THURSDAY 6th NOVEMBER
I arranged a session on The Sluice with Charly and Kenny today. I of course headed for the peg that produced so well for me the day before. Charly was was the first to catch, and this was to be be his first Pike in 15 years, by no means a supertanker, a Jack Pike of around 3 lb's a welcome sight all the same. Hours came and went without any action, until Kenny flew out of his seat at lightening pace, this indicating a take on his nearside rod. A decent fish of around 7 and a half pounds, and Kenny's second of the season. I sat patiently waiting for my baits to be snaffled, regretfully I was to be kept the whole session. Not a bite, not a touch for me. It's a funny old thing Piking. Four fish the day before and nothing the day after. Still it'll keep me keen and wouldn't it be boring if you caught all the time. At least that's what I'm saying ;-)
WEDNESDAY 5th NOVEMBER
I'm certainly cramming in the sessions at the moment, I couldn't resist a session today. The weather looked perfect. Today just felt Pikey. Not an early start though, I headed down at around 9ish. The Drain was still pumping off, so I changed my dead bait pencils to Fluted Slider floats. This proved to be a great decision, I was soon in to my first fish, a Pike of around 7lb. This was soon followed by another Pike of a similar size. I little while later I was landed my biggest Pike of the season so far, a cracking Pike weighing 12lb 10oz, this is also my new Sluice PB beating my previous best by just 1oz. I had to wait a couple of hours until my next take. Another decent catch, and at 10lb 4oz this was to be my second double of the day. This was also the first time I've had 2 doubles in one session.
MONDAY 3rd NOVEMBER
I had arranged a session with Kenny today. We headed for a different section of The Sluice, the drain was pumping hard, not ideal conditions. Kenny had 3 takes on his left hand rod, but each time he retrieved his bait and no Pike was landed. It would seem that he was being bothered by a greedy Jack Pike. I didn't get one take on my dead baits. However.... I did manage to winkle a Pike off on my Jerk Bait rod. Although it was no monster, a little Jack of around 2lb. Another blank session saved none the less.
SATURDAY 1st NOVEMBER
Due to the awful weather conditions we endured in October, the chances of getting out Piking were few and far between. As a bit of fun Myself and Ben have started a Pike league. So far we have only had one match, and neither of us managed to catch. We decided to have our second match today. I could only fish for around 3 hours. We arranged to meet at The Sluice at 6.30am. It was a cold and frosty morning, perfect Piking conditions. Ben had a Pike on the bank within an hour, 8lb 14oz and the first points of The Pike League were on the board. 8-0 to Ben! The short session was almost over, and I was contemplating packing up, when I saw my float bobbing. I was in! "Damn! Damn! Damn!" was the cry from Ben. I was about to score my first points of the season. Amazingly my Pike weighed 8lb 14oz. Though 2 hours apart, It would appear that we both managed to catch the same fish. A last gasp equalizer which left The Pike League at 8-8. Bring on the next match.
I arranged a session on The Sluice with Charly and Kenny today. I of course headed for the peg that produced so well for me the day before. Charly was was the first to catch, and this was to be be his first Pike in 15 years, by no means a supertanker, a Jack Pike of around 3 lb's a welcome sight all the same. Hours came and went without any action, until Kenny flew out of his seat at lightening pace, this indicating a take on his nearside rod. A decent fish of around 7 and a half pounds, and Kenny's second of the season. I sat patiently waiting for my baits to be snaffled, regretfully I was to be kept the whole session. Not a bite, not a touch for me. It's a funny old thing Piking. Four fish the day before and nothing the day after. Still it'll keep me keen and wouldn't it be boring if you caught all the time. At least that's what I'm saying ;-)
Charly's First Pike of the season
WEDNESDAY 5th NOVEMBER
I'm certainly cramming in the sessions at the moment, I couldn't resist a session today. The weather looked perfect. Today just felt Pikey. Not an early start though, I headed down at around 9ish. The Drain was still pumping off, so I changed my dead bait pencils to Fluted Slider floats. This proved to be a great decision, I was soon in to my first fish, a Pike of around 7lb. This was soon followed by another Pike of a similar size. I little while later I was landed my biggest Pike of the season so far, a cracking Pike weighing 12lb 10oz, this is also my new Sluice PB beating my previous best by just 1oz. I had to wait a couple of hours until my next take. Another decent catch, and at 10lb 4oz this was to be my second double of the day. This was also the first time I've had 2 doubles in one session.
First double of the day 12lb 10oz 
Second double 10lb 4oz
Second double 10lb 4oz
MONDAY 3rd NOVEMBER
I had arranged a session with Kenny today. We headed for a different section of The Sluice, the drain was pumping hard, not ideal conditions. Kenny had 3 takes on his left hand rod, but each time he retrieved his bait and no Pike was landed. It would seem that he was being bothered by a greedy Jack Pike. I didn't get one take on my dead baits. However.... I did manage to winkle a Pike off on my Jerk Bait rod. Although it was no monster, a little Jack of around 2lb. Another blank session saved none the less.
SATURDAY 1st NOVEMBER
Due to the awful weather conditions we endured in October, the chances of getting out Piking were few and far between. As a bit of fun Myself and Ben have started a Pike league. So far we have only had one match, and neither of us managed to catch. We decided to have our second match today. I could only fish for around 3 hours. We arranged to meet at The Sluice at 6.30am. It was a cold and frosty morning, perfect Piking conditions. Ben had a Pike on the bank within an hour, 8lb 14oz and the first points of The Pike League were on the board. 8-0 to Ben! The short session was almost over, and I was contemplating packing up, when I saw my float bobbing. I was in! "Damn! Damn! Damn!" was the cry from Ben. I was about to score my first points of the season. Amazingly my Pike weighed 8lb 14oz. Though 2 hours apart, It would appear that we both managed to catch the same fish. A last gasp equalizer which left The Pike League at 8-8. Bring on the next match.
