Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

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15 October 2004.

Sea Trout???.

Last October I did very well with big sea trout on my local river so I decided to give it another go this month. There had been a lot of rain recently, so on the appointed tuesday, I found the water high and coloured and did not bother to cast a line. The following day I returned for another go. I clipped on a J9 Rapala (with a little wire trace in case of pike) and began to fish. I cast across and let the plug swing back to my side working in the current. In two hours I had four bites. The first was a definite sea trout of two or three pounds and came unstuck almost straight away. the second was a much larger fish which took the lure under a bridge. I saw it but again it came unstuck. The third one felt like a crocodile but again it came off (by now I was beginning to wonder what was wrong with the lure). The fourth take I landed but was disappointed to find that it was a 'red' salmon and had to go straight back.

Two days later I went again to find that the river level was about the same but much of the colour had cleared. Again I used the J9, which fished just above the weed even in the shallowest parts of the river. I fished a stretch downstream of where I had previously tried and before long I was into a reasonable trout which, when landed, weighed three-and-a-half pounds. Soon afterwards I had another, smaller trout and I was thinking about packing in. I decided to have a 'last cast' across the shallows and walked downstream a couple of metres. As I did so I saw a bow wave move away from the bank and thought "that's my chance blown!". Anyway I cast across and reeled in, just for amusement. As the little plug reached my side of the river a green torpedo lunged after it with breathtaking speed, grabbed the plug and streaked off downstream. The pike (about six pounds) put up a spirited battle before I was able to slide it onto the wet grass - a good end to two enjoyable short sessions.

If you have any comments or questions about fish, methods, tactics or 'what have you.'get in touch with me by sending an E-MAIL to - docladle@hotmail.com

A nuisance.

A nice seatrout.

A smaller trout.

Whew!!

Tired.

Excellent.