The New Year Pike Hunt - Round Three

Final day of fishing before my first full week of work. Yesterday I noted a couple of nice looking swims that were three or four feet above the river. The problem was I only had a short handled landing net with me, which meant I'd be struggling to land the fish. I took a more sensible telescopic net with me today. The net is a 32" Korum banana net and the handle a storm pole, which is also useful for navigating slippery steep banks.

With the numerous traffic lights in my favour I arrived at the river in pitch blackness. By the time I'd got my gear out of the car and wandered down to where I thought the first swim was it was still rather dark. Maybe I'd set off a tad early as well. No longer wishing to risk life and limb I boiled up a cuppa on my shiny new stove and intended to read the news on my phone. No signal. By the time I'd finished my cuppa it was light enough to see I was sat above the wrong swim. I found the swim and got setup. For some reason I put a smallish bit of lamprey on the rod to be fished at the bottom of the shelf, a bait I've never done well with on the river. The rod for the top of the shelf was baited with a small smelt.

Quite why I'd rushed down I don't know, as the first run, to the lamprey, came at eight-thirty. and this time was landed. A rather lethargic fish, 84cm and 7lb 15oz. After a quick weigh and photo I dropped the bait back in the same spot. A few minutes later the float moved away and I was into what I though initially was a similar sized fish, but turned out to be nearly half the weight at 4lb 6oz and 64cm. Good little scrapper though. I gave it another hour in this swim before trying two others, neither of which produced .

 











After lunch I returned to the first swim. As I wandered back the phone burst into life, giving me a fright. I stuck with the same baits and dropped the baits in similar spots to earlier. A short while later the float at the bottom of the ledge appear to be moving, I wasn't sure if it was the slight ripple that was giving the effect or not. The float then started to bob about and I was into one of those small but very spirited little jacks. A 61cm fish of 3lb 4oz, the last of the day. Strangely I'd had no runs on the rod at the top of the shelf. So that's four pike in three days this year from the river.

The reason I mentioned the lack of phone signal was prompted by somebody I'd chatted to in the morning. He'd noted it as well and was saying how many people think they only need a phone to get them out of trouble. Given the slippy banks he asked me what I'd do if I ended up in the water. I showed him the whistle I keep in may waistcoat pocket. We surveyed the swim together and agreed it wouldn't be easy to get out if you ended up in the water. There was a three foot sheer drop to the river and two foot of water below that, to an unknown thickness of mud. It was also book ended by thickets of willow that stretched the full width of the shelf so wading round was out of the question even if the mud allowed. I believe I could have scrabbled up the bank using the willow, but in soggy winter clothing it would be very hard work. Failing that the whistle should attract one of the occasional dog walkers or maybe a fellow angler. Just something worth bearing in mind as whistle is such a small and reliable device.