Ice, Ice Baby

There are just some jobs at the end of the season that need to be done in order to maintenance a appyhfishing/life balance.

I'm luck enough to have a under counter bait freezer at home. It is seasonally filled up with various types of deadbaits in the Autumn, frozen sweetcorn and pre-prepared hemp in the spring.

But in between these seasonal changes of bait in the freezer, it has to be defrosted and cleaned to remove the smelly opened yellowing deadbaits and the pungent fluid that leaks from the defrosted packages when I've come back from a piking session.

So with no fishing on the cards today (I was meant to be bream fishing, but lack of sleep prevented this) and the other home job done and dusted, it only left this smelly and messy job to do.

Luckily for me there wasn't too much ice build up and after some scrapping and chipping, the freezer was eventually defrosted, cleaned and sorted out.

All the old bait is now residing on the bed of the pond in an area that is not accessible to any anglers. So to all the pike that I've chased this season, enjoy the free meal being the sigs get them.

Pike Pool

The pike pool is going from strength to strength and the quality of the articles seem to be getting better and stronger.

In order to get more viewers (even though of late we have been getting 4000 view a month) we have taken the plunged and taken the pike pool to facebook. So hopefully, by moving with the times and by opening the pike pool up to the users of facebook, we will be able to allow more people to read the wonderful article that the pike pool team and authors publish on a weekly bases.

 So to all you facebookers, look up the pike pool page and enjoy!!

TL

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

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

Pikers Pit, & Pike Pool & A New Attraction

Well, with all this snow and ice, I've not managed to wet a line for a couple of weeks. I hope to seek a few hours this weekend so will fill you in on that if I get out.

I have been busy thought on my new piking passion. Lure fishing.
I brought a nice 2nd 8ft medium weight shimano rod and reel a week ago and have now sorted out the lure box in order to have a selection in its cast range of 10-45g. On the lure front I also purchased a few new spoons from the forum and from Sovereign Superbaits .

Talking of the pit, if your not a member yet, why not. We now have over 1000 forum members and its growing fast. So what are you waiting for.....join use on Pikers Pit today.

The Pikers pits a great place for all your predator hunts and angler a like, it is a nice friendly place and the banter at times can we full on, but its worth it be in the company of some top anglers.

And finally, if you fancy a good tail or too, come and read the Pike Pool. It gets updated with a new piece on a weekly bases and is the best think since slice bread, better still its free as all writers do it for the love....

TL