On Sunday morning Nick and I headed out to Mavela to do some Trout bashing. Although we knew the conditions weren’t going to be ideal (they never are in January), I had to get out there. I’d bought a float tube, which had been sitting in my cupboard, unused, since September. Not only are ruptured Achilles expensive, they’re also a pain in the ass.
Anyway, I picked Nick up at 6am, and we were in the tubes and on the water by 7:30am. It was already sweltering hot, and the water was far too warm for my liking. A fisherman who arrived a little after us measured it at around 25 degrees. Looking back, I think we were lucky that the trout weren’t dead!
I worked my way around the edges fishing the weed beds and between the reeds. I soon realised that this probably wasn’t the best idea due to the water temperature, and headed for the inlet, hoping for some cooler water. Nick opted to fish the deeper water (definitely the better option), and had a couple of knocks, landing one, while I got nothing.
At around 10 we had a quick break and a bite to eat, before getting back into the water. By now we were both sweating, and nick had decided to toss the waders and fish from the tube in just his baggies. We both headed for deeper water, and I’d soon picked up a 19 inch Rainbow fishing deep and slow. Being the fist fish in my tube I called Nick over to take a photo. FAIL! After he’d snapped off a few shots I released the fish, to find him laughing heavily. A later look at the photos revealed all he’d got in way my head! Grrr.
By now we were both sweating, and headed for the shade of a tree to relax under and have lunch. The were a few clouds forming, but none were blocking out the sun just yet.
At around 2pm we got back into the tubes and headed out for our final session. The wind was starting to pick up, and the odd cloud would cover the sun for short periods, offer some relief. We headed towards the cooler water of the inlet, and fished as deep as we could in the area. We both had a couple of knocks, and I managed to pick up a 4 inch stockie. At around 5pm we called it a day, packed up, and headed home.
Although the conditions were far from ideal, neither of us blanked, which was great. Both of us loved fishing from the tubes, and I’m sure we’ll be back soon…prefereably once the weather cools down.