Pike Fishing an Old Estate Lake

Having carefully considered the moon phase, air pressure, water temperature, wind direction, etc. etc. and with only one other angler at the lake I opted for a swim near the car park that had produced pike before.

A small roach was dropped in by an overhanging tree and a large smelt into deeper hole in front. A small handful of mashed bread was dropped in by the floats in the hope of attracting  some baitfish. Despite a couple of cups of tea nothing happened. A Bank Vole popped out of the undergrowth occasionally. I tried putting a bit of the mashed bread down in the hope of getting it to stay still long enough for a photo but it didn't seem to be fond of bread. I could hear it at time munching on whatever in the undergrowth.

About midday the float by the tree bobbed about and headed under the branches. There was no time to strike as the pike shot towards the roots, just a good heave to pull it away. It felt like a little jack at first but soon burst into life taking three attempts to net it. In the net it was clearly bigger than I'd thought. At 10lb 1oz and 93cm it was one of the biggest I've had from here in recent years.

Another little roach went out, but this time next to the overhanging tree to my left. A bit more mashed bread was tossed in as well. The smelt was replaced with a larger roach and the smelt chopped up and the bits flung about the swim. There they sat until dark. The Bank Vole became bolder in the afternoon and I was able to get a few shots of it on video which helped to pass the time.

Another double so not a bad session. Should I have moved to another swim? Maybe, but this is a swim that often produces two or three fish so I couldn't see any point.