A Mummy Pike at Last

As I arrived at the River Derwent Friday morning there was still a it of a fret and it was still quite chilly. As I wandered down to the first swim I kept thinking something was missing. It eventually dawned on me that a huge tree had disappeared since my last visit. It was a useful guide as it allowed you to take a short cut though the middle of the field rather than follow the path the long way round.

 








I had three rods set up. One float ledger for fishing in the current. A trotting set up and  a bob float for dropping a dead bait in any small slacks near the bank. Six swims and four hours later I got my first run. I'd seen something lunge at the bait as I dropped it in a little slack by some reeds. A minute later the float shot away an I was into a lively little jack of 64cm which did a sterling job of pull far harder than it's size.

Several more swims and three hours later I got my next run. I'd placed a bait upstream next to some tree roots, so struck hard and walked backwards along the bank to pull i away from them. It fought with dogged determination into the current before I got it near the bank where it made several attempts to tangle it's self in the bank side vegetation. A splendid fish of 16lb 13oz and 104cm. That was to be it for the day, despite fishing into dark.

I think I may dispense with  with these early start and late finishes, all the pike I've caught lately seem to have come in the middle of the day. Quite bright days at that. A nice sunny day and a couple of hard fighting river pike made sitting in a slow moving traffic queue on the way home bearable. It was quiet on the wildlife front, though, apart from the crows. A couple of kingfisher shot up and down occasionally and there was the odd LDO hatching.