Small But Welcome

The weather kept me out of action last week. I was hoping to rekindle things with the river again this week, but the heavens had other ideas. It was looking better until the very back end of the week, but things then went downhill Friday evening. A quick look at the EA river levels site on Saturday morning confirmed that it was back to a stillwater again for me.

With rain due in the afternoon I settled for a quick morning session at Ryton. It's a venue that I haven't fished since last winter and although I've had my share of good days in the warmer months, it has always been rock hard during my winter visits in the past.

This year we don't seem to be having a winter at all. It's been largely frost free and relatively mild, but all too much of the wet stuff for my liking since mid December. Time, or lack of it, was the key to today though, so it had to be Ryton for a spot of piking.

Three previous attempts to catch a pike at Ryton had all resulted in royal blanks, so I set off with one target in mind - to catch anything.

I took up position on the road bank on the old information desk peg, which is now part of the new purpose built bank that was added a year or so ago. It's the first time I've fished off that area since it was redeveloped.

A couple of deadbaits were plopped into place. I twitched them around the swim at various times to help cover as much water as possible. Expectations were low, but about 30 minutes into the session the left hand float bobbed and slid away. A fish was on!

The pike have been known to top 20lb in this pool, so with great expectation I struck into the fish. It was quickly obvious that this one wasn't going to trouble even 2lb though! I didn't really care though - I was just happy to catch my first pike from the venue.

And that was it. I didn't get any more bites over the next couple of hours. The resident male swan (which is a well known psycho) shows no sign of mellowing. A couple of young swans (possibly its offspring from last year) were taking the brunt of his rage. My swim saw some of that action.

I'm itching to get back on the river, but I'm already doubting things for next week. More heavy rain is due tomorrow and we won't need much more during next week to wipe out another weekend. Time is running short for the river season and January has now been totally washed out for me.

Two's Company, Eleven's a Crowd!

With the rivers still carrying plenty of water, I headed back for another crack at College Pool this week. I went for a complete change, ditching the straight lead gear and going for a float approach in much shallower water.

Most of the pool is very deep, but the end pegs are a lot shallower and offer a bit of variety, along with some cover in places. Having seen fish up in water the previous week I fancied trying one of the end pegs and took the easy option of the car park end - not that I had a choice as the far end (my preferred choice) had already gone.  

It was a slow start but bites eventually started to come. They were pretty difficult to hit though. In hindsight I'm sure a pole would have given me a better success rate, but mine hasn't seem the light of day for a few seasons now. I hate those moments when you hook a decent fish on light pole gear and you know which way it's going to end. This pool has its share of hard fighting carp that now run into double figures, along with the odd barbel, so I prefer to stick to a running line to give me a fighting chance.

Bonus fish didn't show though and like others around me I had to settle for a few roach and perch. For once it was easy to know how others were doing, as there were 11 of them to keep me company. That's about the same number of people I've seen all year down on the river! I think it was a case of decent weather and people desperate to get back on the bank again. It's not my cup of tea when it's like that.

It was a good excuse to test out a new centre pin reel that was bought for me for Christmas - the Matt Hayes version marketed by Dragon Carp. I'd previously gambled on their Marco Cortesi version a couple of years ago and I've been quite impressed by it for what it is. It's not a top notch big name pin, but it spins very freely and does the job pretty well for me. For £40 it was a decent buy.

The Matt Hayes version costs an extra £20 and doesn't spin anywhere near as freely (or have I got a duff one?), but with a line guard and adjustable drag it makes for better handling. The acid test will be when I get to try a spot of trotting with it to see if it will spin well enough. I'm sure it will be fine.

Once again I was kept company by the local wildlife - two robins this time from the off. One of them seemed to be looking down on me every time I looked over my shoulder.

A very friendly chaffinch also popped by and wanted a piece of the action, seemingly refusing to budge until I surrendered some of my red maggots in its direction.

Once again this week we are in the lap of the gods as to whether the rivers will be fishable come the weekend. My gut feeling is that I might be disappointed again...

First of the Year

I didn't manage to get out fishing over the festive period. Amongst the poor weather there were a few windows of opportunuity, but each of them coincided with other obligations and so I had to write it off.

I wasn't sure if I'd get out this week, but I had a brief chance on Saturday afternoon so I grasped it and headed off to College Pool. The rain was still falling on my arrival and continued for a couple of hours more. I had some company from the off in the form of a robin who popped on to my rods while I was setting up. It had a good fill of maggots and bread throughout the session!

I fished the straight lead across 2 rods, but it was pretty dire and I managed just two small perch. Fish were topping though and in hindsight I'm sure I'd have done better with a light float rig fished up in the water.

It was good to get out though, even if it was a fairly brief session. Hopefully the rivers will have dropped considerably by next weekend and I can get back to running water. 

Careful What You Wish For

Last time out I was hoping for something to change with our weather. A switch to something altogether colder or a dose of rain were my wishes. It was the latter that won out in the end, but it wasn't so much a dose of rain, but a complete deluge.

Yesterday things were actually OK with the river, but the stormy conditions saw me crying off and giving our bathroom a bit of a refresh. I checked the EA river levels site towards the end of the day and knew it was a forlorn hope.

Today I had a few hours to spare between a train station drop off and pick up and I just had to head off somewhere. I ended up on a lake and narrowly avoided a blank thanks to a single roach. I had deadbaits out for the pike but they failed to show in the cold and heavily coloured water.

It was far from ideal, but I was just happy to get out and wet a line. I packed in early and took in a few sights on my way back. I don't tend to see the Avon in flood all that much so I took the chance to see how my regular haunt was coping.

A case of the sign stating the bleeding obvious on this occasion!

The view from high above:

The tree directly above the life buoy (centre) represents where the near side bank normally is. All landing stages are well under water so it will be interesting to see how they cope. It's the first good test they've had since I refurbished them earlier in the year, so I'm crossing my fingers that they've held out.

The view at Wasperton:

And at Fulbrook:

I don't fancy my chances of getting on the river again this year now. We have a couple of quiet days as we head into the bank holidays, but more rain is on the horizon. I have some other plans on the cards also, so the fishing might have to wait.

I had a quick look in at College Pool on my travels and that has also taken a bit of water on again. It's not flooded though and it might well be my next port of call if I do get out again this year. I won't be bursting a gut to get out if the conditions stay like they are though.

Most importantly though, I hope everyone has a great Christmas. Here's hoping that a few fish related gifts find their way to us all...

Stagnating

I don't like moaning when the weather is unseasonably mild, but the recent conditions seem to be all very nothingy. The weather has been mild, the river is low and clear and it's neither here nor there. I find myself wishing for a deluge of rain to give the river some colour, or for it to go much, much colder.

The fishing this week was a bit muddled too. I took maggots, worms and bread to try to tempt out something other than pike, but I threw in a few deadbaits just in case and extracted two jacks before I'd even set up the quiver tip! They were moved 50 yards upstream to hopefully improve the silver fish odds.

Two more jacks followed pretty quickly and were also relocated, but that was it for the pike. The silver fish didn't play ball though. Just a few dace and a solitary roach and gudgeon to show for my endeavours. Worms went unnoticed by the perch. Chub didn't fancy the bread.

I was joined by Brian for the first time this season and he suffered similar results. He had mostly dace and a couple of pike, including the best of the day at bang on 9lb.

As I write this, I can see the river has received a bit of extra water already. The forecast also seems to suggest a fair amount of rain around Friday, so it will hopefully freshen things up by the time I next hit the river. Fingers crossed...

Predator City

I didn't manage to wet a line last week. I was hoping to sneak in a short session but there were too many other jobs to attend to at home and the fishing had to be shelved.

This week I was back on the river and quite surprised to see how quickly the temperatures had picked up - a mild 7C when I left home just before 7am. Earlier in the week the forecast on my phone was suggesting it might be as low as -2C for Friday night. I love the cold crisp winter days and I was really looking forward to it, but it was a totally different prospect come the day - not that I'm moaning though!

Tactics were the same as my previous effort. Groundbait was introduced into 3 swims and I started off in the one furthest upstream. I was geared up for pike fishing, but I also had a spare road and a loaf of bread so that I could switch to other species if I fancied a change.

The starting peg was a little restricted for space both on the bank and in the water, so it's a single rod job. I had the usual mix of deadbaits to hand - smelt, lamprey, roach and sardine. First cast brought a jack and another followed within half an hour. Things were looking promising.

Two fish is usually enough to signal a move for me, so I hopped across to my second peg which I drew a blank from on my previous visit. I didn't suffer the same fate this time though and my first encounter was something I'll probably never do again as long as I live.

Another jack had taken the bait and was routinely on its way into the net when all hell broke loose. As I went to net it, a larger pike with eyes bigger than belly lunged towards it and just swam into the back of the net. It all happened in a split second and I was left gobsmacked.

I put the bonus fish on the scales and it went 14lb 6oz.

The thrashing around in the net caused by the fish had left my trace in a right mess and I had to retackle. I put the other rod out while I was retackling but I wasn't expecting much to happen. I was totally wrong though and it took barely a minute for the float to dip away again. This time it was a big and all too familiar fish - the same twenty I had from a different peg a couple of weeks ago.

This time it weighed in over half a pound heavier at 21lb 15oz, so it's clearly doing well for itself. Despite being a pb, it's not a capture that fills me with joy though, as I'd rather not get a repeat in such a reasonably short space of time. I'll move my pike fishing on to other areas from now on.

Five pike in a session was a record for me and it was still only 10-30am. I started to wonder how many I could get, given that I still had my banker swim still to go. I thought 10 could be in with a chance. Things slowed down, but I managed a further jack before moving off to my final swim.

I only had one sardine with me - a big old bait that had been marinated with an enhancer before freezing. This was meant for a big fish in my own mind, but as I've often found with pike, the size of the bait is no guarantee. And it was the case again. I don't think the sardine even touched bottom before it was intercepted by one of the smallest fish of the day.

Two other fish took me up to 9 and I still had an hour to go. Bait was running out though and I was down to my last proper deadbait - a lamprey section and just a few old scraps that I was using on a single hook rig. Nothing was happening and with 15 minutes to go I tried one other peg for a last gasp attempt. It failed so I returned to pack up but gave it one last fling. I cast out to a part of the swim I hadn't tried yet with the lamprey and within seconds the float was away. One last jack graced my net to take me up to the magic 10, although I'm being slightly cheeky by counting the flukey bonus fish in that.

I can't be certain if the groundbait approach is anything to do with the improved results, but I'm liking the idea right now. There's a huge amount of silver fish in the area at this time of year so if I can help to pull some of them into small areas close to the margins where the pike will sit, then it's worth a go. Maybe the weather was the key though, or was it the bait enhancer, or just total luck? We'll never know, but for now I'm confident in my approach and that goes a long way.

One thing that did bring a few extra takes was twitching the bait from time to time. All fish were caught on floatfished deadbait, but quite often the static bait didn't appear to work. Just twitching the bait back a bit from time to time, helped to induce some of the takes with pretty quick results. It's something I'm learning more and more. Don't just sit on a static bait if nothing is happening - make something happen.

With a mild week forecast I think I'll put the pike gear away and go back to other species next time. I still have to catch a bream from the river this season and the big perch might get some attention again. Could be a bad week for worms!

Faith Repaid

A week is a long time in politics so they say, but it's also a long time when you're stuck at work itching to get down the river! This week saw me having to wait until Sunday to wet a line, as I had various things to sort out beforehand. I even had to give my Saturday night fill of ale a miss, as I wanted to get some jobs finished off. Sunday was going to be for fishing only.

All week I've been tossing bait ideas around in my mind, particularly with perch in mind. The fruit of my thoughts saw me marinating some prawns in the worm oil I've recently been using - the result being some very brightly coloured and heavily scented king prawns! I also topped up my deadbait stock from the tackle shop and included some tiny bream that I hoped the perch might take a liking to. A few Sardines were also acquired from Morrisons - they also got the worm oil treatment prior to freezing. Add to that a few roach and some smelt and I had a bit of variety.

The last part of the equation was a healthy bucket of groundbait / liquidised bread, loaded with the left over maggots from last week and with a healthy dollop of liquid mollasses. The plan was to use the groundbait to draw in the prey fish across a couple of swims.

The weather wasn't anywhere near as cold as it had been in recent mornings - it was 4C when I set off at 6-50am. The river was in excellent shape and was holding a nice colour. Fish were topping on my arrival, which is always a welcome sign. The groundbait went in as planned and I set about settling into my first peg.

It wasn't a quick start by any means and the first hour drew a blank. Well, when I say a blank, I did hook into one fish (a jack) which saw the hooks failing to stay in place. A move to my other baited peg didn't go to plan either - another lost jack and another hour gone. Back to the original peg and I finally put a jack on the bank, courtesy of a smelt deadbait.

I like to keep mobile when I'm pike fishing and with no-one else on the river, it's not really a problem to keep hopping between swims. My next move saw me fish a swim that I hadn't baited up, but I wasn't exactly bagging up so I gave it a shot. I often give it a miss as it's a bit tight for fishing two rods.

I had a take after about 5 minutes on my lone rod and it was a much better fish - a low double for sure. I battled with it for a while until that horrible moment when you see the bait rise up through the water and the fish slips away. With three fish lost and just one jack banked, the air was starting to turn blue!

I persisted in the same swim and reached for the big gun - well a big chunk of sardine. I increased my fish count with it, but only another jack of around 5lb.

Time to move again and a complete blank on my next stop off saw me heading into last chance saloon for a third and final crack at my original starting peg. For the first time all day I had a couple of decent bites where I struck and felt absolutely nothing. Maybe it was perch or something else messing with the bait, so with that in mind I scaled down my my other rig (a single hook rig) with a smaller bait, while continuing with a roach on the other one.

The next take on the roach was another typical bite, but the result was quite different. The fish stayed low and it felt very powerful. As luck would have it, I've just this week scaled up my pike tackle to a couple of new 10ft rods with a bit of backbone - a lot more beefy than the telescopic rods I've often used in the past for convenience.

The fish eventually surfaced and it looked big. The first attempt to land it saw it half in the net, before it powered off. The second attempt ended up the same and by now my heart was in my mouth because I knew I was staring at a personal best. Surely this one wouldn't give me the slip too? Attempt three didn't look like it was going to work either but somehow I got it into the net and I just sunk to my knees on the landing stage, staring down at the net.

If anyone had seen me at that moment they would probably have assumed I was about to end it all by chucking myself in the river, but far from it. I've never been so relieved to see a fish go into a net. I gave it a couple of minutes rest while I arranged my unhooking gear and camera. It was only when I lifted it clear of the water that I realised just how big it was. It had a fair old belly on it.

I reached for the back up scales because it seemed obvious that my 20lb digital set would be short of the mark. As suspected, they bottomed out, so it was over to the 30lb dial set. The final weight I settled for was 21lb 5oz - a personal best by well over 5lbs.

A shot on the mat (which in 38 inches long) shows off its portly belly.

I didn't bother with any more fishing after that. I was more than happy just to sit and drink another coffee, reflecting on the mission accomplished. I've persevered with river piking after giving it a proper go for the first time around 4 years ago. Prior to that I'd dabbled with lures in the summer months whenever I got pestered with pike, but it was only when a friend (Brian) decided to try piking with deadbaits, that I showed some real interest.

Our first attempt saw him catch a couple of fish of 7lb and 9lb, while I blanked. It opened my eyes though and it's one of the best decisions I made. Pike fishing has totally grabbed me since that first outing and it's fast become my favourite branch of the sport. An Avon twenty is the icing on the cake for me.

Next week might see me having an enforced lay off, but there's a half chance I'll get out for a short session on a more local water. If it happens, I'll be totally out of my comfort zone chasing zander for a change. It's a species I've shown no real interest in before and have rarely caught. That means more research required again this week, but I know there's plenty been written about zeds by local bloggers, so I'll use their wisdom to educate me.