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Piking Again

I met a very old friend of mine today in search of some pike on the river Swale, I think it must be nearly 20 years since we fished together and I was looking forward to seeing what the day would bring. We worked our way along the Cundall Hall stretch using deadbaits on sliding float rigs and wobling deadbaits. The idea was to spend no more than half an hour in each swim before moving on. My old pal Jay was first away with a jack around 5 or 6lb on a Sardine followed by my own float bobbing away to signal the arrival of a 6 or 7lb jack. Job done. The river was carrying a lot of colour and was 2 or 3 feet up and pushing through. We ended up using 2 oz leads on the float rigs to keep the baits in position. It was a refreshing change to be carrying only the bare essentials and keeping mobile. I had dusted of my old Conoflex glass 2lb carp rod and was reminded what a lovely smooth through action that it gives. We both fished hard but had to settle for a single fish each. The stretch is great value for money at £5 per day and can potentially give great sport for pike, chub and barbel.

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Perch

I was just wondering if anyone had any success using deadbaits for perch? I was thinking of using small deadbaits like whitebaits with loose fed maggots to avoid the unwanted attention of smaller perch. Anynody have any thoughts?

Linear

A very good friend of mine is off to linear this weekend and I wish him all the very best. Lets see how they get on.

Last Gasp Whacker

There are several we accept as gospel in fishing lore. The one on my mind on Monday night was that it’s always worth fishing into a mild wind and in colder weather it’s accepted that we fish on the back of the wind. I arrived on my local water to find Kev following the rules and fishing into a mild westerly, a decision which had already brought him a fish of around 12lbs. The problem is that how mild is mild and as the temperature fell after dark would it still be the right move. As usual I had arrived after work around 4 and intended staying until 10 ish. I opted to fish in the shelter in the far corner based more on a gut feeling and the fact that I'd caught there recently. I fished the same area the previous week in a howling gale and failed to get a single run which is not a surprise in difficult conditions on a short session. I had a feeling that time was running out, the year was sipping away, the mild spell before the next big blow and cold weather was running short and the number of sessions where I can still set up in daylight are becoming a rarity. Still using DNA Baits Secret 7 boilies I cast 2 baits around 20yds into deeper water and a third rod down the margin. I started to doubt my descion when Kev managed a second fish and my indicators still hadn’t moved. By the time darkness had well and truly descended time really was running out. Much to my relief the right hand rod finally chugged off and to be honest I initially thought I'd hooked a bream but the fish managed to gain in weight and made quickly ended up on the surface. Other than a few heart stopping moments as the line pinged off a fin or two she was quickly in the net. The hook came out in the net and she pulled the scales down to 18lb 5oz which is amazing considering the fight. I bought a gadget from EBay. A £1.99 gadget. A gadget I should have bought years ago. It’s a camera adapter that attaches the camera to a bank stick. Brilliant. Brilliant but watch out for the flash in the dark.... the facial expressions can be spurring to say the least.

Red Letters

After an initial success on the new bait the next session drew a blank but then again so did everyone else so I put my confidence crisis on hold. Due to a family comitment I didn't make it back on to the bank until last night. It was a warm day but without ripple but I still felt extremeley optimistic. By dusk my confidence was on the slide and had to work had to remind myself that the session was still young. Shortly after dark the right hand rod raced off and after a good plodding fight a mirror of 15lb 1oz slid into the net.

Feeling very relieved I recast and sat back to take it in, an hour later the left hand rod went off and the fish stayed deep. The fish managed to stay deep and despite back leads picked up the centre line dragging the lead completely out of position. A mirror of 17lb 3oz was a really nice bonus and incidently came on a S7 glugged in Pure Krill.

So there I was with gear in dissaray and baits pulled out position feeling relieved and fully over the moon and coming to the conclusion that it may be time to pack up when out of the blue the centre rod flew off. I was amazed, the last thing I imagined after having the bait and lead dragged across the bottom was to have it picked up. It was then I realised I'd left the net next to my unhooking mat at the top of the bank. after some deft shuffling and back winding I had the net in the water with a 15lb 4oz in it

So 3 good fish in a short evening session, I'd call that a right old result.