The Fishing Diaries

Very low levels and fast rising water

2011-09-04T21:02:00.005+01:00

As I lay my tackle on the ground, I was rather taken aback as I observed the level of the river.

The lowest I've ever seen in in fact. It was obvious to see that if I was to catch a Barbel tonight I'd have to take into account the fish welfare, as trying to land it normally by the bank would result in a beached fish.

I'd set up, and had a coffee so I meandered over to see how Allan was getting on. "I don't fancy it tonight mate" and with that my rod bent over and line peeled off at some fair pace. Pfffffftt! What do I know eh? By recent standards it was a smallish Barbel of 6lb's or so had taken my bait.

This session wasn't exactly as busy as my last one, I did have 5 runs though, three of which I managed to land (That snag is still there) 9lb was the biggest of the night.

Allan was staring a blank in the face, pack up was looming large, when thankfully one of his rods sprang to life and a Barbel of 7lb's or so was landed. Well done mate!

It amazes me as to how fast the river can rise and fall during a session. By the time we came to pack up the water was up about three feet.

8lb

Allan's last minute catch
9lb

A frantic nights fishing

2011-08-28T23:40:00.019+01:00

Little did I know what I was in store for as I packed the gear in to Panto's car and headed to the river.

Tonight was one of those nights that you can only dream of (Well for me at least)

Once again I was to find the river in low conditions, though I have to say now that previous catch results haven't left me worried when I'm greeted by the river running lacking water.

I was to have my rod bent over in no less than 14 occasions tonight. I managed to land 9 of them. The ones that got away unfortunately made good use of a snag that has appeared in my favoured swim. A passing tree moved on by the previous floods perhaps? Nevertheless it's a bugger of a snag and once the fish has found it, it's nigh on impossible to retrieve it out of there.

I broke two PB's again. My new Barbel PB is 9lb 8oz and I also have a new Chub PB of 5lb 7oz. To say I was pleased with tonight's fishing would be an understatement.

In comparison Panto had a wretched night's fishing. Indeed he only managed to land the one Barbel. The fish god's were not favouring him on this session. I'm sure he will turn it around next time ;)

I'm still chasing that double, but I'm not bothered that it hasn't come yet, as by the crikey I'm having some great fun looking for it.

The one that started it all off

The new PB Barbel 9lb 8oz

9lb

8lb
A new Pb Chub, but not for long

5lb 7oz Chub the new PB

Panto's catch!

Sharing the spoils

2011-08-28T23:40:00.010+01:00

Myself and Allan once again made our pilgrimage to the river. The river was low and not carrying much water.

It was a nice warm August night and the conditions felt right. I had a feeling that we would bag up and that's exactly what happened. Twelve Barbel to 9lb were landed and we shared the spoils by landing 6 fish each.

I managed to beat my Barbel PB by an ounce. So my new record currently stands at 9lb.]

A great nights fishing and I wouldn't argue if we had more like that

Allan gets amongst the fish

My new PB Barbel 9lb

I seem to be enjoying myself

The 45 minute feeding window

2011-08-07T16:58:00.005+01:00

Allan and I once again made our way to the river. I was expecting the water to be low, too low in fact. I was wrong. It was starting to rise and was up around a foot since our visit a couple of days previously.

The rising river soon started to cause us problems. As the water started to rise it lifted a large bed of weed that would inconveniently find our lines with ease.

There was only one thing for it. We had to move, a bit of a hassle, but it had to be done.

Darkness was approaching and there hadn't been so much as a beep on the alarms. Suddenly Allan was in! I was left with the honours of netting his fish. I'd just readied the net in the water when his other rod was off. Oh dear! A dilemma. There was no other option than me having to take the rod.. A good fish ans I was into a hard fighting Barbel of around 8lb. Allan's other fish... a Barbel of around 4lb. Oooops! :D

The heavens decided to open, and I mean open, it absolutely lashed it down. I was seeking refuge in my day shelter when I caught sight of Allan with another Barbel. The bastid! This was technically his third fish. Due to the fact that it was still raining and heavily at that, we didn't bother with a photo. Where was my action? Was I looking at a blank? I did what any angler in my situation would do. I started to sulk and indeed question what the hell I was doing on a bank side in the middle of the night in monsoon like weather?

When I got a take and suddenly I loved fishing all over again, and being out in the rain was fun.

I had a good bend in the rod, so I knew I had a Barbel at the other end. A fish of around 7lb was photographed (just so there was something to look at on the blog) and released back to where it came from.

...and that was that. The rain got heavier and heavier and neither of us could muster another take. The feeding window tonight lasted less than 45 minutes, and was a little later than normal.

The blank saver!

Three trips to the river

2011-07-25T11:50:00.017+01:00

Trying to find time to blog in the summer holidays is proving to be a somewhat difficult task... Still here I am finally grabbing a few minutes to myself to hammer out my musings.

Trip one:

I paid a surprise visit to Ben. The only run between us both came at 10:30pm. I'd landed a Barbel of 8lb 12oz. A record shaker for me, but my current PB of 8lb 15oz stayed intact.

Trip Two :

A new section of river was on the cards for myself and Allan today. We'd started to become a little, how should I say?... Creatures of habit? Comfortable in our pegs? Frightened of trying somewhere different in case we blanked? Yes I'll go with the latter.

So we made way to a new stretch and we were rather excited, though perhaps not too expectant in our new venue.

We were kept waiting right until last light before we caught. I was into a good fish, it was darting all over the place, when disaster... The hook pulled! I was gutted! I'd lost a good un'. I slinked back into my chair a deflated man, in other words I'd gone off to sulk. I'd possibly blown my chance to land a Barbel.

A couple of hours later and Allan was in, he had a fair old bend in the rod, I called that he was about to land his new P.B. I was right. He'd managed to land his first Barbel into double figures. 10lb 5oz a cracking fish that mate. Well done!

Not too long later he was in again. I was rather taken aback by his capture. A 8lb 5oz Bream left us both with our jaws on the floor. Wow! I'd rather catch a double figured Bream than a Barbel any day. I have a feeling one of us may just do that this season.

The Barbel weren't finished with yet. Allan landed a couple more and I had a mad action packed few minutes that saved the day. I was playing my right hand rod when my left hand rod screamed off. Thankfully both fish were landed.

I was also to catch my first ever river Bream, not as big as Al's but another P.B for me. at 6lb 10oz I wasn't for complaining. I was pleased to see this one slip into the net.

Trip Three :

Back to the river, a late start, we haven't had much rain and as such the river was running low, very low in fact. We decided to increase the chance of catching by fishing an area that holds a little more water.

I had a pretty good session, I landed four Barbel in total. No whoppers the biggest was a little under 8 and half pounds. The novelty of photographing catches seems to be wearing off. I only posed with a couple of 8+ fish. I'm still looking for that elusive double. As for Allan, well I was very surprised that he blanked on this trip. Unlucky mate. (Although after your last session, I have one thing to say... GOOD!) :)

Back on the Barbel

6lb 10oz wild river Barbel

10lb 5oz Barbel the first double

Al's 8lb 5oz Bream8lb+ Seem to be catching a few of these

Fishing in the flood

2011-07-19T13:22:00.006+01:00

I just can't keep away from the river at the moment. A trip with Ben was organised and we arrived by the river some time after 7 O'clock in the evening.

The river was high and carrying a lot of water, a daunting sight if there ever was one. I had to increase the weight on my rigs to 6oz to hold bottom. There was a lot of debris floating by which kept snagging up on my line. My Barbel rods are only 1.5lb TC and were hardly perfect for the task ahead. Note to self... Take Carp rods as back up in future.

I cast out my right hand rod under my feet. I'd probably cast five times within the space of only half on hour. I gave up on using PVA as it was just being wasted. I trudged up to my day shelter and plonked myself into my chair, folded my arms and proceeded to sulk! I doubted that I was going to catch at all in these conditions.

I'd no sooner sat down and assumed the 'sulking position' when my recently re-cast rod almost bent double such was the voracity of the take. A nice battle ensued and yet another PB Barbel was landed. 8lb 15oz. I'm getting closer and closer to the magical double.

That was the only fish of the night, and was caught on MC Boilie

8lb 15oz

A trip to the river...

2011-07-17T13:14:00.015+01:00

Back to the river for myself and Allan today. We headed beck to the same area as the previous week. Our quarry was of course to be Barbel.

We arrived mid afternoon to find the river low and flowing at a slow pace.

I'd craftily made up my PVA bags at home so I was soon set up and fishing.

By 6pm the water had risen by at least a foot, an encouraging sign that we may be in for a good nights fishing - the fish would most definitely move about with some fresh water about the place.

Night fall..

It was just creeping dark, I had been watching a Mink going about it's business I'd just missed a cracking photo opportunity (due to the camera not focusing quickly enough) when I was into my first Barbel of the session. A tremendously violent take that near enough dragged my rod off it's stand gave me a clue that I was into a good fish. As I'm new to the world 0f Barbel fishing almost every fish I catch at the moment is a new PB. Which incidentally I managed to break four times tonight. 7lb 6oz, 8lb 6oz, 8lb 8oz and finally the biggest of the night at 8lb 9oz. I even managed to catch 2 Chub worth weighing. The biggest of them was 4lb 8oz another PB.

It took Allan a little while to get off the mark tonight, at one point I have to confess I feared he may even blank! But thankfully he managed to pull it back, Landing 3 Barbel in total. One of 5lb 9oz, 6lb 4oz and PB Barbel of 7lb. He even beat my new Chub record by landing one at 5lb.

All fish were caught on MC (3) and SGLM (7) baits.

Allan's PB Chub

Al's Record Barbel 7lb

My biggest Barbel so far 8lb 9oz

My record shaking Chub 4lb 8oz

8lb 8oz

River Barbel

2011-07-12T19:56:00.003+01:00

It was time for Allan and I to have our first Barbel session of the season. The water was coloured and up a little. But not racing through. The conditions were probably perfect. I'm no expert at judging this water and I confess I have a lot to learn.

There is an air of excitement when trying your hand out a new water and a new species, and I was dying to start fishing.

I fished two rods with Coltswold baits 'The One' as my choice of boilie. After around an hour of fishing my left hand rod bent over and my reel stripped line at a good pace. A Barbel and no mistake had taken one of my baits. The fight was amazing and after one session it's fair to say if you'll excuse the pun that 'I'm hooked'

A few hours later I had another take, this time on the right hand rod and the bait was wrapped in paste. Unmistakeably another Barbel, a bit bigger than the last one and certainly a new PB.

No fish for Allan today, which was a shame as I'd liked him to have experienced the 'Barbel fight'

I'm sure we will be back on there very soon.

A black swan -

I've not come across too many of these in my time

My first Barbel of the season

7lb 2oz P.B Barbel

Night and day Carping

2011-07-10T09:00:00.010+01:00

Once again I find myself having to catch up with the blogging. The reason behind the absence isn't down to procrastination I suppose it's more down to the fact that with the late nights I'm returning home far too late to be bothered hammering out my musings on a keyboard.

To the fishing... I've been Carping quite a bit of late. A few day sessions here and there. I also did two nights on a water which produced me one fish, a two toned mirror of 13lb 2oz. Not the best of sessions but a lot better than a blank.

The opening day

2011-06-17T13:15:00.005+01:00

It was here. June 16th and the opening day of the river season. Myself, Allan and Panto headed to the drains. An early start was in order and arriving at our pegs at day break ensured a full days fishing.

The fishing started well. I was into a Bream with 2 minutes of casting. A good sign for things to come? Well actually no it wasn't. The opening day for me was absolutely dire. I managed to catch around 6 fish the whole day. I really struggled to get so much as a bite. Allan and Panto caught a few tench between them, if I'm not mistaken I think Allan ended up with four Tench in total. Panto caught the fish of the day, a Pike of 14lb's fell to a single maggot. I'd suspect that as he was fishing the method that he'd tethered a small Roach or Skimmer, the Pike had taken the fish. Nevertheless he did very well to land it on only 6lb line. It put up a hell of a fight too. Good angling!

I had two runs on a Pike rod both of which resulted in drop runs.

To be honest I'm glad that the opening day is done and dusted now. It often doesn't live up to it's name. I have the whole season to look forward to now and I'm planning to catch some decent Barbel and Carp over the coming months.

Allan's Tench

Panto's catch of the day

Knowledge is key

2011-06-14T10:04:00.008+01:00

Sunday:

The weather was god damn awful today. You just wouldn't believe that it was the 12th of June. Blustery winds accompanied by pelting rain would put pay to many a fishing session. I had other ideas! This would be perfect weather for a spot of carping. Firstly the weather would keep the noddies off the bank and secondly there was no way the Carp would be basking cockily on the surface.

I arrived at the venue for just after 12:30. Now I have to confess I do have a favourite peg on this water, and my bottom lip went a bit when I could see that there was someone already on it. Given my late start I should hardly have been surprised.

I enquired to the man that was sitting in 'my peg' as to how it was fishing? He revealed that he had been on the water since 5:10am and as yet hadn't caught a fish. I was quite taken a back by this, as I was sure that they would feed today, yes it was cold - but the water was very warm.

Still sulking, I chose the next peg, put up my day shelter and set up my rod on the method. I cast out towards a prominent feature. Ten minutes later I was weighing a 15lb 2oz Common (At the time of writing this is my second biggest Carp) soon followed by another Common of 10lb 2oz. I'm sure 'my peg' pinching friend was left scratching his head. I finished the session with four Carp in total a 9lb Mirror and a 11lb 4oz Common came just on pack up.

Now I'm not trying to make myself out to be a great angler, far from it. The point behind the above anecdote is that sometimes a little knowledge about what techniques and baits are working on a water are an absolute must - and can most definitely be the difference between sat behind motionless rods or catching fish.

For the record... I didn't spill the beans about my bait ;)

Monday:

Back to the same venue. I was supposed to be doing some chores with 'Her in doors' but a last minute reprieve from she that must be obeyed was music to my ears. The van was soon packed and I wheel spun out of the drive before she changed her mind.

The fishing however was slow, very slow...I was catching plenty of Bream, but the Carp were not for showing. (notice I'm becoming a little expectant) Several hours went by before I finally had my moment. A welcomed blank saver by that of a lovely golden looking common of around 8lb's. Another 2 Carp followed - all of them being around the same weight.

No doubles were caught today so I couldn't be bothered with self takes. Instead I opted to photograph a little mouse that kept me company during my session. I affectionately referred to him as Mickey. :D

Scraper Double

15lb 2ozlast knockings 11lb 4oz

Mickey!

Cyprinus carpio

2011-05-30T20:34:00.016+01:00

Another catch up!

I've been putting a good few hours into Carping recently. I've had a few sessions here and there, and I've banked a good few fish along the way. A fair amount of doubles and a few smaller fish too boot! I even managed to catch a new pb. At 16lb I'm still a little way off catching my first 20.

All fish were caught on the the 'method' Some have been caught on light gear, 8lb line and 6lb hook length, and a few have been caught on purpose Carp gear.

I've been experimenting with various baits until I found a combination which was absolutely deadly. It can be hard to move off a bait when you've started to get results on it. Indeed why change it if it's working for you and you're landing fish? But that's exactly what I did.

The night before my last session I went to my local river and observed some Chub. I took it upon myself to take them some food and I threw in some free offerings. I had a selection of around half a dozen baits and I what I witnessed was truly fascinating. There was one bait in particular that they homed in on. They would suck up the bait and quickly blow it out - repeating the process two or three times, before finally losing interest and leaving it. Soon enough another fish would come along and the ritual was repeated. Interestingly after quarter of an hour or so and up until the point when I left - the bait was still there. So of course this got me thinking! Would the Carp on the water I was to fish the next day do the same? There was only one way to find out...

I'd had two fish landed before I decided to experiment. A very hard fighting Ghost Carp of around 6 to 7lb's and a Common 5lb's or there abouts fell to my old faithful cocktail.

The new bait was hair rigged and had been in the water not 5 minutes when my rod screamed off. Something had fallen for it. That something was a 12 and a half pound Common. An hour or so later and I was in again. A smaller common perhaps a scraper double was landed.

Unfortunately the weather turned from perfect overcast conditions as the sun came out. This killed the fishing as all the Carp came to the surface. Fishing off the top on this water is banned. Alas I had to spend the rest of the day watching the fish rather than catching them.

Allan's 7lb+ Common

12lb 8oz. The worse self take ever? Possibly :)
The hard fighting Ghostie13lb + Mirror

16lb Common and a new PB
A cheeky visitor

If it's broke, then fix it!

2011-05-20T13:40:00.005+01:00

I planned a days fishing on my local canal today. It's been a while since I've fished it so it was about time I gave it a try. Allan had a day off work so he decided to join me. The last time I fished the canal I managed to snap my number 4 pole section. Still out of commission I had little choice than to fish the tip. The bites were slow, very slow in fact. In around an hour and a half worth of fishing I'd managed to catch a Perch of just under a pound and Allan had managed to tempt a lonely Roach.

The fish were not biting and the clock was ticking, what to do? With the knowledge that the club matches weren't producing big weights. 3lb odd I'm told was the winning bag recently. We decided to make the bold decision to pack up and head to a different venue, not something that I do too often. We travelled to a lake that is likely to provide a little sport.. and it did just that.

Allan was the first to catch and he landed a stunning Ghost Carp of 11lb 6oz a cracking fish, a new Carp P.B for Al.

It was packing up time, Allan was long gone, and in a 'just one last cast' act of desperation I managed to sneak a Carp into the landing net. A cracking fish of 11lb 14oz and a great fighter made the wait all the worth while. There is no more fun to be had than catching decent Carp on a 3/4oz tip

The 11lb 6oz Ghost CarpMy 11lb 14oz

A bit of a catch up

2011-05-16T14:57:00.006+01:00

I've managed to grace the bank a few times over the past few weeks and I've fished a couple of different venues along the way. I can tell you this much though, I'm dying for the river season to start. Not too long to go now little under a month in fact. I'll be putting a bit of an effort in to catch Barbel and large Chub this year, both species I have not given enough of my time to target. I'll more than likely open my season targeting Tench and Bream, it's a bit of a tradition of mine that I wish not to break. The reports below are in no particular order.

The stand out session of late was when myself and Panto had an early start on a Bream and Tench water. We had devastating results. I finished the session with 30 Bream (The average stamp being around 4 to 5 lb's) 4 Tench to 5lb+ and a Roach around a pound. Easily catching over 100lb of fish. Panto finished with 19 Bream and 9 Tench. What a session!

A short session for Carp on the tip, didn't leave me disappointed. I caught a Common of around 10lb for my troubles. Catching Carp on the tip is awesome, this one put up such a fight it bent the hook, thankfully I didn't lose the fish.

A trip to a difficult private water produced a few Perch for me to just under a pound and a Bream of 4lb 10oz. Allan did a little better landing a good few Bream to five pounds and a stunning Rudd of 2lb 1oz. That's a great fish and a complete surprise from this venue.

10lb Common

4lb 10oz Bream
Ruddy Hell! 2lb 1oz
The best Perch of the day.

One of a few double hook up's for myself and the P' unit

Jukes first boated Fish

2011-04-28T11:17:00.010+01:00

When I set the alarm for 2:15 am that can only mean one thing. A day's fishing on Juke with Ben was a foot.

We arrived at the water just as day was breaking. As we are becoming more familiar with the water we have started to name the various swims that we fish. Some of which will not make any sense to anyone but myself and Ben. I will refer to them throughout the blogging as they will make a valuable reference tool for years to come.

We anchored up in 26 Bay and sat it out for a few hours. We fished 2 dead baits each and cast various lures in the area. Nothing came to the lures, but one of Ben's floats signalled a take. Wow! Was this to be the first fish to be boated on the new boat? Both our hearts were racing as the float started to move off. I readied the net... Then it stopped. The Pike had dropped the bait. Damn! We concluded that it must have been a small Jack Pike, the bait was a fair sized Mackerel, too big for the rooting Jack.

A couple more swims were tried and early afternoon we dropped anchor at Seagull Island. We'd been there perhaps half an hour when my float started bobbing. Yes! I was in! I struck the take and a positive resistance confirmed that indeed I had a fish on. We were fishing over 20ft of water and it was an amazing sight to see her as she came up to the surface. I'm not used to catching Pike in 'gin clear' water. The first fish on Juke weighed 10lb 10oz. Not a bad start to our boating adventues.

Ben has some great video footage of her going back into the water. I'll post that as soon.

We finished off the session with a bit of trolling. A good way to learn the water and to find features, depths and drop offs etc. Ben even had a take. Alas it came off. Time to read up all about Trolling for our next visit then.

The first boated Pike. 10lb 10oz

A very low flying Chinook Helicopter

Back she goes

Three PB's in a day

2011-04-26T08:48:00.006+01:00

Bank Holiday Monday

I had a few options of when and where to go fishing this weekend, eventually I chose to fish for Tench. Some will argue that it's too early for this particular species. They're wrong! Why hold back on catching them? They come to no harm being fished for at this time of year. They're just waking up from their winter slumber, and once located they will provide a great days sport.

A visit to the water the week before resulted in a disappointing session. I managed to catch just one Tench and two Bream. (I never thought I'd regard a session where I caught a 5+ Tench and two Bream over 4lb's a disappointment, perhaps I'm becoming a little expectant) The Tench were feeding but not on the side of the lake that I was at. I watched the water throughout the day and one peg in particular was doing the business. That would be the peg I'd head to on my next visit.

Bank holiday Monday! A foolish day to be going fishing? The thought had crossed my mind, but rather surprisingly the water wasn't full of anglers.

I was set up in my swim before sunrise ready to catch the early morning Tench feeding. As daylight appeared it became apparent that there was a thick fog surrounding the area.

As the fog lifted, the sun finally managed to make an appearance. Within a couple of minutes of the glaring sun hitting the lake I was in to my first Tench. A coincidence? I'd say not. The fog must have been putting them off the feed. A theory perhaps backed up by the fact that as I was playing my fish, my other rod was screaming off. I'd sat there for three hours with nothing to show and suddenly I was in to two at the same time.

I landed both fish, a brace of 5lb Tench. Things were looking up. I cast the tip rod to mid water and picked up what I thought was a Bream. I couldn't believe my eyes when I netted a stunning Roach of 1lb 7oz. A new PB Roach for me and by some margin too. I was delighted with this catch and I was thankful that it came on the tip rod and not the ledger rod, as it made the catch a little more special.

The Tench fed steadily throughout the day and I ended up with a record haul of 12 Tench in total and an average stamp of around 5lb +

The biggest Tench of the day was a right old lump of 7lb 4oz. I'd managed to beat my old Tench PB by 1lb 7oz. Another catch made all the sweeter as it also came on the tip.

The 1lb 7oz Roach

The 5lb Brace

7lb 4oz and a new PB

A very Good Friday Carping on the tip

2011-04-22T22:53:00.008+01:00

Good Friday was here and although I couldn't take the whole day off work, I would have chance to fit a good few hours fishing in. I made my way to a water that contains some good Carp and Tench.

The weather was absolutely scorching today, easily above 70 Fahrenheit . The kiss of death for any fishing session if you ask me.

I fished on the Greys G-Tec 9ft 6" Bomb rod on bread flake. I was getting bites but wasn't connecting anything. I was obviously suffering to the hands of smaller fish. After a few frustrating hours I'd had enough so switched over to the method.

I was sweltering in the burning heat, cursing to myself that I hadn't gone fishing earlier in the morning, more likely when the fish were feeding!

Eventually after several hours my rod wrapped around and I was in to a good fish, it felt a good lump too. On light tackle it took me a good 10 minutes to land. I was pretty happy to see a rather nice looking Common Carp of 12lb 2oz land in the net.

My first Carp of the year but not the last as two more followed, the second 6lb+ and the third a very hard fighting Mirror Carp weighing 10lb.

What great fun Catching Carp on the tip is, until today I'd never caught a Carp on the tip before. I'll definitely be having another go at them soon.

12lb 2oz Common Carp

6lb 5oz
10lb Mirror Carp

A Bream and an unintentional Pike

2011-04-18T23:28:00.005+01:00

I asked Allan as to where his preferred fishing destination would be for this Saturday's session. And he chose well. We headed for the first time this year to the Bream water.

We arrived just after dinner and our intentions were to fish it an hour or two into dark.

The fishing was steady but not prolific, I caught a few Roach and Skimmers. If I remember rightly I think I ended up with 21 fish on the day, Allan fared a little better with 27 or so. The Bream were a no show, although around 10pm Allan landed a cracking fish of 5lb 2oz. They say Bream feed in shoals and once you catch one if they stay on your bait you'll catch them all. Well not on this occasion, as this was the only Bream of the session.

My session wasn't without incident. There was a opportunist Pike striking at the Roach as I was putting them back in the water. I'd say that throughout the day it had snaffled around 6 of my fish. Finally the inevitable happened, as I was bringing a fish in, the Pike struck and and my tip rod bent over double as it tried to make off with it's free meal. During the fight I'd managed to hook the Pike in it's scissors. The Battle was cut short by Allan's swift netting skills. The Pike was around 5lb. It looked like it had been in the wars a little. Scars from recent spawning activities I'd wager.

I just can't seem to be able to get away from these them there Pike!

The 5lb 2oz Bream
The probably 5lb Pike

Meet Juke

2011-04-18T21:54:00.005+01:00

Since the very first time I ever cast a rod with my friend Ben, the subject of owning a boat has been touched upon many times. At the end of last year the opportunity for Ben to finally own a boat of his own came along, and his long time dream had at last come to fruition.

Ben has worked tirelessly over the last few months fettling the boat. There is a saying amongst boat owners "A boat is a hole in the water into which you throw money into" This is perhaps a saying that Ben would almost certainly agree with. The list of purchases he's had to make before launching Juke is unenviable. Anchors, rope, chain, battery, floor matting, life jackets, electric motor, tow bar are to name just a few.

Thursday the 14TH April was to be the day that we would finally launch Juke. We headed on to a large glacial water and went about exploring various bays and swims and checking depths with the on board fish finder. We found a few decent areas to fish and went about casting lures. We didn't catch anything but we weren't too bothered as today was more about learning boat craft than catching fish... Hopefully that will come on our next trip.

We had a great day exploring the water, and I couldn't have asked for a better ending. As we came into shore Ben was the first to disembark, as he stepped out of the boat he lost his footing and disappeared out of sight (I'm laughing so much I'm struggling to write this) fully submerged he came back up absolutely soaking, making a mockery of the fact that he was wearing waders :D

GOOD!

Ben and Juke

Spoons are not just for desserts

2011-04-10T09:43:00.006+01:00

The Piking rods are hung up in the garage and I probably won't be bringing them out until late August beginning of September. Some may argue that October 1st is the traditional day of the start of the Piking season. However given that most waters will be in flood in November and the possibility that December through to January the waters will probably be frozen over, the Piking season is somewhat cut short by the elements.

Having said that the nights are getting longer, and the opportunity to head to a water to cast a few lures is almost too hard to resist.

I called Allan and suggested we head to a private water to see if we could tempt a Pike or two, foolishly he was agreeable.

The water we fished is pretty large and there are a few bays that hold a good head of bait fish. What self respecting Pike wouldn't set up home there?

I tried several lures but eventually chose a kuusamo spoon which Gord had talked me in to buying. (which I haven't paid him for yet. I'm sure he's losing a bit of sleep over this, no seriously he will be losing sleep over it, he's reminded me to pay him for it I'd say no less than six occasions.)

Spoons are often neglected on waters in favour of more 'in vogue' lures such as replicant's and Rapala's. My personal best Pike of 26 lb fell to a spoon. The flash of steel caught by the overhead sun as it cuts though the water is often far too a temptation for a Pike laying in ambush to resist.

A point soon proven by the fact that the only fish caught on this session fell to a spoon.

A Pike of around 6lb a little battle scarred probably from the rituals of recent spawning activities put a nice bend in the Jerkbait rod.

Just couldn't resist the spoon

The kuusamo 'Professor' spoon

Bagging up time!

2011-04-09T16:33:00.004+01:00

I'm becoming a little disillusioned with the world of blogging. The reasons for now I shan't go in to. It's even crossed my mind to finish blogging altogether. However I have been putting quite a few fish on the bank of late, so I felt inspired to write a little report.

My first Carping night fishing trip of the year, produced 3 decent sized Bream all of which were around the 4lb mark. No Carp on this trip. Panto fared a little better by landing two Carp around 9lb's.

I also fished a local lake and fished the Method, two Tench and one Chub provided a little sport, but on the whole it was a quiet session.

An early visit to a favoured Tench water wasn't the most porductive of sessions, although I did land one Tench of 5lb 8oz and a Pike of around a pound took a liking to my ledgered hook bait.

On a better note, the fish on the canal have well and truly woken up, no longer am I scrapping around in the reeds with bread punch hoping to catch a few small Roach.

I headed to my local stretch on Thursday, the weather was overcast and there was a light breeze causing a light ripple on the water.

It's a great sign of how the session is going to fish when you have a fish in the net within the first minute of fishing.

I caught a good head of Skimmers, Roach, Bream and even the odd Gudgeon, which were recently stocked in this water.

I finished the day with just over 14lb of fish, I even took the trouble to count them there were 53 in total. I'll be heading back there in the next week or so hoping for a big bag of Bronze Bream.

Wakey! Wakey!

First bag up of the year

The late bird doesn't catch the worm!

2011-03-27T17:22:00.006+01:00

A tip session on a private lake that holds some decent sized fish was on the cards today. I arranged a time with Panto and Allan that at first was 6 O'clock then changed to 7 and finally stopped on 8am.

The water at this time of the year is very peggy, the majority of the fish seem to hold in one particular bay, accessible by only three pegs. It would seem that a few people have worked this out for themselves, thus there is usally a clamber to the hot pegs.

As I arrived and made way to the area I could see that two anglers had beaten us to the swims.

I was annoyed at myself for not making the effort of getting out of bed sooner. I said we'd struggle to get bites and that we did. Allan fished the Pole and didn't get a bite. the whole session. I fished the the tip which produced nothing! The ledger rod saved me a blank by catching a Skimmer of around a pound, better than a blank I suppose.

Panto, fished one of the hot pegs on the Pole and caught quite a few small fish. Q.E.D!

The trip wasn't a complete waste of time though as I observed some nice Long - tailed Tits, one of which I managed photograph.

Long tailed- Tit

Time for the tip

2011-03-24T20:42:00.009Z

The Pike rods are packed away and it was time to blow the cobwebs off the tip rod. This is what I love about fishing - just as one door closes another one opens.

A sunrise session on a misty lake was a fine start to a new campaign. It was time to see if I could catch a Tench or Bream awakening from it's winter slumber. I fished the Tip and I also ledgered one rod on a bite alarm.

There wasn't too much sign of life on the water, spare some inquisitive fry hanging around the margins.

The tip rod wasn't responding too well on the maggot feeder, in around two hours of fishing only one Roach made an appearance.

The ledger rod was better, three fish came in total. The first a Bream around 3lb's followed by one slightly bigger at perhaps 5lb's. Then came my first Tench of the year. I took the trouble to weigh this one, 4lb 2oz not a bad fish.

As this rod was producing I switched the tip rod over to the same bait. It lay motionless for around an hour when I got a whacking take. I hit into it and felt a good weight at the end, a hard fighting Tench led me a merry dance.

I'd forgotten just how well these little fella's can fight, pound for pound they'll give any fish a run for their money and at 5lb 6oz it was a decent sized fish, certainly worth unzipping the Reubens from their pouch. A good days fishing, and it was nice to be back on the tip, to me that means one thing... Summer is coming!

5lb BreamFirst tench of the year

Immaculate 5lb 6oz

The toss of a coin

2011-03-15T08:30:00.010Z

Well it was here, the final day of the river season. Myself and Panto were to make the most of this nostalgic day by meeting up at day break. We both had our eyes on an area we wanted to fish. In the interest of fairness and sportsmanship we decided to let fate decide our positions. The winner of a coin toss would not be able to decided where to fish but would be given the 'Hot Peg' A twenty pence piece was tossed into the air and Panto called heads. It was tails! The peg was mine. A forlorn Panto trudged off to the next swim. The peg choice indeed proved to be critical.

The action came fast and furious. In around three hours I landed a total of 5 fish to 11lb's, they were mostly small Pike between 5 and 8lb's but they were still giving the rod a good bend. I stayed until dusk hoping to catch a decent Perch but they didn't show. Panto was left cursing his luck as his only fish of the day was a tiny Pike of around 10oz.

I'd seen the season out in style, in under a week I'd netted a total of 15 Pike, nearly half of which were doubles. I will look back at this season with great fondness. I've taken numerous canal doubles to 16lb 4oz, and my new Sluice PB of 17lb 6oz won't be forgotten in a hurry. I've had a great haul of Pike over the last few months and It's been great fun catching them. I've had some great laughs with my mates along the way, and at the end of the day, that's what it's about isn't it?

The first of five

The last double of the season

A leeched up Pike

At the double!

2011-03-12T20:31:00.003Z

It was Allan's turn to try his luck at landing a specimen Pike today. We met up at out agreed location at 7am. We settled on an area and after an hour I got itchy feet. It doesn't feel right here mate, We have to move. We saddled up like pit ponies and walked to a more favored stretch.

Within 10 minutes of recasting our baits on to the area we'd both landed Pike.

Allan was the first to catch, a nice double of around 11lb was his reward for moving. We were just congratulating ourselves in making the effort of upping sticks when I heard an almighty splash, I saw fish scatter and fry jump for their lives, my float disappeared into the murky depths with some gusto, this had to be one of the most violent takes that I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Another nice Pike just 2oz's shy of 13lb. I was a happy man as this was my sixth double of the week.

Allan's back!

12lb 14oz

Panto has the last laugh!

2011-03-12T20:22:00.010Z

Four days of the fishing season left and the chance for another session was not to be missed. I'd arranged to meet up with Panto, who I'd wager was still kicking himself for missing out on the previous days action.

Panto is no fool and had wasted little time in setting up on the peg that had produced fish for me the day before. I don't blame him I'd have done the same.

When I arrived at the swim I asked the dreaded question "Have you had owt?" I braced myself for the answer... "Yep two fish, both around 8 or 9 pounds"

But he'd done something that I couldn't believe, just as I got there he'd leapfrogged off the peg leaving it empty. What was he thinking? I thought, and as quick as a flash I jumped on it.

Ten minutes later I was in and Panto was left as sick as a parrot as I landed my first double of the day 14lb 2oz. Was it the same 14 that I'd had a couple of days previously? After checking the photographs at home I can confirm that they're actually different fish.

Another 20 minutes went by and I was in again from the same spot, another double and Panto was as white as a sheet.

Dont' worry mate your time will come...

Well lets just say that never a truer word was spoken, and indeed his time did come. I'm afraid at this point I'm not at liberty to discuss the events. I will do a follow on report in a month or so. Watch this space!

14lb 2oz

11lb 14oz
Scraper Double

The day Gordy was late for fishing!

2011-03-09T23:15:00.003Z

As I slept in my bed last night I could hear the wind causing a commotion, the gates to the back garden were thudding against the side of the house, the gutters hummed a haunting tune under the stress of a menacing wind. This wasn't good news as I wanted to sneak a few hours fishing in the morning before work.

My fears of abandoning the session were not eased as when I eventually dared to peek out the window, it was absolutely chucking it down and blowing a gale. Damn it! I wasn't for fishing in that. I had though arranged to meet Gord this morning and when he phoned me we somehow managed to talk each other into still going despite the weather.

I'd set off and was making way to the Sluice when Gord phoned again. "I'm not fishing in that Matt, I've changed my mind" I pulled the van over, questioned my own sanity and almost turned back. No! I'd come this far, the gear was in the van and I'd set off already. The Pirate declared that if I was fishing it then he'd come too. Almost as quick as it was over the session then was back on.

I arrived at my peg well ahead of my fishing companion. I had the area to myself so I set about setting the rods up. My third rod was just about baited up and in the water when my left hand float indicated a bite. My reaction was that of glee as my indecision's on whether or not to fish this morning had paid off almost immediately upon my arrival. I wound down on to the slack line and set the hooks, I was met with some hefty resistance, what the hell had I hooked into here? I knew I was into a big fish because she wasn't for showing. A battle ensued and what seemed like around half an hour was probably in reality around a minute.

I finally raised her head out of the water. When she slipped into the net I took one look at her girth and guessed she was around 16lb. I zeroed the scales and watched the needle come to a stop on 17lb 6oz. What a result! A new Sluice PB and all I could think was 'Thank god I didn't turn back'

The Swashbuckling Pirate arrived just in time to take the snaps. Good old Gordie I knew he had his uses ;)

I stayed for a few hours just in case there was something else lurking in the depths, and there was, alas it was just a rooting tooting Jack of around 2lb's.

So a day of what if's and might have beens that has a happy ending. Oh and I'm still smiling to myself about that fish :D

17lb 6oz

The big girls are here!

2011-03-08T23:51:00.008Z

Thursday:

An early morning meet up with Panto on the drains was arranged. I say early morning by that I mean 8am. Hardly the crack of dawn was it?

We decided to leap frog rather than stay static. A tactic that sort of paid off. Panto was the first to catch and within around 10 minutes of setting up. A plump Pike of just over 11lb followed by a small Jack 20 minutes or so later left me wanting. In fact I was left wanting for a good six hours or so before my float bobbed under and went out of sight. I too had caught a plump Pike, she was full of spawn perhaps adding a couple of pounds to her normal weight. Pre spawning she'd probably weigh around 8 or 9 lbs, laden with eggs she was 10lb 4oz. I had a couple of dropped runs probably by Perch but other than that there was no more action for myself or JP.

Panto's double

The fish that saved the day!

Friday:

I arranged a session on the sluice with Paddy. The fishing conditions were absolutely terrible. The water was chocolate brown and was pumping very hard. Needless to say we didn't catch. We packed up a little early with our tails between our legs. Maybe next time eh mate? :)

Saturday:

Myself and Allan decided to give the drains a rest today. I suspected that the Sluice would be busy, I didn't fancy being part of a crowd so a trip to the canal and fishing on the pole was my preference.

I made my way to one of my favourite pegs and set out for the Roach on bread punch. It's fair to say that the fishing got a little bit competitive between myself and Allan and when we checked the keep nets at the end I'd just pipped him 30-25. I'll say one thing, I'm going to be in for some trouncing by Allan on the pole this season. Despite his shovel sized hands and sausage fingers he's pretty damn good at this pole fishing lark!

I also set out for Perch today, I caught a couple of Pike and just the one Perch of around half a pound, not the biggest of specimens but it's a start.

Hopefully they'll get bigger!

Sunday:

Another trip to the canal fishing for Roach and to target Perch. What a contrast to the day before, I really struggled to get a bite on the pole. I fished the whole day and managed just the 8 Roach. This could mostly be down to the wind that was blowing the pole all over the place, somewhat hindering the presentation of the bread punch.

The Perch rod caught me three Pike, the biggest was around 6 pounds, Squeaky bum time on light line and a sticky clutch but bloomin great fun!

Tuesday:

The end of the fishing season is drawing ever near, with that in mind I couldn't help having a short session on the drains today. It was a decision that I was to be thankful for later.

My first fish came after around half an hour of setting up. I was sat starring at my floats watching debris sailing past me and wondering if I'd even catch at all today when my middle float shot under the surface and was away. A hefty lump at the end of my line tugged a bit and stayed deep but if I'm honest it didn't put up the biggest of fights. At 14lb 4oz it was a good fish, so I wasn't for complaining. Another fish of around 5lb soon followed, albeit a lot smaller but it gave me a much better fight.

The Pike were not done feeding just yet, another double as fat as a barrel and resembling a puffer fish was landed, and just before pack up a Pike of around 7 pounds ended the days fishing just nicely.

I'm pretty sure that if I was able to stay and fish the whole day the blogging would not have finished here. I had fatherly duties to attend to and I wasn't wanting to be on the end of an ear bashing from a disgruntled 8 year old if I was late for the school run.

14lb 4oz

The Puffer fish

Some fishing!

2011-02-21T22:26:00.000Z

I've fished a few times over the last week, I thought it was about time I blogged about it.

Last week I had my first pole session of the year on the Canal. I was please with the results. I caught around 20 Roach during my shortish session. I also landed a couple of Pike, neither of which I could be bothered to take the camera out for.

FRIDAY:

It was time for me to give the drains another bash. A phone call to Panto the night before had inspired me to get back on the Sluice. The River fishing season is nearing it's end, time to cram a few sessions in.

I decided to fish one swim and stay there for the duration. I had five runs and landed three Pike in total. The biggest Pike being around 8lb's or so. Not a bad session albeit a short one.

SATURDAY:

Back to the drains, and foolishly I decided to fish the same peg as the day before. The result? A painful blank. Panto fared a little better by landing the only fish of the day, a Pike of between 7 and 8lb's

SUNDAY:

An early start and a new venue for myself and Panto. I dusted the tip fishing gear down and tried my luck at catching a few silvers. I had a few bites but only landed one Roach for my troubles. As for the Pike both myself and Panto were left wanting. A tough and bitterly cold day with little to show for it. I think we will head back there in a few weeks when the weather has warmed up a little. It's a long way to go for a one ounce Roach.

The comfort zone... When out fishing a new venue I often touch upon the subject of the 'Comfort Zone' by this I mean that it can be a bit of a wretch trying unknown waters especially if the fishing is slow. If I'd fished one of my regular waters today I'd have probably caught. The attraction of catching an upper 20 though is certainly an incentive to try my luck on a different venue.

MONDAY:

Back to the drains. The conditions were far from perfect. The water was chocolate brown and pumping a little too fast for my liking. I was here now though so I decided to fish it anyway.

A changed tactic today, I opted for the leap frogging technique. I figured that if I was to stand any chance of catching I'd probably have to drop a bait on a Pikes nose. After around 5 hours of fishing and 200 yards of moving swims I did just that. Finally one of my Pike bungs slipped under and I was in! A good fighting fish of around 9 and a half pounds made all my efforts worth while. I was optimistic of another take, but it didn't come. I was treated to a passing visitor whilst on the bank today, a Barn Owl came within a few feet of where I was fishing. It's a regular caller to this area, but this is as close as it's ever got to me. I just about managed to grab a couple of photo's of the occasion.

Friday's Pike

Panto's fish of the day
When the fishing's slow...

Don't ask!

Monday's Pike

A passing Barn Owl

Daddy! You're in!

2011-02-12T20:55:00.008Z

A couple of weeks ago my little girl said to me.. . "Dad, do you know I've never seen you catch a Pike" Well I ask you! If that isn't a challenge then I don't know what is?

It was a really mild February day today, good fishing conditions and hopefully I'd be able to show her a Pike or Two.

Given that Ellie is only 8 years old, keeping her entertained and free from boredom would be a task in itself. I was hoping then that the action would come thick and fast. Within 5 minutes Ellie was already asking when the Pike would come. Thankfully within half an hour of setting up a rooting Jack called by and the pressure of catching was lifted.

I was stunned to see her hold the Pike with absolutely no fear whatsoever, indeed I'd say she held the Pike better than most Pikers. The photograph is below, judge for yourself :)

During our Piking session we landed a total of 5 Pike, mostly Jacks but a 7lb 6oz and 8lb 8oz Pike were the pick of the bunch.

The 8lb 8oz Pike was a familiar capture, in fact it's the third time that I seen this Pike in as many weeks. Allan was the first to capture it but regretfully it wasn't weighed, at the time we guessed the weight to be around 7 and a half to 8 pounds. The last time I caught it the scales topped 9lb 2oz. It's interesting to see the fluctuation in weight over a short period of time.

We had a great day's fishing and I shouldn't think it will be too long before I can talk her in to coming again. :)

The smile says it all

Held like a pro

One for Daddy

When the wind blows...

2011-02-03T19:52:00.003Z

The weather report for today wasn't making for good reading. I opened the curtains this morning with a little trepidation as to what I may see. Gusting winds and rain were promised but as I peeked outside and observed the sun and blue skies. It seemed that the forecasters looked to have gotten it wrong.

Now I don't mind fishing in most conditions but high winds are certainly my least favourite. I'm convinced that winds and choppy conditions put the Pike off the feed especially on the drains and canals that I fish. My catch rates in high winds certainly back up my theory.

As I arrived at my swim there was a gentle breeze but nothing more. My first rod was baited up with a ledgered Mackerel, incredibly it was only a couple of minutes after casting in that the float was under and away on it's travels. What followed was scrap with a Pike that fought like the devil. These are the moments as to why I come fishing in the first place, that connection with a hard fighting fish is hard to explain unless you've actually experienced it. Well that's what I tell people who ask me as to why I spend half my life staring at a plastic mostly motionless floats for a hobby.

Once landed due to it's long length I thought the fish looked bigger than it actually was. I was surprised to see the needle on the scales stop at 10lb 2oz. Another canal double so I wasn't for complaining, it's not too long ago that I was chasing my first canal double. Since then I've had a fair few and long may that continue.

The morning was still calm a few non threatening scattered clouds hovered above. A buzzard circled over head, an awesome sight easily distinguished by it's vocal call, sadly too high up for me to capture a photo worth publishing on the blog. A Reed Bunting darted past several times, but this little chap was too fast and constantly on the move to have time to pose for a picture.

During the morning 2 more Pike were landed, both of them Jacks and both came on suspended Roach.

And then it the wind came... It grew stronger throughout the morning reaching speeds of 30+mph. As I'd predicted once the gusts came, the runs stopped. Packing up early and going home for a Coffee was too much of a temptation to resist!

A hard fighting double

The Pike that came back for seconds

2011-01-31T21:12:00.012Z

Another cold snap has left most of the waters in the area once again covered in ice, quite a dilemma when fishing is on the agenda. I checked a few waters in the area and finally found a stretch of canal that wasn't frozen.

Today's tactics were to be 2 suspended dead baits and 1 bait to be laid on the bottom.

A couple of hours had passed and so far the floats had remained undisturbed. I was getting itchy feet so decided to move swims. I walked for what turned out to be around half a mile, a pretty tricky manoeuvre as I hadn't collapsed my rods down, fully laden like a pit pony springs to mind!

The move turned out to be a good one and perhaps worth the hassle of moving, as within 5 minutes of my arriving one of my floats slowly disappeared from view. No fish though, a dropped run was the outcome. Five minutes later and it was away again another dropped run, quite likely a small Jack having a nibble.

I was just warming up by taking my first sip of a much welcomed cup of tea, when seemingly my bottom bait Mackerel was being hoovered up by something. The something turned out to be a Pike of an ounce under 11lb. Weighed, photographed and released I was sat back in my chair congratulating myself on making the effort to move swims when I was in again. Another Pike landed but smaller than the last perhaps 9lb or so.

The Pike were certainly on the feed today, incredibly in a period of around only 3 hours, I'd had 9 runs and I'd landed a total of 6 fish consisting of one double a couple of 8 and 9's the rest were opportunist rooting Jacks falling for the suspended Roach.

Whilst uploading my pictures to blogger it became apparent that I'd caught the same fish twice. What's interesting is that each catch was only 45 minutes apart. Amazing isn't it that within less than an hour a Pike can go through the rigmarole of being dragged out of the water handled and photographed and go back on the feed to go through it all again. It's reassuring to know that they can recover so quickly.

Biggest of the day 10lb 15oz

First time out

Back for another snack!

and finally...

Back Blogging!

2011-01-27T18:26:00.027Z

It's been a while since I've last blogged... Over two months in fact.

Thanks to the guys at Fishtec for reigniting my enthusiasm, it's nice to know that someone out there actually reads and apparently enjoys my waffle.

I have to confess I've contemplated jacking the blogging in of late. It's not that I haven't been fishing or that I haven't caught any Pike. Truth is I've been out fishing quite often. I've been chasing old Esox with some degree of success. I've literally lost count of the amount of Pike I've had this year. Granted most of them have been rooting Jacks but there have been the odd decent Pike thrown in for good measure.

I have though become a little disillusioned by the fact that I have to think twice about publishing pictures of my captures. In particular having to go to the laborious task of blanking out the backgrounds, as awful as they look please forgive me if the backgrounds are removed from the photos, it's for the Pike's sake not mine! The cloak and dagger approach really isn't my scene, having said that I do appreciate that revealing locations can be detrimental towards the welfare of Pike from 'Have a go - Wannabe Pikers'. I also appreciate that we all have to start somewhere, myself included.

I do see some horrendous sights while I'm out and about fishing, and it's these sights that make me think twice about leading people to Pike hot spots or indeed doing other peoples homework for them. Pressured Pike will ultimately lead to dead Pike.

December 2010 was bitterly cold, and I thought last year was bad. This winter beat it hands down, temperatures struggled to get out of the minus' for around three weeks. All waters in my area were frozen solid. The River Ribble and the River Douglas even fell victim to the big freeze, a sight that I have never seen in my lifetime.

As there are so many blog reports to catch up on I shan't go into detail with specific trips and incidents. I shall though try and keep up with the blogging from now on.

Tight Lines and thanks for dropping in.

Matt

December was looking pretty grim

Canal completely frozen over
River Douglas
Hesketh Bank Boat YardRiver Douglas - Hesketh Bank

River Ribble stopped in it's tracksRiver Ribble at Church Deeps

A foggy day on the canal
An eerie sight

When the mind wanders

A nice Sluice Double

Bar tailed Godwit

Couldn't resist a suspended Smelt!

First Double of the year 12lb 3oz

9lb 2oz

Allan's 8 lb Pike

A tasty Sausage and a Canal Cracker

2010-11-14T18:32:00.009Z

After yesterdays Piking trip and the last minute capture still fresh in my mind, I couldn't resist another trip out.

Just for a change on our way fishing we stopped off at a cafe and had a full English breakfast. What a good idea that was, as it was absolutely fabulous. Now that's the way to start a days fishing if there ever was one.

We meandered down to our swims with our full bellies and got about setting up. I decided to lay one bait on the bottom and to suspend the other. A decision I would become thankful for later.

Allan though was the first to catch, a Jack Pike of around 5lb's fell to a Smelt.

We leap frogged a good section of the canal and I was getting itchy feet to move again when my suspended dead was under and away. I set the hooks and felt the weight of a good fish. I caught sight of it as it flashed past me in the water. "Jesus Christ I'm in to a good fish here Allan" Was my reaction.

16lb 4oz to be exact. Now what's special about this fish? Well... It's the biggest fish I have ever had out of the Canal. It was caught on a suspended dead and the bait was a 2" Sprat. I've never used Sprat's before, I pretty much always prefer bigger baits, perhaps though I'll use Sprat's a little more often from now on.

It's a shame that I've had to edit the photo to take the background out. Saves the Pike in this area being pressured.

And that was that, we stayed until the edge of dark but there was nothing else caught.

Perfect start to a days fishing Burp! Ahhhhhh!
16lb 4oz Canal Pike

Back fishing!

2010-11-13T17:37:00.005Z

It's been a while since my last blog post. Over two months in fact! I've been busy with work and moving house, this has left me little time to spend on the bank.

Today I fished a private water which contains a few Pike. I had two takes in the five hours of fishing the first one stopped before I had chance to strike and the other which came 5 minutes before I was to pack up produced me a battle scarred Pike of just over 10 pounds.

Both takes came on Suspended Smelts. Laying baits on the bottom on this venue doesn't seem to produce the goods.

It was nice to be back out on the bank and landing the fish was an added bonus :)

Battle Scarred Double

Allan's biggest ever haul!

2010-09-05T17:11:00.006+01:00

Little did I know what was around the corner when Allan confessed to me that he didn't use 'The Method' apparently he found it too fiddly and had pretty much given up on this killer tactic. "Don't worry mate, I'll set you up and show you the in's and out's" I said.

Needless to say Allan absolutely trounced both myself and Panto, he had the session of a lifetime, I'd say that he must have landed 70 - 80 lb's of slab's in around 3 hours. I'd wager then that 'The method' is probably Allan's new favourite way of fishing.

The Pike activity during the day was pretty good. 3 for me, 2 for Panto and 1 for Allan, no monsters but great fun was had catching them. The Pike in this water fight hard, so even the Jacks are worth catching.

I'm crying on the inside

One of many for Allan

Chucking lures and a stolen fish

2010-08-27T23:20:00.004+01:00

Panto was in the middle of a 48 hour session. I decided to head down and mither him for a while. I didn't go empty handed I packed my Jerk Bait rod and a selection of lures. Despite thrashing the water to a foam, I didn't get so much as a take.

A moment of kindness came over Panto and he offered me one of his rods to fish with, I quickly went about setting it up for Pike and it wasn't too long before the water erupted and I was battling with a Jack of around 4 lb's.

An hour or so later and a noisy commotion in the water gave away the presence of another Pike in the area, this was soon confirmed when my float was under and away. A great fight was just moments away.

This fish was bigger and It fought hard, I have to confess that my right forearm was aching after playing this Pike. She weighed 10lb 2oz ensuring my first double of the season.

So it was worth going to see JP after all, and of course I was told on more than one occasion that the Pike should have been his and that I'd poached it from his swim, and lets not forget that it was all his tackle that he'd so kindly lent to me :D

The Pike season is nearly here and do you know what? I can't wait!

10lb 2oz

The day that Panto packed up too early

2010-08-22T13:30:00.012+01:00

The usual rabble myself, Allan and Panto headed off to a local(ish) water today and we set about catching Pike and Bream.

We arrived at dinner and I'd proposed the idea that we should sit it out until the early hours of the morning to see if the Bream would come on the feed as the night drew in.

The Pike action was fast and furious and between the three of us we landed 10 in total, OK granted they were all Jacks to around 6lb but still fun nontheless the results were as follows...Panto 5, myself 4 and 1 for Allan, don't be feeling to sorry for Allan though as he (Although Panto may argue this) landed the biggest Pike of them all.

And so to the Bream, I'd fished the tip all day and the results were pretty good. I fished on worm and landed a decent amount of fish for my troubles.

8pm and Panto decided to call it quits, he was getting bored of catching Skimmers, and the lure of watching a thin lizzy tribute band seemed to tempting for him to resist. Myself and Al decided to stick to the plan and fish into dark. I switched over to the method and fished double maize and as the sun was setting the Bream switched on and it was fish after fish after fish, I can honestly say I lost count of the amount of slabs that I landed, the biggest of the bunch was 5lb and I'd say the average was around 4 lb's.

The tactic of using double maize is a good one, it's a hardy bait so lasts for a good few catches. I'll certainly be using it again next time I'm out and fishing the tip.

Sadly the fishing had to come to an end, and at midnight Allan spoiled the day by telling me it was time to go home :( Still nevermind I'll just go back there next week :D

Allan's 6lb Pike

Nice to get back on the Pike,

a sign of things to come

An early Bream, and the first of many5lb and the biggest of the session

Not to be outdone

4lb' and Al's biggest

What? Another big Eel!

2010-08-12T09:51:00.004+01:00

An afternoon fishing on the tip at a local water produced me another personal best capture.

When I landed my last sizable Eel a couple of weeks earlier, I thought that it would be a good couple of years before I'd see another one.

So when after a couple of hours fishing and my rod signalled a good take I presumed that I'd hooked a Carp or large Tench, watching the line zig zagging from side to side gave me suspicion that I'd hooked another good sized Eel, and as Panto knelt down to assist with the netting I heard him say "Bloody Hell Matt it's a big Eel" my thoughts were confirmed.

According to my Reuben heaton's it weighed 3lb 1 oz. I'd beaten my 3 week old Eel record by just 2 ounces.

The fish was caught on Worm and on a maggot feeder.

The fishing thoughout the rest of the afternoon was by the best part pretty slow. I ended up with around 8 fish in total including a Tench of 3lb's or so.

3lb 1 oz Eel

6 Hours! One Bite! One fish! But what a fish!

2010-07-24T21:35:00.012+01:00

Back on the drain today and I met with Allan and JP for an afternoons fishing. The water wasn't towing as fast as my last visit, and looked to be recovering just nicely. Should fish well today I thought to myself.

Allan and JP had arrived an hour or so before me and I'd expected them to be well into the fish, but this wasn't the case. In fact it was just the opposite, they were struggling for bites. Not to worry I'll show them how it's done and I went about my business setting up.

5 hours later and I hadn't had a touch. Unbelievable! The conditions were spot on, and here I was facing a blank.

Allan was sat under my brolly, complaining that I'd talked him into fishing the Sluice (Again) and that we perhaps should have chosen another venue. I was just in the middle of arguing back - saying that it fished OK the other day, and I couldn't understand what was wrong, when my tip moved a little, then a little more and then WHAM! I was in!

I lifted into the take and I felt a good force tugging back. "Allan I'm into a lump here mate and it isn't a Tench" "It's either a big Perch or a big Eel" It was the latter, and what a lump it was. It stayed deep in the water and wouldn't show it's head, it kept me in suspense for a little longer than I would have liked.

Finally It's head came to the surface and it was met with a chorus of gasps from all three of us. To some of you reading this blog you may not consider an Eel of 2lb 15oz to be of giant proportions, but I can tell you that for this venue the very sight of an Eel these days is a rare one indeed. let me put it into a little prospective, in all my visits to the drain, which I can assure you is a lot, I have never even seen an Eel being caught never mind catch one. I was made up with this catch and to date I'd consider it to be one of my best fish that I have landed from the Sluice.

It's a funny old game this fishing malarkey isn't it. I have one bite in the 6 hours that I fished and the result was a PB Eel. I guess that's fishing for you and that's why I love it.

As for the rest of the fishing. Allan landed a cracking Tench of 4lb's. This was some achievement, as he'd caught it fishing the pole and his rig was only 1.5lb bottom. Top angling that mate, well done!

Panto had around 5lb of fish, but Al gave him a good run for his money. The weight difference between the two of them when they weighed in was just 1 ounce.

The 2lb 15oz Eel

It wouldn't keep still

Around 3ft in length

Allan's 4lb Tench

Two Full English Breakfasts Please

2010-07-23T10:58:00.007+01:00

I headed to the drain and met up with JP. We fished the tip and decided to make things a little interesting by having a small wager. The loser with the lowest match weight, would the following day treat the winner to a Full English Breakfast. This was a surefire way to keep us both on our toes throughout the session.

The conditions on the water did not look too good, the levels were high, the water coloured and there was a fair amount of weed and flotsam passing by. Not even a thunder storm could deter us from our fishing, not the best idea to be out in the open and holding a 9ft 6" rod made of carbon when there is ligtning about.

I have to say though that the fishing was pretty good we landed a fair few fish between us. I finished with a mixed bag of fish and weighed in 6lb 5oz. The pick of the bunch was a Perch of 1lb. Panto weighed in at 7lb 5oz he'd done me by a pound, a Bronze Bream that he'd bagged of over 3lb had won him the match. Damn it! Breakfast will be on me tomorrow then. :/

Caught in a storm

The re-match!

As the title suggests it was time for a re match, not before we met at a cafe to have our Cooked Breakfast, which I have to add was delicious and worth losing the match for, there is only one way a breakfast like that can taste any better and that is if it's FREE! So Panto must have loved his...

I decided that we should perhaps lower the stakes on today's match, if I lost my pocket couldn't sustain having to pay for another brekkie, and as I had a two pound coin in my pocket it seemed convenient that it should be the nominated wager.

The fishing was about the same as the day before. I landed a good sized Tench of 4lb's, this would stand me in good stead for the match. We packed up early which was good as I would get chance to go for a 5 mile run and burn off those lunch time sausages.

I weighed in 8lb 9oz and Panto 7lb 9oz. So I'd done him! I was left ruing the fact that I'd hadn't up the stakes second time around, still one can't be having a cooked breakfast all of the time. I enjoyed taking the £2 off Panto and for anyone that knows him they will confirm the fact that he's not too forthcoming in parting with the cash.

The Sausage lover

The match winner

A visit from Winter on a Summers day

2010-07-15T23:12:00.006+01:00

Back to a venue that I haven't fished for a couple of months, the weather was interchangeable but the sun was shining so I decided to make the most of it.

JP was hot on my heels and arrived an hour or so after I had set up. Expectations were high, they needn't have been as the fishing was woeful. We couldn't even muster a bite between us.

The weather finally turned and it was like a scene from winter and not the middle of summer out there, it was blowing a gale and it absolutely chucked it down. Half an hour to go and I thankfully managed to winckle two fish off. Both came from the same swim, and within 5 minutes of each other. I landed a Tench of around 5lb and a Bream of a similar weight.

So for me then the session was saved and a sure fire blank was thankfully avoided. JP wasn't to be so lucky and as he sheltered under his brolly from the howling winds and the torrential downpour you could have hear him muttering and cursing me. "This is the last time I listen to one of your good ideas" :D

The Blank Saver

I'm laughing at Panto's glum face

The dull and overcast day

2010-07-01T22:46:00.012+01:00

Tuesday:

I joined Allan on the Canal for a couple of hours fishing, I had intentions of giving him a run for his money on the Pole, but time got the better of me so I went for a spot of Perching instead. I wasn't to be disappointed as I had another Perch over the pound mark.

Worth turning up for

Thursday:
A dull and overcast day in the middle of summer could mean only one thing, fishing! Surely the fish would respond well to a break in the scorching temperatures that we've been having over the last couple of weeks? So with that in mind I decided to head to the Sluice and to target Tench.

I arrived just after dinner, the place was empty, seemingly the threat of rain (which didn't arrive until i packed up!) had deterred other anglers from joining me.

While I waited for some action on the Tench rod's I occupied myself by setting up on the whip. I fished single maggot in the margin, and it was literally a fish a chuck. The season is a couple of weeks old now, and a good steady stream of bait from other anglers is attracting and holding the fish.

A couple of hours came and went when my tip rod bent around to the right, I lifted in to the take and felt a decent lump resisting my strike. I was happily playing this fish when suddenly my other rod was also in on the action. Two Tench at the same time. Thankfully I managed to land both.

I finished the session with 5 Tench to 4lb's and 2 Bream to 3lb. 5oz. The photographs aren't that good as I had to use the steps that lead down to the peg as a tripod as I'd foolishly forgotten my camera adapter .

My first Sluice Bream in a while

Tench # 1 of the double hook upThe other part of the Brace
The hardest fighter
If I'd have packed up after this one I'd have
Stayed dry, will I ever learn?

Tempted by Perch

2010-06-29T23:07:00.009+01:00

A phone call from Allan in the afternoon revealed his intentions on fishing the canal later that evening. I wasn't for going fishing today as the night before (Foolishly) I'd promised to stay in and watch tele with 'Her in doors' But just knowing that Allan would be out there fishing became all too tempting. So, I decided to risk the wrath of the Mrs and join him.

I had other commitments which meant I could only get there from around 8pm, so I decided it wasn't worth the effort in setting up on the pole, for what would be only two hours fishing maximum. Catching Perch by design though was a different matter.

I dropped my bait into the water and with 3 seconds it was away, I was stunned - So quick! Unbelievable! Sometimes you can be there all day and not so much as a bite, I must have plonked it right on the nose of a Perch. No Hollywood ending here though as the blighter fell off.

Thankfully there wasn't long to wait before I landed my first of the evening. I didn't bother weighing it, but it was easily over a pound. Minutes later and I was in again, a small one by comparison but all customers are welcome on my new rig.

The next and final fish delivered to me another Perch PB. A hard fighting 'Had to use the clutch' fish of 1lb 9oz, bringing me all the more closer to my canal target of 2lb, not quite there yet but I'm getting closer. I must add that I'm not in a rush to achieve this as I'm having lots of fun looking for it.

As for Allan, well there is just no stopping him with this Pole fishing malarkey, consider that he only fished for 3 hours he had a very impressive net full of 30 odd fish to 4 and a half pound. All I can say, and believe me I keep saying it to him is that "He had a good teacher" ;)

They get bigger

and biggerand bigger - 1lb 9oz

Hot days, some Tench and a PB Perch

2010-06-27T23:39:00.004+01:00

Thursday:

Too lazy to start fishing at first light today, I meandered down the the Sluice in the afternoon. I set up fishing in the blistering heat and sat it out until Dusk. My main quarry today was to be Tench (I'll wait for some dull overcast days before I target Pike).

I fished to ledger rods under feet and the tip on the far bank, of which produced me my first Tench of the session and a few Perch for my efforts. The fishing as predicted in the heat was a little slow. Two tench fell to the method bringing my days total to 3 the biggest of which weighed in at 3lb 15oz.

Allan has his day:

Went Pole fishing on the canal with Allan, he beat me. The End......

In search of a slightly bigger Perch:

Whilst I've been out and about Pole fishing on the canal of late, I have seen one or two big(ish) Perch hanging about in the margin, one of which took it upon itself to attack Allan's keep net, a sight that I have never seen before, Pike maybe but never perch.

Inspired then by the obviously ravenous Perch, it was once again time to target old stripey.

It didn't take me too long to hook into a decent sized Perch either, and it also didn't take me long to lose it. I was gutted. Never mind! It was back to the drawing board and a rethink on the rig that I was using. A couple of days later and finally, and after a little effort I landed my first Perch by design. OK so at 1lb 6oz it was no monster, but it was a new PB for me. I shall target Perch on the canal over the coming weeks, fingers crossed I'll catch some good fish while I'm at it.

June the 16th and a couple more trips

2010-06-23T11:36:00.022+01:00

The Opening Day:

The long awaited June 16th and the opening day of the iver season had finally arrived, and myself Allan and JP descended upon the Sluice at day break. It was to be a long day for me as I intended to stay until dusk. In the winter these long summer days are the days that I long for, so I decided to make the most of it.

The fishing wasn't exactly at it's best. Is it ever on the opening day of the season? It never seems to live up to it's much billed name. I mustn't moan though as I did land 2 Tench, both of which came to the method on corn. Allan and JP also got in to some Tench action.

The First Tench of the new season

Stifling heat, but the Tench still fedAllan's first of the season

Allan's first bash on the Pole:

It's been on Allan's wish list to own his own Pole for some time now, and last week he finally managed to part with some of his hard earned and buy a Maver Genesis 13 metre Pole.

It was time to try it out then and put some fish on the bank. I must admit for his first attempt he did rather well, and in four hours fishing I caught 26 fish and Al landed 18, good fishing that mate, I'll have to up my game next time we're out. I can see myself and Allan becoming a little competitive when we're Pole fishing, it makes it a little more exciting so you won't hear me complaining, until he starts to beat me that is. My catch of the session was a 1lb 4oz Eel, and another PB for me to add to my list.

The first haul off the new Pole

1lb 4oz Eel

Back to the Drain and looking for Tench:

Another early start for myself and I headed down to the Sluice to fish for Tench, I fished two method rods and I also fished the tip. I was inspired by a rig on the tip that a friend of mine had recently shown me, and I have to admit the results were very good. I caught a lot of Perch and when the fish were feeding it literally was a bite a chuck, the best catch of the lot was a cracking Ruffe of 3oz + I don't have any scales that measure in ounces so I guess I'll never know just how close I was to the UK record ;)

As for the Tench. I landed four in total, one of them though has to be the smallest Tench that I have ever landed, I wonder if this is one is from a recent stocking programme that was undertaken? I also caught a few Hybrids on the method.

3lb + Tench

Smallest Tench I've ever caught?
Not quite a new Ruffe record
Iphone photography madness+

Suddenly it's getting a little competitive:

Back to the canal and a chance for Al to have another session on the Pole. We fished from 8pm until dusk, not a long session by our standards, but two hours at the right time of the day is better than many hours at the wrong time of day.

It was literally a fish a chuck, and at the weigh in, Allan landed 18 fish to 1lb 10oz, but he was left scratching his head wondering how I'd managed to land 39 fish to 2lb 10oz. I can see that Allan is going to beat me soon, and it's only a matter of time - I have to confess though that I fished pretty hard and I shall continue doing so :)

Still Tenching!

2010-06-10T10:51:00.011+01:00

Once again, I'm finding myself behind on my blog posts, I'll grab this spare half hour that I have to catch up with reports and catches...

A session on the Canal on Saturday morning with Allan and a 4 am start was arranged. I chose to fish on the pole and if I'm honest with starting so early I expected a bumper session but by the time I packed up at 10.30am I'd only caught 20 fish, not too bad I suppose but they weren't really a very good stamp, apart from a token Bronze Bream of around 2 and a half pounds the rest of the net consisted of small Roach a couple of skimmers and 4 Eels.

Monday:

To the next session which was another bash on the canal on the Pole. This time I fished from late afternoon until dusk. I caught 19 fish on this outing, the pick of the bunch was a decent sized Perch of around 12oz and a Bream of around three pounds which fell to the method.

Wednesday:

Back to fishing for Tench with Johnny Panto, and a visit to the lake that holds Tench of decent proportions was to be our venue. We fished from 3pm until dark.

The fishing was a little slow and only really got going for me at dusk. Panto had caught a decent Bream and Tench early on in the day, but strangely his swim went quiet and he didn't catch another fish the whole session.

I fished both rods on the method and once again double hair rigged sweetcorn, this really has become my first approach in Tench fishing. I finished the session with 4 Tench, the biggest that I landed was 6lb and this is yet another PB Tench for me. This year I think I've broken my Tench PB around 4 times so far

Interestingly after uploading the photographs of my catches I noticed that all of the Tench that I caught yesterday were infact females, there is a theory about working out how big Tench can get to in a lake, apparently a female will grow to double the size of a male, so if you catch a male of say 5lb the females in the water could grow to 10lb's, so catching a male of 7lb's this will point the finger of producing a female at least 14lb's, now that is enough to whet any fisherman's appetite isn't it?

A tempting Pole swim if there ever was one

5lb + Tench

6 lb Tench, look at the size of the tail

Night feeders

Carpers, they're missing a trick

2010-06-01T09:32:00.007+01:00

Bank Holiday Monday and this could mean only one thing, another excuse to go fishing. I opted for the...Hmmmmmm now what should I refer to this water as in future? OK got it, I'm going to refer to it as 'Hard Water' for it is just that, it's hardly a 'Runs Water' but like I've said before there are some specimen fish in residence so it's worth putting a little time on there.

I set out for Tench, one rod on ledger Sweetcorn and I also fished the tip. A few hours in and I was catching a few and I mean only a few Perch, the fishing was a little slow but my patience was rewarded when I caught sight of my tip rod arching around to the right, I lifted into the take and felt the weight of a Tench, and at 5lb 2oz this was my biggest from this water so far.

An hour or so later and my alarm was screeching from the sound of another Tench that had stumbled upon my ledgered sweetcorn offerings, a bit smaller this time though the scales indicating 3lb 10oz. It wasn't until dusk and a change in tactics until my next and last Tench of the session, I switched my tip rod from single maggot to the method and corn, a good idea as around 20 minutes later my tip rod was nearly ripped out of the rod rest , a Tench of 4lb 13oz had hooked itself on my hair rig. What a fight this one put up, these are the moments that I go fishing for.

I keep saying this and I'll say it again, pound for pound and on the right gear the fight you get off a Tench is absolutely fabulous, I hear many a Carper cursing their luck from catching Tench and indeed even referring to them as nuisance fish. In my eyes they're missing a trick, and long they continue doing so.

A Canada Goose and her Goslings

Tench 5lb 2oz male

3lb 10oz4lb 13oz

Kicking back, relaxing and enjoying the view

Some fishing here and there

2010-05-30T22:52:00.014+01:00

I almost feel like a stranger to my own blog these days, it may look like I've lost interest but I can assure you that this isn't the case at all. I'll explain...

This year I decided that I needed to do something about my physical condition. I was over weight and it was time to get in shape, so instead of spending every given hour to fishing I've dedicated some of my spare time to exercise.

I've lost nearly 5 stone to date and I'm starting to notice the difference in my face on my fishing pics, here are two classic examples below...

January -2010

May -2010

So to the fishing, I've fished a few venues over the last few weeks, catching a few decent Tench and another PB Bream of 5lb 1oz along the way, and I also landed my first Carp by design , at around 6lb's though it's hardly worth mentioning. To bring it right up to date I've fished a local water with Allan over the last two days, it's not the easiest of waters, and is far from what you could call a 'Runs Water' but the lake holds some good fish and there is always a chance of hooking into one of the larger residents

A 4lb 5oz Tench was my best fish of all, but not to be out done this time Allan landed 2 Tench his best fish was also a Tench of the same weight of 4lb 5oz.The following day we returned for an afternoons fishing, we both fished the tip. No Tench today but a mixed bag of Perch and Rudd made the day worthwhile.

First Carp of the year -By design

A new Bream PB 5lb 1oz4lb 5oz Tench
Allan Smiling

Allan's 4lb 5oz Tench

It's almost time, oh yes it's nearly here, the river fishing season is almost upon us, I'm looking forward to the coming season, I'm already planning where to fish on the opening day and what tactics to use. Tench and Bream will be my main target, perhaps with the odd Pike thrown in for good measure.

Tench Heaven

2010-05-07T09:19:00.028+01:00

Well where to start? I have been fishing over the past few days but I've been too busy to blog. So here is a combined report from my last few sessions. It's worth mentioning that all of my last fishing trips have been on the same venue, which leads me to my next point. If you recognise where I've been fishing then please don't mention on the comments where it was, there are no prizes for guessing correctly and I wouldn't want the water to receive any added pressure through my blogging. Cheers!

Saturday, Day One...

I fished with Allan, and we set about fishing the tip, we were both looking forward to catching some decent fish, perhaps the odd Bream and hopefully some Tench would make a welcome appearance.

In reality though the fishing wasn't what we'd hoped for, the only fish that I landed the whole day were just a few Roach. Allan fared a little better landing a couple of Roach and a hefty sized Bream of 4lb 9oz finished off his session nicely. I blamed my lack of quarry on the fact that I was using only maggot as bait, thus struggling to get through the small sized fish.

Al's fish of the day a 4lb+ Bream

Sunday, Day Two...

And a return to the lake, this time JP wanted in on the action, stories of large tench and big slabs seemingly too hard for him to resist. It was much the same for me though, still on the maggot feeder I only caught a handful of Roach, Allan once again did better a Tench PB of 5lb 8oz and a Bream PB of 6lb sure did put a smile on his face. As for JP well he had the time of his life, catching 7 Tench to 7lb 3oz and a couple of decent sized Bream to boot. I was left kicking the ground and ruing the fact that I'd had two lousy sessions on the trot, next time out though it would be time to up my game!

Al's 6lb Bream and a New PB5lb 8oz Tench
Panto's 7lb 3oz cracker

Wednesday, Day Three...

The last two sessions that I'd had previously were still haunting me, it was time then to change things a little, and that is what I did. The maggot feeder was left on the sub's bench and the method feeder with hair rigged corn was brought out. I was after some good fish and it was time to bring out the big guns. I fished two 1.5 tc rods on the pod with alarms and I sat back and waited for action.

And action is just what I got. It was fish after fish after fish, whilst all around were struggling to get a bite, I was having the time of my life. I shan't bore you with the details of individual catches, that is except for one....

I'd already landed a bag full of Tench and Bream and I was more than happy with my days fishing, I'd had a Red Letter Day and I'd had the results I was hoping for, when out of nowhere my bait runner was stripping off line off the reel like you wouldn't believe. Christ almighty what the hell was I into? The take finally finished but only after pulling around 100 yards or more of line off my reel. I was only on 6lb main line and a 4lb hook length, so I had to just let it do what it wanted to do, after around ten minutes or so the fish slipped into the net, I was surprised to see that I'd landed a Mirror Carp of 11lb 7oz, nothing too special about that I suppose, but consider that there are only around 4 or 5 Carp in the lake, along with the fact that they never come our made the catch all the more special.

I finished the day with a total of 9 Tench to 5lb 10oz. 3 Bream to 4lb 10oz, and a bonus Carp of 11lb 7oz, a good days fishing then and I really enjoyed myself, so much so that I planned an early assault the following morning..

A typical lake 5lb + Tench

11lb 7oz Surprise Carp

Thursday, Day Four...

The alarm was set for 3.15am. This could quite possibly the earliest that I've ever set my alarm to go fishing, I was chomping at the bit to get back on the lake and there was no way on earth anyone was beating me to my peg.

I had my first tench on the bank in less than an hour of arriving, was I going to be into another day of sport on my rods? Only time would tell. The next catch left me stunned! I was landing a large Bream of around 4lb or so, and I was just scooping it into the net when I was truly amazed to see a Pike of about 6lb's also in the net, the greedy blighter had taken a fancy to my Bream, perhaps it was just curious to see what was going on? Either way I photographed it next to the Bream for the archives.

Another fun filled day was had, I landed a total of 7 Tench to 5lb 13oz, and 8 Bream to 4lb 15oz once again beating my PB's by a few ounces. I'll move off this water for a while and I shall head to another lake that I have my eye on, although it is hard to pull yourself off a place that has produced me 16 Tench and 11 Bream and a Mirror Carp in 2 days of fishing, and all a good size to boot. But a new challenge awaits and I can't wait to get stuck into it!

The curious Pike

One of the many Bream 4lb 15oz

A new Tench PB of 5lb 13oz

Front View

A new venue and a Bream PB

2010-04-30T16:11:00.006+01:00

A new venue for me to try today, because of work commitments I'd have to pack away at 2pm. Because of this reason I don't usually fish on Friday's. So in order to make the day worthwhile I set my alarm the previous night at a thought shuddering 4am. What the hell! Summer is nearly here so it's time to take advantage of these early morning day breaks.

I fished the tip and I was hoping to snare the odd decent sized Bream or Tench on this visit and for getting up that time in the morning I deserved something of merit, well that's what I kept telling myself.

My first fish on the bank was a Roach, and this was followed by another Roach, and another, I'm sure you're getting the picture, my choice of bait was single red maggot and I was struggling to get through the Roach, my theory though was stick at it and eventually the bigger fish will come, and that they did, eventually my tip rod ripped around and I was finally into a good fish, it was taking line and I was enjoying playing the beast from the deep when... Disaster! It headed for my other line, forcing me to bully it, the inevitable happened and the 4lb hook link snapped.

I sat on the bank a despondent figure of my former self. I'd lost what could only have been a Tench of giant proportions. I love this fishing malarkey, but it can be a cruel one at times. There's nothing worse in fishing than losing a good fish.

Half an hour later and as my tip rod was bending double, all my previous troubles and woe's were that of a distant memory. I had another decent fish on and this time I was going to land it.
A new personal best Bream of 4lb 9oz made getting up at the unearthly hour all worthwhile, and would you believe it, and not too long after. I caught another Bream of 4lb 10oz another PB and beaten by just one ounce.

I kept to my word and packed up at 2pm, I could easily have stayed there until...Well if the truth be told I'd still be there if I could get away with it. It's the bank holiday weekend though and that means one thing. Fishing and plenty of it.

4lb 10oz Bream

An afternoon's bit bashing on the Canal

2010-04-28T22:13:00.006+01:00

It was time to properly dust the Pole down, head down to my local canal this afternoon to try my hand at catching a net full of fish. The rising temperature has really woken the fish up, and no longer do I have to rely on them taking small bread punch offerings as bait. Single red Maggot and Pinkies were on the menu today, and they took them readily.

I ended up with a mixed bag of Roach, Bream, Perch, Skimmers and a token Eel for my efforts. I finished with a total of 35 fish and a combined net of 9lb 4oz (which would have tipped 10lb's if I had weighed the Eel.)

No decent sized Bream today, but there was a good head of Perch all around 5 to 6oz, the best fish of the day was a cracking Roach that weighed in at 12oz, I shall claim this as a new PB, I've probably had bigger but never taken the trouble to weigh one individually. The vibrant red fins on this Roach were absolutely stunning. I can see why some people target them specifically.

An eclectic bag

The 12oz Roach

The accidental Piker

2010-04-18T19:39:00.010+01:00

I was to take advantage of the excellent weather of late by fishing one of my local reservoirs this weekend. The temperature is now touching around 15 -16c. I was looking forward to a session fishing on the tip. I was hoping to catch a few Bream as I'm told this water holds some good specimens. I didn't catch any though, a little too early for them perhaps? Not be too long now before I start to bag up on the Slabs. I did catch a good few Roach for my efforts, they were a good stamp too, perhaps averaging around 5 to 6 ounces.

I was just about to land one of my prize Roach, when from out of nowhere a Pike spotted an easy target and struck at my fish. Within an instant my line went tight and I had to quickly loosen the clutch, I had hooked in to a decent sized Pike. I was only on a 2oz tip, 6lb main line 3lb bottom matched with a size18 hook. I held on for dear life! The Pike stripped line from my reel at an awesome pace. Oh my what fun I was having! I knew that the chances of landing the fish was very slim, one brush of those teeth with my hook length and it would all be over. Luckily I had managed to hook it just in the scissors, and after a 5 minute battle it was slipped into the net. The scales stopped on 8lb 4oz, a good fish on light gear.

Rather ironic then isn't it - I stop fishing for Pike and target other species and I still manage to catch one, and a pretty good one at that. Such is the unpredictability of fishing

An accidental Pike

Pristine Roach

Jigging at Sunset

2010-04-12T21:09:00.007+01:00

I could argue with myself that this post isn't really worth posting, save for the fact that I got some good sunset pictures I shall continue. You will of course notice that I've tinkered around with the pictures in photoshop, the black and white one happens to be my favourite.

Additionally sometimes you must realise that it's not all about the fishing and every now and again you should take the time to look around. There is lots to see, and if you become too focused on the fishing you'll miss it. Over the past few weeks whilst I have been out and about I have spotted some beautiful birds. A Goldfinch, many a Kingfisher amonst others but my star spot has to be a little Egret which I saw wading across a field.

I headed to the Canal just before sunset for a spot of Jigging. I tried a few different colours, and eventually had a take from a small Jack of around a pound. Better than a blank I suppose, of course I wasn't targeting Pike I was hoping to snare a Perch or two, it wasn't to be.

Now that the light nights are here I'll probably have a few ad hoc sessions here and there, time to keep the Jigging rod on the back of the van for such occasions.

A taste of things to come

2010-04-11T14:50:00.006+01:00

Many a fisherman will tell you that Fly Fishing is the purest form of fishing, I for one would be inclined to agree. A friend of mine was to fish a fly fishery that is very local to me today so I took this as a great opportunity to watch his casting techniques and have a general chat about a side of fishing that I confess at this point know little about.

I can tell you that from spending what was probably around an hour or so watching him casting that I was absolutely dying to have a go. This is definitely a branch of fishing that I want to learn all about, and will book myself in for a lesson over the coming weeks. I'll also be taking Paul's offer of joining him for a day in the not so distant future.

I was just about to leave him to his days fishing when he got a take, a hard fighting Rainbow Trout put a great bend in his rod. Great fun! Now I just need to pick some cheap fly fishing gear up from somewhere :)

Readying the net

Rainbow Trout 3lb's ish

Plenty of Bream on the tip

2010-04-06T13:35:00.006+01:00

Bank Holiday Monday and another chance to get out and wet a line. I arranged a day's fishing with Allan, the only problem was that we couldn't decide where to go. We sat in the van deliberating for a good 5 minutes, eventually deciding that we should head back to the venue we fished two days previously. It offers a good bit of shelter from the heavy winds that were promised for the day ahead, and there was a chance of some good sport fishing on the tip.

It didn't take long for the bites to come, I fished at range on a maggot feeder and my first bite saw my rod tip bend right round, I thought I was into a Carp or possibly a large Tench. I was surprised to see that I'd in fact caught a Chub, my first of three that I'd catch during the day, Allan also caught a Chub which he informed me was the first one that he'd ever caught. I had a good head of Bream today and around 30 odd pounds of fish, the largest of which was probably touching 3 pounds

The fishing has started to become a little competitive between myself and Allan and he was keeping an eye on the scores throughout the day. He nearly had me at one point but the result finished 18-11 to me, it's only a matter of time before the apprentice beats the master (His word's not mine)

Biggest Bream of the day

Al's first ever Chub

And now for something completely different...

2010-04-03T20:48:00.010+01:00

It's Easter bank holiday weekend, and that was my cue to get out and wet a line. JP and Allan expressed an interest in a session this weekend so after a little deliberation we decided to fish a local club run ticket water.

I suppose after a hard winters fishing with little results to show for our efforts, fishing a venue that would ensure fish on the bank was too hard to resist.

It didn't take long for me to realise why I don't normally fish these kind of waters, and that quieter less occupied rivers are more suited to my personality.

Quite frankly I don't like fishing near other people, and I was soon put to the test. The water that we were fishing has around 30 pegs, at the time there was around 25 vacant pegs available. (I'd had the hindsight to put a rod bag on the peg next to me 'The old my mates coming later on in the day trick') When I heard a voice say "Is someone on this peg mate?" I mean what the hell is wrong with these people? Why do they insist on coming and plonking themselves next to me? I sound like a right old curmudgeon, but I guess I don't like feeling of being penned in when I'm fishing.

And So to the fishing, I fished with a maggot feeder on the tip. I was soon in to my first fish of the day and it was good to see a bit of a bend in the rod, a Bream of around 2 pounds was the culprit. I had a lot of bites during the day and landed around a dozen fish and perhaps 15lb of fish, a mixed bag of Bream, Roach, and Tench, and a surprise catch of a Golden Orfe.

Despite my early fears of hating the place I actually had a good day, I may even head back there in the next week or two.

First Tench of the year

Golden OrfeAllan's catch of the day

A trip to Esthwaite - doomed from the start

2010-03-23T21:26:00.013Z

As the title suggests, this blog posting isn't going to have a happy ending with the capture of some massive Pike. Allow me to explain.......

I will have to take you back to November 2009 to tell this story from the beginning...
Myself and JP were booked on to Esthwaite Fishery at the end of last November, and the prospect of either of us landing one of the larger residents on the water had us chomping at the bit to get on there.

Alas November 2009 will be remembered as the wettest November since 1914, bringing with it wide spread flooding to the area of Cumbria... Mission aborted!

We were disappointed, but in the grand scheme of things it didn't really matter, we had it all to look forward to all over again in January.

January 2010 is on record as the coldest January in the UK since 1987 and the eighth coldest since 1914. The coldest temperature that I recorded was minus 6, although some parts of the UK recorded a staggering minus 17. Esthwaite was frozen solid... Mission aborted!

Once again we were a little disappointed but, we still had the trip to look forward to, and we decided to wait until the spring, let things warm up a little. We'll have another go in March.

March 2010 was the coldest March on record since 1987. Once again Esthwaite was frozen solid. I was beginning to hate this trip, and when we finally got chance to go in the middle of March, I have to admit that mine and JP's enthusiasm had faded a little, for now it wasn't the weather that was our enemy, we were faced with the prospect of fishing this water right in the middle of the Pike spawning. A daunting prospect for any Piker.

Due to accommodation that we'd booked it just wasn't possible to cancel for a fourth time, so finally on the 21st of March we loaded the car and decided to chance our arm on the lake.

We arrived at around 5am and we were soon on the boat looking for prospective swims to fish. We'd been on the water around an hour when we the heavens opened and we got the soaking of a lifetime. I have coined myself a new phrase to describe just how wet we were, and that is 'Washing Machine Wet'

We fished two dead bait rods each and we also cast around with lures and spinner baits. Alas we didn't get so much as a take, in fact we were not alone as everyone else on the lake also struggled, we heard that a 22lb fish had come off from somewhere, but everyone we spoke to had blanked.

We gave it a good old go though, and we finally threw the towel in at dusk. We had planned to spend three days on the lake, but we were resigned to the fact that with the Pike being pre occupied with spawning, we were probably in for a hiding to nothing.

I turned the fishing trip into a family holiday instead and had a brilliant time in the lakes with the Mrs and the dog. Sometimes even I have to admit that there is more to life than fishing.

JP 'Washing Machine Wet'
Asleep on the job!
A view from the boat
Across the lake..

I don't catch many Matt - but when I do catch

2010-03-11T23:12:00.009Z

My search for the Perch continued today, the day started out with me fishing on the pole for Roach. The bites were constant and once again I ended up with a good net full, a strong breeze that formed in the afternoon prompted me to pack the pole away and concentrate on the Perch.

I'd spoken to Allan in the morning and suggested to him that if he came down with the intentions of fishing late in the afternoon to bring just a Barbel rod and a reel rather than be fully laden with all his gear, and that I would sort the rest of his terminal tackle out for him. He took advantage of this offer and duly arrived late afternoon. "Don't worry mate" I told him "You'll catch that Pike tonight"

Since Allan landed his double a few weeks back he's had to use the 'red pen' after every single outing, sometimes he just doesn't have the luck. However Allan has a saying and it goes a little like this.... "I don't catch many Matt, but when I do catch they're big fish" There was never a true word spoken, as minutes earlier I'd just landed my third Pike of the day when I heard Allan say "I've got one!" Finally he'd caught sight of his float bobbing and indeed he was in! What happened next we will probably talk about for years to come...

I watched as he struck into the take, and I saw a nice bend in his rod, he was seemingly into a good fish, then as it flashed past us in the water desperately trying to outwit it's captor, I caught sight of an orange fin and white under belly...

He'd only gone and caught, and right from under my feet the Perch that I'd been targeting over the last two sessions. As it glided into the net Allan's cries of "Matt it's massive, it's a whopper" were far from comforting.

What a specimen this fish was, tipping the scales at 2lb 4oz. As I've said before is there a greater sight than that of a big Perch? I think not! As I had put all the work into catching it, the guilty look on Al's face said it all. I dare say that he almost felt sorry for me. Well I exclaimed "That's fishing for you mate and there's plenty more from where that came from" That's what makes fishing so unpredictable and interesting in the first place no matter how much time and effort you put in, there's nothing to stop someone else coming along and catching the fish of a lifetime. That was a cracking fish mate well done!

This week has been a good weeks fishing for me, I've landed a lot of Jack Pike, and I've fished well on the pole, but above all I've learnt a lot over the last few days, from perfecting my pole rigs, to coming up with a definitive rig to catch the finicky Perch.

It's worth mentioning that the weather was once again very mild today, and that the sun was for the most part clear of any cloud cover. Which in turn was a kiss of death for much in the way of predator action today, as dusk approached and the sun finally hid behind the clouds the takes were almost instant.

The 2lb 4oz Perch

In search of the Perch

2010-03-10T19:49:00.004Z

Now that the days have become a little milder I have decided to turn my attentions away from Pike and target Perch instead. Is there any greater sight than a big Perch?

I have scaled down from my Piking rods and set up using my Greys Barbel rods, the test curve on these rods is only 1.5lb, and I have also stepped down my main line to 6lb, perfect then for the task in mind.

I also fished on the pole for bits today and bagged around 30 or so Roach for my troubles. My Perch rods were very busy and I was often out of my seat after catching sight of my float shooting under. I landed six fish in total, alas all the fish that I caught were Pike, the biggest being around 5lb's. There's one thing for sure you get a great fight from old Esox on these light rods, so much so that from now on when fishing this venue I'll be leaving my Pike rods at home. You may win today my stripey friend, but there is always tomorrow!

One of the Jacks

24 Hours later..........

2010-03-04T19:04:00.010Z

I arranged to have a days Piking with Paddy. We set off to the Leeds Liverpool canal but upon our arrival I Immediately spotted that there was a Problem... The covering of Ice that had formed over night I could deal with, as there was water free from ice. But in the sky there was a strange glowing sphere, I'm reliably informed that it's called a sun, those of you that aren't too sure what I'm on about can read the wikipedia entry here

The glare of the sun rendered fishing on the Pole useless, I had no baseball cap and the floats that I had were just not up to the job. A decision to pack up and head to another venue was made within the hour.

With the sun on my back I settled into my fishing, the bites on the Pole were a lot slower than the day before. I did manage to catch around 10 fish or so, the best of the bunch being a Rudd.

My Pike rod snared me four Jack Pike to 4lb's , I've had my fair share of these over the last 2 days, perhaps next week I'll concentrate on landing a couple of bigger fish. The the catch of the day fell to Paddy, who landed a cracking Pike of around 7lb's.

So the decision to move venues was seemingly a good one and the saying 'Fail to prepare - prepare to fail' springs to my mind!

The Jack Master!

Paddy's Pike

Plenty of Roach and 6 Jacks

2010-03-03T19:31:00.015Z

Water Temperature : 7.7 c
Air Temperature : 4.7 c

I fished the canal today, and I decided it was time to dust the pole off and try my hand at catching some Roach. I was rods in by around 8.30am. I fished 3mm bread punch over a little amount of bread crumb, the results were rather pleasing as I caught my first fish within around 25 seconds of putting my bait in, the bites were constant - finally slowing down at around 10.30 in the morning. I caught around 20 Roach in total.

I also fished two Pike rods in the morning, which produced 3 Jacks for my troubles. The temptation to move about and try different swims proved too great for me to refuse, so away went the Pole and I concentrated on the Pike fishing for the rest of the afternoon. Another 3 Jacks added to my total bringing the days tally to 6, no big fish and the biggest of the bunch was around 6 and a half pounds, and the highlight of the session was catching two Pike at the same time, I was watching one float when I glanced at the other and watched it promptly disappear into the murky depths.

I enjoyed myself today, the Pole fishing kept me busy and the Pike fishing provided me with some good sport, the temperatures are now rising and according to my new gadget a 'Reuben Heaton thermometer' the water was warmer by 3 Celsius than the air temperature. I will be recording and documenting the water temp for my blog from today onwards.

A rather amusing self take

Best of the Jacks

Double Whammy!
Water Temperature
Air Temperature

The day I learn't about the red pen

2010-02-25T23:29:00.004Z

I made my way to the Canal this morning, I intended to cover a lot of water so once again I travelled light. I was around an hour into my session when I was joined by the ever enthusiastic Allan.

We moved swims every half hour or so, but with little reward, the fishing was very slow today. I did eventually catch, another Jack to add to my tally. Alas Allan was deprived of any excitement or rod bending action and at one point he did say to me "Don't tell me that I'm going to have to use the red pen Matt" he went on to explain that he keeps a little diary of his fishing exploits at home and if he doesn't catch he marks the word BLANKED in red ink. I found this rather amusing and I will be asking about the ink levels in that pen from now on.

Noticeably the temperature was a little warmer today and the water was alive with fish crashing and slapping on the surface, a sight that I haven't been treated to since last Autumn. Towards the end of the day I spotted that the bankside was playing host to a large amount of midges, surely a sign that spring on it's way.

Another Jack/Blank saver

My turn to land a big girl

2010-02-22T20:33:00.006Z

Another cold night put a good layer of frost and ice on the ground, I drove down to the Sluice to check to see if it was frozen over, it was. So I headed to a different water and I was happy to see that the stretch I wanted to fish was clear of ice.

Once again I travelled light and moved swims every half hour or so. I had my first take within 30 minutes of setting up but this ended in a dropped run, soon after whilst I reeling my line in with the intention of another move I felt a Pike slam into my bait - it missed! I recast to the spot and it hit it again, I saw the fish in question and I think it saw me as it let go of the bait and swam for freedom.

I moved to a different area and I was into a Pike within 20 seconds of casting in, I must have dropped the bait on it's nose, the result was a cracking Jack Pike of 6lb's or so. Around 20 minutes later I was in again and another Jack though a little bigger put up a bit of a fight. There is in my opinion no greater a sight than watching your pike float bob and start to drift away, it's at that moment that you wonder what lies beneath and what fight awaits you.

Several swims later remained Pikeless, I was contemplating another move when I caught sight of my far float twitching, and to think that I was about to move it, this Pike wasn't messing about, it had my bait and it wanted to keep it, the float was under and out of sight, I tightened up onto the take and felt a good solid Pike on the end, I knew instantly that I was into a good fish perhaps one of the bigger fish off this venue? She stayed deep and put up a great fight, I was delighted to see her slip into the net, and then it hit me. I'd caught the same fish that Allan had caught only four days earlier, it would appear that I was indeed destined to catch this fish, it's a pity though - as to think of another double in this area would have been brilliant.

The Reuben Heatons confirmed that she tipped the scales at 11lb 8oz interestingly that's a difference of 4oz from Thursday, could be either a discrepancy in the weighing or that she'd had a little snack before Allan caught her the other day? I wasn't for arguing over 4 oz. I took a couple of pictures and watched her glide back into the water, presumably off to sulk and curse her rotten luck at once again ending up on the bank side. There's one thing for sure she left behind a happy little Piker

Giving Kerwin a run for his money with the daft hat

Another Jack but the same daft hatCatch of the day

A spot of Jack Bashing

2010-02-21T19:12:00.006Z

A couple of jobs that needed to be done for her in doors kept me from an early start from fishing this morning. Although secretly I knew that if I didn't do the job today I'd have to do it tomorrow (And there maybe fishing to be done) so given that the water would probably be frozen over this morning I figured that if perhaps if I waited until early afternoon it may of thawed a little - it had, but it decided to snow just as I was making my merry down the bank.

I've decided to do away with a chair on these cold days, there's no real need for one if you're going to be leapfrogging every twenty minutes or so, it's less to carry and I seem to feel the cold a lot more if I'm sat down.

It was around an hour before I was into my first fish, it had just started to snow pretty hard and I was wondering if I was mental stood in the snow with not so much as a brolly to shelter from, when I caught sight of one of my floats bob, by the time I'd bent down to pick my net up the float was off and away and at some pace, good job I had the bait runner on as I'm sure my rod would have gone in the drink otherwise. The culprit of this violent take was a Pike punching above it's weight of only 6lb or so.

The next fish came just as JP arrived, I'd spoken to him earlier about my catch and within an hour or so he was on the bank chasing the dream. One whiff of a fish and the snaggler won't be too far away. This fish was only around 2lb's - still I wasn't complaining as catching any fish at all in these conditions would do me just fine. Some of the area I was fishing was still iced over, and at times I was casting through a thin membrane of ice to reach the spots I wanted to fish.

I had two more takes, the first one shook the hooks and the second one right at the end of the session was another Jack of 2lb's or so, none of the fish were really worth photographing but I took the pictures for the hell of it, gives me something to look at I suppose.

Pike in the snow

Jack One

Jack Two

Two quick catches

2010-02-20T20:35:00.006Z

I had intentions on fishing the canal today, but over night temperatures of around minus 3 put pay to that idea. Despite the big freeze I drove around to several spots of the canal but eventually settled on fishing a stretch of the drain. I met up with JP and we decided to leapfrog rather than stay put, if anything at least we'd keep warm by moving about.

Within 10 minutes of JP was into a fish, a Jack Pike had fallen for the old Mackerel trick. Within 5 minutes I was also into a fish and of a similar size, this catch was not without a small drama though as JP had to do a swift net scooping maneuver as the fish shook the hooks. Well done mate! We moved swims several times but the next and last fish came to JP another Jack pike of around 5lb's

Allan's Cracker!

2010-02-18T21:32:00.006Z

I made my way to a local stretch of water this morning. I was about minding my own business when I caught sight of another Piker heading my way "Who's this now?!" I thought. There's miles of water for you to fish - why are you heading towards me? As the figure got closer I realised that in fact it was Allan, he had a day off work and made a surprise visit. I'll let him off I suppose :) He went about setting up and joined me for a day on the bank. Allan then did the unthinkable...

He went and caught (Poached) a decent fish from right under my nose. I could tell by the bend in his rod and the fact that the fish was demanding more line that he was in to a good lump. She was duly netted and soon placed in the weigh sling ,the needled revealed that she was 11lb 12oz. OK not the biggest of Pike I grant you, but from the water this was caught on this is a pretty special fish. Allan was made up, as despite a few sessions Piking of late he was not to be rewarded with any captures.

As for me, despite my best efforts, which included leapfrogging and trying several swims - I only had one take, and during a in a tug of war with my bait, I ended up on the losing side. Nevermind! - You can't win them all, and if I'm honest Al really deserved that fish.

To quote Allan "I don't catch many fish Matt but when I do catch - they're always the big ones"

Al's Double - 11lb 12 oz

Myself and Allan fished the Sluice today and....

2010-02-11T20:41:00.004Z

A new PB from the canal

2010-02-08T19:26:00.009Z

I had to take my van for an MOT today, whilst it's being sorted out, I thought it sounded like a good excuse to go fishing, as it's not too far from the Leeds Liverpool canal, I decided to have a session on there.

I fished two Pike rods on deadbaits and I fished on my float rod for any passing bits. (I needn't have bothered as once again catching any such fish became an impossible task) JP made an appearence and set about giving me a masterclass in winter pole fishing, needless to say he blanked :)

Soon enough I caught site of one of my Pike floats, it was heading towards me - a take - I was in! I wound down to the fish and was surprised to feel a bit of a lump on the end and by canal standards I was rather pleased to see the scales tip at 9lb, and a new canal pb too boot, not quite the double I've been after, but you'll hear no grumbling from me with this catch.

We were joined by Allan in the afternoon, who tried his luck for Perch by fishing on the tip, once again the fishing was hard and he didn't get so much as a bite.

I stayed until sunset but the Pike I'd caught earlier in the day was to be my only fish

9lb Canal PB

Difficult conditions - JP saves the day!

2010-02-07T19:30:00.007Z

Sunrise on the Sluice

The first drain Pike of the year

The drains are still not fishing very well. Several attempts by myself lately have yet to produce any fish. I'm blaming the current run of bad luck down to coloured water. It's still a very yucky brown - and not too far off the colour of chocolate. Nevertheless I still decided to give them a go today. I chose to leapfrog rather than stay static, the idea was to drop on to fish.

It didn't happen and a certain blank was on the cards but thankfully after meeting up with JP he came up with an inspirational idea which in turn resulted in my first drain fish of the year.

No records were to be broken with this one though as it was only around the 5lb mark. Who cares! As quite frankly it was good just to have a fish on the bank. Looking back on last years fishing at this time of year I was about to enter into a red letter period, lets hope the same happens again over the next few weeks....

Time on the river and a surprise catch

2010-01-28T19:29:00.004Z

Today myself, JP and Allan set about fishing a local river, a change of scenery was very much appreciated. We arrived at day break and I set about setting my stall out - one Pike rod, one Tip rod and a ledger rod to hopefully pick up any passing Chub. I was the first to land a fish and what a surprise to see a Flounder putting a bend in my tip rod. They sure put up a good fight on light tackle. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and the next and last fish of the day came to JP and a good fish it was, a Chub that tipped the scales at 4lb 3oz. I'll head back to this river maybe as soon as next week but I think I'll head to a different section.

The first Pike of the year

2010-01-23T22:03:00.014Z

It's been a while since my last report. I have been fishing on the drains a few times but I blanked each time. In my opinion blanking sessions aren't really worth reporting, but in the interest of fairness I believe that they should still be mentioned. I shouldn't be too hard on myself though as The conditions were far from perfect. The UK suffered it's worst winter on record for the last 50 years. The coldest I recorded was a chilling minus 6. As a result all still waters and even the drains froze over. We were even under a blanket of snow for a week or two - a fisherman's nightmare!

I decided to give the drains a miss today. I arranged to meet JP at a local still water. It was the afternoon before I got my first run and I was to be rewarded with my first Pike of the year. I didn't weigh the fish but I'd estimated it to be around 10 to 11lb's. I recast another bait to the same spot and an hour or so later I was into another fish this time only a Jack but welcome all the same.

So finally I have my first fish of the year on the bank - and two catches from the water that I joined in November. For the record both fish were caught on a paternoster about a foot off the bottom.

One of my local waters that was frozen over

Another victim to the big freezeThe coldest temperature that I recorded

Nice double from the lake

Suspended deads save the day again.

2009-12-16T21:31:00.008Z

A lazy start today, I ended up on the drains around 10am and I was pretty surprised to see that it had coloured up since the weekend. We hadn't had that much rain so I take it there must have been some water pumped in from somewhere.

On the whole the fishing was pretty quiet. I did catch 2 Jack Pike though. I recognised the first fish as the Pike that Paddy had caught on October 10th, and that I'd previously caught on October 21st. The Pike is easily recognised, as when Paddy was about to land the fish a commotion followed and it sustained some severe damage from a seemingly much bigger and rather opportunist Pike.

I'm pleased to say that the nasty gash that it had - has healed up nicely. Both Pike were caught on suspended dead's. This method does seem to catch a few fish as opposed to laying baits on the bottom perhaps going unnoticed in murky water.

Damage 21-10-09

Damage 16-12-09

An end to a rotten month

2009-12-12T19:34:00.010Z

Well it's been a while since I last blogged my fishing exploits. The weather throughout the month of November was absolutely terrible, records will show that November 2009 was the wettest since records began. The drains became completely unfishable, and coloured fast moving water does not make for good Pike fishing conditions.

I did spend some time fishing though, I fished my new water several times, but I didn't manage to winkle anything off.

This week the weather eased off and finally the rain that has plagued our skies came to an end.

I fished the drains a couple of times this week, I drew a blank on my first outing - but I finally put an end to my barren spell on Friday by landing three fish to 12lb 2oz.

Saturday :
I arranged to meet Ben for a session on the drains. But A rather uneventful day wasn't what we'd planned. We didn't get so much as a dropped run between us. We were not alone in our failings though as everyone else that was Piking also struggled to land fish today. It's a funny old game this piking lark isn't it!

The best thing about one of my blanks

Back on the Pike 12lb 2oz

Around 9lb's
The fog descended in minutes

Is it better to have love and lost than never loved at all?

2009-11-20T16:59:00.003Z

I had the privilege of fishing a new water today, I will be lucky enough to be doing a bit of a campaign there this winter. The water which I will simply refer to in future bloggings as 'The Lake' is a lovely place. It does though have a reputation of being notoriously hard, but with a bit of effort I'm told the rewards can be great.

There is no litter, the venue is very well kept and isolated and best of all I'm told that it holds a good head of Pike, and there are one or two monsters hanging about.

Well this makes good reading doesn't it! So I set about having my first session on there today.

So you can imagine my delight after only being there for three hours to see my float bobbing and my reel stripping line. I was in! And I was connected to a right old lump to boot.

After a brief fight and some bullying to stop it making for the nearside bush I readied the net, when out of nowhere it tail walked about three foot in the air and disaster! It shook the hooks.

I stood on the side of the bank, legs shaking - I was a despondent man, thinking about what might have been. It was a good fish, easy an upper double, I'd rather not dwell on it's size too much.

Despite sitting anxiously until the sunset. I didn't get another take. I now know that the rumours are true, there are some good fish in there, and anyway who did I think I was turning up for my first session and almost catching one of the lakes lunkers.

In a strange way I'm glad I didn't catch it, I'm glad she got away. I'd rather a challenge and the sight of the magnificent beast will make me all the more keener for my return!

So to the question. Is it better to have love and lost then never loved at all? You bet it is....

A Jack from Sollom

2009-11-18T20:25:00.009Z

The weather today was typical of the weather that we have endured for the best part of November so far.... Crap! More rain and more high winds expected. The weather is absolutely killing the fishing, the drains are still pumping and are perhaps more suited for sailing than fishing of late.

I looked out the window this morning and was greeted by a rather dismal sight. I sulked my way downstairs grabbed a bowl of Shreddies and proceeded to put SKY channel 242 on. It was 'Lake Escapes' and would you believe it!? It was the episode where Matt Hayes was fishing with Gordie on Windermere. They were happily landing some mid double fish when - in an instant I paused what they were doing, switched the TV off, grabbed my gear and went fishing. To me watching fishing programmes is a little like watching porn, it's not too long before I'm excited and wanting to have a bash myself. I trust you get the analogy!

I decided to have a bash on the canal at Sollom. It would seem I wasn't the only person with this idea as Paddy was also there trying to winkle a Pike off the same section I had headed to.

It was a pretty quiet session though. I fished one rod on a suspended dead bait and I fished another bait hard on the bottom. Both baits didn't get any interest until I was just packing up. A Pike of around 5 or 6lb had taken the bait off the bottom. Thanks to Al who'd popped down for a chat for the photo.

Piker Sniper

A sore loser me? Never!

2009-11-14T21:43:00.008Z

A day on the reservoir with Al was arranged, we arrived at dawn and quickly got about setting up. If the weather forecast was anything to go by we were in for a right battering today. And a battering we got, heavy gusts and rain to match made for a day fit for only the keenest (maddest) anglers. Johnny Panto and one of his fishing buddies had also decided to fish the reservoir today, but rather than make the place cramped they headed for the opposite bank.

It's at this point that I'd like to continue the fishing report with some tales of my landing some excellent Pike........My bait runners stripping line so fast that there was steam coming off them. My line singing a chilling tune as I played the fish in the hurricane like winds. I'd like to say that my rod was bent over double - crippled by the weight of a huge Leviathan as we jostled with each other, each wishing to be the victor in our battle.

In reality though I blanked! Allan though fared a little better, landing a lovely condition Pike of bang on 10lb's.. (I hate you Al) :)

And that was the only action that we had all day. Panto and his mate on the other hand did a lot better. Landing Pike to 16lb. (I hate you Panto) :)

Back on the drains

2009-11-12T16:38:00.006Z

It took me ages to decide where to go fishing today, do I head back to the canal or chance my luck back on the drains? After much deliberation with Panto I decided on the latter.

The conditions were not favourable, the water was the colour of chocolate, and there was still a good tow on the water. I laid my baits on the bottom but after a couple of hours staring at motionless floats I got to thinking that a different approach maybe called for.

I changed my rigs over to a paternoster and fished my baits suspended in the water.

This did the trick as within half an hour of doing so I was in to my first Pike of the day. A good fish of around 9lb possibly a scraper double was giving a good account of itself. Sadly this was yet another fish with a torn mandible, I'm not sure as to how these fish are ending up like this. It's possible that a wire trace was left in it's mouth at sometime. I'll have to put it down to some bad angling by other anglers. We all though I appreciate have to start somewhere. The best advice I can give to budding Pikers is to find somebody that you know that is experienced and ask to go with them.

Soon after the same rod from the same spot was in again. This time a rooting Jack Pike of around 4lb's had fallen for the old suspended bait trick.

Panto who without catching today earned the title 'Jonny Blanko' was wise enough to make his escape before the heavens opened. I on the other hand got a good old soaking. I have as yet to master the art of packing up before the weather sets in. I'm afraid that my mantra of "Just 5 more minutes" is often my downfall

The day I out fished a Piking legend (Technically)

2009-11-11T18:32:00.011Z

The drains were still coloured up and pumping quite hard, so I decided to head on to the Leeds Liverpool canal. I spoke with Gord and he said he'd like to join me. Those of you that know Gord will be aware that he is pretty good value for laughs and stories, the detail that he goes in to when he regales his piking adventures from the past make great entertainment, So this in mind I was probably in for a good day's fishing.

We arrived at out spot just after daybreak, and within the first 10 minutes of setting up Gord was in to the first bit of action of the day. Judging by the bend in his rod I was expecting to see a small Jack Pike, I was rather surprised when through the splashing and swirling of the water a clonking Perch of 2lb's was revealed. A cracking fish! (Photo taken on Gord's camera will obtain soon)

The next fish on the bank fell to one of my rod's, a Jack Pike of around 2lb's wasn't going to break any records.

A couple of hours passed and I was in again, a slightly bigger Jack of - maybe if I was lucky just over 3lb. I was catching fish though so that's all that matters.

We arranged to meet Jonny Panto, so we packed up and moved to a different stretch of the canal. Within around 5 minutes of us joining The Panto - he was in... A better fish of between 6 and 7lb had taken a Sardine

So in summary... I have as yet to land a canal double. I shall though - albeit tongue in cheek consider today the day that I out fished the Piking legend that is known as 'Gord Burton' although he may not have caught any Pike I have to admit I'd swap 1000 Jacks to have landed his Perch.

Lets just say the fishing in the afternoon went a little slow, well we had to amuse ourselves somehow :)

My moment of humiliation........

After placing my hand in the bait bucket and proclaiming "Feck me this water is bloody cold" Gord in an act of machismo proceded to sit with his hand in the bucket for a good 10 minutes.

My near fatal heart attack.........

We were on our journey home discussing Piking matters when suddenly Gord shouted "STOP! STOP! STOP! STOPPPPPPPPPPP!" Well I bloody shit myself, "WHAT?" I said half scared to death, "What's wrong?" He'd spotted a road kill Pheasant on the side of the road, "I'm not letting that go to waste" He said.

Panto gets to grips with Gord
Gord's in trouble!

Buff! Panto delivers a devastating blow!
Gord's nose crumples from the power of the hit!
Another hit, he's done him again!
With body shots too quick for the human eye
Gord is victorious
A little hand warming
The Road Kill

Don't mention the 'B' word!

2009-10-31T19:54:00.002Z

The Drains - Blank one...

Well it was bound to happen, the dreaded 'B' word (Blanked) has happened to me on my last to sessions. I fished the drains yesterday, I headed to an area that I don't fish too often these days. Mostly because it gets a little too much pressure than I'd like, when mooching about on Friday morning there was nobody there so I set up the rods and tried my luck. I sat patiently all day but rods remained motionless at least until I packed them away and sulked off home.

The Reservoir - Blank Two...

An early session with Al on the reservoir was planned, 3 rods baited, 3 different baits. Not a touch all day. Not even a dropped run. Like most fishermen when I don't catch, I look for who or what element to blame and I could certainly waffle on and hypothesize about why I think I've blanked for two days on the run, but I'll spare you the drivel. The highlight of the session was the bacon butties that I had for dinner :)

Static vs Leapfrogging

2009-10-27T18:16:00.011Z

I decided that I would leapfrog down the drains rather than staying static today. Actually I did a bit of both. I wanted to see if moving about produced anymore fish. My plan was to fish on the first peg until 11.30 and then up sticks and move about a bit.

On occasion of late I have struggled to fit mid doubles into my FOX Predator net, it's just not up to the job. I had an old carping net in the garage which I'd kept in case it ever came in handy, I was talking to Dave Lumb the other week about Piking nets and he recommended using some mesh that he had in stock, finally I could make use of the old net here is a linky to Daves website DLST he only sells quality gear and his range of rods are what most Pikers aspire to , sadly I can't afford any yet, but they're on my list.

The action at first was pretty slow until I caught a tiny Pike and an average Perch on the Jig. I was about to pack up and start about my journey when I caught sight of a fizz of bubbles near my right hand float was there a Pike in the area? Seconds later this thought was confirmed as the float bobbed and then vanished under the water at some pace, it would seem that this Pike had read the script today as the time was bang on 11.30. A good strong Pike had taken my bait a nice lump too, probably around 12lb's or so.

Time for the move, I walked to the complete other end of the drain, this would make things easier for my return journey at dusk. I fished all three rods on my 'Old Faithful' bait, this I thought would give me a better chance of landing some more fish.

I may as well have stayed put, as I didn't get so much as a snifter during the rest of the session. The leapfrogging/Static debate is inconclusive, and in my opinion without proper research will remain so. There is something appealing making camp and sitting it out rather than going to the effort of keeping on the move. My point is that the drain is like a road for Pike and as long as you cast to the right spots and you're using good bait and the right tactics they'll come along in the end.

Now that's a net

The new net christened :)
These are what you come for

Definitely a brolly day

2009-10-24T19:02:00.004+01:00

The weather man tried his best to stop me going fishing today, he warned of a massive band of rain that was to empty it's payload over the northwest. Needless to say it didn't work, that's why the umbrella was invented.

I made my way to the drain and managed to set up camp before the impending downpour arrived. As promised it made it's unwelcome appearance at around 9am, bringing with it some powerful gales.

I was weighing up the job doubting that I'd catch in these conditions, when my float bobbed under and was away. A Pike of around 7lb's or so led me a merry dance, tail walking and clearing the water by a couple of feet in the process.

Mid afternoon and the rain finally died away, but the winds remained relentless. On more than one occasion I feared I may lose my umbrella.

It was a long wait until I saw my float move again, a peculiar take revealed perhaps the smallest Pike that I have ever caught on a dead bait, a pound in weight if I was lucky. I spared myself and the Pikes humiliation by not photographing it and returning it to the water post haste.

Now it's at this point that I should have called it a day, gone home and put my feet up. But oh-no I stayed until the end, the rain came back thus giving me a soaking as I packed up. I never seem to learn, I suppose I never will either. I am the 'Just one last cast and you never know I may catch kind of guy'

Better than a blank!

Someplace different

2009-10-23T16:35:00.009+01:00

A change of scenery was called for today, instead of heading to the drains, myself and Jonny Panto headed to a couple of different locations.

First stop : The river Yarrow and our target was to be Chub on the jig. We tried a few locations creeping down the banks and fighting through the undergrowth, but none of the swims produced fish, except my last one, I found a deep hole and took great pleasure in watching a chublet spot my Jig and hit it with great force.

Second stop : The Leeds Liverpool canal, but a section that neither of us has fished before, our target this time was to be Perch. It didn't quite workout that way though, as I didn't get so much as a follow from one. I did manage to catch something - a Jack Pike of around 2lb's. I caught it on very light tackle and got a great fight. This section of the canal looks pretty Pikey and I'd like to head back there soon and target Pike on dead baits.

Yarrow Chub

Great fun on light tackle

A move produces the goods

2009-10-22T19:08:00.007+01:00

I'm really cramming in the sessions on the drain this week, Christmas is coming though and I'm going to get a lot busier with work, so as they say 'I may as well make hay while the sun shines'

I started the session Jigging for Perch, I caught a few throughout the day, the biggest around 12oz. I'm loving this method for picking up bait rather than waiting for the fish to feed (Or not) on my maggot offerings.

The Pike fishing was once again pretty slow today, despite my early start it wasn't until after dinner until I caught my first Pike, my old faithful bait had produced the goods again, another blank saved. This Pike wasn't going to win any beauty competitions, it's mandible was hanging off it's mouth, probably the result in shedding a trace from a previous snap off, it also had deformed fins, see photo below.

There is often a debate that gets mentioned on the drain, and it's the debate of if you're not catching should you move? There is a technique that is known as leap frogging, this is where you work your way down the drain, moving your rods and casting every 20 minutes or so. The theory is that eventually you'll drop on to a Pike. The other side to this debate is that Pike are nomadic, and if you stick it out long enough a passing fish will probably find your bait. I usually stick to the latter, but today as my floats lay motionless I decided to pack up and work my way down to the start of the drain, technically not leap frogging as such, but it's not often that I would go to the effort of moving swim once I'm there I make camp and sit it out.

The move paid off as with an hour my near margin rod was in, a good fight ensued, there was a hair raising moment as during the fight the Pike snagged me under a bush. I managed to land it in the end, good job too as at 12lb 6oz it wasn't to be sniffed at. Like an idiot I forgot to take my camera today so I was grateful that a friend of mine Eddie just so happened to be passing to capture the moment on my phone.

So in summary..... Perhaps when the going's tough and I'm not catching, pack up and move

Torn mandible
Deformed fin
12lb 6oz

No big girls - Two welcome Jacks

2009-10-21T19:46:00.013+01:00

Jonny Panto phoned me yesterday and the little rapscallion confessed that in my absence he'd sneaked on to my peg. I asked him how he'd done, and I have to confess that I did chuckle a bit when he told me that he'd blanked.. :)

This morning I headed back to the peg in question, and the fishing was indeed tough going. I used a Jig that Panto had passed on to me, he's been catching a lot of Perch on these of late and I tied one on and put one to the test. First cast and bang I was straight in to a Perch. Wow! This will do me I'm going to bag up on this method... Wrong! I must have cast around 200 times afterwards and nothing, not even a take, a classic case of beginners luck

One of my Pike rods was finally in, a very welcome Jack of around 7lb's was to be my blank saver.

Allan came down to test out some spinner baits that he'd picked up, which was handy as his photography skills were about to be needed.

6PM and dusk was approaching it was getting time to pack up, the nights are drawing in very quickly these days, limiting the time on the bank. I'd brought one rod in and I was having a couple of 'just one last casts' on the spinning rod, and catching my second Perch on the Jig in the process, when I caught sight of my float bobbing, it moved a couple of inches and then stopped, a Pike had picked up the bait and dropped it. I returned to the Jigging when the float was off again, but just as before it came to a stop. This went on for around 3 minutes, eventually the float had travelled far enough to convince me to wind down and strike. My timing was right, as the Pike was perfectly hooked, not a big Pike by any means probably around 4 to 5lb's, it did put up a good fight though tail walking all over the place in a deperate bid to shake the hooks and freedom. On closer inspection I noticed that it had a hole in it's side "Wait a minute" I recognise this fish. A few weeks ago Paddy had reported on his blog that he'd hooked into a Pike and while he was playing it, it had been grabbed by a bigger Pike. It's good to see that it survived it's ordeal and is still feeding - albeit cautiously.

A welcome Jack
I'll call this one 'Lucky'
A hit from a Pike can be devastating

Two doubles and two Jacks

2009-10-19T20:04:00.007+01:00

Back on the drain, and I pretty much left off where I finished on Saturday. I fished three dead baits, two on the bottom and one suspended on a paternoster. I also used the experimental bait again, which was the first rod to get a taste of the action, I pulled out of the fish though, no great loss as I saw the fish and it was a pretty small Jack. The bait was still intact and being rather curmudgeonly I cast it back to the same spot.

The drain starting pumping at some pace soon after, and it made holding the bottom impossible. I had to bring all three rods in and double up on the weights, job sorted and I was fishing again.

My Froogle bait saving techniques from earlier paid off, as once again the (Experimental) bait was off and away. The result was a great fish of 14lb 14oz, but if I'm honest it wasn't the hardest fighting fish I've ever landed, perhaps it's been caught a few times and knows the routine. Maybe it was thinking "lets just get this over with". This is the biggest fish of my dead bait campaign so far this season.

The paternoster dead baits, picked me up two fish today, a rooting Jack of around 3lb's and a better Pike of around 10lb's. The latter of the Pike was pretty strange looking, it had a deformity and had a humped back. I'll certainly recognise that one if I ever catch it again.

One more fish on this session and another Jack of around 3lb's or so had also taken a liking to the experimental bait.

Well I'm becoming a little convinced that the bait that I keep referring to as the experimental bait is a winner, 3 fish and 4 runs in two sessions will do for me. My theory is that it's a little different and they probably don't see this bait too often, it's thinking out of the box with things like this that catch you fish.

14lb 14oz

Different angle The Hunchback

One of the rooting Jacks

Al's curse continues and my experiment pays off

2009-10-17T19:35:00.010+01:00

A session on the drains with Allan was arranged, we arrived just before sunrise, hopefully today was to be the day that Al would finally put an end to rotten luck that has bestowed him of late.

I changed things about a bit today, I chose a bait that I've only ever used once or twice, and to date. I've yet to catch on it, my plan was to leave this bait out until it was (Hopefully) taken. I also fished a paternoster dead bait, not a technique that I'd normally go for but I was in an experimenting mood, so the hell with it.

Allan was the first to get a taste of the action, I caught sight of him scrambling down the bank side, I made my way down to assist with the netting when.... Well his face said it all, the fish had come off. How cruel this fishing game can be. To make things worse soon after my float was away and it was my turn, literally my turn as I was in to a good old lump and I too lost the fish. Damn!

Not to worry though as the experimental bait was in. Not the hardest fighting fish, a double maybe? Certainly not worth getting the scales out for. A short time later the paternoster dead bait was in, I struck in to the take, but there was nothing there, I'd had my bait robbed.

Soon enough though it was 'Reuben Heaton time' a scavenging Pike had found my old faithful bait, and what a scrapper, taking around 5 minutes to get under control. I thought this fish was going to push 13lb's onwards, not so, as it weight 11lb 14oz, I wasn't complaining though.

Sadly no fish again for Al, who is now convinced that I only invite him along on the fishing trips so that I have someone to take pictures of my captures. Don't worry mate you'll soon be in to them again. My experiments paid off, and I'll definitely give give them another try out next time...

Caught on the experimental bait

11lb 14oz scrapper

Same fish, different angle

A couple of rooting Jacks

2009-10-15T20:19:00.007+01:00

I made my way to the drain, and I was greeted by an eerie sight, the fields were covered in a thick fog and there wasn't a sound to be heard, the silence finally broken by a skein of Canada geese flying over head. I made my way to my peg, hoping to grab a couple of shots to capture the moment, alas by the time I got there the fog had lifted. Damn! Never mind I'm here to catch fish so lets get to it.

The drain was pumping back on itself today, and bringing with it big clumps of weed, this played havoc, as the weed would amass and gather around the floats, forcing recasts more often than I'd like. The best way to try and combat this scenario is to point your rod to the sky and try and keep your line clear of the water.

Once again my floats remained above the waterline all morning, until just like the day before the 'magic hour' arrived. I was weighing up my right hand float debating a re-cast as there was a bit of weed covering my float, when I saw it bob, I'm in! OK so not the biggest fish I've ever caught but a Jack was soon posing for a photograph (You never know this could be my only catch of the day, the blog looks more interesting with a pic or two and perhaps save you having to read my drivel! ).

Around an hour later, my left hand float was gone and the Pike-strike was so violent that line was peeling off my reel at some pace, an immediate strike was called for, a good fighting Jack of around 7lb's was netted.

Allan joined me for the last few hours, despite his efforts he wasn't to be rewarded with any Pike on his ad-hoc session.

And once again, my runs for the day came to an abrupt end. All my Pike this week, have come mid-morning until early afternoon. Is it a feeding pattern? Is it a coincidence? Who knows, one things for sure I've had some good sport this week taking 7 fish on three sessions. I'm not one of these fishermen that gets hung up on catching big fish, as long as my floats under and away That will do me just nicely.

Not really worth taking a picture of
but it's something to look atAnother Jack

All in the magic hour

2009-10-14T22:35:00.007+01:00

I couldn't resist heading back to the same swim that I fished yesterday, I wasn't the only one that had this idea, as no sooner had I set up when I was joined by Panto, hearing of my three fish on the bank yesterday the temptation to head my way seemingly too hard to resist.

I fished two dead bait rods, and quickly baited them up with my favourite bait. Despite an early(ish) start it wasn't until the 'magic hour' until I hooked into my first fish, another double of around 10lb's was soon followed by a smaller fish of around 8lb's, which I may add was so lightly hooked that it was a miracle that I even landed it, thus highlighting the importance of always keeping the line tight when playing a fish - right up until the point that it glides into the net, there was no need to reach for the pliers on this one as the hook had already come free lifting her on to the bank. "Yikes!"

I stayed until dusk but I didn't have any more action. Panto caught also caught 2 fish, one low double and a Jack of around 8lb's interesting similar catches and all around the same time. Funny old game this fishing lark isn't it!

A lean mean double

A chubby Jack

Two's company three's a crowd

2009-10-12T19:56:00.008+01:00

Back to the drains and a session with Panto was arranged. I'd set my dead bait traps and I was happily fishing on the pole when I caught sight of another angler making his way down the bank, to my shock and horror he set up in between myself and Panto. Not so bad if he was only coarse fishing but he was Piking. Those that know me better would tell you that I like my own space when I'm fishing, my point that I often raise is that there are miles and miles of water to fish, why come and plonk yourself next to me? He was completely within his rights to fish there of course, so I did the decent thing, I bid my farewell to Panto and packed my stuff up and moved peg.

This turned out to be a great move, as within 5 minutes of heading to my new swim I was in, a pretty decent Pike too weighing bang on 11lb's, within the hour I was in again, a Pike of around 6 to 7lb's was the result. An hour or so later one more run and the final fish of the day, another Pike weighing exactly 11lb's. I've checked the tails on the photographs and it wasn't the same fish. Every Pike has unique tail markings, and this article http://www.pacgb.co.uk/science/spots.html by Neville Fickling goes into some interesting detail.

Fig 1

Fig 2

Terrible session on the Leeds Liverpool canal

2009-10-08T21:04:00.004+01:00

I fancied a change of venue today, so did Johnny Panto - so we met at a stretch of the Leeds Liverpool canal. Our tactics were to bag up on the pole and to fish live baits for Pike. How arrogantly cocky we were. We had a woeful session. I had three fish on the pole the whole day, Panto doing slightly better by catching a grand total of 7 fish. Neither of us could muster anything on the Pike rods. Seemingly though it wasn't just us that struggled today - other anglers reported in with catches of between 1 and 6 fish for a whole days fishing. The drains are calling me

Al's back on the Pike and a great catch for me

2009-10-07T23:46:00.009+01:00

A trip to my local drain was planned, but the amount of rain that fell the day before forced me to change venue and head to the reservoir instead.

Myself and Al arrived at around 8.30am. I fished two dead bait rods and also fished the tip for baits. It wasn't too long until one of my rods was in, hardly the biggest Pike in the water though a Jack of around 2lb's wasn't exactly going to break any records. Hours came and passed and I was catching a good head of Skimmers on the Tip, when finally and putting an end to his recent blanking sessions Allan was into a well deserved Pike, "Heeeeaaavvvvy fish Matt" he proclaimed. It was no leviathan but a Pike of around 7lb's certainly wasn't to be sniffed at. This fish has been a long time coming, and I have to hand it to him, as Allan had gone through a very dry spell of late, he's had many a session without landing a Pike, he never moaned once mumbled a few "The fishing gods are being cruel to me" perhaps, but he was commited to the cause and stook at it. Well done mate!

The sun was getting ready to set, time to start to pack up, I packed the first rod away, and I was reeling in the second one when a Pike from nowhere smashed into my bait.... But missed DAMN! I plopped the bait back into the water and it hit it again. Yessssssssssssss! I let it run off with the bait for a few seconds and then struck into it. It was no monster around 9lb's possibly a scraper double, but boy did I have fun catching it, watching it smash into the bait right under my feet and heading off to the depths to eat it's victim was fabulous. These are the moments that I fish for.

Thats the and of Tench fishing

2009-10-02T11:02:00.008+01:00

The cold weather and the fact that I'll be consentrating on Pike exclusively until probably around March will pretty much put an end to my Tench season, infact I don't think I've fished for them since sometime in August.

I really enjoyed clonking into some cracking hard fishing Tench this summer, pound for pound they give you a great fight. The best of the bunch weighing in at 4lb, so I didn't land any of the 5 to 6lb ones that I hear grace the water, maybe next year.

I found the best method by far to be ledgered hair rigged double sweetcorn - fished over a bed of brown crumb a tactic that I shall revert back to next season.

Total =28
Season PB = 4lb 0oz

What a bar of Gold!

The season PB

It's a waiting game

2009-10-01T21:42:00.007+01:00

I had a plan today - and my plan was to head to an area of the Sluice that i haven't fished too often, I was merrily on my way to my new destination when I caught sight of 'Johnny Panto' and with this I changed my mind on heading to the new stretch and instead decided to fish near the snaggle and have a bit of a chat.

As usual I fished 2 dead bait rods and cast them into place as soon as I arrived. The conditions were pretty windy today and made fishing on the pole rather difficult, I did though catch more than enough bait for the day.

Panto seemed to be having the spoils of the fishing, and as my floats lay motionless, he selfishly landed 2 Pike. Curses!

Eventually as the clock was nearing half four it was my turn, my float and with some speed disappeared under the water. I struck into the take and I was treated to another good fight, the Pike are still fighting very hard at the moment and the sport that they provide really is a great reward for the expectant angler, it's always a disappointment when they give up and glide into the net, the heart thumping fight is what makes it all worth while

And that was that. Another session where I've picked up just the one fish, another double though so who am I to complain! I thought that I was on to a definite blank today and regretted not sticking to my plans to try my different stretch.

As for Panto well he really rubbed my nose in it landing a total of 4 Pike, the biggest being around 11 pounds.

The Piking Blues Brother Phew! I had to wait for this one

Right time - Right place?

2009-09-30T19:32:00.005+01:00

You could say that I was chomping at the bit to go fishing today, it's a few days now since I've had chance to wet a line. I had all good intentions for an early(ish) start so I set my alarm for 7am. The alarm played it's merry tune that it was programmed to do, but I mumbled and fumbled and went back to sleep until just after 8, what a lazy git!

I eventually arrived at the Sluice at around 9.30am, not to worry though as the Pike can be as lazy as me sometimes, often only going on the feed late morning - this in mind then, I didn't rush setting up.

I fished two dead bait rods, one of which was baited up with a bait that seems to be producing a few fish for me at the moment. (Don't ask me what it is I won't tell you) :) Within half an hour the producing bait rod was in, a strong take - as soon as the float went under the bait runner stripped line. I've noticed in the past that the strong takes that strip line off the reel often result in a bigger fish. This was one angry Pike, seemingly taking offence in to being duped by my too good to be true free offering on the floor, at one moment taking to leap three to four feet out of the water trying to shake the hooks, an awesome sight.

Once on the bank I deemed it worth the effort to take out the Reuben Heatons, the needle finally settling on 14lb 2oz. A good fish and the best of the Autumn/Winter campaign to date

The pole produced quite a few fish, enough to keep a plentiful supply of bait, ironically I didn't get one take today on live baits, the only Pike of the session once again coming on a dead bait.

In summary.... Another session, that depite being there all day only produced the one Pike - albeit by drain standards a pretty decent one. Like the thread title suggests, is it a case of being in the right place at the right time? Was there only one Pike in the area that I fished today? If I'd arrived earlier would I have had more sport? Who knows, but one things for sure I'll soon be back there

14lb 2oz

Quiet session but another double

2009-09-24T20:29:00.004+01:00

I have a tonne of paperwork to get through, and fishing was the last thing I should be doing today. However after learning that Allan had the day off from work..... Well it would be rude not to wouldn't it.

We decided to give the Sluice another bash, it has come to our attention that Allan hasn't been doing too well on the Sluice for Pike of late, checking back on the blog revealed that the last time Allan had a Pike off the Sluice was in fact the end of June, he won't be happy by this statistic - he is though a very determined angler and I can guarantee that he will accept this as a personal challenge, there is no way he will let the water get the better of him.

It wasn't long before my float was under and the first action of the day was a decent Pike another easy double of around 11 pounds or so was my trophy.

I decided to leave the feeder rod behind and instead I fished on the pole, I had much better luck using this method, it would seem that a little finesse and lighter rigs are going to have to be the way forward from now on, it's a bit of a hassle taking the pole equipment when I'm off Piking but if needs must.

Despite staying until the edge of dark - the fish that I had early in the day was the only Pike that was caught during this session, I did pull out of another take, no great loss though as it was only a Jack.

Allan was left wondering why lady luck was punishing him again- "She's being very cruel to me" was a phrase that was muttered a few times during the day -and that perhaps the Piking gods were teaching him a lesson and bringing him back to earth after his fabulous catch the other week. There is one thing for sure, and that is - if every time you went Piking you were guaranteed a Pike, you'd soon stop going, the sessions that leave you scratching your head and wondering when the next fish is coming, are the reasons why we go back time and time again.

Thanks for the hat check mate :)