Product Review: Double Clutch IZM 48SP

Sight Fishing Skinny Water Brown Trout with the Daiwa Double Clutch 48SP 

By Joshua Davey 

It had been a long time between drinks for myself and the humble sweet water, but the ever pressing hints that winter was closing in suggested that it was time to change my tune if I ought to get my fishing fix. As I tinkered with my fishing gear one night, I opened a tray of my new Double Clutch 48SP which had been sitting there neglected, and thought to myself, “I really need to get out there and give these a proper run”. So as always, I swiftly rang up a mate and the plans were set to hit the hills the next morning in search of some skinny water browns.

We arrived at our destination around mid-morning, with a solid hike through thick brambles and long grass ahead of us. Unfortunately South Australia isn’t exactly renowned for its world class trout fishery, so if you want any form of quality or quantity, it’s time to get off the beaten track.

Although not the most ideal outfit for the application (a little too long for the tight country we are casting in) I opted to run my Infeet EX 702, purely because it is such a pleasure to use. I paired this with my Caldia MQ 2000S, spooled with 6lb J-Braid Grand accompanied with a long (2-3 rod lengths) 4lb J-Thread FC leader. The lure of choice for today’s expedition was of course the Double Clutch 48, starting with the ‘Sheer Ayu’ colour which features this incredible flashy, yet translucent foil finish.

The stream we were fishing was real skinny, less than a meter wide in some areas. So, we made the decision early to go fish by fish. Meaning that I would catch one fish, then my mate would have priority getting the next few casts until he got a fish and so on. We arrived at a beautiful stretch of water, with a little waterfall and a nice big rock sitting just before it in a slower moving pool. Trout typically will sit with their head into the current, and contrary to belief they will usually sit in front of a rock rather than behind it. Why? The rock forms a pocket of slower moving water just before it, allowing the trout to sit head into the current, and still be able to see any potential food items drifting towards it.

Anyway, I fired in a long cast towards the head of the pool and to no surprise a trout raced out of that pocket and smashed my Double Clutch 48SP. After a short tussle and some signature brown trout death rolls, I had a lovely brown in the net, a great start.

The day followed suit in similar fashion, sight casting browns sitting in tiny little pockets of water. Some would commit almost instantly, where others were a bit more wary and required a bit of convincing. After having a few follows from a wary brown, it eventually lost interest in my offering. I have found that trout in slower moving pools are a little more timid than those in faster moving rapids and so forth because they have more time to think about it. My first tip is to keep the lure moving quickly, try for that reaction bite, make them think ‘if I don’t grab this, it is going to get away’. Trout aren’t a slow fish, if they want it, they will get it. My next option is to change up your lure colour, which was exactly the undoing of this particular fish. After a few casts with no more follows, I switched to the ‘Weedy Suji’ Double Clutch 48 and it didn’t take long before there was a fish in the net.

Now I’m usually the one to say cast at everything, regardless of how shallow or ridiculous it may look. But when we came to this particular stretch of water, it was beyond skinny! I am talking maybe 40-50cm wide and just the definition of white water rapids. I was honestly ready to skip it, as it was my turn for the next fish, but my mate said I was mad and told me to at least put a cast in. Boy am I glad I did! This water was moving so quick, I could barely keep contact with the lure, but all of a sudden it came up real tight followed by a big leap out of the water. I remember yelling to my mate who was just downstream “BIG!”. After a solid tussle in this fast moving water I had the fish in the net, a solid buck brown and an absolute cracker for South Australian standards. 

We ended the session with 8 fish (4 each) and it was a sensational introduction for the Double Clutch 48, safe to say they will forever have a place in my trout lure box.