Earp Pike

Thursday I set off to a section of river renowned for it's humongous pike, that nobody ever captures. The rumours have been around years and just seem to stick. It has, however, been producing some pike recently which is why I was heading there. The info I has was that the pike were been caught late morning into early afternoon so I didn't get there too early. There weren't quite as many swims accessible as I'd hoped do to the water level,. but enough to spend an hour or two in each.

 

A float rod was to be fished next to any overhanging trees and in the slacks and a ledger rod for out in the middle. Bait was limited as I didn't want to buy any more before the end of the season. I had a small herring, some smelt, roach and lamprey. I put a section of lamprey out in the middle and a roach on the float was my starter.After half an hour or so the float started to drift downstream and I contacted with something that didn't feel like a pike. When I got it to the surface it was a pike, nearly. Probably about a foot long it thrashed about on the surface and detached itself from the hook. I put on a roach and cast out again, but with no more action after an hour moved on the the next swim. 

I decided on a cuppa after casting the baits out. This didn't result in any runs, but as I brought the float rod in to recast I thought i saw something following the bait so dropped it back close in. While I was waiting I got the lure rod ready. After bringing the float rod in I had a cast about with a eight in shad with a rattle fitted. After half a dozen cast I had the most almighty hit, obviously something big. I was somewhat disappointed when a little jack surfaced but at least I wasn't going to blank.

If one pike was active and willing to take a lure maybe more were. I therefore spent some time wandering up and down chucking lures about, but didn't see anything else. I settled down in an new swim with quite a large slack the was only about eight foot deep compared to the twelve to fourteen foot of the previous swims. Recasting the ledger rod I slipped and launched the whole lot up into a tree. While I retrieved everything else the lamprey detached itself and landed in the river. Time for the headless herring. It hadn't been out long when the alarm bleeped and the dropback dropped back. Pretty soon an 84cm 6lb 8oz fish was in the net. Despite the powerful rods it managed to put up a reasonable account of itself in the fast current.

Nothing else came from that swim so I had another go with the lure rod to no avail. two more swims were fished before dark, but nowt else had a go at the baits. I'm hoping the rivers have settled and the last few days of the season will produce something better. Hopefully it won't be washed out like last year.

Weekend on the Navigation - Now With Added Pike

 Arriving at the navigation I found cars strewn everywhere. According to the web site  there wasn't a match on so I assumed it was the new moon rush for the pike. Turned out it was, sort of. It was a PAC get together. I saw one pike come out and believe another had been caught.

I headed in the opposite direction flinging all many of large lures about with out any sign of a pike. As I returned towards the car for a cuppa I met a couple of anglers I'd met before. One of whom had a small pike first cast. I had my cuppa and headed back with a lighter set up. A variety of lighter lure were chucked about with little success until a mighty thump on a Jerkster. Consider how hard the lure was hit the pike came in like a wet blanket. I chinned it and lifted it clear of the water. It was then it decided to put up a fight. The lure went one way the pike the other, skinning my knuckles as it went. A fish of 5-6lb but a pike at last. Time was now running out. As I headed back to the car a bait angler had a fish slightly larger than mine. The two anglers I'd met earlier had had nothing else.

The next session headed further down the navigation. The swans seemed quite happy paddling about the flooded field. While over the other side some twitchers were playing spot the duck, or something. It was a warmer more pleasant day than previous. I started off with a spot of perch fishing under the bridge and eventually managed to winkle four fish out. Little perch like that shouldn't be so hard to catch.

AS I was having a cuppa contemplating whether to fish for perch or pike another lure angler turned up on the opposite bank. He seemed to be having a bit of a problem with his baitcaster. Whether he was new to it or what I don't know. As I finished my cuppa a few fish scattered ahead of a large swirl. I already put a SG Da Bush spinnerbait on with the intention of trawling it along the edge for pike so cast beyond the swirl.  The bait had probably travelled some ten yards along the edge when it went solid, then swung out into the cut. The pike put up a very spirited fight before giving up and allowing me to chin it. A 90cm fish of 8lb 10oz.

I then spent the next hour or so chucking the spinnerbait about but didn't see another pike. When I got back to the bridge a cormorant was happily sunning it's self on the far bank. I flicked the lure over which hit the stone work and had the bird dive into the water. I looked up and down for it to reappear which it did along way down. I'm still surprised how far and how fast these things can swim underwater.

Two sessions. A pike on each. Not brilliant but things are getting better. With another storm on it's way I'm not sure where's go to be fishable later in the week. Somewhere will be and hopefully the fish will get bigger and better.

Weekend on the Navigation

 Originally I'd planned on a spot of floodwater barbel fishing over the weekend, but I had my family taxi duties on Saturday then I was reminded by a friend we were going to chuck some pike lures around in the navigation. The barbel would have to wait. As I had a bit of time between taxi duties I took a lure rod with me for a bit of a fling about. The canal was pushing through with a lot of rubbish and the likes been pushed along as well. The river was just under the top of the flood banks which would have had the locals worrying as three years ago it overtopped them and made a right mess of houses and businesses.

 

I had a couple of hours flinging lures about on the navigation which looked in remarkably good order considering. I'd expected water from the river to be pushed into it to provide a bit of relief to the flood banks. Despite my best efforts I only managed to attract one pike which followed the lure to within three foot of the bank then sat there seeming hypnotised as I pulled the lure back and forth in front of it. As I lifted the lure from the water it shot away never to be seen again. One angler had had a pike on fly and another a decent perch but that seemed to be it.

Sunday the navigation had dropped six inches and was pushing through a bit. There was also a tad more colour to the water. This time I took two rods. I was going to concentrate on perch but had the pike rod with me in case they decided to feed. My mate just had his pike rod. While I managed some dozen or so little perch on our two mile wander my mate had nothing. Not even a follow. Back at the car he managed to winkle out a couple of little perch on my rod to avoid a blank. We moved spots to a section where we'd both had pike in the past but we again failed to elicit any response. By now there navigation was pulling through again. A couple of other lure anglers we spoke to had had no luck either. My mate and I decided that the pub may be a good idea.

 
I had been thinking that my lure chucking skills, especially for pike, had deserted me, but as nearly everybody else seems to be failing at the moment I feel a bit better about them. Still plenty of season left to prove they're still with me.

Killing Time On The Navigation

Found myself in the vicinity of the navigation with a couple of hours to a kill and a bit of tackle in the car. I only had a small box with a few lures in and there was a steel trace on the line for some reason. No mono so the steel trace, though not ideal, would have to do. I did think of removing the clip from the trace and tying it direct to the braid but I'm not too keen on braid straight to the lure.

First lure out of the little box was a blade lure, and excellent search lure. This produced a small perch after a couple of casts. This was quickly followed by another before it went quiet despite wandering quite a distance.

By now I was I was in a area with a lot of weed near the edge with lots of little perch about. A change to a little white shad quickly produced a small perch. While several were happy to follow it to the bank, or even stare at it while I jigged it about no more attacked it. A change to a small green tube got similar results until one took a lunge at it and was hooked. A blue sparkly shad had similar results again but this time two took a like to it.

The only other lure in the little box was a small Salmo hornet which I hadn't bothered with so far as it isn't the easiest to fish in the small areas around the weed. Now, though, I was at a point where the channel narrowed and I was able to to cast long the out side of the weeds. This made for some fun sport. Although not particularly big I was able to catch quite a few perch with some very solid hits at times which had me thinking I was into a larger fish. A couple of dozen fish and as many hits again so passed the time.

An entertaining couple of hours once i fathomed which lure they preferred. I not sure why there was so little enthusiasm for the other lures, maybe the Hornet made a lot more noise.

On The Navigation Ⅵ : Wasps, Jacks And Snails

I had intended to try again at this fly fishing lark, but the recent thunderstorms had lifted the rivers a tad and didn't fancy trailing out there to find the unfishable. Instead I made the sort trip to the navigation. This too had been effected by the rain, and the boats, causing it to be a bit more coloured than usual. With it a bit coloured I thought a bit of noise may be a good idea so started with a Salmo Ratlin Hornet and was in straight away. A fairly average water snail had managed to hook itself.

A few more casts later and a fair old thump heralded a fish in shape of a perch. A couple more casts and what felt like weed turned out to be another perch. Things then went quiet for the next fifteen minutes or so.

Some small bait fish scattered close to the bank so I changed to a small bluish shad that had been working reasonably well in previous weeks. I was hit almost immediately by a lively little perch. A few more casts just resulted in a few rattles and tail nips before a little killer cucumber followed the bait in. It did this a couple more times before I changed to a Salmo Minnow fished quite aggressively and nailed it first cast.

 

Another half hour's fishing produced nothing despite several changes of lure, so I retired for a cuppa. A robin quickly turned up as I opened my packet of crisp but didn't seem to like salt & vinegar. I did spend some time pointing my camera at a puddle where martins were occasionally collecting mud but they never turned up while the camera was pointing at it. As I finished my cuppa a largish bat fluttered along the edge of the little copse. Given it was nine o'clock and bright sunshine this was a bit odd. I had a look in the copse to see if there were any more but didn't see any.

 

I spent a while chucking lure about under the bridge to no avail, but a Z-MAN TRD TicklerZ in some sort of green colour produced half a dozen perch from the middle of the canal a bit further down before bites dried up. I worked my way back with the Salmo Rattlin Hornet again with out any signs of fish.

A change to a Fox Spikey Shad produced several tail nips before a rather scruffy little jack grabbed hold. Despite it's tatty appearance it put up a fair old struggle. This was followed by another equally energetic little jack a few casts later.

I fished on for another forty minutes with a sign of another fish despite several changes of lure. By now it was rather warm and very bright, and I had thirty minutes to get forty minutes away. As it was an accident on the main road gave me an excuse for my tardiness.

On The Navigation Ⅳ : There Goes The Rod Tip

Tried a different section of the navigation to the last three sessions in the hope of a bit more action. Unfortunately it was a lot sunnier, but at least the strong winds had gone. There was also a lot of moored boats to fish between. I spent the first hour and a half dropping 3-4" shads between the boats, around the lock gates, and anywhere else for that matter with out a sign of any fish.

 

After a cuppa I tried the same thing with the lighter outfit and the small blue/silver paddle-tail I'd used on the previous session. I got nothing nothing around the moored boats or running it along the edge. First cast below the lock I hooked either a world record perch, or a decent jack. After a prolonged fight, partially caused by me having to get down to a lower bank so the landing net would reach, a plump little jack was just about in the net. A very tidy fish at just over 60cm and four and a half pounds.

I worked my way along towards the trees with nothing to show until I found a dead tree in the water. Dropping the bait close to the tree produce half a dozen small perch in as many casts before things went quiet. Back at the lock I had a few more small perch before a couple of boats came through. A few more came out of the lock itself after it had filled back up.

After another cuppa I had another go with the heavier set up, again to no avail. Sadly I managed to brake the tip of the rod when I tapped a bankside sign with it. I wasn't looking where I was going mind you as a heron had landed on the far side of the lock despite the joggers, cyclists, and dogs. I'm not sure how it intended to fish the lock. I just think it was hoping as the nearby river was in flood still.

 

Not sure how many small perch I had in the end but it was fun and pleasant weather as well. The rod is going to be about a inch or so shorter when I put a new tip ring on it, so shouldn't be too detrimental.