Saturday
I met Ben at The Sluice for our third Pike match of the season. We didn't start too early today. We were rods in by 8.45ish. Recently we have noticed that most of our catches come later on in the morning, and as we are fishing a section of the drains mostly unfavoured by other Pikers, there is no need to fight for a decent peg. I prefer it this way it's far more relaxing. Believe me there is nothing worse than another Piker setting up base a few metres away from you. Ben (As usual he may like me to add) was the first to catch, a Jack Pike of 5lb. An hour or so later I was in, or so I thought, I had my first ever dropped run, a Pike had hold of the bait, and perhaps feeling the hooks decided to let go. I waited a few minutes before checking the bait, upon doing so there were indeed a couple of neat punture marks in the deadbait. Soon after recasting into the same spot I was to receive another take. This time there was no doubt, I struck into the take and landed a hard (Cribbins) fighting Pike of 7lb 12oz. This was to take me into the lead in the Pike league, all be it not for long. As Benny Boy was not to be out done, and managed to winkle another pike off of just over 7lb. Ben has managed to gain 5 points on me in the league. Damn!
Sunday
The weather was lousy today, which was a shame as today was my birthday. It's always nice to have a session on your birthday. There was no way it was worth fishing in 50+ mph winds and rain. Yesterday I'd discussed with Ben, the possibility of Piking today. Depends on the weather is how we left it. As a joke I sent Ben a text, telling him I was at one of our hot spots. If he was still in bed, then I could almost guarantee that he'd call me. He didn't! So I turned over and went back to sleep. A couple of hours later my phone rang, it was Ben. "Where are you?" I knew instantly what he'd done. He'd driven to the peg to surprise me. I was overcome with guilt. He was secretly annoyed at first that he'd gone to the effort of driving around 15 miles for nothing, he soon saw the funny side though. ;-) He made his way to mine, we loaded his gear in my van, and we headed off to The Sluice anyway. We must have been mad to fish in this weather today. The 50+ mph wind was blowing from the North, and it was very cold and icey, it also rained most of the time we were there. We stayed for around 3 hours, and for once I was ready to pack up early. There were a couple of blokes waiting for us to vacate our peg. Ben decided they could wait, and insisted that we sit it out until they set up somewhere else, typical Ben. Itching to pack away, I was held back by Ben again, "Wait until the shower passes" he said. Then would you believe it, I could see the float moving on my left hand rod. I was in! A blank was saved, and a Pike of around 8 and a half pound was on the bank. A Birthday Bonus fish, and my 50th Pike of the year too boot. It would seem as though I was destined to catch today, I 'll credit my Birthday Bonus Fish to Ben. Cheers Mate. Sadly only moments before I caught, due to adverse weather conditions we delcared the Pike match null and void, Damn again!
I met Ben at The Sluice for our third Pike match of the season. We didn't start too early today. We were rods in by 8.45ish. Recently we have noticed that most of our catches come later on in the morning, and as we are fishing a section of the drains mostly unfavoured by other Pikers, there is no need to fight for a decent peg. I prefer it this way it's far more relaxing. Believe me there is nothing worse than another Piker setting up base a few metres away from you. Ben (As usual he may like me to add) was the first to catch, a Jack Pike of 5lb. An hour or so later I was in, or so I thought, I had my first ever dropped run, a Pike had hold of the bait, and perhaps feeling the hooks decided to let go. I waited a few minutes before checking the bait, upon doing so there were indeed a couple of neat punture marks in the deadbait. Soon after recasting into the same spot I was to receive another take. This time there was no doubt, I struck into the take and landed a hard (Cribbins) fighting Pike of 7lb 12oz. This was to take me into the lead in the Pike league, all be it not for long. As Benny Boy was not to be out done, and managed to winkle another pike off of just over 7lb. Ben has managed to gain 5 points on me in the league. Damn!
Hi Res Photo of a Pike's Eye
Sunday
The weather was lousy today, which was a shame as today was my birthday. It's always nice to have a session on your birthday. There was no way it was worth fishing in 50+ mph winds and rain. Yesterday I'd discussed with Ben, the possibility of Piking today. Depends on the weather is how we left it. As a joke I sent Ben a text, telling him I was at one of our hot spots. If he was still in bed, then I could almost guarantee that he'd call me. He didn't! So I turned over and went back to sleep. A couple of hours later my phone rang, it was Ben. "Where are you?" I knew instantly what he'd done. He'd driven to the peg to surprise me. I was overcome with guilt. He was secretly annoyed at first that he'd gone to the effort of driving around 15 miles for nothing, he soon saw the funny side though. ;-) He made his way to mine, we loaded his gear in my van, and we headed off to The Sluice anyway. We must have been mad to fish in this weather today. The 50+ mph wind was blowing from the North, and it was very cold and icey, it also rained most of the time we were there. We stayed for around 3 hours, and for once I was ready to pack up early. There were a couple of blokes waiting for us to vacate our peg. Ben decided they could wait, and insisted that we sit it out until they set up somewhere else, typical Ben. Itching to pack away, I was held back by Ben again, "Wait until the shower passes" he said. Then would you believe it, I could see the float moving on my left hand rod. I was in! A blank was saved, and a Pike of around 8 and a half pound was on the bank. A Birthday Bonus fish, and my 50th Pike of the year too boot. It would seem as though I was destined to catch today, I 'll credit my Birthday Bonus Fish to Ben. Cheers Mate. Sadly only moments before I caught, due to adverse weather conditions we delcared the Pike match null and void, Damn again!
