Getting the "Fix"

Decided to go out on the river for a couple of hours last night to get the "fix" I have longed for, for several weeks.
Even thought I have still immersed myself in angling stuff for the last few weeks with blog updates for others and catching up with correspondence on burning angling issues, nothing gives you the same fix or hit as getting out on a river or lake with the rod

So armed with the UL gear, a bottle of water and a couple of snack bar I headed out for a section of river I'd not fished for a while and certainly not with any real conviction with small lures.

I parked up in the modest car park and grabbed the gear along with the bailiff's card and penalty book and headed off.

First swim was a shallow section where the cows that graze the meadow have created a shallow edge and have created a refuge for this years fry.
I clipped on a HRT small fry crankbait and started casting about the edges. I could feel the lure hopping along through weed and silt from the shadows of the trees and into the light were with the polaroid's I could clearly see the micro predators following it it.

It didn't take long before one of the bigger predators in the shoal to take a liking to the lure.

Good fun on light gear and a welcome sight on a warm barmy evening.

Couple more cast brought a micro pike into the area and whilst he had a couple of hits at the lure, he did stay on long.

Couple for spots tried and lots of micro pike about, must have been a good year for the pike along with dace and roach, plenty of perch too and before long a shoal turn onto the feed and snaffled the crankbait.

I could bore you with loads of picture of the 6oz perch, but I won't. The 2hrs soon passed by and I must have ended up with a dozen perch, a few micro pike and a couple of chub to boot.

Must do this again soon.

Monkey off my Back

With a lot of holiday still to be use, I decided a day off would be in order and another day on the boat was called for.

The car was packed and after sorting out food, drink and the boat gear, I was ready for the off. Radio was turned on and with some 80's tunes ringing in my eyes I drove to the boat.

The morning was warm for this time of year, but there was a decent amount of cloud to give me some hope that the day will be easier than the last trip.

Upon arrive, I was pleased to see that no other bugger was about and I proceeded to load the boat with the gear and I was soon under way.

I soon anchored up and had two baits out. A float ledgered bluey on one rod and a free roving float fished roach on the other. The third rod was to be used for some lure and wobbled baits, but first a cuppa tea to take in the atmosphere. As I sat back in the boat with the tea in hand, I felt like I was they only one on the water. The tea was soon downed and t was time to put the lure into action. I must admit to not being the best lure angler in the world and I don't hand thousands of lure, merely 50 odd, but I do enjoy lure fishing in the autumn. I clipped on a large jerk bait and started to work the area inbetween the bait rods. The water was slightly coloured, but not enough to hide the lure and I was confident a hit would come.

After an hour and a bit, a more was in order and I lifted the anchor and moved, I found a similar place to the last that looked very pikey, but another hour passed without incident, so for the second time of the day I moved.

The third spot of the days was an area that had produced the odd fish, so it was worth soaking a bait for an hour or so. With the bait rods out, I started on the lure and picked up some deeper driving lures. This lure had a near instant reaction and a large double followed the lure to the boat, but turned away at the last second. Two more casts and the same fish reappeared, but this time struck at the lure at the surface, but missed it. This seem to spook the fish and it scooted off in anger.

I continued for a while and had a couple of follows from smaller fish, but the double didn't reappear. Time for another cuppa.

I clipped on one of my favourite lures and started working it into a wind channel, there was an instance hit, but it must have missed the lure. Recast back to the same spot and the lure was taken again and soon a small pike was in the net.

The blank saving jack was soon unhooked in the net and released back into the depths. Next case and a report performance another jack of a similar size, but as I went to lift it out of the water, the pike spat the lure out.

It seemed that there was some pike in the area, but they weren't very obliging, so another move was required. I reeling in the first baited rod and as I clipped the trace to the butt ring, the bait runner on the second rod started to click, I turned and looked thinking it maybe the boat moving, but the float was cocked. As I lifted the rod, the bait runner sprung as a fish moved off with the bait and into the reeds. I clamped down and the rod hooped over with an impressive curve as the fish ran off into the reeds. I tightened the clutch and managed to turn the fish and it head out into open water. I gradually gained line on her and managed to get her to the boat, only for her to get spooked and run off again. This happened on a couple of occasions, including a run under the boat and around the anchor rope. But with steady pressure I eased her back under control.
With all this commotion, a nearby boat motored over and the angler offered to lend a hand to net the fish. To be honest, I was grateful of assistance after I soon the pike at the boat.

At the second attempt the gillie on the other boat had her in the net and my legs turned to jelly. She looked big, certainly a twenty, but how big. After transferring her to the sladle, I went to unhook her, but there was no sign of the hooks or the trace. The hooks were safely in the net, it seems she had been lightly hooked and these had dropped out in the net. My first Broadland twenty.

After steadying myself and a couple of snaps for the records, I lowered the sladle into the water and held her so she could regain her strength. This didn't take as long as I though and she soon flicked her tail and she was gone.

The rest of the day was abit of a blur, I made a couple of calls to close friends before having another cuppa and some food. I managed to catch two more small pike, before still feeling like I was on cloud nine, I headed for the boat yard and home.

TL

Funny Looking Perch

A change of plans saw me whizzing off to the tackle shop for bait for the following morning. I had planned to fish on the Sunday, but a 360 degree turn around of plans saw me fishing on the Saturday instead.

Having had a 2lb and a number of 1lb perch from the small club water, it was time to turn my attentions to a more challenging venue. Saturday morning soon arrived and I head off to the pool for some serious river perch fishing.

After an hours drive I was by the pool and set about setting up the rods and caught some bait.
The dace were very obliging today and I soon had a number in the bucket which should last me the day.

The morning wasn't as forecast and it became apparent that the brolly would be required, but I was hoping it wouldn't be as wet as last weekend.

Once the rain had abated, and with the alarms staying silent, I decided to get the UL lure rod out.
After the breaking of the last Abu Vendetta UL rod and being unable to get a replacement top, I've moved onto another UL rod, a Shimano Beastmaster. It the same casting weight, but Ive already found it to be more robust that the Abu.

The UL was coupled with the old faithful Biomaster 1000x reel with Sunline braid (20lb) and Knot2kinky wire trace (12lb). Now some of you will be saying, "but perch don't like wire" or "Fluorocarbon will catch you more". Well either way, it pike are present, they make easy work of anything other than wire, simple.

Anyway, I tried a number of shads and jigs, before the first hit came to a 3" jig worm on a 2g jig head. The rod doubled over and the clutch whizzed as a pike powered off into the pool, but with constant pressure, the tackle held true and a large single figure pike laid on the mat with the tiny lure engulf in its mouth.

Mr pike was told off for talking a lure intended for perch and was soon bad in the river. I continued with the lures and started picking up some perch to 1/2lb on on jig flies and shads. After a while the rain started up again and I went and sat under the brolly with a cuppa.
The wind was swirling around and it was making life difficult with the bobbins swinging on the chains, so when the dace baited rod alarm started beeping, I thought it was just the wind, until I spied the float sailing away. At first I thought it was a half decent perch on the other end, but alas a micro pike have engulfed the dace, but the size 6 specimen hook was neatly in the pike's scissors.

Micro pike was unhooked and told to go play somewhere else and leave the perch baits along, but I was starting to fear all the baits were going to attract pike and not the targeted perch.

The paternoster was rebaited with a dace and cast back out, then I returned to the comfort of the brolly and steaming cuppa. The rain had stopped and the sun ways trying to crack through the clouds, and with its first rays, the hawkers started flitting about the air above the pool.
The dace baited rod was away again, I had suspected another micro pike was the culprit and tightened up to the dipped float. It went solid and the head nodding fight of a perch was felt on the rod tip.

A spirited fight was upon me and a big framed perch came to the net. Nice. As I lifted the perch out of the net and laid it on the mat, my thought wander back to the 2lber from the weeks before on the still water, another 2lb? It certainly had the length judging by the pocket scales laid next to it.
The perch was slipped into the weight bag, but it only registered 1lb 4oz. I did recheck, the weight but notice that whilst the the perch had the length, it certainly did have the depth.

Still it was a handsome perch and come the winter it maybe a 2lb.

I fished on the rest of the day and whilst I did managed a few small perch on the worms and small lure, they became alot more finiky and I suspected that either the bait fish had moved out of the pool, or an even bigger predator had move in.

On a side note, the Drennan Super Specialist 25 litre rucksack has been put thought the passes since Christmas and I truly believe it to be one of the best small packs on the marked. Drennan certainly make good gear.

I must be becoming abit of a Drennan angler, because I becoming a firm fan of their super specialits 3m landing net pole and also of course the pair of 1.1/4tc avon rods. Its just a shame I had to buy them LoL

Tightlines

Quality Hand Made Lures

With my obsession to ultra light fishing growing and tackle box of small (under 10g) lure growing, I thought I would share with some of the best lure manufacturers out there.

Most of the lures I buy are hand made, why? Well they usually have been field tested to death and generally last longer, well unless they get caught in a tree or a under water snag!!!

So to start with the above picture is of some Martin Minnows ties on size 6 hooks with 5.5mm tungsten head, approx 1.5g weight made for me by Mart from the LAS forum .

They are exquisite and I really can't wait to use them. I've been looking at fly lures for my perch fishing for a while with limited success. Then these popped up and at £12.00 for 4, they no more expense that most mainstream lures. I look forward to using them.

Next up we have one of my favourite lure guys. Mark Houghton of MH Custom Lures . Mark has been making lures for years and have made a number of different lures for me, including some customer patterns.

This crank baits are one of my all time favourite lures for pike. They work about 3-5ft and give one hell of a wobble. I have several different patterns for specific waters and all catch pike!!

Mark haves an extensive range of lures from his beanies to his large 100mm baits. Check him out.

Next up is Matt Holmes of Fish Fooler  This guys make loads of different types of lures, including cranks, flies, jerk, etc,etc. His lures are awesome and are proven fish catches. I only have a cope of his cranks, but look forward to getting a few more of his handmade lures.

Then we have Barry Robinson, Robinson Lures . I won one of Barry sub surface lures last year and it has been hammer by pike.

Barry's attention to fine detail is great and the finish is mind blowing.

Finally, John's spinnerbaits aka bassmanjohn0 again from the LAS forum.

I've seen john's work for the last couple of years, and after seeing them and getting them for junior events/prizes, this year I had to have some of my own.

The two in the picture courtesy of John and are available from the LAS forum.

Hit and Miss

Saturday saw me venturing off to fish one of the big reservoirs for zander and hopefully pike. But there was a issue, a storm front was heading our way.

I arrived like most nice and early to find the gates still locked even though we have been advised to get there early. But this wasn't any issue because it gave me chance to catch up with fellow Pikers Pits members Predator and Mickey D, who just happened to be on the water the same day as me.

Finally, the gates opened and we were soon paying for our tickets, loading the boat, and despite being one of the first on the boat, we we the last to get out (Martin brought everything including the kitchen sink).

We finally ventured out and got ourselves sorted and headed for the iconic tower.

After anchoring up we got to work with the lures, Martin was jigging, whilst I preferred to work crank baits through the depths.

The crank soon worked its magic and I was battling with a reasonable size fish to the boat, but alas the fish shook the hooks lose at the surface. I suspect it was a large trout, but we'll never know.

Martin then score with the jigging and was soon scrapping with another fish, this one didn't throw the hooks and a nice size brownie was netted.

A quick snap and the trout was returned.

We then decided to move closer to the tower as we'd see a couple of anglers boat fish.

Once we have finally anchored up (after undoing 7 knots that had reduced the anchor rope by 5 feet) we started fishing again. The crank bait was soon in action again and I felt a number of hits as it came up the water column. As the lure it the surface, a large zander crashed out of the water missing the crank by mm.

We worked the tower for a good hour, but nothing materialised so we went for the first drift of the day.

To sum up the day, we drifted, we anchored up and we searched the water for more fish, but alas nothing else came to the boat. I did have a number of his on bottom bounced shads, but most resulted in shad loosing there tails.
But 3pm, with the storm nearly upon use, we headed for shore. Just in time really because by the time we had put the boat in, the swell was dangerous. The rain lashed down and the wind was up to 50mph.

The drive home was colourful, which main roads being flooded and visibility poor. I was happy to be in that night.

Lurefair 2014

Ultra Light Lure Fishing - Abu Garcia Vendetta (2-10g)

This perch fishing lark has really bitten me along with my latest obsession lure fishing, so when the lads from the various forums started going on about ultra light lure rods and fishing for our spiky sergeant major fish, I know I had to get in on the act.

Well the ultra light lure market over here and in Japan is huge!!! It seems that every man and his dog are selling, testing, plugging these products. But over here it is the lads in the Lure Anglers Society that seem to be in the know.

So after scouting out some nice expensive rods and wishing  I had never started on this route, I plumped for a recommendation from a Yorkshire man and his terrier (Cheers Ady & Tike) for the Abu Garcia Vendetta UL rod.

At 2-10g casting weight and 5'6" its down there in the sort of rod I would have bought as a kid (remember those rods in glass fibre!!). But don't let that fool you, it a nice rod and make catching a 1lb perch very pleasurable indeed.

So field test under way, on the local farm pond where the perch grow huge!!!

So looks....its nice and shiny with its distinctive red and black livery, nice reel fitting to take a small (1000 size) reel and it even breaks down to two pieces to sneak into the car or hide from the wife.

Weight well, it really light as you would expect, and when you have a fish on the line it feels great and makes you hand on for dear life. I love this little rod and so does my 4 year old nephew who was very happy with his first perch on a lure.

Down side, well only one. I broke it third time out, when playing a very good fish, don't know if it was a blank flaw or  it might have been damaged in transportation, but the good news is that the rod comes with a 12 month warranty from Abu. So after a call to their customer help line and a chat with the shop I bought it from, the replacement rod is tackled up and waiting for another trip out.

I can see this being my go anywhere lure rod for perch, jacks, chub etc

So its a 7 out of 10, it would have been a 8 had the thing not broke on me.

Price at around 30 quid on various sites, but I got it from the excellent "Basstastic" based in Swansea.

120 minutes.....

...is all the fishing I've have manage in two weeks since the last post......but what a 120 minutes it was.

I took my nephew out for his second outing and his has now improved his PB for perch and started his passion for crucian carp.....

The perch was caught on a small 3" shad, whilst the crucian carp was tempted by double maggot over a bed of pellets.

A Grand Day Out......

Yesterday was a day off from work and life's pressures to enjoy a days lure fishing in the name of charity. 

The event was a lure match organised by the Lure Anglers Society on a local water to raise money for Children with Cancer.

Whilst walking the dog at silly o'clock n the morning, I noticed two things about the this bright, cold morning. 1) the sun was shining with not a cloud in the sky and 2) there was a frost on the ground. These conditions could make for a tough day on the lures.

I was soon leaving the house for the short drive to the venue and upon arrival, I spied that 99.9% of the car park was full of car, vans and 4X4's loaded with anglers and gear. I squeezed in the car to a space and wanderer over the mass of angles in and around the cafe.
Most of the faces were unknown to me, but I soon saw a few familiar faces including the events organiser and other local lure anglers.

After a brief chat with so of the motley crew and with the start time looming, the all important peg draw happened. Peg 28 for me, so back to the car to grab the rod, net, mat and bag of lures etc.

It was a short walk for me from the car park to peg 28 and I soon had the first lure clipped onto the trace. 

The water was soon foaming around me as  thrashed the water with an assortment of lures. The weed grow on this particular lake, was quite high and I admit to struggling to find lures in the boxes that could be fished effectively just below the surface. I did have some topwater lures with me, but it didn't feel right fr them

By 11.00am and still be fishless, I went for a further wonder and nice looking swim which could be explored with the recommended Rapala X-Rap Sub Walker. After half a dozen chuck, there was a tap on the rod tip and soon a small jack was wrestling to get free. Off the mark at last and my confidence rose a bit. The jack was soon returned and swam off angrily. A few more casts but nothing else followed, so change of pegs was required. This change lead to a couple of follows and another fish, a micro jack of about a 1lb.

I continued to move about and had a couple of takes, but nothing developed into another fish on the bank. Most either hit the lure and missed, or getting hook, only to shake the lure free in the shallows.

The morning was soon up and as most were heading to the cafe for a spot of lunch, I took the opportunity to fish on and venture to some of the sort after spots. I dropped into a deep water peg and changed to a 6" Manns shad, something I been using a lot over the winter. As I worked the shad through the swim,  I had a hit from under my feet, a jack was on, but soon off leaving a shredded shad behind. As this lemon shad was no longer useable without the attention of a soldering iron, another pattern was rigged up.

This was cast to the far bank under the trees and I was soon working the shad around again. On my second to last cast, I thought I hooked some of the roots from the tree lined edge, but no, this was moving. After a spirited fight in the deeper water a lovely lean double rose to the surface, before diving back down. Having strong braid on the reel, I soon bullied her to the surface and onto the waiting net.

A nice long lean pike for 12lb 8oz was soon photographed and returned.

After that I moved about about and managed one more for the day, a battle scarred old girl who was blind in one eye (left) and going blind in the other. She had scars all over her head and flanks and whilst letting her recover next to the staging,  I felt a ting of sadness for this pike. She had obviously had a hard life and wasn't in the best of shape. Probably felt the vibrations from the lure and thought she had a easy meal.

I sat next to her and held her for a minute or two to regain her strength, before guiding her through the reeds and into the coloured water back to her lair.

The day was soon at an end and the anglers assembled outside the cafe for the drawing of the raffles.  Whilst I didn't win the much sort after custom built utralight lure rod that was donated by Truly Custom Rods, I was fortunate to get a nice new custom lure from a very talent builder.

Looking forward to next years event already.

TL

River Season & Lures

The river season 2012/13  has finished and I for one am itching to get back out on the rivers on 16 June.

It feels as thought I have unfinished business with the river this year due to the amount of weeks I've lost to flooding and poor weather. The rivers have been either in flood, receding and coloured or ultra low each nearly unfishable. Then when the river has been prime condition, I've been at work, typical.

On the plus side, when I have been out I caught a few, mostly on lures bounced along the bottom, 6" Manns shads with 21g jig head being my favourite lure, followed closely by some midi S and Abu Tormentor.


Lure fishing has become more and more appealing to me over the last year, and of late lure fishing in the depths of winter. It been quite surprising that I managed to land more fish on lures than on deadbaits, and some of the pike have been of a good stamp.
The only draw pack is that I been caught with the lure bug and with the cost of each lure being from a fiver upwards, this obsession could bankrupt me!!

Of late, a new roving landing new has been bought, a nice Savage Gear XL folding net, this will of course double up as a boat net too, so its a worthwhilte investment.
I've also upgraded the rod too, a 2nd hand Savage Gear Bushwacker XLNT 15-50g 8ft which when bought was in  fact new and still had the wrapping on the handle. This rod is defiantly a upgrade over the old Shimano rod, which whilst being adequate for the occasional lure session wasn't quite up to the job for a seasoned lured angler.

MH Custom Lure - Special pattern

The lure box has also been filled with must colourful off the peg delights from Abu, Rapala, Storm etc, but it has also seen the addition of some handmade custom lure from the stable of Mark Houghton (MH Custom Lures)

Another fish on Marks' lures

Mark is an talented lure craftsman and of late has managed to get his lures in some European tackle shops

TL

Suffolk leg of Pikeathlon

Well the Suffolk leg of Pikeathlon has been and gone.

I met the lads of the Pikeathlon 2013 (Shane & Steve) just before 07:00 at the car park and myself Shane had our gear ready to go, Steve on the other hand was still brewing his tea and sorting his readybrek out.

Once all of us were ready, we ventured to the first port of call for a hour of so, static deads with a smattering of lure fishing.
The day was overcast, but warmer than the last couple of days, so I hoped that this would encourage the pike to feed .

After 1/2 an hour, I had a follow by a small jack, but its snapped at the lure before sulking off into the undercut, only to be lured back out by Shane whom soon had the Suffolk leg underway with a fish of about 3lb.No1.
Soon after my change of lure resulted in another jack of a couple of pounds. No2. The guide was off the mark.

No more fish came to lure or bait, so we stopped for a brew and the guide revisited the tactics.
I decided that we would have to do a lot more roaming in order to challenge the 11 fish the boys got whilst being guided by the legendary predator ace, Sir Michael Brown (aka Mick Brown). I must admit to feeling a bit competitive, so after the brew we moved off to a marked that might throw up a couple of the bigger fish. But after fishing for an hour now more pike.
What now? Lunch. The boys stopped off in the village and got themselves some lunch time snacks, and as I drove to the next spot the lads comsumbed there game pie and other pastry delights.

We soon arrived at the next mark and set about tackling a small weir pool. My shad was soon hit by a jack and after some expert grabbing by Shane, another pike was release. No3.

We walked the river and and I managed another two and Shane weight in another pike. No 4, 5 & 6.

The river was proving hard, so we changed to the pits and what a change.
With the afternoon drawing on and with only 2 hours of fishing, Steve finally managed to get in on the act and got pike no 7 and his first of the day. Shane soon had pike no8 and with an hour and a half left, we hit the jack water for a final push to the magic 12 target to beat Mick Brown's leg of he event.

Shane's first cast on the jack pit, resulted in fish no 8 and he was soon had no 9 too.
I had a bigger fish on, and cursed when it throw the hooks, but as this one got away, Shane had fish no10.

With less than 1/2 left of the event, Shane plundered another fish to equal with Micks Brown's event total of 11.

With minutes left we, ran out of steam on the pit, but had 10 minutes for a bash on the final river stretch, but alas no pike fell to our lures.

So to sum it up, Shane Patterson managed a nice total of 6 jacks and a couple of specimen logs, Steve Davidson managed a blank saving solitary jack and I finished with 4 jacks, including a micro jack who thought a 6" Mann's shad was a tasty snack.

No photo's as Shane and Steve took them all.

Finally....

I finally managed to get out fishing properly over the weekend.

The weather has been kind to me and I manage a quick session with the lure rod which resulted in a brace of double figure pike and a jack from a local water.

The pike were really on the feed hard, and it was one of those rare occasion were I founded them shoaled up in one area. They all fell to the same lure which made it even more satisfying.
The only downside was that I didn't have more time to fish longer, but that would have been greedy.

The second trip of the weekend involved a trip over the border, were had a seat in a broads boat all in the name of research.

The EA coupled with locally angling groups have been conducting a research project on some Broads pike. I had been invited to help them catch pike in order to take their vital statistics and tag them.

I managed two fish in the artic easterly wind, both on lures which was a surprise to me and my boat partner.
We did have other takes during the day, but failed to get the hooks hold. It did seem that the pike weren't really feeding, but with the aid of some colourful lure patterns, I think I managed to get the pike to attack out of pure aggression rather than a need or want to feed.

It was nice to get out, even though in the morning we did have to use the boat to break through the ice.

TL

Town vs The Toon

Pike  on a custom colour MH Custom Lure

I'm awoken at 5am by a text from my piking partners to says its a raining cats and dogs, well it is a bank holiday Monday after all, so I shouldn't have expected anything else. So we decided to snoozes for a few hours and see what happens.

Text are exchanged and the game is on with cast off set for 08:40 so I better get a wiggle on as its 08:10 and I not ready.

Quick shower and shovel some breakfast, before heading out of the door with a cuppa in the thermal mug and bloody hell its cold outside. I thought this was the summer, so back inside for a jacket. Car thermometer reads 7 deg C.

Arrived before Craig and setup the lure rod, got waders my waders on and before long Craig arrived.
After we exchanging chit chat we head on our way to the first spot of the day. Upon arrived at the waters edge, a strong wind is blowing in our faces and its cold, ice cold. Is this really June????

Lures are clipped onto the wire traces and we are away with the first cast into the bay. It very weedy and we soon move on after no hits, but I spy some bream still in the shallows spawning.

We moved about abit trying a variety of spots before my Rapala Subwalk is hit by a sold thud. After a short scrap and fish of 3lb is brought into the shallows, gloved, unhooked and returned.

We continue to thrash the surface with lures in all shapes and colours before we move on to a new spot.

The Rapala Subwalk was starting to get some more attention from pike in the shallows and it wasn't long before another jack struck the lure after it stalked it from the weed. The jack was no more than a 1lb in weight and was soon released. I had another couple of follows before I got an almighty wind knot and had to stop fishing for a bit while, so with the mighty tractor boys (Ipswich Town Football Club) 2-0 up before halftime, the Toon army (Craig) (Newcastle Utd Football Club) had  hit on his copper lure, but no sooner had he got it on he was off.
I was soon back into the game and we continued to walk the bank casting lures, we had a couple of follows, but nothing hit the lures.

We reached the end of the bank were we could fish and I decided to give Craig a banker area to fish and the killer Rapala Subwalk lure to try. Surely, this would grab him a fish.
I on the other hand was tempted to try the new lure pattern that Mark at MH Custom Lures had kindly produced for me. I fished an area that had been productive the previous week, but with small fish no greater than 5lb.
The custom Magnum lure was cast out, retrieved and recast on a number of occasions, before I brought it back across a shallow gravel bar. The rod hooped over and again I was into a fish, this felt and better fish, not huge but it was putting up a good account for its self.

Best of the three..again

After a spirited fight a pike which might have just scrapped a low double was gloves out. 3-0 to the town!!

After a shot for the blog, the pike was returned to fight for another day. 

We did have a few more follows on the way back to the car, but in most cases they either snapped at the lure and missed or followed it in from a distance. I did have a chance for a four fish, but the pike was only marginally bigger than the spoon and soon realised that its eyes were bigger than its belly and turned away.

It was great way to spend 5 hours on the bank travelling light with the lure rod and minimal tackle.

I'm really enjoying my lure fishing at the moment and have had a number of ideas on colours and lure patterns that I will be speaking to Mark at MH Custom Lure about. 
I hope the summer does not come onto quickly, as when it does the water temperature will rise and it will get too high for the pike fishing of any type and then the lure rod will be put away.


Tightlines

Out and About

MH Custom Lure

So I have a few days off in order to celebrate my birthday, and what better way to do that than have a spot of fishing.

So with the sun shining and the birds signing, I headed off to my local for a wander to see what was happening. The usual spots were busy with twitchers and cyclist, so I headed off to a secluded spot for some peace and quiet.

I took with me my usual medium lure gear that now taken up residency in the study for a quick escape. But there were a couple of new additions in the lure box from MH Custom Lures .

As I pulled up in the car park, the cars thermometer had risen to a heady 22 deg C. Not ideal, but a pleasant change from the rain we have been having.

The water level are very high and I glad I had the wellies on, but I could have done with some type of waders to get through the water side trees and weed beds. After looking at a couple of spot, I decided to cast a lure into the water. The first out of the box was an old favourite, the Shakespeare Midi S plug.


MH Custom Lure - Special Pattern for me!!!

As it was bright and sunny, the colourful lure that i would generally use would not be very appealing, so I opted for one of the silver and black patterns.

After a dozen cast, nothing was happening, so one of the surface lure was put onto the trace to see if they pike would hit surface lure yet.

Fish on!

Nothing was happening, so I upped sticks and headed off to one of the deeper bays.

The water was alive with activity, the Common Terns were shrieking over head and a couple of Egyptian Geese were honking at each other. Thee were lost of fluffy ducklings and cootlings in scooting about the bays. I wonder how many will make it over the coming weeks.

Another Midi S capture

The swim I wanted to fish, was under about 4ft of water, so I had to settle for one and more popular swim. The surface lure was worked over the bay for 10 mins, but nothing fell to its surface popping and splashing. So a change was in order, back on with a Midi S pattern, black/silver scale pattern. this was worked around the bay and over the marginal shelf. In the third retrieve a jack pike followed at some distance and hung back as  I reeled the trace through the top eye of the rod. The lure was lifted clear and was recast. The jack again followed, but didn't take. It sort of like the lure, but not quite enough to take it. The midi S was changed for a similar size and colouring, but without the scaly pattern. Bang!!!! Fish on (Sorry Mr Wade).

After a short tussle, a angry jack came to my hand and was soon picked out of the water. Only about 3lb, just a lively little thing.

The jack was soon unhooked and returned. It slunk off under a sunken tree to sulk.

I wandered about for a couple of hours and had some more follows from small jacks, but they were not interested in my lures really.

Hope they are more interest come Sunday

TL

Oh Knickers!!

The old say is "Oh what sights you do see when you haven't got a gun!!", well it certainly was a quick draw or for appropriately a throng.

It stopped raining yesterday at last, so this was my chance to get out with a rod, I didn't care which rod its was as long as I could fish for a while.

The lure rucksack and rod were quickly shoved into the car and I was off for a few hours to the local water. The weather was still a mixed bag, but it was warm and even with the breeze. 

I decided that I would have a dash to the top part of the lake to fish new areas. When I say new, what I mean areas of the water I normally fish with dead baits in the winter. So with eveything I needed either on my back on in my hand I took the long walk to the first are that interested me.

I opened the lure box and did spy some of the new selection of lures that now adorn them.

Have become a bit of a lure fanatic and have been purchasing a wide selection of topwater, deep drivers and spoons from a variety of suppliers.

On such supply was selling the classic 1970/80's Shakespeare S plugs. I had purchased three mid S plugs in two colours, silver/black and silver black cheque. These lures were something in years gone by have catch me a fair few pike, but normally the size I would have bought were the Big S in roach pattern.

Anyhow, I attached the silver/black to the trace and started to cast the lure in a arch pattern across the area of interest. On the second cast my attention was drawn to a splashing in the weed on the far side. Moments later, a second splash was spied on a second area of the weed.
I continued to cast in the arch and then the lure was hit. The light lure rod was bent over nicely and soon a nice jack was coming closer in the crystal clear water. The fight had been dull whilst it was way from the bank, but as soon as he saw me he woke up.

After a close quarters tussle he was soon gloved out unhooked and returned. However, it seem that in the last week, one of the big girls has taken a liken to him, as he had a huge bite mark across his flanks.

Hopefully the weather will be kind to me and I get out for the pike, but using the topwater lures soon.

TL

Laid Up

Been laid up with man flu of what ever you want to call it, for the the last week or so. This has resulted me in spending alot of time either on the net looking for tackle bargains, editing articles for the Pike Pool or  watching endless amounts of daytime tv on the discovery channel.

The last few days I've been feeling better and with the sun shining, I started to notice that spring is in the air with the arrival of the blue tits whom are starting to nest build in the bird box. It has also seen the dynamic duo of Buster & Spike start their spring hunting season in the meadow. So here is a snaps of what Spike caught and I returned alive

Also received another new lure to try this summer. Hand built by a guy and sold in small quantities on eBay. This one is a small sub surface lure, I hoping it will prove to be a killer lure and get the pike up from the weed.

Need to start to switch my attention from the pike soon and onto the spring/summer species of bream and tench, then when the rivers re-open in June get out after some Zeds

Friday and Monday - Again

Friday and Monday saw me at the same alternative venue and what a difference a few days make.

The Friday was a reccy mission to see how the place was fishing and to see what level the lake was at.

I arrived before 7am and the water was busy with anglers. Of course it was busy as it was still half term and the lake hadn't been ice free for the last couple of weeks, so every man and his dog was out fishing.

I headed off to one of the few deep water swims free and proceed to chuck two baits out to the far side of the lake and one in the margins.

It was evident that the pike were on the move today, as one of the anglers hooked and landed a twenty pounder within a hour of setting up. It was a short fat fish that would soon be heading to the spawning grounds.

After a hour of bait inactively, I recast two of the baits, chummed up the marginal rod and got the lure rod out for a spot of spinning. It didn't take long for the fire tiger rapala lure to get hit by a jack and it was soon gloved out. Removing the hooks was easy, but getting the actual lure out of its mouth was another problem, as this jack was determined not to let go of it. After a talking to him, he released the lure and was soon back on his way.

Soon enough an hour had passed by with nothing hitting the lures, a third bait rod was baited up with lamprey and cast to the far ban. I just standa cuppa, when the BBB sounded and with line peeling off the spool, I tightened down and lift into a fish. The rod hooped over and soon a pike was fighting at the end of the line, this was short lived and the line fell slack. I reeled the rig in and the bait was still attached, but it had a few additional puncher marks on it.

This was recast back out and I went and finished the cuppa, but added a choccy biscuit to replenish the energy levels.

During one of the walkabouts to the waters edge, I spied a very small jack with its head in the reeds. A target for a lure, me thinks!!! So after a rummage in the lure box, a micro shad was attached and cast over to the miniature predator. After a couple of casts, the pike noticed the mini shad and after positioning its self, it followed it to the bank, but alas it saw me and swam off before taking the lure.

But what was this micro hunter doing with its head in the reeds?. Well after 5 mins after the toothy fishy had left, a sickly looking carp of about 3lb came out of the reeds and slopped off into deeper water. Had the pint sized pike sensed the death knoll of the carp. I wonder.

The rest of the morning was uneventful, so after a spot of lunch (beef stew), the baits were freshened up and repositioned.

Early afternoon, soon changed to late afternoon and a run on the marginal rod was on, but even before I could get to the rod, the line had stopped peeling away from the spool and the float had resurfaced.

The bait was mashed up and was not reusable, so with the light fading, I packed up and headed for home.

PAC Day Out

Its Monday and I'm not at work again. Huuuuuuurrrrrrrrraaaaaa, I said as I woke from my slumber and got myself for a PAC adventure.

The fish-in on the lake was due to commence at 8:30am, so there was no point in hurrying myself.

On arrival I was greeted by the event organiser and was amazed to find out that the others were already there and fishing. Oh bath buns!!!

So, after a (cough) short chat, I head off to find a swim.

It soon became apparent that the swims I wanted were the same swims that the others wanted. So with only 1 and 6 pegs remaining (of the ones worth fishing), I unloaded the gear and head off.

I settled into the swim quickly and baits were soon out, the morning was cold and we had, had a couple of frosts the previous two nights. I wasn't hopeful of much action and only had one run all day from a grebe.

But I did take photos of a couple of PAC members captures for them. All in all, it was nice to meet up with like minded fellas and have a chat with them. They had come from far and wide to fish today and I had hoped that some of the lumps would appear, but alas they didn't. The biggest of the day was a 12lb 12oz fish which fell to the guy, whom I had convinced to fish peg 1.

Where is you mama?

I on the other hand, went to peg 6 and blanked. Ho hum.

Oh Fuzzy Ducks!!!

Today was the last day of three contrasting days of fishing for me. One was a disaster, one was hard graft and finally the enjoyable day.

Tuesday saw me going in search of Bream on my home water. The Bream shoals in this place are spectaular when they are up on the surfacing rolling on a misty morning. Tuesday was one of those days and on my arrival to the swim, that I've been baiting up for weeks, I was hopeful of a good day. But there was a weird creaking noise every now and again.

Marker float was sent out and the area was freshened up with a few spods of particles, corn and pellets. Then the baits rods when out, minus some of my favourite baits though. Worm.....

I have gotten my local tackle shop to hold some medium size worm back over the weekend, as I had a thought that every man and his dog would be out in force over the long weekend. And they were.

The worms I did get were in a sorry state and really not worth bothering with as they were in that mussy stage, before they turn into liquid.

Anyway, rods went out with halibut hard pellet on one rod and red maggot on the other.

The morning was uneventful and I was ponding what to do next. A crack, followed but what can only be like both barrels of a shotgun at one time. It scared the willies out of me and I jumped up from the chair in time to see the limb of the tree, which was next to my rods, break off and plummet into the water across the swim.

Oh golly gosh!!!! I said aloud. 6 weeks of baiting up out of the window in one fail swoop. I would need a chainsaw and a tractor to sort this one out.

After a rather poor attempt in moving the rather large branch, I decided enough was enough and packed up for the day.

After Tuesday's disaster, Idecided to play safe and headed to the decoy lakes for a spot of general fishing for anything that swam.
I arrived early 5ish, set up a ledger rod with esterberry boillies for the carp and the float rod for everything else.

I plummeted the margins, set the float to touch bottom and started to feed little and often to get the larger roach and bream into the swim. After an hour the first true bite came and a roach of 6oz was soon in my hand. This was soon followed by skimmers and Rudd, but nothing of any great size took an interest in the bait.

I opted for a change of swims and headed over to the far side were the lilies were peaking through and re plummeted. This swim was alot shallower and I hoped that the bigger fish were hold up under the lilies now that the sun was out in full force.

The first bite in the new swim came quickly and a Bream of about 1lb had snaffled the casters. This was soon followed by skimmers and some roach, and by the end of the day I had scratch around for about 10lb of fish. Not a disaterer, but tiddler bashing was not really what I had hoped for. By late afternoon I'd had enough and packed up.

Today, I head back to my favourite water. Not for the Bream, but for a mornings luring with me old mate Craig.

Upon arrival, it soon became apparent why the Bream were not in the mood for food on the Tuesday. They were in the mood for Love!!!!

Yep, the shallows were full of Bream. These were the early arrivals and they were cruising about and occasionally splashing as the males chased off their rivals. Bang goes that for a while.

Anyhow, today we were after pike on the lures. I had about 4 hours to play with, while that wedding thingy was going on in London. You know the one that all the right minded males didn't want to watch on TV.

Craig and I were adamant that we would be no were near a TV today, so instead we wandered the banks in search of areas to fish. This was truly hard as the water level was at least 4ft up from the normal level for this time of the year, so we were limited on were we could fish.

After a walk and a number of casts and lure changes, I had a take, but no sooner was it on, but it was off. Recast, bang and this time its on. After a short scrap, a small jack was in my hands.

Now Craig will say I poached this fish, but in reality, I did what he couldn't do. Catch it.

We walk for another hour or so, before I ran out of time. The fishing was hard, due to the high water level and I probably would have benifited from chest wader, but alas, I don't have any. So I will just have to resign myself to the fact at least I wangled one out.

I should get out more with the lure, as I thoughly love it. Perhaps I give it a go on one of the other local water in the coming weeks.


 TL