Right time - Right place?

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

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 :)

Back on the Pike

A hat trick of blanks left me more determined to get back into some action on the Pike. A change of section on the sluice and it was time for a change in tactics. As I've previously reported - the task of catching bait on the feeder was becoming more and more difficult, so it's time to bring out the dead baits. I didn't get a touch on them for the first hour or so. I was having a discussion with fellow blogger and Piker - 'Paddy Pike' something about that I'm not a believer in flavouring baits with 'Catch the angler' type flavourings that are on the market, when my float with an' au-natural' bait was under and away. I was in! A Pike of around 9lb, perhaps a scraper double was my reward for a tactic change. Paddy was left muttering something like "B@llocks to flavourings" and I think it was mentioned that I'd poached the Pike from his swim, which if we're being technical I'd have to agree with him, still I was there first :)

A few hours later and Allan paid a surprise visit, he only stayed for a few hours but long enough to see me land my second Pike of the session. A passing Pike of around 8lb's had taken a paternoster Perch bait offering.

I intended on packing up today at 5pm - however I decided to stick it out for a sneaky extra hour, and eventually calling it a day at 6 O'clock - the news had just started and I was about to pack up, when I caught sight of my float disappearing under a fizz of bubbles, brilliant timing I was in again, on the strike it felt like a decent lump a certain double, a 5 minute battle ensued and this Pike was hell bent on heading for the reed bed under my feet, the photo below shows that I won the battle, an estimated weight of 11 to 12lb's was a good end to the day, I'm glad I stayed on for the extra hour. Back on the Pike and it's good to be back.

Best fish of the day

Can't catch - Won't catch

I've had a few tough sessions of late, and would make pretty boring reading, so I've crammed them down into one post to make it less painful. Here goes................

Sunday saw myself and Ben head to the reservoir, a few fish on the tip and one Pike that managed to shake me free was the highlight of the day. Ben didn't get so much as a run.

Monday and a trip back to the Sluice, I arrived at around 10.30 ish and catching fish on the tip was almost impossible, I managed around 6 fish the whole session. My first fish - a decent Roach was just about to glide into my net when out of the blue a Pike struck. It didn't make off with the fish though and I was left with a pretty sorry state of a bait. The damage Pike's teeth can do in an instant is phenomenal.

I had one run on the Pike rod, alas like the session before this fish also came off.

Tuesday and myself and Allan arranged to meet at the Sluice, we settled on fishing a section at Sixfields, an area that I haven't been to in a while. First cast on the tip and I realised we'd made a mistake in our location, the amount of weed that is on the bottom rendered fishing on the tip useless, each and every time my maggots were covered in the green stuff. We made the decision to leave and head to the ticket stretch of the match length. I managed to catch 5 decent bait fish, my efforts were in vain though as I didn't get a run on the Pike rod. I had other commitments so an early pack up put an end to another uninspired session.

I have a few ideas for producing fish on the tip, I'll put them into practise on my next outing. I'm blaming the drop in temperature for the poor results on the tip, well I have to blame something, it could be bad angling but I'd never admit to that

I should have listened to my instincts

The weekend was here, that could only mean one thing, fishing - "Hurrah!" My choice of venue was to be the Sluice, well why wouldn't I? I had three fish off there on Wednesday so I was up for another session.

It was though a little while before I managed to catch any bait - in fact I'd say it took me around an hour to get my first bite, tip fishing was pretty tough going today. Eventually one of my rods was baited up. I'd just about sat back in my seat - I'd say within around a minute and a half and I was in! A quick take indeed, not exactly the biggest Pike I've ever caught, a Jack of around 3lb's.

Was today going to be a red letter day? Well if I'd listened to my instincts then who knows... I was getting plenty of bites but each and every time I was having my bait stolen. My instinct was nagging and nagging me to change my hook, but I resisted for around 4 to 5 hours. What an idiot! As soon as I changed my hook I started catching fish. I was left ruing what might have been.

Thankfully all was not lost though, and the session was saved by landing a hard fighting Pike of around 9lb's.

Session Saver!

Perch, Perch and a few more Perch

A change of venue for myself and Allan today. We fished another northern reservoir, although expectations were typically high, I have to say that the trip was a little disappointing. Neither of us caught any Pike, and I struggled to get through Perch on the tip. Allan had a couple of Bream to just over 2lb's. Not the best session by any means, I'll head back there in the depths of winter as there are some decent Pike in this water.

Best fish of the day

A score to settle

After my nightmare session on the drains on Friday, I decided to head back there today, In my mind I had a score to settle - no Pike and a trip to casualty wasn't the best of memories from my last visit. I arrived at around 11ish - another late start, but in time for my predicted Pike feeding window.

I fished 2 Pike rods and fished on the tip for bits. My first Pike rod was soon baited and in position - and the float was sailing away within 20 minutes or so. I struck into the take, I was into a good lump - a hard fight ensued when...... Disaster! She shook me free. Damn! The bait still on I recast on to the same spot, literally within 2 minutes I was in again. This time I got the better of the (Same?) fish. A decent double of around 11lb's was a welcome sight.

Allan joined me around 12ish (Just can't keep this guy away from the water, I think I'm a bad influence) all was pretty much quiet and I was landing the odd fish on the tip, when I looked over to my right hand float and was greeted to a great sight, a passing Pike jumped out of the water and hit my bait with much vigour, fabulous! - and what an aggressive fight this one gave me, dragging me left and right and begging me to give it line, once on the bank she looked around 8 to 9lb's, she was in great condition.

One thing is for sure, the Pike were definitely on the feed today, as within an hour the same rod was in again, yet another hard fighting fish of a similar size gave me a good run around.

It's fair to say that I've caught a good head of Pike over the last few years, yet each fish still makes my heart pound like it's the first, I guess it's this attraction that takes me to the water time after time. The day my heart doesn't pound and the adrenaline stops rushing through me will be the day I hang my rods up.

So my score was settled, Friday's session was well and truly put to bed. I was though very greedy today I didn't share any of my catches with Allan, I'm well aware though that he's due another fish.