A warm
welcome to this special update to the blog, I hope I find you well and your
nets wet. This being my first full
season pike fishing I thought it would be fun to document and recap on the
season as a whole. The captures a long
the way and the learning curve that is part of fishing and learning a new
branch of our sport.
Pike Fishing
To Start of Season…So as you can imagine being a dace and chub angler for many years fishing rivers I have had many run ins with the apex predator of the waters, the pike. Many a time happily fishing away and catching well the swim would die and eventually I would hit a fish and all would go solid as the pike claimed its meal. It was becoming a regular occurrence with the sessions so I started to put together a pike rod and fishing for these pike and had some great success with my biggest pike going 13lb 8oz.
This
continued for a few years and it was not until the really bad floods of the
winter of 2014 where all the rivers where completely flooded and unfishable I
decided to delve into the world of dead baiting for pike. From January 1st till the end of
the season I fished for pike on dead baits and had some great experiences
learning the trade with Garry and did manage to beat my PB with a fish of over
14lb on a social session, this was the highlight of the season for me and I
thoroughly enjoyed it.
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My first
full Season pike fishing was looming large with only a month or so till October
I was already thinking about the hunt for pike.
It is very easy to set personal goals like a new personal best or your
first 20 but this really does put added pressure on you, my own personal goals
for the season where to have fun and improve my hooking rate and try to reduce
the number of lost fish by learning to tie my own rigs.
I also was
part of a group of four good mates who decided for fun to do a bit of a pike
challenge. The challenge was to catch
400 pike in total with 30 being of double figures and one 20lb pike between
us. A tall order but it was something to
go at and I set myself a challenge of getting as close to my quota of 100 pike
as possible.
So with that
let’s see how the season unfolded…
Pre October
1st..
Most of this
season has been spent on the banks of the River Dane searching out new spots
where the silver fish hold. This being a
small river our liaisons with Pike had been sparse to this point with only one
session being interrupted by pike activity.
I would say pike started to get into my mind in August when a session on
the Dane saw me menaced by two pike who where veraciously on the feed. A fish that survived a mauling but was
fatally wounded was put out to catch this pike and it didn’t take long before
this lovely pike of 12lb was on the bank. 
It Starts….
The 28th
September marked my first dedicated trip out for pike and armed with my new
homemade wire traces, fox lead set up and plenty of enthusiasm I visited a old
haunt from last season. It turned out to
be a profitable trip with a jack and my first double of the season hitting the
bank in this 12lb pike. The capture was
backed up with a small jack and two more on an evening trip later that week.
The 1st of October and it was the start of three days off work for me and I had one thing on my mind, Pike. The challenge for us officially started on this day so all captures before this did not count. I hit the bank and at this stage I had no expectations and was actually worried about catching 10 pike in the whole season never mind 100. The first session was just what I needed as I caught a tiny jack early on and went on to put 5 pike on the bank and this session really gave me the confidence I needed and something to build on. The best fish of the day a pike of around 7lb.
The Session
of the Season..
There have
been many session during this season and so many happy memories on the bank
with my mates but this session, like it does with all anglers, will live in my
memory forever and that session is the one where I caught my first 20lb
pike. I arrived at the bank and within a
few minutes had lost my first pike due to a hook pull and I hope and prayed it
was not the start of things to come. The
other lads, both in work, where on the phone pumping up the pressure to not
blank and the banter was first class.
10.21Am on the 15th October 2014 my left hand float fished into
a deeper depression in the bottom bobbed once, than again and then erratically
moved along the top, I instantly thought jack pike. The float then moved slowly right before
submerging out of sight. I gave it the
countdown before striking into the fish, with a hard strike to set the hooks
the float did not rise up out of the water and I thought I had snagged on the
bottom……then the bottom moved and the realisation across my body of the size of
fish I was connected to hit me. Garry
had told me to but a deeper bigger net last season and I had done so but this
fish looked like it would not fit into it.
The fish
eventually came up in the water and with my arm already aching I saw my prize
and she turned and powered away. The
moment I had wanted to happen was right there as I always wanted to know what
it felt like when you first see that big pike come up and there it was, the
fear now was not losing it. She
eventually came up again and I took my chance.
In the net lay a monster.
It took me a
while to come to my senses, I couldn’t even look at the fish or even think
about taking her out of the water, I was numb and in a daze at what was in my
net. Unhooked and on the scales she went
21lb 3oz!! and thankfully in such a special moment two people appeared who
gladly took some pictures for me.
Resting in
the net till she recovered the moment came to part ways and with it an air of
reflection came over me and I spent the next 20 minutes just sat there in pure
reflection of the moment. The rest of the session went by in a blur and I did
catch two more pike before leaving, a session I will never ever forget. This session is covered in the following blog
update in even more detail:
Lost my way…
After this
fish I thought I would be more relaxed about my fishing for pike and would be
less pressure on session but what happened was a complete lack of thrust and
energy as the realisation of a dream had been realised, my reason for going to
experience what a pike like that looks and feels like had been lived and I went
on a series of blanks after this which where down a lot to a lack of motivation
and interest and it wasn’t until towards the end of the month I landed my final
pike of October with a pike of 9.5lb.
November….Socials
and Learning To Wobble
Ending
October with 16 pike I think it was under my belt two of which where new
Personal Bests and one being my first twenty its hard to think how a first
month of the season pike fishing could have gone any better given the venues I
was fishing. November brought the first
social sessions of the season for us and this along with a good chat with Ste
about how I was feeling since my first twenty capture got me back into it and
he was right after a period of time the fire was there to get back out and I
was a lot more confident in my piking and decisions. The big fish and catching fish on my own
proved what I was doing was right and this saw me hitting the bank not just
hoping to catch but expecting.
Right at the
end of October I was contacted by a tackle shop with the view of them sending
over some pike lure rods for me to use and blog about, it was something I had
never ever done and lure fishing wasn’t up my street but I had watched Ste
wobbling smelts and roach. Both Garry
and Ste have had huge impacts on my pike fishing as you will read in the
updates but wobbling a dead bait was certainly a part of piking Ste excels at
and being the good man he is he was more than willing to give me a few pointers
before I hit the bank.
My first
wobbling session and I had been casting without a touch for a good 30 minutes
when right under my feet a saw a pike swirl and nail my roach, all the lessons
about flipping the bail arm went out of my head but just before striking a light
bulb moment happened and I let the fish take the bait before striking and my
reward a 9.5lb pike, my first of three that day on the wobble.
The 4th of November marked the first social where we would all be out together on the bank. I had a quick early bite that saw me crossing paths with an old friend from last season. She was a fish that held my still water personal best at the time when I caught her in January and now she had lost that winter weight as was fattening up for winter. Good to see an old friend little did I know at the time how many times she would revisit me.
Ste and Ryan
all picked up fish in the morning and it was not until we moved locations and
right on dark as we where walking along the bank to pack in that I got a take
out of the blue. Pulling a bait behind
me all went solid as the take from the pike stopped me in my steps, I gave the
pike a countdown in the twilight and struck hard into a solid fish, luckily Garry
was close to get the fish in the net nice and early and before us lay a
beautiful 17lb pike. Two doubles in a
day I was one happy angler.
After this
session wobbling really took over a lot of my piking and accounted for most of
my fish on the bank. I still went out
with my dead bait rod but I now also carried an old boat rod I had owned since
a kid and cost me £6.00. Time and time
again this rod would be the one that would pick me up a fish on a session. Only jacks like the one below but it was
keeping the numbers ticking over towards 100 pike for the season.
To this
point I was heading out fishing for pike hoping for one chance of a fish and if
I did I thought I was doing well and time on the bank would be relative to
number of pike caught. It was not until
a social session with Ste where I had my eyes well and truly opened, BIG
TIME. We met up and headed of to a
completely new venue for me and with only the morning available for us both I
hoped for one pike as normal. We both
cast in and within minutes Stes dead bait was away and a pike was on the bank,
then I lost one and landed on moments later then Ste caught another. I ended the session with two pike and ste with at least that number but it was the sheer amount of pike activity in one
area and how frantic a pike session can be that shocked me, it was pike fishing
like I had never imagined it could be!
I left Ste
and stopped off on another venue on the way home where I added two more pike to
the list including another visit from the pike from the social. I ended the month rather aptly catching this
pike again and a splattering of single caught on both wobbling and dead bait
tactics.
November in
summary was a month full of learning for me it was a month that changed my
whole season and gave me confidence to get out there and practice all I had
been taught and also a month that saw some special fish captures.
December – A
life Changing month
December
arrived and with it my first pike on the 2nd of December and in
keeping with my fishing at the time it came on a wobbled smelt left to lie in
the edge, this was a tactic that was picking me up fish after fish and one I
was really getting to grips with.
This month
also marked the month where our little boy would arrive so there was plenty
going on away from fishing to sort out.
Fishing time was at a premium although I always had a day booked off on
my birthday foe a days fishing. It was a
terrible day conditions wise with Ste where we both got battered by rain wind
and hail and it was only one fish on the wobble as reward, a tough day but one
that made the next months so hard earned. 
During this month i spent a lot of time on the bank alone learning my trade and making my own mistakes but all the time learning. I would have the odd set back but also morale boosting successes. During this period i baited up an area and visited it regular and witnessed first hand how devastating this can be for keeping feeding pike in the area you want and also attracting new blood into the area. Some pike i would recognize from past trips but others where new fish and proved this method worked. Another string in my bow for future years and of course along the way you see the nature changing all around.
The birth of
our little boy saw fishing take a back seat until our planned social on
Christmas eve where I was happy to register on pike on the bank. The last session of the year saw me out on
the 28th December for a quick few hours and it was rather apt that I
ended the year with two fish and one of which was the pike I had run into a
number of times. This was the last time
I caught her in the season, a fact I was happy about to be honest, we parted
ways and I hope to see her next season even if it is to just know she is about.
January –
Learning all The time..
January came
around and time had literally flown by it was only yesterday I was holding that
20lb pike yet that was a good two and a half months ago. Being off work on paternity and annual leave
meant I was grabbing any time I could that was free to get out. Not being in work also meant I had gaps in
the week to get out as well so I could really pick and chose my time to get
out. I loved the freedom this brought me
and took full advantage of it,
I was
putting in a lot of time of sessions on the bank but only a few hours at a time
from first light or the last few hours of the day. What this meant was I was learning all the
time about pike fishing, when to strike and most of all I was learning an area
I had targeted. I picked an area and
after each session I would pre bait it with a few bits of fish for my next
session, it worked a treat as each session I was getting runs almost instantly. A tactic I had been told about but I was
learning to do it myself and it was working and will set me in good stead and
give me confidence in this tactic for next season’s campaigns.
This month
saw me spending time on my own baited area and having more free time I was also
arranging to meet up with Ste more often on socials. The socials where sessions I really looked
forward too as sat waiting for a bite we would have many conversations about
all manner of fishing and also I loved listening to Stes stories about his
fishing adventures. The first double of
the season came for me on one of these socials and it was one of my favourite
fish of the season as the run was so memorable and from a spot we gave no
chance of a run.
A lovely way
to end the month of January.
The end of
them month saw us out again for one last go sat the pike and again the fishing
was good although we were certainly having to work harder for the bites as the
fish became more localised. I ended the
month with a two jacks that took my total
to 75 pike, I had experienced a months fishing I will never ever forget
it was fantastic and have such fond memories of this months fishing that will
last a lifetime.
March –
Gutted its coming to an end..
Going into
March on 75 pike I was hoping to build on the previous months sessions and try
to get as close to the 100 as possible before the end of march. Early on in
march I began speaking to Go Outdoors about me appearing at one of their store
openings at the end of that month so I knew time towards the end of March would
be hard to come by so I was not hanging around.
The sessions
again socials with Ste had a real sense of purpose as we tried to add to Garrys
catches to hit the 30 double figure pike
for the challenge. Work commitments had
severely hit Garry’s campaign this year but March saw him getting out regular
and connecting with some nice fish like the one below.
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.
Just before
it was time to cal it a day my dead bait
rod slid away and I struck into a pike that was solid from the outset it had
more fight than the ones previous and when is saw the cover of a moored boat it
went right underneath it!! Rod under the
water I prayed the hooks did n ot find the wood of the bottom of the boat and I
made up then Ste scooped her up, a double for sure and no finer way to end the
season for myself.
That was it
for all of us piking and with regards the target WE finished on:
233 Pike
203 Singles
30 Doubles
1 20lb Pike
The season was
one of the best things I have done in angling I shared the bank with people I regard
as good mates and we caught some nice fish and shared some fantastic
memories. Personally I fell in love with
a branch of the sport and I can not imagine a winter where I wont be pike
fishing now. I thoroughly enjoyed
everything about it and I would like to personally thank Garry, Ste and Ryan
for all their help, tips, advice and banter that made this season one to
remember.
Till next
year tight lines
Danny
Hi. What I must do to become member? How much per year? Hiw far is from Congresbury? Can I fiah only at spinning? Now is open,in prohibition? Thanks
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