Alarming Pike Fishing

Yesterday I set my alarm for the early hours of Thursday so I could get out before the traffic built up. Remarkably this proved to be rather useless as I was going fishing on Friday. Even so I woke reasonably early and was able to get to the venue before the worst of the traffic. The trudge up to the first swim I intended to fish wasn't too bad as it had been cold enough to freeze the ground. My intention was to start there and work my way back towards the car.

The tactics to start with were a float fished trout in the slack behind an over hanging tree, and a ledgered half a small mackerel out to the feeder line. An hour later and not much had happened so I was contemplating moving when the drop-back indicator hit the bank stick. Nothing big but it felt like a pike. Everything came to a halt and I was proper snagged. I left a slack line for five minutes but nothing happened. I couldn't feel a fish so went for a pull and out the rig came replete with a slightly bent hook. After a bit of straightening it was back out with another manky looking bit of mackerel. I'm still using up last year's baits.

As I brewed a cuppa the drop-back went again. A fish around the 60-70cm mark. This time I got it to the net. I was about four foot above the river so wielding a heavy net with a slightly dodgy shoulder wasn't easy. I hadn't seen the trailing hook which snagged the edge of the net. My faffing about trying to get the fish over the net soon unhooked it and it was away. The next mackerel hard been in a couple of minutes, enough time to get the boiling water into the cup for my cuppa, when I got another run. This time a fish of 65cm was actually landed. I'm assuming the photos of it are among the four that are corrupted on the SD card. Despite their size they'd put up a good struggle zooming about like mad things.

I settled back with my cuppa and a biccy. I'd no sooner finished it than the float moved away. This was something considerably heavier. After hauling it out from under the tree it headed straight for the snag. Turning it had it heading back towards the overhanging tree. Side to side it went three or four times before giving up. At 110cm and 18lb 14oz it was quite a weight to lift up the bank. Out went another trout. Not long after the drop-back dropped back and another feisty little jack of 75 cm was kept out of the snag and into the net.

I wondered whether to stay or move. You can only push your luck so far in one swim. A tip rattle on the ledger rod persuaded me stay. It then rattled again but I failed to contact with any thing. The slightly chewed mackerel was slung out again. I'd just got the water in my Mac 'n' Cheese when the float moved away. Something heavy but dogged was on the end. While it made no fast runs it took some time to get it up out of ten foot of water. At 108cm, 2cm shorter than the earlier biggy it weighed over 5lb less at exactly 13lb. By the time I'd dealt with it my Mac 'n' Cheese was ready. That had been my last trout so a rather old looking piece of lamprey was the next bait used.

The pike gave me time to eat my lunch and have a cuppa before the float bobbed about. All I contacted was a sunken branch. After tossing the bait back out I didn't have another run for about 45 minutes. As I started to gather things up to move another swim the drop-back dropped again and a somewhat larger jack of 87cm and 8lb 14oz soon graced the net. It was one of those that puts up more of a fight on the bank. As this was the last mackerel I put the other half of the lamprey on. It was another hour before I got my next run. This time on the float. A real loony of a fish that was all over the place both in and out of the water. At 70cm it had certainly been entertaining, and I still had my bait. While I had my afternoon tea I had a dropped run on both rods

I decided to sit it out in that swim but got no more runs. The walk back to the car was a bit trick as the slippy mud had now thawed out and made the return journey hard work. Six fish landed, two lost and a few dropped runs made the slippy trudge worth it. Quite why there were so many jack two thirds of the way across the river I've no idea. Maybe gathering ready for spawning?