A Dream Week Off Work.......New Still Water Pike PB!!!

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  With the weather being so bad i have been out fishing quite a bit of late but i am aware the main blog has been quite sparsely updated.  The main reason for this is the fact that the rivers have been a complete mess! And as such my fishing has been mainly concentrated for pike. 

My idea at the start of the year was to separate my main fishing from my piking and write a pike diary.  As such it has meant that this has been updated more than my main blog but the downside of it being a, page within a blog, is that no updates are published on blogger to say an update on that page has gone live.  In reality it means that unless you follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter or Maggot Drowners website then you will not even know an update has gone live.

You can keep up with my pike fishing here: http://www.satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/p/201516-pike-seaon.html

As with buses you dont get any for ages then they all come at once and this is going to be the case with the blog over the next week as last week i decided to take a week off work to go fishing and spend some time with the family.  As such it means i have a few trips saved up and my plan is to split these into two updates.

So Why Take a Week off Work?

Well in short i needed a break, its been a long few months in work with more responsibility and pressure and with my new leave year coming round i decided to take a week off.  It was not all about being away form work though i timed the week off to hopefully coincide with my best chances of catching an upper double pike. 

Before Dave and Ste had both caught nice fish i had already spoken and mentioned to my mate Ste that i would love a nice pike to round the season off.  To this point in the season i had probably caught around 50-60 pike, at a guess, so i had done ok by my standards,  added in with that was 9 low doubles.

I booked a week of with the intention of putting as much time as i could into catching a nice upper double.  I have always said in my fishing i would never fail in anything in angling through lack of effort or time put in and if i got to the end of the week and i hadn't caught one then i could sit back and think " i did all i could" and sometimes that is the case.

So with a week off work I started my hunt for a upper double....

Sunday Morning Social...

Sunday morning and three of us hit the bank in search of pike.  I had been out with Azzer the previous day on a perfect river Dane and not had so much as a stretched maggot so i was eager to get a bend in the rod.

We walked the path to the water and i think we all felt an air of deflation as the over night heavy rain had left the water looking like thick brown chocolate milkshake.  A bit of colour is good but this was beyond what i had seen in the past.  We spread out our rods over a big distance and hoped for the best.

To my shock it didnt take 10 minutes for my float to move off,  we all wiped out eyes in astonishment i think.  Sure enough the float sunk away and a bit of me did think is this the one?  A hard strike and straight up came a small jack pike wrestling with my dead bait.  A battle it won a few feet from the net as its constant thrashing saw the hooks pull.

A hour or so passed with nothing on all our rods to suggest another chance was coming and we did all talk about calling it a day.  A quick glance and my float was away again and this time i made no mistake, a small jack of around 3-4lb was on the mat.  We did all call it a day not long after this fish as conditions deteriorated.  Not a great start to the quest for a upper double pike at all.

Monday Morning Session.....

Waking up really early on Monday morning i wandered down stairs to make a brew, a trip that on a Monday See's me dragging my feet before work.  Today was different.  The first day of a week of work and i was feeling refreshed and ready for the challenge ahead.  Loading the gear into the car i was not confident at all for some reason.

I could not put my hand on the reason why, was it the colour of the water the previous day? or was it the fact i didn't think that despite my efforts this week that i might get one? I will never know but loading the car there was a feeling that i was wasting my time even going today, it all felt so wrong.  I pondered unloading the car and creeping back into bed but decided against such a foolish act.

Travelling along the back roads i noticed the rain that had belted down all weekend had given up the ghost overnight and the roads where bone dry, probably down to the blustery winds that where already blowing.  Sometimes you really can drive on autopilot and the actual driving, although your brain must still process the mechanisms needed to drive, my whole trip there was full of thoughts of apprehension and a sense of pending failure.

The catching of pike as such was not my worry here, the location had produced loads of fish and i knew that catching would not be the problem, the key here was catching the size of pike i was targeting.  This is so far away from my "happy to catch what comes along mentality"  this was almost as close to specimen fishing as i could get.  My thoughts where though that it would be a case of time on the bank and a numbers game.

Out of the car and my confidence instantly boosted,  all the chocolate colour from the previous day had dropped over night and although not gin clear the water was a dark black in colour and looked perfect.  A spring in my step i walked to my peg in the morning sun light.  My first rod cast in on a smelt and i turned to set up the other rod and get it out in the swim.

A quick glance at the float and she was on her way out and in a second she disappeared into the depths, a early run and giving it a quick countdown i struck only for the hooks and no bait to come back at me, disaster!  The only consolation was the fish felt no resistance of a hook.  I quickly re baited the rod i was setting up and then repositioned the rod i had just lost a fish on.

I sat back and poured my first brew of the  morning, a cold drop in temperature saw blooms of steam rising from my position, like Indian smoke signals giving away my position to all around.  A few sips of the coffee and i noticed my right hand float twitch, very naturally but unnaturally if you get my drift? Something was about, a tug and then another and then a slow move away with the bait.  The float slid away beneath the oily morning surface.  Any who fish with me know i get over excited and dropping my brew i skipped to the rod.  Line was moving steady of the reel at this point and a quick countdown i checked the drag, wound down and hit the run.....

My 2.75lb Prologic Carp rod hooped over and stayed bent as the fish kept deep and hugged the bottom and i knew straight away i was connected to a double figure fish.  The fish held station with the drag on my Shimano reel ticking over as it did so just waiting to absorb and lunges.  A bit of pressure applied the fish came up slightly in the water and as it moved off a huge boil was left swirling in its wake.

Judging by the size of the boil i began to think more and more this was a fish i did not want to lose, but still only thinking it was a low double.  The fish then came into the margin right under the rod tip, the water clarity as such i could still not see the fish despite being only a trace depth deep below the surface.  It was then she gave a little and up she came, head first she broke the surface like a crocodile she kept coming up form the depths as the true length and depth of her body was revealed, right there was my prize and i considered dropping the rod, jumping on her back and wrestling her to the bank haha.

Then came the dreaded moment of any big fish fight, you know whats on the other end, what there is to lose and at this point she had gone on another long run with another huge boil coming up around 15 yards out.  The long the battle went on the more the odds moved to the pike.   With a light drag i coaxed her to the margin and i decided the time had come as she come up i took my chance and slip the Fox Rubber mesh under her prehistoric olive and gold flanks, he flanks in the net i knew i had nailed it for sure.  She would have to be made of balsa wood to not be a upper double.

I quickly unhooked the pike, and quickly got some mat shots before popping her in the weigh sling and weighing her. 17lb 11oz and a new still water Pb!!.  I quickly rang my mate Ste and what a great mate he is as without hesitation he said he would drop everything and make the long journey from where he was working, true gent!

The fish in a meshed sling and in the large landing net i kneeled at the side of the water for the full time it took him to arrive ensuring the fish was upright and holding the mesh away from the fish to ensure her gills could work.  I got a few soakings as she regained her strength but it was well worth it,  Ste arrived and in now time we had some nice shots, so good when the other person knows how to take a nice photo.  Thanks again mucka for taking the time to do it and the cracking pics. ;-)

 It was back into the net this time with no net to recover fully before being released.

Well what can i say i guess its a lesson in no matter how much you doubt the conditions, bait or magnitude of the challenge ahead it always pays to make the effort to go any way.  How many times do we formulate a plan, sort our gear and hit the bank ultra prepared yet it does seem the sessions where you feel its a waste of time that produce the best results!

I was all set for a long week on the bank and as such i nailed the fish on my second cast within probably 20 Min's of setting up.  I had two more takes that morning that where dropped but on the day i was blissed out looking through the pictures and called it a day around 11am and enjoyed an afternoon with the wife and kids.
pic of kids

 Oh What a Perfect Day!

Till the next instalment where we head out for a special days roach fishing i wish you all,

tight lines

Danny

Roach on the Bolo....

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  From a blogging point of view i am currently two trips behind schedule.  This is not necessarily a bad thing as a back log means i have plenty of content there stored ready to write about and also means when i do get some free time i can write a couple of updates at once and schedule them to go live over time.

At this moment in time i am into my pike season and loving it i have had some tough times already and had a nice capture already but most of all i am enjoying my pike fishing.  As you will read in coming blogs i now have my 17ft rod back in action and feel prepared now for any river we tackle.

In this weeks update i will be covering a very very special session by long time blog follower and good friend Garry had on the bank recently and we finish the introduction with a little bit on a gift i was sent by a fellow blogger to review and develop, a product i am really excited about. 

On to the update...

Pike Heaven for Garry...

Two years ago struggling on the canal to get a bite and with the wind howling in my ear i was close to giving up on my new pike dead bait adventure.  I was wet behind the ears in this branch of our sport and as always my blogs at the time where brutally honest in reporting the blanks i was going through.  It was not long after returning home i received a message from Garry offering to help me out and through a number of messages he got me to a stage where i was confident in what i was doing was right and given time i would catch pike.

Over the coming moths a few messages developed into actually going out on the bank together and again Garry was really help full in showing me how to tie my own wire traces and what knots i should be using.  Always happy to help i discovered he had helped many people over the years and with piking and it was great to see someone willing to give so much back into the sport.  I was very lucky last year to catch a fish of a lifetime and looking at the set up i caught it on it was so much more refined from the set up i was blanking on in those early day, hell i caught it on my own tied wire trace for one.

Garry's target since i have met him  has been to beat his personal best pike of i think 14lb 10oz and through the two years he has come so close with huge pike that where hollow to catching obvious 17-20lb pike that where low on weight due to hooks stopping them feeding.  Well on the 14th October at 5.30pm it all came together for him, it all came good, here is your blog mucka...

Leaving work at 4.30pm i was undecided as to whether or not to make the 40 minute journey through reams of traffic to see how Garry was doing on his day off pike fishing.  A early morning call on my break had revealed he was struggling and it was no surprise with temperatures rising to 15oc!  A quick text revealed he had moved from his morning haunt and when i arrived on the bank i was met with a man frustrated having tried every trick in the book to get a bite.  "last time i was here it was all tiny jacks" was a comment from me that in hindsight did little to improve the situation.  It seemed like i was there only a few seconds before Garry's left hand rod bounced once, causing a circular ripple to erupt across the surface in all directions around his bubble float, a slow move to the right and the float slid away.  A hard strike saw the float staying in the water and his rod bent into a nice curve, i moved his other rod into the margin and grabbed the net.  The fish at first seemed to just stay in one spot coming slowly up a little in the water columns.  I think this suddenly awoke the pike to the fact all was not well and in one long run the pike zoomed off taking line from the reel as it went.  This fish was not messing around at all and its size, unknown at this point, was added to by the fact Garry had no choice but to walk along the muddy banks with the fish to keep up with it.

"Got to be a nice fish Garry" and then she came up for the first time, "Jesus she wont fit in the net!" was the general consensus and this confirmed to me Garry was connected to a certain pb and at this point i knew it was at least a mid to upper double.  The fish came into the waiting net and her head about to grace the mesh she violently turned away on another run!!.  Holding the net i had flash backs of a lost fish where the hooks got stuck in the net and the fish flipped to safety, taking no chances we waited for the fish come in but time and time again the fish shot off at the sight of the net!. 

Walking back we knew we needed to get the fish in this time and walking back Garry eased the fish in and with a deep scoop she was in the net and Garry had his long awaited prize!.  The fish on the unhooking mat she was a fat fish with plenty of depth and width to her, to not be a personal best at this point she would have needed to been made of balsa wood, a proper pike.  It sent me straight back to a year ago for me and i wanted to make sure i captured as much of this special moment as possible for Garry so he had plenty of stuff to look back on and remember.  A few videos and a plenty of nice pictures we rested the pike in the net while we set it all up.  At 19lb 4oz he had demolished his personal best.

All the hours on the bank and numerous pike captures to get to this moment and i was privileged to have shared this moment with Garry given the fact he had helped me so much with my pike fishing. It was amazing to see such a nice pike on the bank but also see Garry bouncing up and down the bank full of excitement and jubilant at his new personal best.  It en captured everything that is so special about fishing for me, nothing in this wold can beat that feeling of walking on air after the capture of such a beautiful pike.

The session did not stop there for Garry as for the next hour his rods went mad with 3 more pike, 2 jacks and a pike of 15lb that would have been his personal best 30 minutes earlier.  Again another cracking fish.

Looking at these pictures I'm right back there on the bank with him sharing that moment and it was a privilege to have been there.  Well done mate and here's to the rest of the season to come!

Pike Float Perfection..

The blogging fishing world is at times just like one big community we all share the same passion for writing about our catches and all kind of have our own niche.  One fellow blogger, mike Cootes, writes a very good blog around his adventures on the bank but he also makes his very own floats.  All his floats till now have been stick floats or wagglers aimed at silver fishing but he recently we got into talks about me possibly looking at his new prototype pike float with a view of using it and feeding back any improvements.

As you can see from the pictures above the floats are as pretty as a picture and i was really excited to receive the float in post.  The float was fantastically packaged and protected so when i opened it up it was as beautiful as as the pictures suggested.  The float felt as light as a feather and at first i thought a little small, i was expecting it to be a lot bigger from pictures, i did wonder as to what the weight capacity of the float would be, the ultimate test being getting it out on the bank.

The line threaded through the float fine and sat on the line i could feel no weight at all on the line, everyone bangs on about resistance in this game and if that's the case no fish was feeling a thing from this float.  I went out on the bank on Sunday with this float for the first time and my usual 18 gram weight took the float to the red on the float so it gives me the option to fish on the bottom of a bait suspended.  You will read about the trip in coming blogs but as a sneak peak it has already claimed its first pike....

All in all i feel really privileged to have been sent the bespoke and personalised item of tackle it really does feel good to use it, my only worry now being losing the float!  A few more trips and i can give a full feed back report on the float but if you are looking for an item of tackle with that special touch whether for fishing a river or lake check out mikes blog on the link below!!

Mkes Blog: http://purplepeanut007.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/purple-peanut-float-caught-fish.html

on to this weeks fishing...

Roach on the Bolo!!

A new venue always gets the blood flowing with me and even more so when that new venue is a river!  Most of the fishing i do and new venues we fish is down to our hard working in scouting them out but on this occasion it was a nice tip off from a friend.  We hit the bank at dark thirty like we always do and with the mist rising from the river and the sun peaking over the horizon it was a magical moment to get on the river bank.

I only had my 13ft rod on this session and i just hoped and prayed the water in front of me was manageable for me.  Pluming up i found a nice run on the shelf dropping into a deeper channel around 10-11ft deep.  I started off on the stick and was instantly into fish and nice ones to boot which got me thinking if this was the average stamp we were in for a good days sport.

Although the float was going under regular i was missing or bumping a lot of bites.  I had a quick visit from Ste and despite speaking to him a lot on the blower and on Facebook it was great to have a face to face catch up and of course talk turned to the pike season.  I quickly changed over to a bolo float and as the sun was getting up and the sky was clear made up some ground bait to hopefully get some colour into the water.

The change over to the bolo certainly made all the difference with the bumping bites of missed bites suddenly being turned into fish on the bank and at around 5-7oz a piece some of the roach where a pleasure to catch.  I plodded along and was genuinely amazed at the quality of the roach as time and time again a palm sized roach graced my welcoming hands.

My uncle was having trouble with pike taking his fish so i decided to take a break from the trotting and see if we could land the toothy piscator from his swim.  A roach fished mid water was soon picked up and despite it not being the start of the pike season, it felt fantastic to be playing a pike again and had me looking forward to the October pike season.

The pike returned i returned to my peg and resumed my quest for roach and it was some of the best fishing we have had this year.  It really gives me great pleasure catching in deep water as it was large depths where i struggled so much in my early years so to be able to go a new venue and not be daunted by 10-12ft of water was a great feeling.  The roach continued to feed confidently and what was even better was they fed right on where i was feeding my spicy homemade chilli hemp, maggot being the hook bait.

The day drew to an end and it was time to look at the nets we had caught, with all the pike activity i expected a empty net with a hole in if i was honest! A 13lb net of red fins for me and 11lb for my uncle, a top days sport.

my net

 uncle net

Well that wraps up another week of fishing on the blog, till next time,

tight lines

Danny

Dead Bait Fishing For Pike: The Crazy Pike Fishing Continues....

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you well and your fishing nets wet.  Well what can i say the response to last weeks blog update has been immense, thank you to all the people who emailed me to say they enjoyed the read and for saying it really captured a true spirit of a fishing session with a friend.  I have to say it was pike fishing like i never ever thought it could be like, i have seen pike feed hard on the river before on live baits but this was something else all together as it was on dead baits.  All i can say is if you liked last weeks update then there is no holding back on this one as the action continues at a frantic pace, so much so i have just wrote a rough draft to write this update form of times pike where caught and weights and i have struggled to keep up with what was caught when, you will see what i mean on session two during a 15 minute period!.  I do feel however its going to be hard to put down in words again how the session was.

So in this update we also look at my Abu closed faced reel in the final part of the three part mini series on reels i use for stick float fishing, we take a look at a recent licence purchase and my plans for it in the closed season and then finally as the double figure pike go on the feed we look at some nice captures from the rest of the piking pirates on the challenge.  The sessions on the update are from the end of February so we are a little bit behind still.  The sessions include two pike sessions i fished with Ste where the pike continued where they left off from our previous trips with plenty of runs and the odd double thrown in for good measure.

Onto the Update....

New Licence Purchase...

This week as i write this marks the final week of the river season and with only one more session on running water to come this Saturday my mind has started to wander beyond the realms of flowing water.  After the rivers close i do intend on winding down a little with my fishing and spend some much needed time with the family.  This years piking has really took over with me and i have gone mad on it to the point its been close to an obsession.  With a number of trips saved up i can now take a few weeks break from any form of silver fishing with the hope that i can just nip out of a Saturday morning for a spot of piking for the next few weeks while the blog catches up.

This gap after the rivers close when the temperatures are still cold and the day to day temperatures can be a bit on and off its never really great fishing and its not till the warmth of spring arrives that the fishing picks up so in reality i am not missing much.   I have recently though bought a Lymm Anglers Card for the Bridgewater canal in Runcorn as its a canal i grew up fishing as a kid and its been many moons since i wet a line in her now clear but still snaggy depths.  It will be a change from dodging trees and snags on the river as i dodge wheelie bins and trolleys on the local cut but it will be a real trip down memory lane for me and should make for some interesting and nostalgic blogs and maybe the odd story of the old times.

I also intend to spend the odd session fishing areas of the canal that where out of our reach as a kid.  We walked the banks with our baskets and rods so the limits for me and my dad where as far as you could walk and with the bream shoals then on our doorstep we had no reason to venture too far.  My mate Garry does a fair bit on the other stretches so it will be interesting to explore new stretches with him.

Abu 706 Closed Face Reel

In the final part of the three part mini series on reels we take a look at the Abu Garcia 706 closed face reel.  I am going to go out on a limb here and say this is easily the most annoying reel i have ever used.  Why is it annoying? well at first its a beautiful reel to use and if ever a reel was made for trotting a float it is this reel as the line comes if the drum a dream and striking is as easy as trapping the line but i have now had two replacement reels sent to me in the two years i have used these reels through faults with the drag system.  Basically the reels are fantastic when fish for dace and roach and can even handle the odd chub and grayling but you have a pike take a fish on this reel and the pressure and drag just goes missing and the reel is never the same after it.

My uncle used some of the earlier models around int he 80's and 90's and swears by them but he hates using this new version we both bought at the same time to the point they rarely come out to be used.  The sessions i have used them they have been a dream to trot with though i will give them that but with two breakages already i use this reel sparingly should i say.

All in all i think its a mar-mite reel, you love it or hate it.  At the moment i fall on the don't like side of the scale.  Maybe in the future i might purchase the older models and see how i go but I'm yet to be convinced of their ability to land bigger fish.

Doubles are on the Feed.....

All through this pike season i have either been fishing with or been in regular contact with Garry and Ste and on the sessions they do with me i do show the fish they catch but they have also been out on sessions as well and i thought it good to share some of their recent captures on the bank.  Garry had a recent trip out where he caught this fantastic double figure pike.

Ste also took advantage of the end of season piking and caught this stunning upper double pike, fat as a barrel and so heavy he needed a knee to support its weight!

Both absolutely stunning pike and certainly the pike gods paying them back for their help this season.

on to this weeks fishing and its more pike pike pike!!

Dead Baiting For Pike -The Hunt Continues!!

The session before this i had been out with ste and experienced a pike fishing session like no other i had been part of.  Earlier on in the season we had been out on socials and had a few runs in a short space of time but the last session was something else as just under 50% of the pike where double figure pike, a session i will never forget and so many great memories on the bank with ste that day.

A link to that session is here: http://satonmyperch.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/chub-on-centrpin-new-ea-licence-and.html

Fast forward 8 days and the morning of the 22nd February and loading the car with my pike gear i was literally shaking with excitement.  I took a second to compose my thoughts and prepare myself that it might not be as good as the previous week and the not get too carried away.  Meeting up with ste we mulled over where to try and we decided to not try the same spot as last week but another area that would be more in fitting with the slightly warmer conditions.

The watery red sun was just peeping over the horizon as we prepared our baits to cast out into the swims and as we did a huge swirl appeared along the bank.  A pike striking and with the vortex of its swirls still turning Ste demanded i put a bait into its swirling vortex.   I don't know exactly how long it took for my dead bait rod to start marching off but it was not long as the red of the sun shows clearly on the picture of the pike below.  A pike around 7 or 8lb and at 7.01am when the rest of the world was fast asleep i got to work with taking a pic of our first pike.

In the next half hour we saw quite a few pike strike but little action on the dead baits and it wasn't until 7.45am that Ste connected with our second pike of the day.  The pike was around 6 or 7lb and we both knew the best time was still to come as last time a lot of the runs came after 8am.  With two pike under our belts and as always it was great ti get us both off the mark we decided to move on.

We set up in the next swim at 8am and it took all of 17 minutes for the pike to find our tasty fishy offerings.  The pike put up a great fight right under the rod tip and i remember us both being thank full it made it into the net!  The fish again was a upper single but we really did not care we where out to have fun and if the better fish came along then great.  On this session it was clear all the pike where eating well and piling on the pounds before spawning.

The bites the previous session came around 30 minutes of each other but when you are on the bank they seem a lot closer at times.  I guess it is by the time you have taken the pictures and released the pike and baited up your rod again it almost seems like a few minutes till another rod is going.  Ste was the next to get a run and this was proving to be a well timed move as we clocked up fish number 4 of the morning.

The expected bites after this one did not come and like the week before we decided on a move but with a bite always expected it was not until 10am we decided to move swims.  It was not until 10.42 that the first run came from the new spot and little did we know what was about to unfold in the next 30 minutes, pike fishing like i never ever thought it could be.

10.42 I get a run on my roach fished dead bait and leaving the run to develop i struck and into a hard fighting jack and boy did it fight taking line from the reel and great fun but in keeping with the cold conditions they have a hard few runs then seem to come up to the top.  The fish on the mat it was unhooked and quickly had its picture taken.

The pike resting in the landing net the next thing i hear is ste saying "your other floats going danny!!" with the fish in the landing net we decided to leave the pike as long as we could in the net to recover till the other pike was ready to be netted.  I struck into a solid fish that kept deep and had a healthy bend in my rod, Ste was right when he says "you can tell a double" and this was surely a double figure fish.

The fish up eventually on top Ste quickly let the first pike go and scooped up my pike.  She was a right fat pike and had, like the others, been eating well.  The fish on the unhooking mat we got the hooks out of her and she had made a right mess of the trace that was stuck in the mesh of my landing net.  With my landing net being rubber the hooks come out easily and we then set about getting a picture of my pike which went 10.8lb on the scales.

With the camera out and just about to take a picture we noticed stes float going and at this point we really worked fast and i quickly grabbed for my weigh sling/sack and placed my pike in the sling and put it in the edge to rest out of the way.

In this scenario the pike in your hands has no hooks in it so the fish on the other rod takes priority as all attention needs to be on that pike which will need to be hooked and unhooked in the next few seconds.  My pike resting in the margin quietly ste struck his fish and we both prayed it would stay on, of all the fish we wanted to stay on it was this one!  We where also very conscious when he was playing it that there was a very rare chance of a double hook up picture.

The fish played ball for us and with stes fish on the bank we made the decision to place this pike in the weight sling in the margins for a few seconds while we sorted our selves out.  It was 1 minutes of chaos with my fish then another on my rod then stes going straight away we were all over the place, hey who wouldn't be? how often does this happen on a pike session?  We got out gear sorted and the rods out again so they where out of the way and set about getting a few pictures.

A joint picture of mine and stes fishes and single shots of each fish, fantastic memories!

It was high fives all round and pats on the bank we both knew that was some special moments so you can imagine our faces when we turned round to see my float heading off like the titanic setting sail and just like the titanic the float also sunk into the depths although no icebergs where involved!  10.59 am and another pike lay before us on the already soaking unhooking mat and i must admit i was shattered my arm was killing me but boy was i buzzing it was out 8th pike of the morning, what a session.

This pike released the clock clicked over to 11.06am and with it stes margin rod that had sat motionless all morning twitched twice before slowly but very steadily moved off.  I don't know what made us both say it but we both thought this could be a decent fish just with the way the run was so different to all the other ones.  Ste as always was a figure of calm, i tried to be cool about it, on the inside my heart was pumping and it wasn't even my fish!  Ste then sparked into life and i knew the time to strike was near.

Reeling in and striking hard his float stayed in the water so i instantly knew it was a better fish and when his 3.5lb rods had a healthy curve in them i knew it was a better fish.  Long hard runs saw ste back winding but slowly the tide turned and the fish showed its green flanks and with one turn and a flip of its tail it was off again and at this point we both knew it was a better fish, not that any of us dared utter the words, jinxing this fish was not on the cards.

The fish came up and there was no messing it was a deep scoop and i knew this fish would go mad as soon as it was netted so there was no messing about it was straight out to the water and onto the mat.  She was fat as a barrel and "ruddock" of a pike.  At 12lb she was the cherry on the cake for a fantastic session.

The only thing that ruined this session was the fact we both had to get off at midday for work and family commitments.  We ended the session on 9 pike and two doubles.  The last 5 fish coming between 10.42 and 11.06 and included two doubles.  I got in my car and again i drove home on cloud nine astonished that pike fishing could be so manic and to think when i started dead baiting in  2014 i could not get it in my head about pike actually eating dead fish.....Jesus!

Surely it cant last.....

The 25th February and it was a noticeably warmer day all round and it was shown by the amount of activity on and around the water.  We knew it was going to be a busy one so we hit the water when it was still dark with only the faintest sign of light in the sky.  Confidence levels where high from the previous session as we cast out out smelly dead baits into the gloom, a prayer to the angling gods and we sat back and waited for the first run.

Well we sat and sat and after a hour without a touch we began to get a little worried that the fish where not in the area.  A quick recast around 8am brought no reward and we had just talked about packing up the rods and moving spots when my right hand rod finally trundled off, Thank god for that they are here and where obviously just having a lie in.

What is the saying about buses? well its the same as pike as in the space of 10 minutes these two pike hit the bank for myself, almost as if they had woken up and gone on the feed.

This was the start of a flurry of action with dropped takes for both of us over the next 30-40 minutes till eventually one developed into a solid run for ste.  All through the take we were convinced it was going to let go of the bait, it was a far from confident pike run with plenty of tugging on the float and a really ragged run.  Eventually the time came to strike and to our relief the pike stayed on and it judging by the gut on this 9.10oz pike it could have been the one messing us around as it thought can i fit another meal in my belly?

So many pike over 9lb.

After this fish even the dropped runs stopped and we decided on a move to another location.  On arrival the water looked mint with no wind and great clarity of around 3ft for dead baiting.  In went our rigs and within seconds of it hitting the water it was away with a confident take.  Striking it was a short but sweet fight that saw the fish come straight into the net.  On the matt for a picture and just as i went to click the fish flipped clear off the matt and bank into the drink,  Ste estimated it to be around 9lb so we settled on that for the fish, he is bang on with weights so i was happy with that estimation.

Ste was soon into a fish himself and there was no messing around with this one as it was straight up onto the bank and away from the waters edge.  Pics done it was stes second pike of the day and again a nice fish of 7lb10oz.

From this point the bites completely died and we spent the next few hour trying all manner of tricks and tricks to get a bite but it was like a light switch had been turned off.  The past few sessions had only been morning sessions and we made a point of putting a whole day into this one so it was sods law the pike would not keep their part of the bargain up.

Minutes turned into hours but with angling there is always something to talk about and it was great putting some plans together for getting out in summer after tench and on the rivers together.  We  moved spots a few times and apart from a dropped run on a mackerel nothing happened.

2pm and we were close to giving up when the right hand rod sparked into life, my usual excitement to get over to the rod had drained from me on this session with so many dropped runs, i almost dared not let myself think it would develop.  The short run developed into a full take as the float slid away and i was rewarded with a nice 8lb9oz pike.

This fish sparked a flurry of action for me and Ste as in the next 30 mins both our rods went and we both picked up a single pike each.  A nice way to end the session.

These two pike where a nice way to end the session, its always great when you both catch and on all our sessions we have been lucky that all our rods have gone with nearly equal amounts of fish during the day, sometimes ste would get more sometimes i would but in reality our sessions have never ever been about that.  We had a challenge at the start of the season to catch 400 pike and 30 doubles and a twenty and if we were to say we had goals lately it was to try and do the doubles challenge.

On our sessions it really has been the banter that's taken over the fishing, i have of course learnt a great deal about piking from ste, its impossible not to when you fish with someone who has caught so many pike, but it has been the great laughs, experiences like fishing in the rain and hail, experiencing the hard times with no bites and then the unbelievable times with double hook ups, rampant male ducks and bait hungry seagulls that has made the end of this pike season one to remember!

A few more sessions of this piking adventure remain to go down on paper and also there will be a midweek blog update next week on Tuesday with some really exciting news in it about myself so till then tight lines.

Danny

Chub On the Centrpin, New EA Licence and Piking Madness....

a warm welcome to this weeks blog update I hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  Well what can i say its being like having my arm cut off this past week and a half with the laptop being taken away for repairs.  It has meant I have been fishing and not had the resource to then write about the trips afterwards.  Luckily i have wrote down some notes on each of the trips so i can relate to these when it comes to capturing the session on paper but it means i at this moment in time have 5 very good fishing trips to blog and i guess like i said in the previous update its better to have fish sessions in the bag where i have caught than an up to date blog where i am struggling to catch.

I must first say a big thank you to the guys at KitShack as they have been so understanding this past week or so and have never pushed the review of their product to go live and have been understanding all throughout and backs up my initial thoughts about this being a good company to deal with in my review, thanks guys!

So whats is in store in this update? Well i cover the unveiling of the new EA licence design for both migratory and non migratory species, my centre pin reel comes under the spot light and we round up the introduction with a really bad bit of news around my favourite 17ft Float rod.  The fishing See's the centre pin out on the bank for chub and a social pike session with Ste where its all action and a bit of a red letter day!

So with that its onto the update (boy it feels good to be back up writing again)

New EA Licence Design....

Its that time of the year again where you realise just how many angling clubs you have joined and it seems like they are all reminding you your fees are due at the same time.  The most important of these licences is of course the Environment Agency licence as without it you can not fish at all.  It still shocks me when i see the EA turn up on the banks asking for licences and you see a few anglers having to pack in as for the sake of £27.00 its got to be worth it just not to be watching your back every fishing session to see if you have been collared never mind the fine that comes along with not having one.

any how i do digress and here are the designs for this years licences..

A Broken Tip....

Sat on the banks of the river recently waiting for first light i decided to get out of my car and have a,quick look at the water levels for the session ahead.  It was only a quick session so i literally threw the rods in the car and my gear i needed and set off and left my Korum rod holdall at home, big mistake.  Anyhow i left the car running and quickly had a look at the river, pitch black not much to see i returned to my car to await more light. 

Getting back in my car i had only sat down a second when i heard a bank in the back of the car and i quickly shot round thinking someone was in the back, area is known for a few drunks, upon swinging round my arm caught the rod and instantly i heard crack of something snapping.  I knew instantly it was my float rod as it was the longest of the rods i had taken and at 17ft long split into 3 sections it was the only one that reached between the chairs.   Looking in the back my landing net bag had fell but i had snapped around 10 inches of the top of my rod off. 

I literally could have started crying there and then, some may laugh, but it was my favourite rod and i use it every time i go the river if i can and i was gutted.  I got back in the car there and then and drove home even though i had my 13ft rod in the car.  I thought things over and had a look on line and a guy said he could re tip the rod but i would only be able to put a tip on end of the broken bit where it had snapped.  This rod is used mainly for dace fishing so it would turn a very light tip rod into a rod with a stiffer action and of course i would lose some length.

i decided to ring Preston's and i was prepared for quite a hefty price on getting a replacement top section considering the rod brand new costs upwards of £200.  The price for a replacement is £60.00 and i can order it through the tackle shop on my doorstep so not great as i could buy a new rod for that but there is no escaping the quality you are getting with this top end float rod.  It does mean the river Dee is off the radar for the rest of the season as the swims are 14-15ft deep most of the time and with the season closed for three months it gives me time to save for the replacement part.  Think i have just come to terms with it after writing that lol.

To Pin or Not to Pin......

Last week i covered when and why i use my fixed spool reel for my trotting on rivers and this week the piece of kit i enjoy using the most but rarely do comes under the spot light in the humble and ever so simply designed centre pin.

The centre pin i own is a Okuma Sheffield Centre pin and it was bought for my as a surprise birthday present by my partner many moons ago.  I must say of all the reels i use i enjoy using this one the most although it has to be in the right conditions to make the experience enjoyable.  You can literally pay an arm and a leg for a good centre pin and the main thing you are paying for is the lightness of the spool and how little force it takes to get the pin to move, top end ones are as smooth as a baby's bum and a single shot can set the spool spinning.  There are some very good reels at the budget end of the scale now made by Dragon carp and i have heard very good things about these reels.

My reel the Okuma sheffield is probably below mid range in the pricing structure but it does the job for me.  There is no real scenario that i pick this reel over the others for other than if i want a bit of fun as in my opinion there is no beating the fight on a centre pin as you use your thumb to control the fish in the fight and it is down to your skill, judgement and touch how you play the fish and of course you cant beat the noise of the ratchet going off as the fish makes a hard run for cover.

I of course use my other fixed spool reel away form the river on still waters for fishing a waggler but i must say in summer i love visiting my local commercial fishery armed with only my centre pin 13ft rod and a simple pole float fished in the margins for the hungry carp, the float zooms under and you strike into a solid hard fighting carp which turns peeling reel from the pin and that unmistakable noise of the ratchet turning over, it takes some beating.  

There are of course limitations to using the pin in the fact if can suffer in high winds and leave you in more of a birds nest than anything else and also you have the limitations of how far out you can cast with it, e.g you are not going to be able to run a float down the middle of the Trent or dee with it comfortably but for small intimate rivers and streams its a dream to use and i would recommend anyone to buy one, great fun on both rivers, lakes and ponds.

With that its onto the fishing....

Chub on the Pin'

Friday night and sat in the house making up a few hook lengths for a sesison on the river the next day i decided to give my gear a good sort out and whilst searching through the contents of my holdall i came across my centre pin that i must have stashed in my holdall after a session for safe keeping across the farmers fields a while ago.  The river we were heading to the next day does have a bit of pace to it so i decided to dust the old cobwebs off the centre pin and give it a run out the next day.

I have been fishing quite a light stick float on the river of late around 8 number 4 and have been reaping the rewards with the chub on this set up but i knew with this centre pin i would have to up the weight just to give me some extra pull to help the line of the pin.  As mentioned above its not the worlds greatest pin so it does need some encouragement.

Arriving at the river we decided to fish new swims and i decided to drop in the swim i dug in a week or so earlier which was covered in last weeks blog update.  The difference today was i had a whole day at the swim although i knew the fish would spook so i did not have huge expectations of the monster nets of chub we have been getting in the other swims but a change is as good as a rest they say and even though there was a empty swim full of chub 5 mins away you do need a change of swim.

Feeding the swim with the bait dropper i gave it a good half and hour before making my first cast into the swim and like the session previous the bite was instant, only this time it wasn't a chub.  They are funny fish trout and can be quite deceiving if they don't jump early on in the fight but there is no mistaking the species once there slimy spotty flanks feel the coolness of the fresh air as they twist, flip, jump and flap all over the perfectly prepared swim.  A beautiful fish to look at but boy i wished it was a chub..

There is no doubting the chub and trout are very similar in one way.....EATING....boy can these fish guzzle down maggots and you only have to look down the throat of the fish to see the ball of crushed maggots and hemp to realise just how much of your bait this one fish has devoured.  The disturbance i knew would have spooked the fish so in went a few bait droppers of hemp and maggot and i sat back to see how the ranch was doing.

The time came for another cast, i hoped i had rested the swim long enough, i don't think i did if I'm honest, i think excitement took over in the end.  Casting into the murky depths the pin was spinning a dream and right on the point i was expecting a bite i just feathered my thumb onto the spinning pin to slow the float down and make the bait flutter up in the water, upon releasing the pressure the bite was instant and with the strike the 13ft rod hooped over and there was no disputing what fish was on the other end this time.  A defiant stand up and fight resistance was felt before a bolt for the roots and i knew i was in a battle with a chevin.  On the pin you always feel in control of the battle as you don't have to reply on a preset drag and lets be honest there is no man made device that can react to the dart of a chub as quick as a thumb on the drum of the pin.  A battle i thoroughly enjoyed and was glad i won!

I have found with this river that if you get the chub out with little surface disturbance then you do not really spook the shoal.  i guess in reality it must look to the other fish like one of the fish is just moving up out of the swim initially and as the fish in the shoal when you have them feeding are constantly competing with each other for the foot and moving up and down through the water layers then you can get away with getting a fish out and then expecting a fish soon after.  Losing a fish is of course a different matter.

With my dace fishing on the Dee you do feel like you have to be quick in the process of unhooking the fish and getting a line back in as you with dace when you have the shoal there in your swim you feel you really do need to maximise time in the water.  With my chub fishing that whole process is a little more relaxed and while unhooking the chub and taking pictures i just drip deep food into the swim by hand.  The fish in the keep net i then put another dropper of maggot and hemp in but not in the quantity of the initial feeding.

There is a reason for this, i feel the initial heavy feed is there to draw the fish in and onto your line.  when you arrive the chub could be spread along the length, under trees and generally dispersed through the swim.   The initial heavy feeding with the bait dropper serves to draw the fish into the middle of the river and onto your line.   The feeding after this is much reduced and this is where the skill in all fishing is in My opinion, the feeding of the swim.  The fish are on your line now from the initial heavy feed you need to then remember you are not here to feed the fish but catch them so you need to feed enough to keep them in the swim but not too much that you don't have them competing for the bait. 

Chub can be quite a wary species and hard to catch but fed right their greed and hunger is the key to their downfall.  Once you have the whole shoal competing for a small amount of bait then they don't think twice about taking your double maggot on a size 18 hook, they just want that in their gobs before the next chub takes it from them.  And it proved to work a treat with this  next chub coming soon after.

This tactic continued to work a treat as fish kept coming every 15 minutes or so for the next hour before the departing of the chub shoal was confirmed by the ever willing trout moving back in on the scene.  When the big boys like chub move out of the swim you can instantly tell as smaller species like gudgeon and dace start to pop up in the chubs place and it was great that on this day two very plump dace kept the keep net ticking over after the trout had finally had enough.

With these swims you never know how long the session will last and how many chub you will get out before the shoal either completely spooks pr eventually get to the point where they have had their fill.  I decided to pack the gear back in the car and have a mooch in some other swims for the rest of the day taking the off trout and chub but this following picture was the result of the initial swim plus around 6 trout.

What a Fantastic Session Dead Baiting for Pike!!!

The next session out was a days pike fishing with Ste.  We arranged mid week on meeting up for a sesison in hope we would find the pike hungry and willing to take our baits.  Previous sesisons we had picked up the odd fish but we had left feeling we did not get the best from the swim as although our dead baits where taken by some fish the activity of pike swirling in the swim showed there where bigger specimens to be had.

The night before the session we set out our plans for attacking this swim with dead baits and decided to hit the bank before first light to give ourselves the best chance of picking up a pike that was feeding at first light.  As normal it was two rods each fished on dead baits spread evenly along the swim in a variety of depths so we had all bases covered.  6.30am and the ripples of our baits hitting the water where lapping in the edges.

No sooner had we got the second baits in position than Ste called out "My floats gone Dan" a nice early bite and in true Ste fashion he calmly left the run to develop before using all his knowledge built up over the years he set the hooks.  His 3lb+ test curve rod is normally not challenged by the jacks we have been picking up so when the fish didn't come up in the water straight away i knew it was a better than normal fish.  Having two of you on the bank doesn't half help as you can really take advantage of that first roll on top to net the fish early and with that we had a cracking start to the session with a fantastic double figure pike of 10lb 5oz in the net.

With the dawn breaking and the birds just beginning to sing the light levels where not great for getting a picture so i made use of my weigh sling/sack i bought for my summer carp fishing and after weighing unhooking the pike and weighing it i left it to rest for a few minutes till the light was there for a photo.  Making sure the fish was calm in the sling i left it along to rest and it was then i noticed my float twitching, "got a run on mine Ste" i said and in normal Danny fashion i briskly walked to the rod and full of excitement i stood their rod in hand waiting for the bite to develop.  A nice strong run followed by the fish moving into the deeper water taking the float under with it as it did so it just felt like a solid take.  I struck expecting a jack and with it my 2.5lb soft action carp rod hooped over and there was healthy bend in the rod, in truth i am terrible at guessing and judging the size of pike during the fight but this fish was from the outset a decent fish as it kept deep.

With one fish in the net waiting i knew their was a fantastic opportunity for a nice photo with us holding two pike so the pressure was on.  The fish came up and that dreaded feeling when you can see the bait in the pikes mouth went through my body and i prayed it would not come off or shake its head.  Up the fish came again and reaching at full stretch Ste scooped up the pike, "Got yourself a double there Danny" and it was solid hand shakes and pats on the back all round to celebrate a solid start to the session, 30 minutes in and two doubles.

My fish went 12lb 8oz on the scales and we quickly unhooked her and grabbed the other pike out of the sack to get out shots.  Lying on the matt you can see these pike have been feeding well.

The two pike held together in what was nearly a double hook up, looking at this pick brings back happy memories of a great session, suffering the hard sessions before we had earned this!.

.

Releasing the pike we had a quick glance at the time and it was 07.30am.  We both got baits back out and sat back to a well earned brew.  It was a good job we did as little did we know what was about to come our way in the next three hours, these two pike where just the start.....

8.06am and my right hand rod began to move off, another solid run and i remember Ste remarking how we could be in for a good day as the pike are not messing around with the takes they are coming across the food and instantly having it, proper on the feed.  Giving the pike the time it needed my head was running with thoughts of what size the fish could be and if there where more doubles in the area.  The fish turned out to be a nice solid jack of 8lb and although short in length was as fat as a barrel, a razor ruddock pike as Ste calls them.

Another half hour passed by and almost by the clock the same float was off again, 08.37 in fact as i check time on phone picture.  Again the thoughts of what if where brainwashing my mind and with four runs between including this one it was already a pike sesison like i had never experience i never knew dead baiting could be so action packed.

Striking into the fish it went absolutely mad during the fish almost as if it was life and death, not a solid fight from a double but complete mayhem and all out power from an 8lb 3oz pike.  The fish shocked us both and it was only when we got it on the unhooking mat we realised why.  I opened the pikes mouth and the first thing i saw was wire coming straight out of the pike gut and my heart sank, i had given the pike too long before striking.  It was then i noticed the red of my treble sleeves in the roof of the pikes mouth and my set of trebles and my eyes then fished on the almighty tangle of link around my trebles. 

coming to my senses i then realised that some of the line was not mine and in fact this pike had line running out of its mouth and into the water.  I looked closely and it all clicked someone using really light line had been pike fishing recently, this pike had taken their bait and when they have struck the light 7lb, yes 7lb line, had snapped and the pike had continued to eat its free meal as such this pike was in a really bad scenario where it had a set of trebles well within its gut! only the wire coming out was visible!

This pike right now owes its life to one person, Ste, he took control of the situation and while i was holding the pikes mouth open he got to work.  Like a surgeon he knew every inch of a pikes anatomy, how far he could pull its stomach towards him without damaging the pike more and within no time he had gone in and released two trebles from this pikes gut.  I quickly put the pike in the net to rest in the edge till it had fully recovered and was kicking hard to get out.  A quick pic before its release and it left us certainly in a better condition than it arrived. 

So sad to see people fishing for pike with light tackle, the trace was a really cheap one and 7lb line is not acceptable but i guess if people are not as lucky as to have pikers who will help them then they will never know the rights and wrongs of what to do.  It was a sad sight to see but it was something that has aided my development as a pike angler to see how Ste worked with the pike and a scenario where honestly i would have not known what to do, if it arises again and i am on my own then now i know a little but more about helping the pike out.

This pike obviously took a little longer than most to process on the bank and it seemed we had only just released the pike and turned round when Ste was quietly walking over to his pike rod which was now heading off across the water at some speed.  The pike was another 8lb plus fish and on the scales it went a tad under 9lb and easily recognisable by a distinct yellow blemish on its skin.

No sooner had Ste returned this fish than his margin fished trout was off again, as i said it was pike fishing like i had never known it could be!  The time of this pike getting on the bank was 8.50am and it was the 6th pike of the morning between us with 2 of them doubles!.  This fish was far form a double and was certainly the run down battered small male pike of the area that looked like it had experienced more than one run in with some of the females in the area as it was covered in deep lacerations and bites and looked really battered.  Especially when you compare it to the other pike that where well fed and very healthy.

At exactly 9am my margin fished smelt dead bait which had been quietly fishing away with no action at all suddenly showed some movement, at first it was just a small shake on the float and then the bait was taken so confidently my float fished slightly over depth so it lay flat on the surface cocked and slowly but confidently moved off and as it moved into the deeper water a swirl from a tail pattern caused a vortex on the waters surface.  Both me and Ste noticed it and said in that depth if water its either a small pike swimming off with the bait nose down or its a better fish.

The time came to set the hooks, 3,2,1 strike and upon striking the rod hooped over and you can always tell a better fish as your float remains in the water as the fish does not move off the bottom like a jack does on the strike.  The fish kept deep and its sheer power saw me reducing the drag on my reel as i let it take control of the battle.  The last thing i wanted was a hook pull through bullying the fish.  The fish eventually came up and we both saw it was a nice fish although I'm sure i said it was "just a jack" what do i know, i really am awful at judging fish.

One man that can judge a fish is Ste, caught so many i guess you know, he saw one glimpse of the fish and was like its a nice double Dan take it easy.  Like an hunting heron he stood with landing net in hand waiting for a chance to net the fish for me, just a half chance and he was onto it scooping down at full stretch and like Excalibur's sword coming out of the stone up came a net bulging with a big fat pike!.  "Well in Dan that is a clonker" and a firm hand shake a sign of a good angler who is happy to see an angler who he has helped out so much, along with Garry, this year getting rewarded with a nice fish, 9am and we had both absolutely battered it.

The fish went 14lb 10oz on the scales and as you can see from the pics i was over the moon!

After this fish the swim did die a little and as i have said before, one lesson i have learnt about pike this year, is how they have short but definite feeding periods where they all come onto the feed almost as if all the pike in the area go on a mass feed and just switch on.  Looking back some would say we should have moved swims but when you have had so much activity from one area you give it at least another hour before you even think something is not right and the fish have turned off a bit.

Sat chewing the fat with 7 fish caught and 3 doubles to nearly 15lb we had plenty to be happy about.  We sat in a swim we had fished once or twice and saw pike feeding behind out dead bait floats just ignoring our baits and suffered howling rain and hail and snow for single fish or one fish between us, we had bloody deserved that action and if ever effort equalled success than it was that morning.

Whilst talking about all things pike we lost track of time and it was close to 11am when the next run came and it came to Ste's secret bait that should not be named but boy it works.  Again it was a another solid fish.  The fish came at a good time as the unhooking mat was at risk of drying out and at 10.5lb it filled it well.  Another ruddock of a pike and another double to add to the total.  You can see on one of the pictures the damage cormorants do to fish they cant capture with a deep cut on its flank caused by the hook of a cormorants gill.  The birds must attack any fishing hoping to injure it enough for it to become a meal they can take on.

The pike released we sat back and played the waiting game, funny how 8 pike do that and you do relax and nit fish as hard.  At 12.30 Ste had to nip to the van make a call and he said for me keep an eye on rods and if one goes just strike it and don't come get him, he knows me well and i would have hunted him down rather than strike another persons rod. Any how long story short his rod did go and the result was a 9.5lb pike below, a fish that should really go against his total for the year in my opinion.

We fished the day out and on 9 pike we got out acts together trying for pike number 10  to round the day off nicely.  In the afternoon i think it was 4 dropped runs and two fish spat the hooks between us in out hunt for number 10.  The fish never came and we fished into dark.  We left the bank and i know i put my music on full blast in the car on the way home, i was buzzing!!.

When i started dead baiting for pike on the first of January 2014 i never ever thought dead baiting for pike could be so frantic and all action, it was a real eye opening experience.  It shocked me how many pike could be in one area and how many of quality there could be.  Nine pike in one session on dead baits with 4 of them double figure fish and only one of the others below 8lb.    A session i will never ever forget in a pike season full of memorable experiences.  The session left us both with plenty of banter to look back on and it was great sharing such a session with another angler.

That is if for this update i hope i captured a little of how the emotion of the session was.

till net time i leave you with a video of my 14lb pike being released and i think Ste sums up how nice a fish it was.  "what a fish!"

till next time

tight lines

Danny