The Pool What Time Forgot

The alarm is set for 4:30am, what am I doing!

I'm on a journey to a Jurassic pool, where they maybe monsters lurking beneath the depths.

The alarm sounds and I off out the door with the gear as quick as can be,well after feeding the cats and tea and kiss to the wife. I on the move and the morning is dark and abit dank, but its pike o'clock and I've been longing for this day all week.

I arrive after a drive and the sun hasn't quite yet risen,the car bumps up the track whilst rabbits get caught in the headlights and I scare a Barn Owl off of a fence post, but I'm eager to see this water again.

The lights on the car are turned off and I get a glimpse of my pool and it doesn't disappoint. The first couple of hours are to be spent looking around and casting a rod baited with only a lead to get a feel of the pool bed.

The pool is a haven for wildlife, the hawthorn is alive with small birds waking up from their slumber and starting the routine of finding breakfast.
The lake surface has loads of life and as I take a paddle into the weed shrimps, water boatman and other aquatic life dart about.
Two hours pass by in a flash and I'm unsure whether to start, so I drop into a swim close to the car park. The swim screams pike, but the whole pool screams pike to be honest.

Three rods are soon out, a marginal float ledgered blue, popped out smelt around 40 yards out and a mackerel tail chucked to the horizon.
The first cuppa was made and I sat back an enjoyed the view, but all was not well.

Breakfast was required, perhaps that would settle me, and the winter warmer, oat porridge was on the stove. Porridge was done and dusted, but I still wasn't feeling it, new water nerves maybe, or just not happy with the swim selection.
A movement on the other side of the bay caught my eye and a four legged predator was on the hunt. The fox was sniffing around opposite me and it wandered about going out towards the spit seeing if it could find a snack. In that moment I realised where I wanted to be.

I hastily backup the gear and headed off to an area I really fancied fishing. I was in the new swim and had two rods out, but now with the wind behind me I had to breakout the drifter gear. The range rig was untied and slipped back into the bag, and the spool replaced with the floating braid.
The drifter was setup and a fresh roach was to be send on a journey across the pool. I could probably manage a good 100+ yard drift from this spot and could cover alot of water.

Drifter fishing is not for every piker because it needs effort, you constantly watching the float, rod tip and the way the line is coming off of the spool. Your also watching the line as it goes out to ensure its not catching or overtaking the float. The line overtaking the float could indicate a tentative attack by a pike, bait caught on weed/snag or that the weight of the bait/lead is too heavy. There is a temptation to allow that drifter to go out beyond the line pick up of the rod. For me 150 yards is within the realms of the rod and coupled with a decent retrieve rate on the reel, 150 yards of line is soon on the spool.

On the second drift the drifter float stopped dead, and was pulled under with ease. The line was still coming off of the spool and I closed the bait arm, tightened up and struck. There was a tug on the line and a pike boiled on the surface at a great distance. The pike came in with relative easy and was quickly at the net. Quick thrash and it was in, result. New water first fish, it always nice to get one in the net to break the duck.
The pike was quickly unhooked as the hooks fell out in the net.  Snapped a photo of her whilst resting in net the water, no need for a selfie, as she's not a PB and she was released with little more fuss.
The northerly wind started to blow harder and there was a distinct chill in the air, autumn is finally here. I attached another roach to the trace and was soon it was a drift, time for tea and a hot lunch.
The afternoon was uneventful, not a twitch on the float, not a dropped run despite my best efforts. Soon it was time for the off and the drive back home, but not before the first chatting ball of long tail tits came noisily through the swim.

I'm already liking this new water, it has abit of new, and lots of old water. It could well home all sorts of Jurassic creatures.