Pike Fishing With Deadbaits....Dreadfull start Comes Good

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you well and your nets wet.  We are coming to the end of January 2018 and this will be the third written blog of the year as well as producing a Youtube blog video each Friday as well so so far so good on the blogging front and i must admit i am thoroughly enjoying getting back into the written one again and thank you too all who have emailed me saying how pleased you are its returned!

so straight into it...

1k Subscribers  on Youtube Channel

Great start to 2018 with the Blogs Youtube Channel hitting 1,000 Subscribers, a huge milestone for the blog, one i hope will continue to build by following the principles of the written one.  Good, honest and open accounts of an everyday angler documenting his fishing trips its the way i wrote the blog 7 years ago and it is the way it will continue.

My other half bought me a cracking gift for Christmas in a set of 3 Mark Houghton Pike deadbait pencil floats which look amazing.  As the youtube channel hit the 1k subscriber mark i decided to do a bit of a give away and that is now live on the channel in the video below.

So dead simple be subscribed to the channel, like the video and comment what colour floats you would like to receive if you win. As in the video not a sponsored give away i will be buying the prize myself and i was well impressed with the gift for Christmas and thought would make a nice prize for the winner.

New Year New Card...

So this year i am a member of Lymm Angling Club and looking at the waters they do have a huge variety to go at.  I have got some plans to do some more carp fishing this year like i did with the reservoir diaries last but i am hoping to again target this water.  With the Lymm card i am thinking of using it to target a new species and one i have never really had a serious go for in the past, the Barbel.

The club seems to have waters large and small to target these fish on and with a lot of the waters seemingly being highly pressured carp waters i think the banks of the river is where i will find my type of fishing on this card.  So yeah a little thing on the back burner at the moment but already thoughts of Summer and Autumn are in the mind.
 
On to The Fishing ....

Pike Fishing - Dread Full Start Comes Good!

A afternoon battling Chub on the River the day before and holding a 17ft rod as high as possible saw me meeting no sorry hitting the 6am Sunday Alarm Clock with the half asleep slap it deserved, a couple of snoozes rightfully applied i eventually rose from my slumber around 6.30am.

I am normally very well prepared when it comes to my fishing and have everything ready the night before so i can get up the next day and go about my morning routine knowing all i have to do is load the car and be gone, this morning was far from my normal pre fishing routine.

Stick float rods left in the holdall needed replacing with the pike rods of which one would need setting up on a ledger from scratch on the bank whilst my pike terminal tackle remained spread on the downstairs table, left from last nights attempt to tie some traces.  Its not often i am not in the mood for going fishing but this morning i could quite easily have stayed in my pit.  My drive to go came from the fact i knew there was a window of opportunity on the river where the weather and levels where right and with rain forecast during the week and possible over time the following weekend in work i knew i would regret not going.

A strong coffee consumed i loaded the car and began the trundle to the river, out of my close and onto the main motorway my mind began to wander onto the session ahead.  Where would i place my baits and what bait would i fish where the main thoughts and then, like most anglers, thoughts turn to the dreaded question "Have i forgot Anything?"  It then hit me i had left my wire trace bin on the kitchen table, no pulling over to check i knew i had and without it i would be in a bit of a pickle having to make up traces.  Half way to the venue a U-Turn back to the ranch and upon my return there it was proud as punch on the table a quick grab and back on the way, staying in bed was looking like a good option.

Back into the car and retracing my steps.  I don't know about anyone else but i always feel like i have missed out on a huge part of the day if i am not on the bank on day break, its such a short period of time compared to the whole day but it can reveal so much, especially when it comes to pike.  Making my way back i could see the faint glow of light blue on the horizon that told me day break was not far away bit i was making good time.

My head lamps still required to negotiate the dark roads i might just make it in time for day break.  Pulling into the car park the birds where in full song and before me lay a river, its surface like a mirror reflecting the bare boned trees on the far bank and along the inside line, for only the shortest of distances the water danced with small fry topping in the dropping moons light.

There i stood just watching and staring at the venue taking in its mood and desperately trying to get into tune with the daily activities of the fish below its watery surface.  You soon get that feeling inside of where you need to set up and one peg in particular was calling to me as it just seemed alive with silvers, a pike just had to be stalking that shoal.  The frustrations inside from the mornings mishaps began to ebb away and in it's place came that warm glow of fishing excitement, time to grab the rods.

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I knew i had one rod to set up from scratch so i quickly threw a few frozen dead baits into the net in the edge to thaw while I got the one rod that was all set to go ready to make a cast.  I figured as long as i had one rod in i was fishing at least.  The banks sticks with their lolly pop alarms on top slid easily into the saturated sodden slippery banks as did their back rests and in the early morning light a dead bait loaded with Sardine oil was cast out.  The fox swinger keeping the line tight to the lead the trap was tightly set and ready for a hungry pike to spring it open. 

Setting up the second rod i realised I had only had one more wire trace left in the rig bin, a trace i had made a while ago when an accidental purchase of some Barbless Fox trebles had taken place, total and utter nightmare as baits fly off the hooks all the time even with the bait flats.  Even so needs must so out went the rod with the trebles on and i prayed they held the bait on while i made a new trace up.

The new Fox 49 Strand Anti Kink braid really is good stuff, pricey but good, one thing it does need is a lot more effort top make traces than the old carbo flex and why they stopped making it i will never know.  Each cut of the wire you make requires you to burn the ends to stop it from fraying so a task that a year or two ago would take 5 minutes required the stove to be set up.

With the trace eventually made up i wound the second rod in and as i thought the last hook on the bottom treble was the only hook attached to the bait as the top set of trebles had come lose, Semi Barbed all the way guys.  The trace replaced it went back out into the same spot and i grabbed the kettle to make a much needed brew.  I don't actually think i made it back to my basket to grab the lighter to light the stove before i was stopped in my steps by one beep on the rod i had just replaced. 

Like a statue my body remained still only my head turned back towards the rods direction.  Another soft pull on the line brought another one beep on the old delkims, a third more violent tug and the line parted from the fox bite arm and that ever so satisfying clunk as the metal of the back alarm made contact with the bank stick as it completed its fall.  A slip and a slide down the bank i grabbed the rod and set the camera to record, line was now peeling from the spool as the pike went on a confident run, a solid take.

I gave it a count down strike and set the hooks and felt that satisfying solid resistance of a strong winter pike with line pulling from the reel it was like the woes of a frustrating morning where peeling off with it.  A solid fight that saw the pike go a bit mental under the rod tip as it made one final run along the bank and under my other rod but thankfully i eventually slid the net under a lovely marked and well fed pike.  On the Scales she went 9lb and had been feeding very well, a good sign for the rest of the session.

The pike went a bit mental in the net to sat the least so i decided to put her in the edge to rest, upon doing so my morning went from ecstasy to complete and utter tosh as i slid on my backside top to bottom of the bank.  Picking myself up i was caked all down my side and on such a cold day i was thank full of my thick thermal under layers i can tell you.  A brush down and the pike released i set about casting the same rod back out and poured myself a much needed brew!

Sitting back on my Shakespeare green box i decided it best not to move a muscle, just stay put on the chair and you will be safe i thought that way nothing else can go wrong.  Carefully sipping a warming cup of tea i took a moment to breathe and relax!  It had been all go that morning on the bank what with the manic start, a pike and then going over on the bank so sitting back the rods out either side of the swim i  watched the world around me go about their Sunday morning routines, joggers and bikers all enjoying the outside crisp morning weather whilst above them a pair of Buzzards circled the open fields looking for a free meal and in a complete contrast to all these subtle activities a flash of blue and orange zoomed past the swim as a kingfisher made its way to its favourite perch.

Sat on my own perch it was a good two brews later i recorded a piece for the youtube blogs on how a running ledger set up works as i had received a few questions on it recently.  No sooner had i finished talking the other rod buzzed into life and there was no messing with this one the line pulled straight form the slip and, almost carp run like, line spooled from the rods tip. 

No messing about with this one i wound down and set the hooks and immediately i knew i was into a better fish as the rod hooped over as the fish pulled hard in the deep water.  Nervous, hook hold releasing, head shakes sent shivers up the line through the rod and through my whole body as a very tentative fight was played out.  One of those fights where you feel at any moment you could lose the fish.  A hard fight under the rod tip she came up and turned leaving a huge boil in her wake, i had seen the prize and knew i was attached to a double figure pike.  Up she came again and this time there was no messing and into the deep net she went,  first thoughts?? BARREL!!

She was a short fish and in normal conditions she would weigh about 1olb for her length i would say but in her winter condition she was fit to burst, broad across the shoulder and had been eating very well.  Certainly a big fish in years to come she had the right mentality already, EAT EAT and EAT some more.  On the scales she went just under 14lb and was one of the most beautiful fish i have ever caught with vibrant oranges tipped with deep red in her fins a dark green back with dots of yellow along her side perfectly placed, a real beautiful fish.

A fish like this called for more than a celebratory brew so i cracked open some cuppa soups my other half had picked up for me the previous day.  Warm and satisfying i sat on my box with the mud  on my clothes now caked dry i had not a care in the world.  That pike had made my day and made all the effort worth while to push on through all the trials and tribulations of the session.  I gave the session till 1pm before calling it a bay and i made the long journey back home with a irremovable smile on my face.

A session to show that its not always sun and roses  on the bank but not giving in and pushing on through it can all come good in the end.

Till next time i wish you all

Tight Lines

Danny

Pike Fishing: A Session of Memories, A Session where Rumours of Monsters become reality....

Saturday, a day of the week I would normally be setting out on another river adventure with my uncle chasing the elusive shoals of dace, roach and chub that reside in the north west corner of England.  A phone call the night before and my uncle sounded like death warmed up.  Fishing was off the agenda and for my uncle Saturday morning, this week at least, the heady smell of lemon from his lemsip’s would be replacing the usual fermented unmistakable smell of the hempseed that lay beside his fishing box.

The past few weeks my uncles lad Harry had been on the bank with me learning to pike fish so we agreed to another session chasing the mysterious esox Luscious. To this point he had done fantastic in learning to handle pike on the bank and what it involved in catching them.  This learning curve had seen him bag a 3lb and a 7lb pike in his last two trips.

5am and as I made my way downstairs for a strong brew to wake me from my pre fishing trip restless slumber I could hear the rain tapping onto the windowsill from a hole in the gutter, its repetitive rhythm of drips alerting me to damp conditions awaiting my venture outside.  The kettle groaning as if bemoaning my request for a warm beverage i glanced out of the kitchen window at the pitch black darkness in which only the outline of a large fern tree could be seen arching in the breeze.

If possession is 9 tenths of the law then preparation is certainly 9 tenths of the art of fishing and rightly so I had little to do with the mornings prep bar choosing which fish to offer Mrs Esox from my bait freezer.  A session earlier on that week had left me with a few open packets of smelts and herring jacks so I loaded the bottom of the bait cooler with some fresh unopened smelts and sardines and placed the old opened smelts and herrings on top. 

The old fish mobile loaded I began to make my journey to pick up our Harry, my windows misted up I wound down my drivers side to allow me to safely leave the street.  Blob...Blob.Blob as I pulled off could only mean on thing that overnight drop in temperatures has seen the pressure in one of my tyres drop.  Like a  dog that has just stood on a thorn I ambled and plodded my way to the garage pleading with the fishing gods the Air Machine was still alive, to my delight she was and then tyre was given a quenching boost! Such fine lines can see sessions called off, only at the end of this fisherman’s tale will this become important.

The journey to the venue with our Baz in tow the radio politely alerted all normal people in the world to probably stay in doors as storm Brian was due to hit the North West.  Like all fisherman the urge to keep going is much stronger than worrying about such things as storms and further into the dark we plodded, the headlamps on the car almost Hansel and Gretel like illuminating the bread crumbs to the water.

The session was all about continuing our Harrys development, I had shown him the basics of piking, it was now time for him to make decisions himself and learn from decisions he would make.  A float ledger rod had been set up for him and on this session he would be baiting it up and deciding the placement of his bait in the swim.  I was in super lazy mode so out went a ledger rig on a bite alarm with a fox back bite arm, bait wise it was a whole herring from one of the opened packs.  Yellow, shriveled and still possessing the hook marks from a previous session where it had been out for a few hours.  My other rod was on a pencil float fished float ledger style and on this I would be presenting the humble smelt.

The baits out and the dark angry skies over head we awaited the arrival of a pike at the dinner table.  An early few knocks on Harrys float alerted us to a pike in the area and two dropped runs only went to confirm a pike was in the area.  A cast over the area and jagging the smelt around the swim would either entice the pike to confidently take the bait or spook it completely.

Thankfully the latter was not the case and a few minutes later his float confidently sailed away.  A huge lesson in how cruel piking can be was played out as the pike spat the bait after a few moments playing the fish.  We replaced the bait and an air of that float being the epicentre of all our focus did follow as we eagerly anticipated the hungry pike return.  The vigil was soon broken by the piercing sound of a delkim alarm and a pike that had come across my herring dead bait.

A countdown and a hard strike and I was connected with a pike that was not happy at its meal being disturbed.  Aggressive head shakes it was a relief to slide the net under the first pike of the session, a nice upper single with a full set of gnashers.

The pike blogged and released we sat back and put a brew on, an act that was surly to entice a pike to dine.  The steam rising from a whistling kettle was like music to my ears on a damp windy morning. The calmness that comes with a pike on the bank is quite surreal as the excitement and sense of anticipation before its capture almost lifts.  A calmness that was soon broke by baz running to his rod as his float trundled confidently across the surface before disappearing into the gloomy depths. 

Learning from the mistakes on the previous take he set the hooks and played the fish, a fish that angrily kept deep.  I knew inside he was into a PB and a potential double figure pike and talking him through the fight we slipped the net under a double figure pike.  The question now was just how big his new PB would be. 

13lb on the scales and a beaming smile looking at them he was proper made up, if a little cold.  We places the pike I the net to rest and so we could get prepared for a few pictures for him to remember the day by.  Our celebrations where short lived as my delkim alarm broke up out chatter, a screaming run so violent the rod tip was bouncing away. 

With a fish in the keep net I decided there and then I would have to hand in the pike.  A hard strike and my 2.75lb test curve rod hooped over solid as a decent fish stayed deep.  Plenty of head shaking I knew I had a fragile hook hold at best, a thought that sent shivers down my spine the longer the rod stayed bent over and the fish kept deep.  Long hard runs as the fish realised the predicament it was in.  I loosened the drag and tried to coax the fish closer in and it worked as the fish glided in under my feet.  In the semi clear water I caught a glimpse of her, a big fish she was long with a huge head!

I knew there and then I was in a bit of a predicament, I had a fish in the net that under normal circumstance I would have just released to land this one but that fish I knew held a special value, Harrys first double and a fish I knew we had no pictures of for him to remember the day by.  A long hard battle was played out with the fish going on long hard powerful runs that just ate line from the spool I eventually got her up to the top and quickly I took my chance, sliding my hand under her chin I had a solid grip and lifted out a huge fish.  Lightly hooked she was soon unhooked and placed in the net to rest before a quick weigh, 19lb on the nose!! A fish of a lifetime from the venue I was on and braving storm Brian had paid off with over 30lb of pike in the net resting.

On the mat they looked amazing, both in fantastic condition and been feeding well.  The 19 had a huge head and was certainly a fish that in February will be over 20lb mark.  A quick photo and video for the blog and she was returned back.  I had heard many rumours of these fish, many claiming to have caught them but no pictures to back them up.  I knew there and then I had returned one of the true ghostly monsters, a true fish of a lifetime.

The session was not over there with a first for me late on with me getting a run on the wobble rod, a good 2 hours later and our harry’s 13 had recovered and was back on the feed!! Madness and a first for me as I have never caught the same pike twice in the same session, crazy.

The session coming to and end it was a pleasure to share this session with our Harry, a session we will talk about for years to come no doubt.  It showed everything that is so magical about fishing for pike, that float goes or that alarm starts ringing you just never know what monster could be on the other end,  a session of memories a session where stories and rumours of monster fish became reality.....

till next time

tight lines

Danny

Tale of Two Rivers and Pike Blog

LA warm welcome to this weeks blog update and it finally feels like i am finding time to get stuff together with the blog.  I have found as the evenings have drawn in my evening jaunts have gone for pike so it has gave me scope to start getting back up to date.  As such i have one blog already ready to go this coming Friday and i am writing this one to go live the following week.  This has come at a great time for me as i do have quite a bit of fishing planned over the next month so finding time could again become a problem so its good to have some backed up.  Commitments to companies like Pondip have been full filled and i have again accepted a product review request from a company as i feel i have the time to put to it, i was declining some interesting opportunities but hey ho i need to be honest with them and myself, the times was just not there.

In this weeks blog update the fishing see's us travelling to two rivers in one day in search of silvers and what an adventure it was, a proper road trip.  The introduction includes a bit about piking in the form of how i am going to blog my pike trips this year and also a little on my thoughts on pike etiquette and how i see the unwritten rules being openly flaunted.  We finish the introduction with my dad going the extra mile for his son piking in the bitter cold.  I hope you enjoy the update so go put the kettle on make a brew and enjoy the update.

My Pike Blog....

I was thinking a lot this year about how to go about blogging my pike fishing and i mulled over a few ideas.  Pike fishing is a lot more relaxed than my river fishing and as such you can go into detail about rigs and different set ups for each location you are on.  The spare time waiting for a bite does also open up the opportunity for some video blogging which is also something i have looked at and hopefully will be able to do this year and include them in how i am going to blog my piking.

I have decided to move the piking onto its separate page within the blog and it will sit at the top bar of the page under 2015/16 Pike Season.  This allows me to write a smaller recap blog of each trip and hopefully document the whole season as it happens.  There are a number of potential stumbling blocks with this idea though and it might end up with some duplication on this blog and that one.  Potential problems could be if the rivers flood and i go out solely pike fishing that weekend away from the river then i would have no content for the main blog.  The other stumbling block could also be the sheer amount of writing on one page as you can not split the page down into bits it is one continuous living document with the most recent trip added to the bottom. 

It does though allow me to divide my different fishing up and allows people visiting the blog to go to the area that most interests them.  With no tabs or labels its going to have to be promoted by myself for it to be noticed as i don't think it will show on google searches like my other updates do.  Either way i hope you enjoy the diversity i am trying to put into the blog and enjoy reading about my adventures on the bank in search of pike, of course the ups and the downs will be featured.

The first few trips are live here: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/p/201516-pike-seaon.html

The First Rule of Pike Club

As mentioned above i have toyed with the idea of putting together a few video blogs and putting them on here or Youtube but the number on thing that has stopped me has been the fact it would be nearly impossible to put together a decent video blog without compromising the locations i fish.  I have had many comments over the years that i should name the venues i fish and i don't for the safety of the pike and of course the fact that with piking there is a huge amount of hours put in learning good spots and tactics that work and i think recently some people are forgetting that we should not be naming locations where pike are caught.

I read only this week about a club member who had gone out fishing caught a few pike yet the report mentioned the exact location he had fished to catch them, why? the number one rule of pike club is you don't talk about the locations you fish publicly.  By all means report a member had a fish on such a location but then do not go on to mention the exact place.  This does no favours for the pike safely from people looking for areas to target pike for the pot and also is disrespectful to the anglers who put huge amount of time in and in fact goes to show how far these people are detached from real angling, wrong so wrong.

Love my Dad...

So I'm away fishing recently and sat there on the bank i was travelling light hoping to cover as much water as possible.  A quick look to my right and threes a guy huddled up sipping coffee while the guy to my left looked to be breaking out some refreshing soup!  The wind howling in my face and not even a chair to sit on i had no choice but to make the call, the call for supplies.  My dad answered and asked where i was, a despondent sigh at my out of the way location was received.  He said he would put me a flask together and run it through for me, what a star.,

Well 40 minutes later on the horizon i saw my shining night, carrier bag in hand.  He then began pulling from the bag all manner of tin foil parcels!  Got to say he went the extra mile for me, two rounds of door stop toast and 3 choccy biscuits i was one happy camper!  Washed down with a nice warm brew and even had a pike to grace the moment.  Fantastic stuff, the best dad in the world.

On to this weeks update

A tale of two Rivers.....

Autumn and its a time of year we always associate with pike but it is also a time where my trotting senses start getting into the mind set for Roach.  This time of the year roach seem to start shoaling up, maybe they are the first silver fish to do this, maybe not, the mystery of angling is where the magic is.  All we knew was there was a good head of roach in the River Dee and last year we had done well for them so we set the sat nav for the banks of the Dee and headed off into the night.

Arriving on the banks we where met with an angler, also eager to wet a line, but also it seemed eager to deter possible competition,  "fishing rubbish here passed few weeks only small dace" was his line.  My head was thinking he was very eager to get on the bank to chase these small dace given  it was still dark.  We unloaded the gear and made the 10 minute walk to the swims. 

It is an area of the dee that is super deep under your feet and my memory serving me right i was at the tip of my 17ft rod last year.  Pluming up this year i was finding depths of longer than my rod could manage so i was already not happy to not be fishing bottom.  The swim seems to be a huge depression in the river bed as the river does shallow up further out and further down the swim it seemed.  I plumbed up and found a run there i would be on bottom where i thought my hemp was hitting the deck.  It took a while to get the first fish but when it came and it was a nice fat plump roach my enthusiasm went up a few notches.

My uncle slightly down stream was getting plenty of knocks but nothing solid to strike at.  He then landed a Roach that was to say the least massive, easily the biggest roach i have seen.  The splash at it hit his keep net confirming a sizable bar of silver.  I managed to put a few more roach in the net but nothing like my uncles of the first fish i had caught early on.

The morning wore on and our swims completely died, there was not such much as a knock or even a sign of fish around and the river looked dead with no fish topping like they had earlier.  It was time to make a decision as even leaving now by the time we had packed up and loaded the car and reached the river it would be getting on for midday.  We decided to make a move and drop on the River Dane on the way home.  Mine and my uncles roach from the morning shown below.

Travelling down the A roads we where soon on the banks of another river and to be honest it looked as low as i have ever seen her and really clear, i didn't hold out much hope arriving in the middle of the day.  Setting up in the closest swim i had a snag to my left but the trot was just off rod tip around a sweeping slow bend with plenty of water and slacks that could hold fish.

I was into fish from the off with dace being the main quarry and i was amazed at the sport if i was honest i was expecting a really hard session and again goes to show how you think you know a place and them boom nature throws what you think out of the window!  The fish took some messing around to keep them coming like following them right down to the extremity of the swim and changing depth to try a deeper line kept the bites coming.

Feeding also plays a huge part in it as well and i love nothing more than throwing hand fulls of maggots at a swim and getting a positive response from the fish with a bite a chuck but on this session i really trickled the bait in, literally 3 maggots every run through.

The final net was quite good considering the short amount of time we spent on the actual river

Till next time i wish you all tight lines and i hope the fish gods are good to you all.

Danny

33LB Stick Float Chub Net and Dead Baiting For Pike.....

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  By the time this goes live i will have returned back to the regimental confines of my nine to five job and will probably looking out the windows wishing i was out watching either a stick float go gently down the chub swim i am about to write about or waiting for that rush of adrenalin as a pike run develops, either way it wont be a happy return.  In this weeks update i am going to cover my thoughts on using a keep net, personal reason why i use one and my thoughts on why these are so badly perceived by some anglers.  There will be a little bit on a rather tricky pike i had to unhook recently and if the blog has gone live a little on my recent feature for Pondip.  The fishing in this weeks blog See's me remembering my scales for a special chub session, a few short sessions for pike and one long day social for pike.  So with that lets get into the update..

Why Use Keepnets...

It is safe to say in the past 15 years fish welfare in angling has taken over dramatically with unhooking mats and "cradles" now common place in most fishing trips and even written in the rules in most fisheries.  There has also been many other parts of our angling that have come under the microscope in that time as well, barbed hooks are certainly not as common as they once where and also it seems the keepnet has also fallen out of favour with many anglers. 

The rise of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter where people can share images has certainly driven these changes in angling with pressure from peers in comments on photos almost enforcing the use of unhooking mats and other such fish welfare appliances.  With unhooking mats now firmly part of the furniture now in most pictures and anglers fishing attention certainly has moved now over to the use of keep nets and i myself have certainly had more than one discussion on social media around my use of them in my angling.

Talking from a personal point of view here i use a keepnet for a number of reasons, the first is the fact that being brought up on the local canals fishing for silvers a huge part of the fun of angling for me growing up was looking at the fish you had caught at the end of the session, lifting that net after a days fishing to see all the fish you had caught and then releasing them was certainly one of the reasons i went fishing.  I now forward 20 so years and i still head off to the bank with a keep net in my luggage as that love of seeing a net come the end of the day is still there and also using a keep net lets you gauge how well the session has gone as you compare weights and number of fish to previous sessions.  I feel so passionately about using a keep net on my sessions that two years ago whilst looking for another angling club i actually decided not to join Lymm Anglers for the reason they have a no keep net rule on rivers, its just part of my fishing. 

Away from personal reasons for using a keep net there is also a practical reason for using one in some scenarios and they surround the species of fish the chub.  I always remember when i joined Warrington anglers the talk was all around being mobile and that you will never catch more than one chub from a swim on the river Dane, "catch a fish and move on" was all anyone ever said.  In my early days on the stretch i found this to be true you would catch a chub and then could wait a hour or so for the next from that swim where as if you moved to the next sunken tree a chub would come quick if it was there.   I then recall a session i did with my uncle early on where we visited the dane and we stuck to our swims with their being three of us.  Armed with my keep net and all my gear i set up and within the first hour with the keep net in i had four chub in the net with the session ending with 8 chub caught from the one swim in just the morning.  These fish where there every session but with no keep net you only caught one before i think you releasing it spooked the shoal.

I am convinced the use of keep nets when fishing for chub make a difference and i bet they also do when fishing rod tip for dace and roach.  The other huge benefit when fishing rivers and canals and using a keep net is the fact they act as a huge indicator of when  a pike is in your swim.  Long before your swim may die on the river from a pike moving in you will normally see all the fish in your keep net rise to the top and this is almost certainly an indicator of a predator in the area and helps explain why your swim dies.  No keep net you might just think the shoal had moved on, a small but definite perk of using a keep net.

On a final note lets not forget that keep nets have come a long way form the gill net esque nets of the 70's to 90's fine mesh, long and spacious nets are now the norm and allow the fish freedom of movement while in the net whilst having a large rubber net to transfer the fish into for taking a picture means any harm to the fish is drastically reduced.  Social media has of course allowed for a breeding ground of people to comment at will thinking their opinion is the right one and the only way or should i say they think "their way IS the ONLY way it should be done".

In reality the beauty of angling for me lies in its diversity and in the fact one mans or woman's way of catching fish or fishing in general is totally different to another and i think people should respect that when commenting on photos on social media.

Tricky Unhooking

In my short time dead baiting for pike i have been really lucky in that i think i have only had one or two pike that have taken the bait quite deep and in both scenarios the use of semi barbless hook and wire cutters has seen the fish unhooked and released safely.  In this weeks update i remember having one fish that was quite a tricky one to hook.  It was not so much deep hooked than the bottom treble had gone through the gills and was hanging out side of the pikes gills.

Had the pike been of a decent size into double figures i would have probably had an easy time teasing the hooks back through the pikes gills but with this pike it was only a jack and the gaps in the gills was not really there to do so.  I just think it was worth sharing how simply carrying wire cutters made this quite difficult scenario much easier as quickly snipping off the bottom trebles allowed me to remove the top treble from the pikes mouth and simply pull the wire with no hooks on the end through the gills.

Quick thinking and not being bothered about cutting your wire to help unhook a pike safely made this quite tough unhooking on paper quite quick and i just thought it was worth sharing for any new people like myself to the sport of dead baiting for pike.

On to the fishing....

Stick Float Fishing For Chub....

In last weeks blog i covered a session i had recently fishing for chub and unfortunately on that session i forgot my weigh scales so i had no idea of the size of the net of fish, on this session it was the first thing i packed.

Myself and my uncle spent the night before scanning the water levels on the EA with this hope of getting on the River Dee but with the chart showing heights of over 7m me knew there was zero chance of us getting on the main river so we set our sights on one of the smaller rivers.

The swim was the same one as i fished last session and i decided on this session to take a huge risk and do something i do not normally do and fish close to the feature i was drawing the fish from on my previous trip.   Fishing the other bank i was in prime position to run a float right along the feature and also on the right side for striking into the fish across my body. 

Fishing this side of the river also meant i could use my 17ft rod to get right behind the float and hold it back and this also allowed me to use a much lighter float than i would normally in the form of a 6 number four stick which actually came from one of the Pondip boxes.  The reason for this was i was right on the fish and i did not want to spook them.

Knowing the size of the fish in this area i was certainly a man with a plan so i went armed with 3 pints of maggot, a pint and half of hemp and a tin of corn.   The three pints of maggot where split half white and half red.  This meant i could really attack the swim with feed if i needed and prey on a chubs biggest downfall, their greedy nature.  I knew if i was to catch a number of fish then they would not be able to resist blooms of maggots running right past their noses for long before coming back on the feed.   This would be important as i knew with each fish i caught i would spook the fish more as being so close to them i would be playing them on top of their home.

The beauty of this swim is the fact that the snag they live in is completely hollow underneath so you know as long as you hold on tight and keep your rod dipped under the water the fish will eventually come into the middle, god help me if i ever turn up and a tree gets wedged under the snag as it would be a lot harder to get them out.

I can remember so many sessions when i have caught well and then returned thinking up a better plan and not had a sniff all day, it has happened so many times in the past, this session was not one of them by any means.

Setting up i was already drip feeding the swim with maggot and laid quite a heavy bed of hemp with a good few hand fulls of hemp.  The fist trot down and i might sound cocky here but i knew the float was going to bury as it was going through the swim a dream and with not a breath of wind it was dream stick float fishing and rightly so right on the spot the float shot under and i was into the first chub of the day.

The fish safely in the net i was full of confidence as i knew where there was one chub there was more so i kept up the feeding pattern with red maggot being my first bait of choice. The chub and bites came steady through the morning but it was noticeable that double red maggot was the killer bait on the day.

With a new born baby at home all my sessions have been quite short affairs and this was no different and i knew i only had a few hours so i really concentrated hard on the session.  By dinner time and packing approaching packing up time i had around 16 chub in the keep net and to my astonishment i had lost around half that amount either bumping of the hook pulling which really was crazy thinking how close i was to the fish.

It may have been down to hook size but i am a firm believer in using 18 or size 20 hooks even for chub as it goes will with the light hook lengths of 2lb 2oz that i use for these fish.  I guess had i used a 12 or 16 i might have not lost those fish but then again a bigger hooks and line might have seen me not get any bites in such conditions. 

I ended the session with a net of fish i could hardly lift and with so many in the net i transferred them in the water into my 32inch rubber pike net and onto the scales to be weighed.  The scaled went round once as they zoomed past 20lb and then passed half way again and finally settled on 33lb.  A net of chub i could only dream of when i started fishing a float 4 years ago and i was over the moon.  A quick few picks on the unhooking Matt and it was back into the river for these fish.  A session to remember!

Cold Snap  Dead Bait Pike Fishing

The weather at this time had been a right pain for piking as barmy 8-10oc temps where quickly followed by severe drops in overnight temperature seeing the mercury falling below 0oc.  The morning of this session i remember opening my front door to a real chill in the air and spending a few moments defrosting my car wind screen,

My chosen species for this session was the pike and having spent a lot of time in one area taking a number of jacks and the odd double i decided on trying a new area some 400 yards away where a narrowing in the waterway meant the boats had cut out a deep run under my feet in the edge.  It was completely new area for me but my plan was to spend some time fishing this area knowing i had an almost banker of a swim not to far away.

The bait had not been in the water more than a few seconds before i turned round to see my float dancing over to the shallow far bank.  The float lay flat as the fish came up the shelf so i gave it a few second before striking only for a tiny jack pike to come up with a god full of frozen smelt ans spit it back at me, only a Jack but a chance missed for sure.  The next rod baited up and out in the swim i sat back and began to make up a few more pike rigs.

I can remember how long i had been recycling my rigs with new wire before the same rod bobbed a few times and headed off.  This run was far more determined than the first as the float took off at some speed before submerging into the depths.  I struck and was treated to a manic fight from a pike that did its all to free the hooks even taking to the freezing cold air at one time.  The fish took some line during the fight but eventually and ever so stubbornly it found its way into the net fighting all the way.

A split back dorsal fin, long and really skinny pike i instantly recognised this pike as the fish i had caught in the swim 400 yards away only a few days earlier.  A fish that again goes to show the distances these fish travel in search of food.  It is a worry for this pike as it is obviously very hungry to pick up dead baits but it does not seem to be in the best of condition with a big head and very slim body.  Asking other pikers they reckon its a female or male on the decline or its just not been getting enough food

The fish released i sat back and set about finishing off my rigs in the hope that it would bring on more action.  Before i knew it i had 8 rigs made and not a sniff of another bite on the floats despite moving them around the swim, it was time for a move for the last hour to my old haunt.  Set up in the new spot i noticed it was deeper than my new spot and no sooner had i placed the second rod in than the first was showing some interest.  A few unnatural shunts against the wind at first perked my interest before just like the morning it marched confidently away.

The fight was a short one all under my rod tip but more than welcome and as with all pike captures a sigh of relief is always let out when the fish hits the mesh.  The fish was only a small jack at 5lb5oz and was actually the pike i mentioned about in the introduction with a very awkward hook outside the gill.

This pike came at 12.40 and to show how much the right location can pay off it was only 13.10 when the float again was away and this time i was rewarded with the best fish of the day in a 7lb pike and one i had not crossed paths with before.

The pike painted a pretty picture in the net and with that fish i called it a day.

Right Place Right Time...

The 4th January and i woke to the sound of her in charge muttering "you can go fishing for a hour if you want" i was out of bed and in the car like a shot and there was no messing around today i was straight back to the area i had caught two in on the previous session.  I literally only had a hour or two max so it was all out for one bite. 

The rod was baited with a nice smelly herring jack tail smothered in pike oil and i even added a layer on the skin for added attraction.  I really couldn't have done more apart from attaching two barrels to either side of the bait to get a bite. 

The bait hadn't been in the water no more than 20 minutes before the oil loving pike was onto it and a swirl on the float alerted me to a pike being in the area as it held face down hoovering up my bait the swirls form its tail causing a small vortex on the surface.  I snick into position and i could see the pike taking the bait into its mouth, no need for a float her i watched for the bait to disappear before setting the hooks.

As expected from this swim it was another jack weighing 6lb but i was not complaining it was another one of the total and i was getting bites on most sessions so i really didn't care about the size of the pike, i was there for a quick bite and this swim was producing.

I gave it another hour after this fish but as promised i left the bank and returned home.

 Big Lake Social....

A social session was planned and with all four of us on the bank Garry suggested we head to a lake as he had heard rumours of pike being in there.  I did my normal homework as i do on such sessions on the inter webs and must admit i found very little info on any about pike from this venue but trusting to his research we all headed off.  With depths down to 25 foot just off the edge it was a ledger rod and a float rod for me.

To cut a long blank short 8 rods in the water from first light to almost dark saw only one fish come to the bank to Garry's float fished herring just inches off the bottom. 

The day fish wise was a disaster really but as always a good day was had on the bank with plenty of banter through the day keeping us all in good spirits and its always great to sit and talk about pike trips of yester year with two people who have done their fair share of piking. And what great scenery to blank in.

Well that just about sums up another few sessions on the bank and i think we are slowly catching up the sessions till we are up to date.

till next time

Tight Lines

Danny

River Dane Stick Float: Bumper Chub Nets 'N' Move Pays Off

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update I  hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  Well we are fast approaching the end of 2014 and most blogs out there are now thinking about writing their summery of their angling year.  I must say 2014 has been some year for me for both trotting and of course predators but as a River angler i feel my year runs, not the conventional 12 months, but March to March when the River Close so i will be doing my summery of the season then.  I blog i am already excited to put together.

In this weeks update the fishing comes from the River Dane where we find the river in perfect nick but the temperatures well into the minus figures, the results of this session are more than worth reading on for.  The next day i was of course out piking for the morning and again it was nice to get a few pike on the bank and keep my total ticking over towards the challenge of 100 in a season.

The introduction this weeks covers our River Dane campaign and what where we are at with discovering this intimate river and a general look at how me and my uncle tackle new rivers over the year, a little bit on the yearly carp stocking charade from Warrington Anglers and a little piece on my fishing plans for the coming weeks over Christmas.

With that its onto the Update:

New River Need A Plan....

I have lost count how many times i have seen the following question on Forums and social Media pages "I have recently moved next to a river, how do i tackle it".  In my early years river fishing with my uncle the River Dee was the river we dedicated all of our trips too and week in week out we travelled to her banks and unless she was flooded or unfishable we wet a line.

To start off with we did our home work by locating all the EA water level stations along the rivers length and on all the major tributaries feeding the main river and every time we headed out i saved a copy of the water levels to go with the trips we were fishing.  Sometimes the level station might not bee in the length you are fishing, sometimes it can be miles away, but the key is remembering that the level at certain stations is all relative to the stretch you are fishing.  An example being i know if the level at Farndon on Dee is below 4.75 i knew the gravel bars at almere where not under water the two places are a good distance apart but you can see how one level lets you know information about the other when you learn your river.

The next stage of our plan is always to fish a wide range of water and fish as many locations along the river as possible taking in the deeper lower reaches as well as the middle reaches to try and locate the fish.  The dace especially is a fish that does shoal up in winter but in summer spreads far and wide but what we did find was these dace shoals would also return to the same areas in summer and finding these hot spots proved invaluable to us and to this day the fish still return to the same spring and summer spots before heading to the well known winter spots to form the huge shoals the river is famous for.

Dont get me wrong it took a long time and many many blanks fishing stretches that looked like they would hold fish but in truth did not to pin down the hot spots along the river.  Once these areas where known we then had a range of river to go at where we know good shoals of fish lived and we set about learning how the river fished in different conditions.  Many people will tell you that the river Dee is not worth fishing if it is over 6.5m high but you would be wrong to stick to these set in stone laws as i recall a session when we fished the river at 7.5m and bagged up on dace taking 20lb each from a swollen tributary on the stick float.  The key to this was knowing the dace where in the area in hue numbers and that come the main river rising they would all push into the slower tributary that had back up.

 I guess learning on such a big river gave us the confidence to then take this these principles onto the small river dane and have confidence in our plan, at the end of the day most rivers are the same just on a smaller or larger scale the same featured such as back eddys, under cut banks, smooth shallow dace glides and long deep roach swims are still there.   So far this season we have fished all the lower and middle reaches of the Dane and have already located areas that hold nice Roach, chublets and perch and we are currently moving into our first winter fishing this river as our main river so we hope to learn areas that will fish in high water and also see if the better chub in the 3-4lb bracket come more to play as the cold sets in and they come to the feed.

One thing is for sure to learn a river you need to get out there on the banks both summer and winter and sometimes you learn a lot more from the blanks than you do the sessions you bag up and it comes easy.  The road may be hard and sometimes you think why go here when we can go somewhere we know we will catch but in the long run it pays and this year we have reaped the rewards of having a good knowledge of the River Dee, Dane and Bollin and is the main reason the blanks on the rivers this year have been few and far between.  In short its worth the effort in the ling run.

Got To Keep Them Carpers Happy....

Reading Franks Collumn again this week a post came up i had been expecting for some time.  It was the yearly communal invite to come and rejoice on the banks of the local carp waters as the latest batch of carp where stocked into the waters.  Some people may laugh at the words genetically modified but the fact of the matter is in this day and age you can literally go these places and if you want a fully scaled mirror carp or a linear mirror carp then the answer is "of course sir we can breed you one of those".  Long gone are the times when these fish where the jewels and one in a life time fish you caught and admired and personally i think you lose the whole magic of such a magnificent creature when there more the norm than the exception.

At the time of me being excluded from the WAA facebook for merely acquiring the numbers of carp stocked from the Chairman's own blog and using these numbers to out my point across that the numbers of carp being stocked to silver fish was grossly unfair, i guess its easier to adopt a dictatorship mentality than actually listen to a member.  I mean like at the time of being kicked of i think i counted over 650 individual carp stocked and that was two yearly stockings ago now so i guess we must be fast approaching the stocking of 800-900 carp now.

I guess its only fitting at this most biblical time of year that the chairman and his band of disciples can now claim to achieve the feet of waling on water as there must be that many carp in Sandiway and Grey mist that you know must be able to walk on their backs there are that many.  I wonder how many people turning up to witness the stocking will then relieve our chairman of begging for catch reports by actually owning up when they catch these fish....hmmmm it would be interesting to count, yes lets count, fingers and thumbs at ready...doubt i will need my toes.

Don't let my moaning form time to time about these carp lead you to believe i am anti carp, i actually enjoy fishing for the species.  My upset is around the equality of the club and how just a small amount of the money spent on these huge amount of carp could do so much for one or two waters silver fish population.  I mean what does the average 20lb carp cost these days 400-500 quid??  you but 3 fish in roach and you would have a healthy weight of fish to stock the other pools with.  I said a few years ago High legh needed silvers stocking when they put the carp in as the fishery is not balanced and hey ho i read a week or so ago a WAA angler complaining he was blanking on there.  Well hey ho mucka the carp have shut down in the cold and on the long cold blank just think of the fun you could have had on a light whip for roach.

Merry Christmas.....

With the birth of our little boy imminent it may mean this is my last blog update before Christmas and maybe before 2015 arrives.  2014 has been a great year on the bank but it has been an equally fantastic year off the bank and it has been great to meet so many anglers who read my weekly blog both on social media. emails and on the bank.  I have also met a lot of people this year from the angling world with business like Beechwood Baits, Pondip, Water to Go, ALDI, Go Outdoors and the BBC all being fantastic people to work with on projects.

I would like to wish you and your Families a Very Merry Christmas a Happy New Year and a Safe Festive period.  May 2015 bring you all the tightest of lines and Success in your ventures.

On to this weeks fishing....

River Dane Stick Float: Bumper Chub Nets and Move Pays Off...

After a long hard week in work 4.30Pm on Friday had arrived and the weekend beckoned she had been a long time coming.  There had been little rain through the week so the River Dane was in fine fettle and after just dropping down from flood conditions we expected a good days sport the next morning.  That evening i spent a few hours on the bank with Garry fishing for pike at a well lit location but unfortunately none where forthcoming but it was great to back out on the bank with him as December is by far the busiest time of the year for him and bank time has been at a minimum so it was great to meet up again.

i recently came across a feature on Blogspot that allows you to schedule your blog posts to go live a certain time and Friday at 6pm was the first time i utilised this tool so sat on the bank i had a quick check and bang on time it went live and all updated fine so that will certainly be a feature i will be using more its just a pitty the pike where not as punchual in their appearance.

That evening i spent a few hours knocking up some rigs for the session on the river the next day.  With rivers and especially with trotting a float where you can really be hunting out snags this preparation the night before saves so much time on the bank.  I normally make up between  4 and 10 hook lengths the night before a session and if and when i want to change its a simple as attaching the hook length loop to loop.

Leaving the bustle of the town behind on the morning of the session myself and my uncle both commented on how mild the temperature was again despite it being a clear sky.  A quick glance at the temperature gauge on my car showed 40oc.  Passing out of the town the temperature dropped with every mile of the journey and then plummeted as we entered the dane valley to a water freezing 28oc. Luckily with flowing water you get some extra scope with water freezing so we where really confident when we pulled up in swims we had caught good nets from before the recent floods.

The first hour and half and i had one small chublet to show for my efforts and i was sat mulling what was wrong when my uncle visited my peg having caught 3 proper chub in the same time.  This let me know the fish where on the feed and it was the peg i was fishing not the fish that was the problem with the lack of success so far.  Whether you subscribe to the theory that frosts or the amount of day light hours cause fish to migrate to different swims on rivers there is no doubt that silver fish certainly do and it was quite possible that the fish that where holding in my swim all summer where now residing in their winter haunts elsewhere, it was time for a move.

If fishing was ever easy it would be boring and at the age of 30 i am thinking that you could waste a lifetime trying to work out fish and still come up miles short, work this one out.  Ste turned up for a chat and being the good man he is he helped me move my gear to a new swim.  The swim i left was 4-5ft deep and normally held a good head of roach and chublets.  I moved literally 40 yards to a straight glide and plumed up the swim, exactly the same depth as my previous one so no need to alter my depth.  Within 10 trots down i had netted around 6-7 fish and it left both me and Ste shocked how you could leave on swim so close and move and then be straight into fish.

Ste left to have a chat with Azza and i continued to catch well in the swim i had moved to.  The time was 12 and upon Ste and Azzas return around a hour later i had amassed a nice net of fish weighing around 5-6lb and was well on my way to a good net.  Azza had continued to build on his early chub by putting some more quality chevins in his keep net.

Ste left us both catching fish and during the remaining hours the swim i was in went from strength to strength as the fish really came on the feed, nothing massive but great sport and fun and like always with this river it was great to catch such a variety of species with Roach, Dace, Chub, skimmers, perch and even a rogue ide making up the net.

It was one of those sessions where the morning when i was not catching dragged and was hard work and when i found the fish in the afternoon time flew bye and before i knew it the light was closing in and it was time to weigh the nets.  My uncle was first and my god did he nail it with a 25.5lb net of all chub.  It was a net that was great to see and as i said in the introduction this is our first season on this river and we are already building a picture of where the fish hold in winter.

uncles net and weight

My net went 15.5lb and was a net i was really made up with as it came in around 3.5 hours of fishing.

my net

Few Hours For Mr Pike...

The next morning i had a few hours to burn and i decided to drop in on a spot where i had caught some pike recently in the hope i would find one or two pike willing to take my float fished smelt dead bait.

It was a set up of one rod fished on a float fished dead bait while the other i fished on my small wobble rod.  The first 20-30 minutes passed by with no sign of a fish in the clear water and it was beginning to feel like time for a move when right under my feet a flash of olive green and yellow propelled from no where and engulfed my free lined smelt.......GOT YOU i thought as i watched the pike turn the bait and it disappear into its mouth.  I could quite clearly see it was a small jack so once the smelt was out of sight I struck immediately to set the hooks in the roof of its mouth.  The fight on the small light spinning rod is always good no matter when the size of the fish and with the drag set light so not to pull the hooks it was fun to see the pike pulling line from the reel.

not the biggest pike in the world but most welcome.

With the first pike of the day on the bank you always breathe a sigh of relief and its almost as if the pressure is off and you can relax.  An early fish is always welcome on the pike trips although sometimes it can be a kiss of death as its the only bite you get on some trips.

I may have only been dead baiting for pike for a few months but i have certainly began to piece together some theories from my trips for these fish.  Two stand out ones are 1) there is certainly a pike feeding spell during the day where the pike seem to switch on and on some days all your bites will come in that short window 2) With jack pike i believe if they move off fast its to get the meal they have found away from the other pike in the area before the meal attracts attentions so they can sulk off and eat it in peace.   The fish that i caught first certainly did not hang around after it nailed the wobbled bait so i was confident of more action.

A quick glance at the static dead bait rod is all that is required and with each glance your hopes are heightened and then dashed as the float remains motionless.  Then out of the corner of my eye the static dead bait float began to show signs of a bite developing so i calmly brought in the wobbles bait and slowly tip toed past the float to pick up my rod and waited for the right time to set the hooks.  The result of the short fight under my feet was another jack pike but a fish is a fish in this game when piking and i will take them while they keep coming.

Unfortunately despite many moves this was all the action for the morning session out for pike and i left the bank feeling a little disheartened as i had caught two pike really early on but spent the next few hours chasing their tails.


Well that is it for this weeks blog update.  It was due to go out before Christmas but since the birth of our little boy all safe and well on December 19th time has literally not been there.

Till next time

Tight Lines

Danny