Looking back at the Season Gone

Looking back at the last pike season, it is quite evident that whilst I have put a lot of effort in during the season gone, the end results weren’t quite what I had hoped for.

It has been a difficult season in comparison with 2010/11, where the pike were throwing themselves onto the hooks, whether it was baited with a lure or dead bait. But whilst the numbers of fish per session ratio was high, the numbers of upper double or twenties were very low. In fact in 2010/11, the best pike was a 19lber.

Whilst on this particular water it is considered an average fish, it was for me so far the best I have landed from this venue. The venue is a commercial fishery that in truth do stock pike in to the main lake when they net pike that cause a nuisance to the matchmen and pleasure angler on the rest of the complex. It’s not a naturally balanced fishery, but the fishery manger need to keep the paying customers happy. Its one of those waters where you could easily fish for a season and have say 3 - 5 different 20’s, but the pressure on these fish is great and without the watchful eye of the manager, damage to these fish could easily inflicted.

Another lake that I’ve spent time on followed a similar pattern, promised much, delivered little. It is clear that the pit was in a state of change. It has been a ‘banker’ water for high doubles and twenties, but it is evident that for some reason the pike population has taken a hit and the water is frequented with low doubles and jacks. I will be keeping an eye on this water for future years to see if the population recovers and balances back out again.

The fishing for other species has been difficult to. The bream and tench didn’t play ball and the roach, rudd were whilst plentiful not anything of specimen size. But the wildlife I’ve see have been truly magnificent, with march harriers, turfed duck, yellow wagtails,grass snakes and water voles all in abundance.

Season Regrets

My biggest regret of the season got is not spending as much time on a river system as I had planned. Due to the cost of fuel and travel time, I have taken to fishing closer to home, even if this has been to the detriment of not managing to hook into these river monsters.

I also regret not opening my eyes to that fact that I really need to study the overall season on each water more carefully. It is becoming clear that some waters really do fish better at different times during the season, and if I want to maximise my catching ratio, I need to realise this and rest them for some periods of the season. But, I won’t just fish a venue because it is a runs’ water. Fishing to me is not just about the catching, it’s about the whole picture, the scenery, and the wildlife and in some cases the company I fish with.

Season Plus

Well I did manage to get a 20 from my ultra hard water. This is the second one I’ve had from this venue and was a welcome sight. She was pre spawning weight and judging by her length, girth and general condition, she hopefully will turn up again next season at a higher weight. The future is bright for this fish, just hope that her sisters will follow suit.

It has also been good on the social side of fishing, starting to meet and fish with some good anglers and have been allowed to fish places I have never fished before. With any luck I will be able to fish these places with them from time to time, but we will see.

I’ve also gotten involved in the Pike Pool blog. If you’ve not see the link on my blog, please go and have a read of the articles and interviews the teams have secured since it started in the summer of 2011. The articles are written by anglers for anglers, editing is kept where possible to a minimum to ensure that the character of the writer come out in the article.

The pool is going from strength to strength and I’m looking forward to the seeing both new and old writers submitting articles. It’s not all about the pike by the way, we are just after good article on fishing.

If you fancy writing a piece for us, please email it to the:-

pikepool@hotmail.co.uk.

Either I or Rob will review it and come back to you with comments and suggestions.

TL