The last Session of the year

After the ice that had scuppered our plans yesterday, myself and Ben went armed to the hilt with a rake to smash the ice. There was no need though, as unbelievably the drains hadn't completely frozen over today. The temperature though was absolutely freezing, and was by far the coldest conditions that I'd ever fished in, not only was it freezing it was also blowing an easterly wind, apparently from Syberia. I'd say the temperature was around -5. Needless to say in these cold conditions, the Pike had well and truly switched off the feed. After speaking to several anglers on the day, it soon became apparent that nobody was catching. Perhaps live baits would have given us the edge today? Today was to be my last session of the year, pity then that it didn't go out with a bang. Bring on next year.

Damn! Frozen Over

The Excellent moonphase is coming to an end, so there's only one thing for it, make the most of it and get on the bank as early as we could. We arrived around 7.15am. We decided to wait until it was approaching daylight before we headed to our swims. This was to save spooking any fish with our head torches. The sight thatwe were greeted with next, left us gob smacked. The whole of the drain had frozen over, It was like an ice rink! We couldn't believe it! There was a few areas near the bridges that were saved, but with the amount of time that we had to fish today, we decided to call it a day before even casting a line.

Early Bird catches the Pike

My alarm was set for 6.30am and I'd arranged another session with Ben. However...... By 7.45 I still hadn't heard from him. Oh dear! Had the self proclaimed 'All New Piking Pirate' overslept? He sure had, whilst I was setting up on the bank Ben was just awakening from his slumber. Within around 10 minutes of being in the water I was in! I was a little guilty of striking a bit early and lost the fish on the strike Damn! Not to worry though as less than 5 minutes later I was in again, more than likely the same fish. A decent scrapping Pike of around 8 or 9lb's was soon caught and released. Ben was missing out on the action. He soon appeared though and was rods in by around 9ish. 2/10 for time keeping today mate. Around 10 ish my right hand float was signalling a take. Unusually my line was stripping off the reel before I struck, I sign that I was into a big fish? I was to be proven right. A powerful fish, and when landed showed 12lb 8oz on the scales. Ben was to be heard muttering "I hate you" to his horror this would be another 12 points to me. Soon enough Ben landed his first Pike of the day, a Jack Pike of 5lb. The rest of the day went by without so much as a sniff, we were about to pack up when Ben was in again, unfortunately the Pike came off during the fight. I seem to be having a bit of luck at the moment, every dog has it's day though and I'm well aware that Ben is due some good fish. Pike league now stands at Matt (40) Ben (25)

12 and a half pounds

Don't stick your fingers in there

Sixfields and a bit of a gap in the league

A Pre Christmas session on The Sluice, and a Pike league match with Ben was arranged today. Sixfields was the stretch we decided to fish. The water was very coloured and flowing at a fast pace, not ideal conditions. The session was mostly uneventful, until around dinnertime I finally struck into a fish. A Pike of around 8 and a half pounds and a welcome 8 points on the board. Ben didn't catch today, so as we go into Christmas there is an 8 point gap in the Pike league, much to Ben's dismay it's in my favour :) Matt (28) Ben (20)

3P PSP

I headed back to the swim that has been known to produce the odd twenty or two. I have nicknamed this swim 3P PSP, and from now on, will now refer to it as such when writing about it. This peg though is fishing really hard, and after 3 sessions has yet to produce me a run, never mind a Pike. Ben has fished it twice this season. The first time he had a 10lb'er and lost one during the fight, the second time he drew a blank. I'll head back there soon, but perhaps this swim will fish better on livebaits.

A spot of bother

After checking The Sluice out yesterday morning, I was soon making my mind up that it was Un-fishable. The victim of some very hard down pours the day before, The Sluice was pumping like a fast flowing river. I made a call to Ben, and managed to convince him to finally give it a go at Anglezarke Reservoir. Locally known amongst Pikers as 'Heart Break Ridge' a reputation it has gained because it can be a difficult water. I was really looking forward to today's trip, as I've not fished there for a while. We set off at around 7.15am, our intention to arrive there just as day breaks. The plan was going well, and we were almost there, until we reached a hill that was very steep. It's a hill that I have been up countless times before, however once we were around half way up it became very slippy. We were driving through thick ice, and we'd hit the point of no return, we couldn't turn back, we had to go for it. The end was in sight, we were at the top. Then the wheels started spinning and we started to slip backwards, just stopping short of a fence. We were in a bit of trouble. We collected some drystone wall bricks and put them behind the wheels, this stopped us slipping further back. Ben came up with several defrosting plans, amongst which were, Boiling water; urinating by the wheels ; setting fire to the Tarmac with an aerosol can, and using a full can of de-icer, to his credit this did manage to clear the area around the front wheels, which when we were finally dragged out of our predicament by a local farmer and his tractor, helped our escape. Once we were freed we sheepishly set off home, plans for fishing Anglezarke were well and truly scrapped. We still managed to wet a line though, we once again settled on The Sluice. No Pike to report. But not catching fish was the least of our worries today. No more trips to the reservoir when it's icy. Lesson learned!

Ben inspects the situation

Time to fish the peg of legends

I headed for a peg that I have had my eye on for about 2 to 3 years. It's a peg that has been known to produce some true hawg's, and for some reason I have until today yet to cast a line there. The weather was absolutely terrible today, and at one point on my way to the peg I decided turn back home, I was nearly at my doorstep, when I turned back again. I just couldn't resisit it. Amazingly the weather turned for the better, and held off the whole time I was there. It would be nice to say at this point, that I was soon into my first Pike, however..... I blanked! Oh well you can't win them all. I will say though that I didn't think it would fish too well today, as we have just finished a good moon phase. A big thanks to Ben for the early morning text confirming that It would be a crap days fishing today. Damn!