October 2014

Introduction

The much maligned social network Facebook had provided me with an opportunity. A small fishing related group I am part of were having a fish-in. For a week I was met with the same look of astonishment from those close to me- "You mean to tell me you are spending a day with a load a blokes you've never met before?" said one work colleague. "Yes," I replied proudly. "Phil, there are people that have been here years that you haven't spoken to," she exclaimed. Should make for an interesting day then.......

Rutland Water

Rutland water is the largest Reservoir by surface area in England. It varies between 3,100 and 3,300 acres in size depending on water level. Usually a fly-only Trout fishery the water authority had opened it up to lure anglers to take advantage of it's increasing popularity. With a good stock of Zander I was keen to catch my first of the species. Ten of us had had arranged to meet on the Sunday morning.. As ever when people are meeting from all of the country there were a few hiccups and as it turned out we only filled three boats. With two anglers in each the cost for the day was a reasonable £30 each. That included the boat, life jacket and fuel. After a good chat with the other lads we headed to the lodge to pay and were soon in our boats and ready to go.......

My boat partner for the day was Leo, a friend of an old friend of mine. I knew from talking to Leo online how much he'd been looking forward to the day so I was happy to take a back (front) seat while he motored us out into the main bowl of the lake. We found a big aerator in about 80ft of water and made our first drift around it. I had a big green shad on while Leo fished with a feathered jig (Kogut's). Immediately I started to get plucks on the shad. After a couple of false starts I brought my first Zander to the boat. A fish of about a pound and a half. I was made up. Strangely I equally as happy when Leo got in on the action. His was prettier than mine too.....

Now a lot of anglers are a bit sniffy about Rutland as a serious predator venue."Too easy," they say. Well it wasn't for Leo and I, for after that initial flurry we struggled. Heading down the North arm we settled near a large concrete water tower. Despite several passes we couldn't get a take, unlike the occupants of another boat that had landed a massive Perch. We looked at it longingly through Leo's binoculars which encouraged us to persevere for another hour or so. With no luck we finally gave in and headed near to the shoreline to throw some big lures in the hope of tempting a Pike or two. We drew a blank there too. We motored around to the water sports creek where I finally connected with something that hit my Pike lure hard. It gave me a great fight but alas it was a rogue Trout, not quite what I was after.......

Shortly after we got turfed out of the creek by a ranger and headed off to find the others. Nate and Carl were having similar results to ourselves in the North Arm while the other pair of Andy and Dave were faring slightly better near to the aerator Leo and I had first fished. They were taking small Zander nearly every cast. We joined them but we were a little late to the party as the fish switched off. Leo managed one first cast while I couldn't buy a take. Despite the relative lack of action we couldn't have wished for a better day weather wise. It really was glorious for October.

It wasn't until the last hour or so that we had any success and it was all down to a phone call from Andy and Dave. They had found some fish again and very kindly invited us to join them. With Leo at the controls we were soon in position and had a great time pulling up Zander and even a couple of Perch from around 40ft of water. My best Zander of the day........

All to soon though it was time to head in and the journey back gave me time to reflect on the experience. The whole day was brilliant, the guys were all great and it didn't matter that I'd never met them before, the fishing united us. The only downside was one of my perch died. Bringing fish up from such deep water is dangerous and they find it difficult to cope with the changes in pressure. After doing a little bit of digging and listening to Andy if you do happen to go there is a relatively easy way around it. Simply bring the fish up to around 10-15 feet and let it adjust for a minute until you bring it to the boat. Quite why the authorities at Rutland don't tell you this is nothing short of a disgrace. Let's not end this section on a negative though. The reservoir looking beautiful at dusk.......

Back at base and the end of a day to remember.......

 

 

Back to Lincolnshire........

 

Apart from some great Bream and the elusive Swede (a huge Chub) the rivers have been tough going and as you know I had kept trying them but the weed made the fishing just too difficult. I'd been waiting for the nights to get colder and some rain to flush them out. Luckily in the days after the Rutland trip we had exactly that. On my next day off I headed to the secret River.

A large weed raft had collected in a particular spot over the summer. I knew as soon as the it dispersed the bottom would be reasonably clean to present a bait. Most plants require light to grow, this spot hadn't seen any for months. As luck would have it when I arrived at the river the spot was clear. My main target was the Roach, Rudd and giant Hybrids that inhabit the river. They don't get fished for often so I tackled up strong- 6lb Double Strength line tied in a link with three swan shot coupled with a size 12 hook baited with three red maggots. Some of you will remember the 4lb 9oz Hybrid I had last year, trust me, they pull well.

Opting to fish just one rod it wasn't long before I had a bite. Strangely it didn't feel like a hybrid but it was obviously a good fish. The line cut through the surface film as the fish powered upstream. moments later a big, spiky dorsal fin appeared. It was a Perch, and a big one too. After a few more lunges it was in the net. I quickly weighed it- 2lb 15oz. I was elated and cast out again expectantly. Sure enough the tip wrapped around again, another Perch was the culprit although barely a pound in weight. I switched to a worm straight after this fish and added another small Perch straight away.

About half an hour had passed without a bite. How odd? I was frustrated and wound in with gusto. A massive bow wave followed my rig for a short distance before the head of a Pike emerged, slashing at my swan-shot. I had the answer to my problem and reached for my lure rod. First cast the pike struck and a short, spirited fight later I deposited it safely downstream. It was only around eight pounds but it was sat right where I had been getting bites. Not really any danger to a big Perch but they still won't swim under a Pike to get at a worm, no matter how enticing. 

After that I have to admit it was a bit of a blur. I had thirteen more Perch and lost four. Seven two-pounders to 2lb 15oz and three three pounders- 3lb exactly, 3lb 4oz and one at 3lb 8oz. On two occasions when battling with a Perch one of its mates would follow it all the way in which was most disconcerting. The biggest fish fought amazingly well. I even had to follow it a short distance upstream. These were fit fish and in great condition. As sods law dictates I saw some big Rudd topping upstream for quite a while but I couldn't leave the Perch. With sixteen of my spiky friends in the net I decided to call it a day. All those wasted summer visits were a distant memory as I took a few snaps before slipping them back. Here are my best two.......

Two days later I was back for those Rudd. I never had a bite. The following week I went back and fished several likely looking spots with exactly the same result.

Time for a change

With my favourite river being its usual moody self I headed for the Bream river. After some heavy rain though it looked horrible. It was a struggle just to get a bite but for some reason I persevered which is most unlike me. Usually after a couple of hours I'm off. Good job I stayed though because I had this lovely Chub of just a shade under 5lb on some blue stilton........

The following day the river was still heavily coloured and this time I didn't stop long. Despite this I managed to get another fine Chub of around four pounds.......

I hadn't been to the upper reaches for a while so it was time to get re-acquainted on my next day off. It looked as lovely as ever.......

Although the fish were significantly smaller.......

One last go.....

There are some big Pike in my favourite river. Wouldn't it be great to round off this months diary with a big Pike picture I thought as I headed out. Now I freely admit I'm not a particularly proficient Pike angler but I'm enjoying the learning process......sort of. My first take on a smelt resulted in a terrific fight and to be honest it took me a while to get the upper hand. It was a big fish and I gasped as I caught sight of its flank as I positioned the landing net. With one final burst it shot downstream and my line went slack, the hooks had pulled. I was gutted. When it happened again albeit with a much smaller fish I was cursing loudly. At least I now have a bit of confidence in my method and baits. The presentation and striking just need a bit of fine tuning.

Something else strange happened that day too. Apart from the Pike the river seemed dead. I had trotted a float through various swims with no success. I switched to the tip to try and catch a Perch and indeed I did eventually get one and then everything changed. For the next hour the river was alive. Fish were topping all over the place for a hundred yards or more, as far as I could see in either direction. I couldn't even tighten up before getting a bite, mainly from Roach with the odd Dace in between. Quite were these fish had come from is a mystery. Maybe the fading light brought them to life. You'd have thought a bite would have been forthcoming before that though with so many fish present?  Typically for the river it is either spirit-crushingly hard or embarrassingly easy. One day I'll figure it out.............

My Secret Weapon

Being possibly the unluckiest Pike angler in the country I decided to throw the crafty buggers a curve ball- lady luck. It was the usual trick- an hours fishing masquerading as a romantic walk with the dogs. Mrs P looked at me sternly as I cobbled together a couple of light lure outfits to take with us. Fast forward a bit and Mrs P cast her lure across the drain. As soon as it landed the water erupted and she took two steps back in shock. She'd have taken more but she was attached to a blooming great Pike and it wasn't happy. I'd set the clutch quite softly and Mrs P played it brilliantly. After a couple of tail walks and head shakes the Pike was ready to be netted. I saw it below me as I made my way gingerly down the steep bank, my head said 15lb plus, my heart said 'maybe 20lb'. The Pike was in an awkward position for netting and to be fair I should have been ready a bit sooner. My delay gave it one last opportunity to escape which it took with an impressive display of power........which straightened the hook..........

Tackle talk

A small boat came up for the right price so I bought it. The low price meant it needed plenty of work. A few coats of paints and a bit of patching up later and it was ready to go. Almost immediately I realised painting it white was a mistake so it is almost back to square one. Mrs P came on the maiden voyage and I'm having doubts about it being a serious fishing tool but at least it should be good fun in the summer........

Contact

As ever you can contact me via e-mail, 

the.power@tesco.net

P.S If local (ish) Pike supremo Mick Brown is reading this feel free to come and give me a lesson, I'll even take you to the secret river. (got to be worth a try surely?)

Pictures

Thanks for reading

Till next time......