Ice, Ice Baby

With the local rivers high enough to flood pubs I headed to the gravel pit. As the temperature was struggling to get above freezing I wandered down to the pit from the parking spot All the club ponds and pits freeze rather easily especially if there is no wind, and today there wasn't  even a fart of a breeze. Another angler was already fishing and had had a jack around the 4-5lb mark. Part of the pit was frozen, but the swim opposite him looked clear, so I went back for the gear. As I empted the car I couldn't help noticing the bait bag hadn't found it's way in. I remember getting it out of the freezer, so what had I done with it. It's only 15 minutes home so back I went and there it was, on the drive. I must have put it down while nattering with the neighbour and not put it in the car before shutting the boot. Quite how I hadn't run it over I don't know. Back at the pond the angler I'd spoken to earlier was a bit puzzled until I explained.

I wandered round to the other side.  The swim wasn't as clear of ice as it appeared from the far bank. Thankfully it was very thin and after a bit of plumbing around had broken up. A float fished trout was dropped at the bottom of the ledge right and front. The other rod baited with a smelt was set so the bait was a few inches off the bottom and cast just over a ledge. Both spots have produced well in the past. I believe some of the pike patrol along these ledges as some days several can be caught from the same spot. 

These sort of conditions, when the temperature is hovering around freezing, I'd prefer mono rather than braid on the reels. As the braid tends to take on water and it freezes it does get rather stiff and awkward to manage. I recast every half hour to minimise the problem and stop any drifting ice sticking to the line. Around half eleven the smelt float bobbled about, disappeared then popped back up. I wound down and felt nothing, so gave the bait a twitch and left it. A few minutes later the trout float did the same thing, but this time I contacted with a something that gave a short but spirited fight, scattering ice about in the process. A rather portly pike of 9lb 14oz and 83cm. As the trout had come back intact I chucked it out again. I wound the smelt in, it showed no signs of pike attack. Injected with oil and it too went back out.

 

That was the only action of the day. A lure angler popped down but the was only one swim fishable. Later another dead bait angler popped in and went home fishless. After the sun disappeared and the light started to fade the temp drop a degree or two. This proved a bit a a problem when I went to pack up. The line was frozen to various bits of ice and took a bit of faffing to wind in. Not a bad day though. Any day's pike fishing and you catch a pike is not a bad day.

 

Don't know whether it was the cold, but the action cam wasn't keen on working. It kept shutting down without so much as a bleep. Now it's been in the house a while it appears OK.