with the T7 as it was snagging on the bottom at the end of the swing.

Manic tackle carry a good range of these for both trout and Salmon.

Again I fished my way down stream with out a touch, just before reaching the end of the run a fish rose directly below me twice in quick succession. The next cast I let the fly swing in and right across below me, I let it straighten, lift and hang for a few seconds before I gave it one short strip. The line tightened ever so slightly, I lifted the rod tip and the fish exploded out of the water and bolted down stream and into a deep gutter. A good 10 min battle was to follow before I was able to subdue one of the better rainbow trout I’ve caught in the Clutha river over the past couple of winters. Fishing your fly at the appropriate depth is everything when swinging for trout and therefore choosing the right sink tip is the key and can be the difference between getting your net wet or not some days !

I have plenty of free dates for the peak months of the coming 2020/21 season so please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have .

Tight lines

Paul