Canal Pike Fishing: Putting In The Time...

A warm welcome to this weeks angling blog i hope i find you all well and your nets wet.  Well not much to report from last weekend as Saturday the other half was in work so a day was spent in with the little lad and girl, playing shop, dinosaurs and telling fishing stories was the order of the day.  Sunday morning i headed out with our Baz for a session on the feeder...

Snow and Friendly Robin..

Setting up the weather was not so bad at all a sharp nip in the air but nothing to worry about.  A mix of ground bait made up and settled into the peg i began making a few casts.  It is always a case of patience in winter and building the swim up over time, this can take a good hour or so.  A hour in we had our first fish on the tip and small ice cold roach.

Not long after returning this fish the sky turned that shade of grey, you know the one that says one word to you...Snow!  Over the next half an hour the clouds built up and a slight rise and then drop in temperature saw the first white fluffs of winter fluff fall from the sky.  Only the odd flake at first but before long we found ourselves sat in a full on snow flurry.

A few more fish came but the weather was slowly getting worse and worse and looking back at my tackle bag it was now covered in a layer of white.  Baz sat behind me was feeling the cold a bit so we decided to call it a day and pack in and head home.  Testament to the heavy fall the picture below shows how much fell in the time it took me to put my box down and bring my keep net in.

That short session out of the way we headed home and a good natter about the footie was had while we defrosted our baz.

Chub Video

With these written blogs beginning to develop some sense of organised and regular uploads it seems the written account of a session will go live earlier than the videos do so those who read the chub blog will be pleased to know that the video of that session is now available to view on the blogs Youtube channel on the link below.

Looking ahead...

Well its been a manic weekend just gone with three sessions on the bank, one a session for silvers where it doesn't go all to plan, a session for pike on Saturday and another estate lake trip for pike on the Sunday all of which will have videos made from them and also give me plenty of memories and content to transfer into written blogs.  Having a backlog when it comes to blogging is always good and even more so when trying to create both written and video blogs. 

Looking ahead to this weekend i am  first hoping and praying the fish mobile passes its MOT and secondly that  the rivers sort themselves out so we can get some decent stick float sessions and wet a line with our baz for those river pike.   Catching pike is hard enough as it is on the river but having to make do with half hearted windows of opportunity it is very hard to build any type of campaign.

On to the session:

DeadBait Fishing For Pike: Covering the ground

As most people will know with my blogs i don't really beat around the bush and i guess in life i am quite a black or white person, there is not much of that grey area.  In fishing as it is now there is certainly a section of anglers who feed of the work of others and simply go from angler to angler trying to prise information for their own gain with then no shame of then going and fishing these spots.  These "anglers" look at pictures people post and have Little interest for the beautiful fish in the frame in fact they almost certainly look past the angler to see the back ground with the only thought process of working out the where.

There is then the "anglers" who prefer the private message route where a flood of compliments is soon slowly and smoothly into a working out of where.  In my blogs i try and help people as much as possible and thankfully over the years blogging i have managed to get a feel for the genuine anglers looking for help and some great fishing friendship's have been born from these conversations.

For those parasites who are too lazy to actually work stuff out for themselves then the session below is what us proper real fishermen do week in week out to work our venues out, try it sometime you might actually get to feel that special buzz from catching your own fish than holding up others work ;-)

Covering The Ground

Saturday morning and all week rain had battered the UK leaving the rivers again swollen with chocolate milkshake like waters any slight break in the weather was seeing them dropping fast but with the ground, natures sponge, saturated even small downpours where seeing the rivers rising.  EA reports on Twitter all week had been awash with reports of officers clearing drains and debris to allow this water to get from land to see as soon as possible and reduce the risks of flooding.

Sat at the kitchen with a brew the arm on the clock struck 6am and before me lay a blank piece of paper upon which i began to jot down a few options for the day ahead.  A few lakes and canals made up the list and all had their positives and negatives for sure whether that was hard conditions or poor reward for the effort needed.  Grit and determination to understand a clear hard venue where a blank was a high possibility was my chosen destination.  Today we would spread the rods out and cover the ground fishing a hour in each swim before moving and cover as many swims as possible to find the pike.

Tactics for the day was to fish a large herring jack on a running ledger rig in the hope of a big girl and then fanned either side of this would be my float rod on a skimmer bream and baz's on a smelt.  Arriving at the venue there was a gently left to right breeze and intermittent cloud cover which i hoped would build and give us the dark conditions this session most certainly needed.

The baits in position the waiting game began and the clock was set for a hour alarm.  In this type of scenario you have to be strict with yourself and have the mindset that an hour is more than long enough for any fish in the area to find and take the bait.  When i am piking i think pike are on you every session you go and i feel there are few session where in the hours you spend on the bank are spent when you cast in and no pike at all sees or investigates your bait.  The very splash is proven to attract the fish not scared them, just look at perch as a species they hear a plop the come to is as a signal food is there, its the nature of a predator and pike are no different.

The first swim passed by in no time and it was time for a move and swim two proved to be equally as quiet.  Moving into swim 3 i cast out the ledger and then both float rods went out.  The next action is of course to set the clock for the next hour move but so quick was the action we had no time.  Minutes after casting in my rod was away and striking into the fish it felt like a small jack, until it came close in and i realised it had wrapped on the line and was actually quite a nice pike and worth a weigh to see if it was a double.

No sooner had i gone to lift the net than our harrys float was away a jagged take i knew it was a jack just by the violent turning, fishing a smelt any pike over 5lb would generally have no trouble in just eating the bait so i knew the violent turns probably meant it was a small fish.   Giving it a few seconds to finish turning baz set the hooks and played a pike of around 2-3lb into the net.  As i say on these trips, when you both catch it is the ultimate goal and two pike in the net we where made up.

So nothing in 2 swims in 2 hours fishing then 2 in minutes from swim number 3 shows just how little these pike are willing to move to find your bait and how tightly packed in they can be.   Had we just stayed in swim 1 would we spent the day there and blanked?  I guess we might well have landed a new PB but in fishing that is the fine line we tread and two pike on the bank, for me, justified the decision to keep moving.

I placed my pike on the scales and was made up to see the scaled settle on 10lb, another double to the tally although i will have to check the records to see what number double it is, i think 15. A lovely pike with nice markings.

The pike rested and returned we gave the swim a good hour and half before moving again and with the clock edging ever closer to that 1pm pack up time we knew this was our last chance of a fish.  During the time in the last swim the weather really did change the wind got up and with it came a icy nip as a real hoolie began to build.  With presentation not being great on the float ledgers i knew my best chance of a fish was on the ledger rod on the bottom and to try and tempt a bite i changed it over to a popped up herring. 

Like two expectant herons we waited for the fish to come but unfortunately time passed by quietly with only the sound of the wind whistling through the trees to break up the silence on the rods.  A tough final few hours on the bank but warmed by the fact we had caught two in very tough conditions we made our way home via the local Costa for a much needed warming hot chocolate.

A session that shows the value in getting out on the bank and covering the ground to find your fish and a few pieces of a jigsaw put together as next time we now have a good idea of where the pike are holding and who knows next time Mum and Son might be joined by their grandmother ;-)

A video of this session is live to view now below, please take a second to like the video and subscribe ti really does help the channel out

till next time tight lines

Danny 

Pike Fishing: Estate Lake Magic....

A week of heavy rain and at times hail stone had brought a brunt and definite end to the River and Canal campaign that had been going so well.  The river running high and chocolate was a no go and would be a needle in a haystack effort of landing near a pike where as the canal had that horrible grey sheen that screamed cold and dirty run off water form the local roads, both not good.  It meant a day booked off work with my mate Ste Daley saw us looking towards the still waters.

A large old English Estate Lake was the destination of choice and a venue we make a point of visiting once or twice a year for pike.  A venue that, for me, holds that sense of magic and mystery and a day where the saying “A Fish is a bonus” does really ring true!

The morning of the session and I stood in the kitchen brimming with excitement, a kid on Christmas eve like, I peered out of the window at the houses across the way with their roof tops glistening as the moons light shone though their icy crystals, a proper winter morning.  A quick coffee and it was time to delve into the bait freezer to pick out some baits for the day, smelt and lamprey had always done me well on there so  they went in and then I threw in a few change baits in the form of sardines and herrings and I swiftly closed the door on the freezer. I would be in the cold long enough today and I wanted to make the most of the warmth, even if it was only for a few minutes.

The car loaded and jack frost melted from the wind screen it was time to meet up with Ste and move all the gear into the van.  We began out journey to the bank down the winding narrow creeping country roads of the North West the head lights illuminating the path ahead with the occasional bunny hop as the van made contact with the uneven surface below.  The farmers fields either side studded with pools of white while the horizon glowed with that light blue haze that consumed the night stars as its feint rays reached their stubborn station in the night sky signalling the arrival of day break was not too far away.

We arrived at the cast iron gates held firm with their sandstone pillars that I guess have been there for as long as the old stately home situated within the grounds they protected.  The gates opened and unlike the black Friday chaos that was no doubt about to begin around the country this was a far more sedate and relaxed affair as we passed through the gates and down the dark path to the lake.  The track was flanked either side with all manner of variations of deer that stood alert and to attention, a guard of honour like as we passed through their wooded domain.

In the dark I made my way to the lake passing through the herds of deer that rested by its banks during nigh time.  The lake, huge and daunting, lay in front of me. A lake that offers the angler a huge challenge with its gin clear water, sandy and weedy bottom and bottomless depths off the shelf.  A place where your bait truly is a needle in 20 haystacks in comparison.

A gentle breeze blowing over my shoulder onto the lake had left a huge amount of calm flat water on my bank and in the dark pre sunrise light an opera of fish topped, first one, then another and another before the water almost danced with their activity.  On a water this huge location is huge and we knew being on these bait fist was key so we set our stall out to cover the whole area they where topping. 

Your imagination just goes wild and you can almost imagine a hungry old pike stalking those shoals  meandering slowly though the weed as it does so almost lioness like with its belly hard on the bottom moving slowly as it keeps in touch with the herd only this herd was probably silver and roach shaped.

A three rod rule and in possession of a EA three rod licence it was time to take full advantage of it so out went a running ledger rig with a Lamprey offering and another running ledger rig with a smelt
and then a float ledger rig with a smelt on also.  A set up mirrored by Ste but with bigger baits on stes rods as we worked together to find out what they wanted on the day.  Normally one bait does well so we all move over to that although more than one run between us on the day would signal a good session.

All rods cast out the far bank trees caught fire as the suns inferno rose from behind the tree line, its orange wintery glow mottled through the trunks and entwined branches.

We sat back and made a brew and awaited the pike to take up their invitation to dine and true to form they stubbornly turned their noses up at our offerings.  A hole in my thermal wellingtons did little to brighten the mood and in an attempt get the blood going in my toes I went for a walk with the wobbling rod.  A few casts by the float rod and it must have awoken a pike deep down in the depths as my smelt bait moved away. A countdown and a hard sure strike to set the hooks was met with a violent volatile headshakes from the pike below its distaste for its predicament prompting it to go on long hard runs as it was coaxed up the shelf.  In a last ditch attempt to shed the hooks it surprised us all as it took to the air to try and spit free the trebles to which it was attached. 

A sure hook hold and a beautiful olive dark green plump esox was on the bank, a little under 8lb her size was irrelevant as he flanks glowed in the winter sunlight.  A proper gem of a pike and as always any pike from this venue is a prize.

A pat on the back form Ste and we got the kettle on to make that all important celebratory brew.  A recast was in order on all our rods and we settled back in and had a good old fishing chat, setting the world to rights.  It was a good 2 hours later while recasting one of my rods the next bite came.  A screaming take on the ledgered lamprey section and boy did it go off taking line from the spool in an almost carp like run.

Feeling the line for those plucks I could tell the pike was well on its way, a short wind down and a hard strike to set to hook and my 2.75lb test curve rod arched over, a sign of a good fish.  In 20 foot of water it’s a fantastic fight and this pike was no different.  It kept deep and went on a series of long hard runs peeling braid from the spool as it did so.  Side strain applied I attempted to prevent it connecting with stes lines come 20 yards up the bank such was the hard run it went on.

Eventually she came up the shelf and in the gin clear water I could see she was a nice double figure pike, short, green and like a barrel she was a fit healthy pike.  On the scales she went 11lb9oz and I was beaming from ear to ear, my first ever double form the venue and it had been a day to remember!!

The rest of the session passed by without incident from the pike but for me the icing on the session was a group of stags we passed on the way back.  A session where I got to stand among some of Englands greatest wildlife and got to hold in my hands of  the UK’s apex underwater predators in them two pike. 

The Estate lake truly is natures theatre of dreams where special moments happen in a split second and create memories that will last a life time.

Till next time

Tight lines

Danny