Big Chub Nets And Piking On Ice....

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your new year nets wetter than 2014.  The sessions mentioned in this blog will round up the fishing action for 2014.  Introduction wise we discuss how the festive period has been for myself with the new family member,  I look back on my best session of 2014 and although i still have a few pike sessions to cover i begin to look at what the next month holds as we move into the best time of year for a big predator.

Festive Times The Best Ever....

So its safe to say Christmas 2014 has been a Christmas like no other in our household as we welcomed our little man to the world on the 19th and eventually got out of hospital on the 22nd December right in time for manic preparations for Christmas (and a cheeky Christmas eve fishing trip ha-ha).  The festive period being my little girls first where she knew about Father Christmas really brought the magic back to what had been quite a sad occasion since my mums passing and just seeing her face on Christmas Day really put a new light and brought the magic of Christmas back again for me and i cant wait for the years of Christmas days to come.

Speaking of our little girl she is really coming on now and shocking us all with her development and i certainly think a short trip to the canal or local pond to catch her fist ever fish might be on the cards this spring.  A session i can not wait to get out and experience and then blog about as it will be such a special occasion for me.  She will of course in time choose her own path and if angling is top be part of that then i will be happy to teach her the little i know but if not then i am surely going to enjoy the enforced fishing trips till she makes her mind up.

Christmas always gets you thinking about family and this year i am determined to get my dad out on the bank more with us again.  I am hoping to do a few sessions on the canal we used to fish all those years ago to see how it has changed and see if those big bronze slabs are still around.  Fishing is always a family affair with myself any how what with most of my trips being trips with my uncle its safe to say I'm hoping 2015 is going to be a year around family.

The Session Of 2014.....

I mentioned in a recent blog update that i had been asked about writing a recap of 2014 by a blog follower and that i was apprehensive to do so as i feel my year runs march to march with the closing of the river seasons.   What i have decided to do is pick out one session that stood out for me in 2014.

The year of 2014 was really good to me and if it was a wine it would certainly be classed as a vintage year.  It was a year where all our hard work paid off, all these trips to flooded rivers blanking and all those times travelling to a different area of a flooded river and catching all come good, all those hours searching on google earth for new areas of river and then walking farmers fields to wet a line in their unexplored depths.  This year was certainly good to us and i do feel those trips put us in a situation where we could pick and choose each week from 4-5 areas on different rivers to trot a float through with confidence but it was a new exploration into the world of dead baiting for pike that bought about me session of 2014.

I had dipped my foot in the water of dead baiting for pike from January to February of 2014 and under the tuition of Garry learnt some of the fundamentals of dead baiting for pike.  October and i was ready to cut my teeth and the early session in October saw me break my Pike Pb with a 15lb pike but it was the very next session that will live forever in my memory.  Sat on the banks of the river i noticed my right hand float twitch and then again and then slowly move along the surface, i struck and the rest is in the following update if you want to read about the session.

link: My First 20lb Pike 

Planning for January and February....

At the beginning of the pike season i set my self a target of catching 100 pike.  This total seemed large at the time and knew it was going to be a huge achievement if i got there.  With this total in mind and two serious fish under my belt in October my mindset since then has been more about numbers of fish than size of fish.  That has meant me concentrating on one location on a consistent basis, a place that of course could throw up a big fish, but in reality i was settling for the fact most of the fish i was going to catch were going to be between 4lb-7lb with the odd rare upper single or double.

early season nice fish

This proved a very good tactic with at least one or two fish coming on most trips to this location.  This of course led to the odd recapture but that's pike fishing and at the time of writing this (SPOILER ALERT) i am on a total of 56 fish caught.  I will be returning to work next week so the chances of me getting close to 100 pike is very slim indeed.  The whole challenge started of with plenty of momentum but in reality work and family commitments has seen fishing time for two of the people doing the challenge hard to come by and for myself and Ste changeable conditions has made the piking really difficult as the prey fish are not yet shoaled hard in their winter spots and as a consequence the pike are still quite spread out.

With this in mind i have made a conscious decision from now on to concentrate on areas that might produce less fish but the fish will be of better quality and also give me a serious chance of ending the session with a special capture.  There will be a full round up of the challenge at the end of the season on how i feel it has gone and the pros and cons of chasing such a total.  So to this point i feel i have done all i can to get to 56 pike, i have hit the bank every time i could and fished as good as my angling ability will let me i can honestly say i have not left the bank thinking i didn't do everything i could on the session.

So fingers crossed in the next one or two months we can put a few nice fish in the bank and also get some where near the total.

On to this weeks fishing....

Piking on the Off Chance of a Bite....

With a number of jobs completed in the morning and my partners mother coming round for a few hours i jumped at the opportunity of a few hours on the bank.  It was already gone 1pm when i loaded the car and left for the bank  I was a little unsure as to whether it was worth going after a sharp overnight frost but i knew the spot i was going to there was always a chance of a bite.  My confidence was hit a little as i received a phone call on the way from Ste saying he had struggled on the same waterway with his mate and not had a touch all morning.

I cast in a Herring tail on one rod and a smelt on the other, both loaded with oil, and hoped for the best.  It was early on during my vigil waiting for one of the floats to go that i got speaking to another angler lure fishing.  I did not get his name but we spent a good hour chatting about angling and some of the perils on being in Warrington Anglers and it seemed we shared the same view on a number of subject around silver fishing and the excessive amount being ploughed into carp.

I was quite honest with the man about the location and what to expect from fishing the stretch and i remember saying that most fish will be small singles with the outside chance of a double.  No sooner had the words left my mouth than he said "your floats moving there" a sharp glance round and the tentative bobs had turned into a solid run and the float slowly began to move off as i picked up the rod.  A few seconds as it was a nice piece of herring as bait and i struck into the fish.  The rod hooped over and stayed over as the fish kept deep and i instantly knew i was into a nice fish.

Eventually the fish came up to the surface and the good gentleman netted the fish for me.  Its sods law that fish come along that make a liar out of you as this was comfortably a double figure pike.  It went 13lb on the scales and i again thank the guy for taking the time to take a picture.

This was it for fish for this short session and i left around 3.45pm happy with the result of the session and another double added to the list.  Pike fishing can be a funny old game some days you spend all day without a sniff and other a hour or so produces a decent fish.

Stick Float Fishing For Chub...

The stick float rod had been a rare addition to the boot of my car before this session with its space taken firmly by two pike dead bait rods.  The ease of these pike sessions just fitting in perfectly with my the arrival of our second child but there certainly was an itch that needed scratching and it was with great excitement we headed out for a days stick float fishing on the river.

The river does contain a mixed selection of species including dace, gudgeon, roach, perch, trout and chub and it was really exiting setting up on the peg not knowing what lay i your swim.  The set up for the session was my 17ft trotting rod and a reel loaded with 4,4oz line down to a 6 number 4 float a hook length of 2lb line down to a tiny size 18 hook.  Situated in a swim i had fished before and with a river fining off after recent rain i was confident of a fish or two it all depended on whether the fish had migrated away from this area.

I had been feeding the swim from the off with maggot and hemp so it came as no surprise that the float buried on the first trot down and at first i thought i was into a small chub but as the fish hit the surface it soon became clear as the fish jumped and flapped about that it was a brown trout.   i was not surprised by this as these fish are hungry and greedy fish at the best of times never mind in winter when competition for food is high and these fish with their extra size will easily muscle out dace and roach.  I carried on trotting the float through with no activity more often than not and i remember getting a hour and a half into to session with 3 trout under my belt thinking maybe its time to get mobile and find some fish.

It was just as this thought was in my mind i struck into an altogether different animal that held station in the current in a defiant stand as only chub do and i knew there and then that i had a chub on the other end.  The fish fought well in the current and it was a struggle to land it with the flow in front of my peg but i did manage in the end to slide the net under the brassy flanks of a chub.

The swim i was fishing was shallow in front of me, probably only two feet, but it then fell into a deeper hole and then below that lies a big fish holding feature so in my mind i had eventually drawn one chub up from the feature into my trot.  As soon as this chub was in the keep net my confidence rocketed as where there was one chub there was certainly more in this swim so i almost began to concentrate more and of course upped the feed slightly and also experimented with hook baits.

This chub came at 10.17am and it was another half an hour of trotting the float through before the next fish came at 10.37 and again another chub.  What was noticeable with these fish was the fact the trout completely where removed from the equation in the periods between the chub almost as if the chub where there and it was a case of getting presentation right to catch them.  The theme of fish every 20-30 minutes kept true with more fish coming at 10.50, 11.27 and when my uncle visited i had four chub in the onion sack, my uncle had also done well with 6 chub to show for his mornings efforts.

My uncle left to return to his peg and as he did my peg took off as i landed 10 chub in the next two hours to 2pm, i can only guess the steady feeding of hemp and maggot mixed with the colder conditions brought a shoal of the chub up the swim and they got their heads down.  The crazy thing about this period was i lost just as many fish in this period which showed just how hard they were on the feed.

As always with these sessions the end comes too quick although i have to admit for the last hour the bites tailed off completely and the odd trout moved into the swim again almost as if the absence of the chub allowed them to feed and goes to show in the feeding order the chub is king.

With me doing a lot of piking of late i had been taking my weigh scales in my pike box so unfortunately on this session i could not put a weight to the net but with around 12-16 chub and chublets in the net all between i would say 1/2 a pound and probably 3lb i must have been over the 20lb mark.

my final net

My uncle had also got into a good number of chub on his peg.

All in all it was a session like i had never experienced before with chub.  I had done well before for chub with my best net of proper chub containing around 6 fish but this was a net like i had only seen my uncle catch in recent weeks.  A few years ago when me and my uncle started going fishing he used to tell me stories of chub nets from years ago where he would struggle to lift the net and that we would find them and one day i would see.  Well Azza we found them mate and i was over the moon.


 Piking on Ice....

The temperature read a bone chilling -1 as i left my house and started the car and this temperature only plummeted further as i left the confines of my town.  I had set up to fish the local waterway and as i drove to the first venue i walked along the track to find it covered in a thick layer of ice all the way across the water and the full length of the stretch, there was no way i was wetting a line here today.

I got back in the car and drove around for what seemed an age as i searched out areas that might not had frozen overnight and i eventually did find what was a little short bit of ice free water.  I say ice free water it literally was a short 10 yard bit of water blocked either end by ice and my rubbish first cast showed just how thick the ice was either side of me.

The baits in position i had to constantly edge the flows of ice back and i have to say it was the first time i have ever been happy to see ducks in the area as their gentle milling on the far bank certainly helped my cause.

Some say anglers are mad to even go fishing in the first place to out wit a fish and then you get the ones who say to go out in such conditions fishing you must be puddled and i must say on this session i was beginning to see their point.  Although the cold and wind is never ever something that decides if i go fishing or not as in my opinion you never know what fishing is like in certain conditions unless you go and sometimes you can be surprised.

I must say a quick word at this point for anyone reading this thinking about going fishing in these conditions you do need to be prepared clothes wise ideally with thermal boots and a thermal under layer at the bare minimum and of course a flask of something hot.  This session i was only out for the morning and after all the driving round it was gone 9am by the time i cast in.

After a hour of inactivity i was beginning to wonder if i was wasting my time and my mind wandered to those chub on the river and maybe i should have gone for another dabble at those.  Fishing the gaps in the ice meant the water i was fishing was like a mill pond and flat calm and it meant the slight flicks of the float as a pike showed interest where picked up straight away.  I quickly marched to the rod full of excitement as the float gently cocked and moved along the water towards the ice before in true jaws style it hit the corned and submerged below the ice flow.

It was a hard one to balance as i knew i didn't have much of a run for the fish to take the bait but i also had to leave it long enough for the bait to be taken as on a day like this it was a fish i didn't want to lose.  A short hard side strike saw the fish come straight back at me from under the ice flow as a small jack came up to the top.  The rod i was using made little of the fight but i was happy for it on the fish as i might have been in trouble had it been a double.

The next activity did not come round till almost packing in time and this time some of the ice had moved on and i could tell from the run that this was a solid take as the float moved solidly through the water and under the float went.  Sometimes you know its a small 2-3lb jack just by the jagged float pulls as the fish tries to eat the bait.  I will always remember this fish as it put up one hell of a scrap and i mist say as i slid it under the net i thought it was a better fish as it was so long.

The fish on the mat was as skinny a pike as i have ever seen it has loads of length and a big head but it looked like it needed a good meal.  The pike went 6lb on the scales and marked an end to the session for me.  A freezing cold day and two fish on the bank i was a happy camper as i have been on days where conditions have looked better and not had a sniff.  Two fish well earned and shows if you get past the mindset of the weather is bad and get a bait in the water you never know, not massive fish but certainly better than being at home tuning into Discovery Shed seeing Matt hayes circa 1990 repeats.

All in all the session proved to be a success, i head out to the bank piking hoping for one chance of a fish and if i take it then great and anything more is a bonus.

Thank you for checking out my angling blog and i hope you have enjoyed following my fishing in this weeks update.  I am still quite a bit behind on the blogs so there is plenty more fishing still to see the open pages of this blog.

Till next time i wish you tight lines

Danny

Baby Boy Arrives and Pike Fishing Catch up.....

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  At the time of writing this update it is new years day so i would like to wish you all the best for 2015 and the tightest of lines.  Time at the moment just has not been there to sit down and write a blog piece as any free time that has popped up has been jumped on as a chance to get out on the bank fishing.  What it has meant is there is quite a back log in trips to be blogged so my aim in this update is to get as up to date as possible and this update will get it up to Christmas Eve at least.  I have been asked to write a recap of my fishing year for 2014 and i although it is not something i normally do as my angling year runs from March to March and i normally do a recap then, i will be doing a small recap in next weeks update.

In this weeks update we welcome my little boy and second future fishing partner into the world, on the fishing front i talk a little bit about an addition to my pike fishing box this year, pike oils, and how i feel about what they bring to my fishing.

On to the update...

Little Man Arrives....

So i finished work on the 17th December and we set about getting the house and bits and last few bits a pieces together for the arrival of our little boy on the 19th December.  Wednesday afternoon was taken up with the task of rushing around sorting stuff out and thankfully we got it all done.  The 18th we had a pre op appointment at 1pm but it did give me a chance to wet a line in the morning, more on that session later.  On Friday 19th December 2014 at 14.13pm we welcomed the latest addition to our family into the world and like his little sister before him he is perfect in every way and weighed in at a fit and healthy 7lb8oz, to date i am slightly worried that he may have a future in carp fishing as he doesn't half sleep a lot ha-ha but joking aside he has been a good little man so far eats, sleeps and does his business then back to sleep some more so long may that continue!

The arrival of our second child will certainly have some effect on my fishing for sure and it may well be that 2015 does see a reduction in my time on the bank and thus the amount of fishing on my blogs may reduce.  I must say pike fishing has come along in my life just at the right time as i am literally spoilt for local pike locations and pike fishing is a branch of our sport where you can go out for just a hour or two and catch the odd fish where as my trotting sessions tend to be an all day affair. The actual blogs are quite easy to fit in when i am in work as i can put the meat on the bones during my half an hour dinner breaks its just the actual fishing trips and more the amount of trips on the bank that may reduce, time will tell.

Lets Talk Pike Oils.......

The use of oils for my pike fishing is a new concept for me this pike season, in fact the use of oils is new to any part of my fishing.  I must admit i was sceptical at first as to what oil injected into baits could bring to the table.  As the season has progressed this year and i have began to understand a bit more about the feeding habits of pike a number of things have been blatantly obvious to myself and one of these is the fact pike certainly use their sense of smell to hunt out dead baits.  Recaptures of pike and also seeing the same pike in the same locations during the same time of day has also lead me to believe that some pike patrol the same circuit looking for food.  All these factors mean that when the pike is patrolling or even if a pike is in the area you need to use that great sense of smell to your advantage you want that bait to be catching the pikes attention even before it sees your bait.

As i said above i was dubious about this oil's ability to add to my angling but my mind was totally changed in the first month of using this oil.  There was a wind blowing heavy on the water when i arrived and casting in my baits the water behind my float went flat with the oil from my bait and it shocked me just how far this oil was going as a good 30-40 yards of water was flat and free from wind.

This was on a still water so you can imagine how far this smell would leak on a river with flow or on a canal with a tow.  You have to think that any pike in the trail of this bait is at least going to be aware of a smell in the water and drawn in by the smell.  The slick eventually dies down and on some sessions i have added a little more oil to the baits just to get that slick going again.  I am a avid believer that pike are like sharks you see on TV and i reckon if you did put a dolly bag of fish guts in the edge and your baits below them or in the slick it would work, smell plays that much of a part.

Coloured water is part and parcel or still waters, rivers and canals and when you arrive at a venue to cloudy silty water smell can be your only way of attracting the fish in and this is where i feel these oils come into their own.  In short i have had my mind totally changed on these oils and now am i avid user of these oils in all my pike fishing, a must have in your armoury.

on to this weeks fishing....

(8th December 2014)Birthday Piking Against the Conditions...

December the 8th 2014 and i awoke nice and early for a pike session with Ste.  This was a session we had planned for a long time and we had planned for a day on moving water but the conditions leading up to the session where a barrage of snow, hail and rain.  The plan was to meet at his house and go onto our venue from there and i have to admit i knew we were in for a rough day on the bank as i drove along the motorway in driving rain and hail.  I had the gear to deal with it and the weather has never really been something that ever bothers me but on this session it was the stand out feature of the day.

We set of from his house with the rain and hail still battering our windscreens and a horrible wind blowing that had a real chill to it.  The whole day was hard going with the weather coming in waves at times and it was one of those sessions you where glad there was two of you out to almost get through the day with.  The floats dead bait floats remained motionless all day for us both and it was only me covering a pike on my wobble rod that stirred a pike into action as it nailed my bait as it passed by.  Given how the session went i guess the bait must have literally gone passed its nose as for the rest of the day the pike stubbornly ignored out offerings.  The pike went 6lb 9oz and was a welcome present from the angling gods on my birthday.

We called it a day at 3pm having tried a few more spots with no success and finally gave into the bone chillingly cold conditions and hail stones.  Another fantastic social session even if i did feel old driving home.

13th December 2014 Lets Try That Again....

The area we tried on the previous session was completely new to me and i was sure it was only the conditions that put pay to the action on the previous session so i planned another crack at it later on in the week.  The morning of the session i opened my front door to be met with a crisp ice cold morning, frozen puddles and a hard frost covering my car.  A frost is not the end of the world when it comes to fishing, in fact as long as you target the right species you can have some of the best days fishing with ice and snow on the ground,   The exception to this can come on still waters where overnight frosts can kill the fishing completely and actual the best time for predators can be the days before a cold spell hits.

It was a good hour or so into the session and i had eventually found some part of the water free from ice and i was thank full of my Skeetex thermal wellies after trudging through freezing cold ice capped puddles to the peg.  The rods in in search of mr pike i was casting in ouit of hope more than expectation.  You have to remember that as much as i am really confident trotting a float down a river in any conditions i am still very much wet behind the ears when it comes to dead baiting for pike and the conditions that are good and bad for catching them in.

I was joined about a hour later by Ste who dropped in for a chat and to check the sessions progress and it was during his visit the free lined dead bait on the wobble rod peeled away.  Picking up the rod i could feel the fish tugging at the dead bait with sharp tugs on the line before it moved away at pace.  I gave it a quick count down and set the hooks and as always with my light lure rod it hooped over on the strike as the fish bolted upon feeling the prick of the hooks and the battle was one.  To be honest apart from a double figure fish where you know you have a serious fish on with this rod, with the jacks you really dont know as you get a top fight on it no mater what and this was no exception as line snot from the reel.

You don't half ride your luck with the battles with pike and it really is true you never know how well you have hooked the fish, you are only one head shake from losing the fish.  The pendulum of luck also swings the other way and this fish was that as half way through the fish the fish felt like it came off only for it to be there again and the fight be totally different.  The fish in the net it became apparent the treble hooks had left the fish's mouth and lassoed round the fish's tail.  The fish went 9lb on the scales so a solid fish.

After this fish was returned Ste bid farewell and wished me luck for the rest of the session.  The capture of a fish always puts a spring in your step for the rest of the session but it was not until 12.30 as i was leaving that the next fish made an appearance.  Leaving the wobble rod in the edge to take a phone call

Hunting them down....

My next trip out was a whole day session in search for pike again and it was a case of covering as much water as possible on the day.  I spent from 7.30am to 11am in one swim with not so much as a knock before moving to another area i had done well in early season and again found the pike not playing ball despite changing baits and adding oil to them on a regular basis and also wobbling a smelt like my life depended on it, nothing was working.

A refreshing drink of hot lemon from my flask around 1pm made me rethink my game plan and it was time for a completely different location all together so i loaded the gear into the car and headed off to a spot i thought might just produce a fish.  At this point i was hunting one chance of a fish.  Arriving at the stretch i quickly placed a bait in position and hoped sent a little prayer to the angling gods, boy i had deserved it today i thought. It was not until the very last knockings that my prayers where answered as my right hand float lay flat and tentatively moved off, i remember at this point thinking you have your chance danny now take it.  Thankfully it was a textbook capture as the hooks held firm and the pike came into the net.  Only a small jack but on a day like this where i had tired so hard and travelled so much it was more than welcome.

18th December - Chances Galore.....

With all the jobs done regarding the imminent birth of our child the next day i jumped at the chance of a short morning session before an afternoon appointment.  I travelled to the same location i had the bite on in the previous session hoping to find the pike as obliging.  I only had 3 hours for the session and it is safe to say it was the most frantic 3 hours pike fishing so far.  In total i had 3 runs which all spat the hooks and in the crystal clear water i could also see a number of pike coming in time and time again to investigate my baits.

All in all it was a frustrating session with many missed chances but i guess seeing how many pike came in to see the baits gave me confidence for future sessions and also made me realise in cloudy conditions just how many pike might be coming in and not taking and maybe moving the baits regular or at least recasting them might bring on more takes.

Christmas Eve Social....

Christmas eve and I joined Ste and Garry for a social session in search of pike.  We arrived on the bank just before first light and the plan for the day was to try a location none of us had really put much time into this season to see if the fish we found last year where still around.

Garry was first to get a fish on the bank with a fish taken on a lure but from there on out things remained all quiet.  It is very easy to spend a day searching out a stretch of water when you are on your own with two rods but when you see 6 rods spaced evenly along a length you certainly search the water out quicker and it can save you a lot of time on the day.

With no sign of activity in 3 hours we moved to another area.  The moved paid off for myself as around a hour into the new location my left hand float moved off.  It was a bite that developed i think a few moments earlier as we spotted an movement on the float but no take.  The pike on the bank it was a jack around 7lb and was more than welcome on the day.

This pike proved to be the last action of the day for us despite two more moves and we called it a day around 3pm when we went our separate ways to celebrate christmas with our families.

Well that is it for fishing up until the 25th December.  I have been getting out on the rivers a bit since christmas with some fantastic chub nets and also managing to get out for the odd pike as well.   In terms of the pike challenge these pike left me on 45 for the season so far and the running total is 135 pike with 122 singles, 13 doubles and 1 20lb pike.

Till next time

Tight lines

Danny

Pike Season Commences And A Fun Challenge

A warm welcome to this weeks blog update i hope i find you well and your nets wet.  I will start off this weeks update with an apology for the random updates of late and it is purely down to beiung out on the bank fishing.  I have around 4 trips including the ones in this update and also have at least one trip this Saturday to add to this list so its going to take some mini updates for me to catch up, i guess the best excuse for not updating your angling blog is the fact you have been fishing!  On with the update.

4 Anglers, 400 Pike 30 Doubles and 1 20lb pike in one Season...

It has been great these past few months to have built up a good friendship with 3 other anglers all passionate about their pike fishing and as such we decided to set up a challenge for the coming season for a bit of fun and the challenge is 400 pike caputred between us between 01st October 2014 and the 15th March 2015 with a target of 30 of them being into double figures and one 20lb pike.   It is purely for a bit of fun and the target is quite a challenge as i think it was worked out at 16 pike between us a week! 

It is a challenge that is certainly going to challenge us all and if i get anywhere near a 100 pike myself i will be over the moon indeed.  As with all pike fishing keeping the location of captures close to your chest is paramount in these times where our rivers are being raped for the table so as such not all the other anglers captures will have pictures but i am hoping to document the challenge as it goes along and hopefully share the highs and the lows as we do it and its safe to say we have made a steady start in the first week.

So i hope you will enjoy this journey into the unkown and remember in the world of dead baiting for pike i only have a total of around 2-3 months experience.  So excited though and the comradery that goes with it is already first class.

Grabbing Any Window Of Opportunity...

With ther challenge in mind i have thught long and hard about my tactics for this and a big part of me having any meaningfull contribution to this list is the ability to take advantage of any windows to wet a line and that means being organised.  I was recently looking around Go Outdoors and came accross a tackle box that looked to be perfect for my needs as i was looking to seperate my pike gear from my coarse fishing box so at the drop of a hat i can grab rod, landing net, tackle box and a few dead baits and be on the bank and this little box from Go outdoors is perfect.

The box comes with many compartments and also gives you customisation with the ability to place your own spacers so it can accomodate any size tackle.  I have put the rig board to one side for carping next year and it was pleasing that all my unhooking tools like forceps etc fit nicely into the top box.  The other smaller box that come with this are perfect for all the little items like hooks, crimps, weights, ledgers and other termincal tackle.  The fact the box shuts snug on the main box and the little boxes means that no matter how much you move it around the items stay in there little compartments, which is great for poly pop up balls. 

In short i have been really impressed with this purchase and i am already seeing the benifits of being so organised to get out on the bank.  The only down side is i have to now take this box with me when i want to target pike on my coarse sessions. 

Out Of Control????

On my journey too and from work I regularly cross a local canal and as the time for pike fishing has drawn close i have seen a increase in anglers on the bank, great i thought....at first.  It wasnt until i went shopping later that week that i wandered up the canal to see if anything was doing and i noticed a few anglers pike fishing on the canal with lures but something was missing and it was landing net.  I must admit alarm bells for me start ringing when i see people fishing without a landing net as it either means two things, one, they are inexperienced and are not aware they could hook a big fish and need to get it out of the canal or two, they are fishing for the table and have no intention of worrying about fish safety as the fish is going in a carrier bag for the table any how. 

This latter fear was confirmed this week as i was told a story of a person witnessing a big bream being scaled on the canal bank!  i have fished the canal all my life and i can asure you it is one palce i would not eat anything from given the "things" i have seen floating in the canal and also you add to that the fact these pike are quite partial to eating young duckings you would imagine the local rat population is also on their menu which opens us the possibility of weils desease.  Although that might be a good way for a lesson to be learnt!

This raping of our fish stocks for the table is now evident on all the water si now fish and i am not saying them taking the odd bream is destroying our fishing but when you mess with the pike population you are going to have an effect on the ecosystem and the quality of the fish in that water after all pike ensure a healthy fish population by picking off the weak and sick which then dont go on to breed and pass it on.

With that lets get into some fishing......

Sunday Morning "The Excitement Gets Too Much......"

After the drab fishing the day before on the Dane saved by a special capture featured on in the previous blog (link: ), i was ready to get out and make a mends so with two rods set up for float fishing and a hand full of dead baits i set off into the dark not really knowing where i was heading.  Good luck is always welcome in this game and on my way i tried to increase my chances by wishing an angler waiting for a lift on the corner of my street "tight lines", surely this would put me in good stead.

I finally settled on a location and even after a lengthy drive it was still pitch black when i unloaded the car but in knew with a good few minutes walk ahead of me and by the time i had rigged up i would probably be casting out just on first light and prime time for a hungry pike to be looking for their breakfast, i just hoped they fancied my half frozen mackerel.

Walking along the stretch it looked good and from last year i knew it was more what lied underneath the water than what was on top that made this stretch stand out from the rest as along it lay a number of submerged trees and snags.  It is an area that holds a number of jacks this time of year but also has the potential to produce some fish into double figures.

For the first few hours i leap frogged the stretch and did not have so much as a tap and i must admit with the sun well up in the sky and the temperatures rising i knew my chances where dwindling all the time as the pike retreated into their day haunts.  I was in contact with Garry and Ste who where full of "encouragement" and i must admit i reached the end of the stretch and began to think about calling it a day and with a few bits needed for future sessions using the time to pick up some extra terminal tackle i needed.

I decided to work my way back along the beat spending 15-20 minutes in each lie with a view to calling it a day when i reached the other end.  The first spot produced nothing and then whilst walking to the next i spotted a dark lie that just screamed home for a pike and demanded instant investigation with my pike float.  Over went a bait and with the float cocking just off bottom i set about placing my second rod just a bit further along.

A god 5 or 10 minutes passed with no action till out of the corner of my eye i spotted the float i had placed in the dark whole slowly start to twitch and move away.  The float moving along the top is normally a sure sign of a small jack and with this place holding a few i reeled in to set the hooks expecting little resistance so you can imagine my shock as when i struck all hell brok loose as the rod hooped over and there was one almighty swirl as the fish angrily came up to the top trying to spit the hooks.  I managed to move the fish into the middle where it hugged the bottom and began making long hard runs left and right.

In the excitement i had not brought the other rod in and this fish time and time again ran underneath the other line and had i not been using Power Pro braid that floats i would have been in some serious trouble.  The fish fought like a demon as it made run after run along the bottom and it was not until its head surfaced i got a chance to net the fish and seeing it was a double i took it with no hesitation.

The fish in the net i took a quick snap above and then set about getting the unhooking matt and unhooking tools ready and i guess in this moment i learnt a huge lesson in dealing with pike on the bank and that is being prepared ready for the fish as in an instant the fish tail walked clear of the net and i quickly grabbed the rod.  I was in an awful place now as i knew i had a decent fish and i knew this fish,now full of fight,  had a decent chance of getting away as with pike fishing one shake of the head and it can be game over.  The fish fought and fought and fought and it was another epic battle to get the fish in again and this time there was no messing it was straight out of the water and onto the waiting unhooking matt.

The hooks removed it was time for a picture and since a recent update to my iphone i can now take timed pictures so i was really pleased with this picture as my first self take ever!  She went 12lb and i was over the moon to have caught her and look forward to crossing paths with her again next February when she could be a new PB.

The pike released to go back to sulk along the edge i had a good look over the pictures and cheekily sent a few via the inter webs. The pike had made a right mess of my trace though so while i set about getting this rod back in action i cast the other rod back into position.

In reality getting this rod back up and running took a matter of seconds but i will go into that in a future update when i go over my set up for pike fishing.  Nothing else came from that swim and it is little surprise with that nice girl lurking about looking to pick off any smaller jacks so it was time for a move further along.  Almost as soon as i cast the bait out and it had settled the float was away again in the new spot and striking into this fish i was met with a more familiar fight from a jack pike weighing 6lb 7oz.

Two pike landed and i was looking at the session with a completley different outlook and full of energy i plundered two more swims but alas no more pike where forthcoming and i wandered off for an afternoon of adventure with the family.

October 01st First Day Of The Challenge.....

Wednesday the first of October had long been put aside for a social piking trip with Garry and Ryan but as with all things in life things change and going into September it turned out that Garry was going to be unable to make the opening day so a session was quickly pencilled in for Friday 3rd October.  There was never any chance i was going to cancel my leave for the 01st as i planned to be on the bank at the crack of day looking to find my first pike of the season and get it on the board.

With a session booked for the Friday pike fishing i decided to try and have some fun on the Wednesday and with my Lymm Anglers card in hand i planned a day on the canal with a sleeper rod out for a hungry pike.  Setting up in the dark i was ready to cast in on first light and was confident with plenty of fish topping.  A hour in and the float remained motionless and i was perplexed as to why the action was so slow, this was until the sun came up and i relaised the canal was crystal clear to the point i could see my keep net to its base and also could see my ground bait quite clearly on the bottom on the far side, i knew i was wasting my time so it was all the gear lumped back in the car and back home to unload the pole gear and load up with all pike to go and hopefully find myself an esox or two.

I arrived at a stretch to a text message than my little girl was feeling unwell but to stay out fishing and she would call if i was needed so i chose a spot close to the car in an area i have never fished before.  It was 11am by this point and the day was not going as i had planned.  I would not say this challenge has ever weighed heavy on my shoulders but it was there in the back of my mind that if we are going to get close then a good start was imperative.  Things i thought went from bad to worse as on my first cast i hooked into the only reed stem in the swim but a swift yank released it from its stubborn sittue and it was whilst reeling in i noticed splashes behind the stem and as it came closer i noticed it was a pike attacking the reeds as i brought them across, only a jack but with active fish in the area i upped my confidence in this new area. 

Knowing the fish where quite clearly not up for a stationary bait in this area i chose to devote one rod to a big bait on the deck for that big girl looking for an easy meal and the other i fished shallow twitching back a bait and leaving it a few seconds under my feet in case any fish had followed it in.  It didnt take many casts before the shimmering silver flanks of a sprat proved irrestable to a small jack pike and my god it was a small pike.  Probably one of the smallest pike i have ever caught but still very welcome indeed and i guess as we progress through this challenge we will say the words "they all count" many times.  The first fish of the challenge in the net and we were off the mark!  a quick look down this pikes mouth shows how prepared they are even at such a young age.

A quick move along the bank and while twitching the bait back my phone went off and while speaking to the missus i left the float in the edge fluttering away.  I normally am a bit of a walker while im on the phone and this time i was very lucky i wasnt as stood right in front of the rod i noticed the float slide away, 1, 2, 3 strike and i was into another fish, "i'll ring you back FISH ON".  Under the rod tip it put up a great fight and with the weather it was full of life with plenty of head shaking and i must admit i was relieved to have got the fish in.  At just under 5lb it was still a jack but certainly an improvement on the first.

Pike are certainly not a fish you can just chuck jack in and they will be fine like you could do with say a roach or dace.  Pike at this time if year are still quite active as these last few fish showed and with low oxygen content you must take time to rest them proper in the net.  for example this picture below is the pike when i put her back and then after a few minutes she is upright and nearly ready to go.

The golden rule with resting any fish is it takes as long as it takes and you will know when they are ready, for example this fish was trying to jump clear of the net before i let him go and its always great to see them go back strong flick of their tail.

The next few hours where quite quiet as i worked the stretch and it was whilst twitching a bait across i saw my big bait rod slowly start to move away.  This rod going always fills me with excitement as the fish has taken a static bait off the bottom and normally means a better fish or at least get me thinking that way.  The rod reeled in i gently felt the line to confirm a fish on the end before striking to set the hooks again the fish went mad as its easy lunch fought back and although the lacked the power of trhe bigger fish it put up an almighty fight for a pike weighing only just over 6lb, fish number three and they were getting bigger.

It took till late on for any more action and what a shock it was as right under my feet a pike shot out and actually attacked my pike float! It shook me up i can tell you as it was one almighty crash.  I quickly recast out and twitched the bait around the area and it didn't take long for this hungry predator to seize the chance of a free fish meal, maybe he didn't like the plastic first time.  Weighing just over 4lb 8oz i was not surprised to see it be another jack as you don't really get the better fish doing this, again though another off the list.

That was it for the session and i left an happy angler having made a soid start with 4 fish on the bank and i was ono my way.  I text the other guys to let them know that inrodes had been made and the challenge is well and truly one.  I had a sesison planned on the Friday with three of us but could we add more?? well find out in next weeks blog......

till then its tight lines

Danny