Could Do Better!

More Piking again for me this week. I'm convinced that a mid/upper double is around the corner and so I keep putting in the groundwork on my favoured Pike haunt on the Avon.

This week I took a more static approach and rigged up a couple of deadbaits under floats. For this approach I left the smaller Sprats out of it and opted for Roach and Lamprey. After an hour of nothing I couldn't help but have a speculative wobble of the Lamprey as I lifted the rig out of the swim. Bugger me, a Pike grabbed it straight away! It was only a small Jack and it ejected the bait pretty quickly.

I moved off to the next swim and managed to repeat the above feat almost to perfect execution - a long biteless period, followed by a small Jack snatching the bait as I enticingly lifted it up. I ditched one of the float rigs and decided that maybe a more roving approach with the Sprats was in order again. It didn't work though and I settled in with a single Roach deadbait, which eventually resulted in a small Jack.

I don't know whether to call this fish lucky or unlucky. It was battered up and had an awful wound down one side. I don't recall anything untoward during the fight - like a bigger Esox getting stuck into it. Whatever this fish had been through it was still capable of feeding though, but it really needs to get a bit more street wise! It swam off with reasonable intent.

I had one further hook up later in the day on a wobbled Sprat. It was the best fish of the day, but once again the hooks didn't take a proper hold and the fish was gone. It wasn't a huge fish - certainly short of a double, but would have been enough to leave me with a more satisfying feeling to end the day.

Yet again, I've lost more fish than I've banked, which is starting to annoy me. I'm going to take a closer look at my rigs, as there must be a way to improve my chances. I don't expect to bank every fish, but I'm currently around the 40% mark in 2012 for Pike, which feels too low. Time for some homework and maybe a change of hook pattern.