Enjoying the ride
Winter is here. You will of course have noticed that. Frosty mornings, storms with silly names, rain, hail and even a brief glimpse of snow. You'll all have goals whether it be your first three pound Perch; a big match win; Swampy the biggest Carp in your lake, a shore caught Cod, a specimen Zander. The list is almost endless. Three years ago my river goals were relatively simple- a two pound Roach, a six pound Chub, a four pound Perch and a twenty pound Pike. The Roach and Chub are done and almost impossible to better locally, the Perch is further away than ever with the really big three's of a couple of years ago on the missing list which just leaves the Pike as a realistic prospect.
I started bait fishing for Pike a couple of winters ago, I served my apprenticeship with our friend Benidorm Dave, an experienced Piker. He regularly caught more than me but I was learning all the time. I'm fairly proficient in most aspects of angling but at the grand age of 42 it was rather nice being a novice at something. The river in question had done big fish in the past but recent information was scarce due to the dearth of other anglers. Few people have the spare time or desire to find fish negotiating mile after mile of overgrown banks while enduring many blanks along the way. It's easier to ask on Facebook these days- "Where did you catch that?" Is the norm.
Time for a rest
We left off last time around with Dave Owen and I targeting a few Roach. I was very pleased when he decided to join me again for another day on the river. He travelled over with Andy Wilson and we had a great day wandering about. Andy was the first to get among the pound fish but it was hard going. The river was low and clear and several areas didn't produce anything at all. Dave eventually found some redfins including these two which made the journey worthwhile......
In the end Andy resorted to maggot tactics and had a few Perch which gave me an idea to have a go for them on my next visit. Sure enough on my very first cast I had a decent one. Now on my normal perch river I wouldn't have batted an eyelid but there is something about the mystery of a new venue that makes even modest fish a bit more special. 2lb 10oz.......
After that I was continually pestered by Pike, even on lobworm. Luckily I had some bread in the car so I went after the Roach again. As before they were very hard to find and more than a little cagey. I don't think there is any doubt that the river needs a break. The really big fish haven't shown this autumn. We'll have to wait until the depths of winter to see if they reappear.
One of the rogue Pike........
Lure Match 2016
A tackle company has recently adopted a rather exclusive tagline- 'Only for those that know'. Quite what knowledge is required is a mystery that I neither have the will or desire to try and decipher. Inclusivity is our mantra here so for those of you that don't know I'm part of a group called Specimen Hunting UK. Sounds very grand but really it's just a bunch of social misfits, ne'er do wells, chancers and (whisper this bit) some very talented anglers.
This years annual Lure match was held on the River Nene. A neutral venue that was adjudged to be a level playing field for all. We had twelve members attend and in honour of our underachieving talisman Mike Lyddon we all donned ginger wigs. We caused quite a stir at the meeting place in among all the trainspotters at the Nene Valley Railway........
As you can probably tell from the photograph the weather was horrendous. Torrential rain for most of the morning. Luckily the river looked quite attractive, until we turned up that is......
The scoring system was far too complex for anyone to be interested but basically your best three fish counted with some concessions to Perch and Zander. I got off to great start with a couple of Perch and a small Pike in the first hour. I also had a lure bitten clean in half by an unseen predator. Very frustrating. Most of the others had wandered off and being more of a social day than a serious competition I joined them further upstream. Everyone was struggling, mainly with the conditions. Andy Loble had a small Chub admired here by his companion for the day Neo.........
Phil Kenny then chipped in with a small Pike......
When we all reconvened at lunchtime the returns were very modest. A few small Perch and Pike between us and Andy's solitary Chub. We were all soaked and hungry but spirits were still high. After some food and a chat with the bailiff we decided to move downstream.
To cut a long story short it proved to be much the same. Seemingly the resident Predators were in no mood to feed. At least the rain had stopped and I soon found myself well away from all the others. A Cormorant working the near shore far upstream was sign that maybe I had stumbled across some fish. Not only was it getting late in the day but I was about a mile away from the start point. After a few casts I made the decision to be a bit more sociable. In hindsight I should have stayed put. The winner on the day only had three modest Pike to declare, beating a disappointed Nate Green into second place. Who was it? Only bloody Mike Lyddon, the insufferable oaf.......I mean deserved winner.......
Fat heads
With my Roach venue needing a break and a busy work schedule I had a couple of short sessions targeting Chub. It was very slow going Chub-wise but typically I couldn't stop catching blooming Roach. Nothing massive but they gave me a few welcome bites. Eventually I did fool one of the ridiculously wary Chub. a modest four pounder.......
If you had to rely on person to catch you a Chub it would be our friend Martin Barnatt. The Angling Times joined him for a feature and he didn't disappoint. He even made the cover.......
The one
During my Piking exploits I've had some great fun but also a couple of disasters. You don't have to look too far back in this diary to find tales of woe, lost beasts and teasing glimpses of what the river contains. The Roach and Chub weren't obliging and with the first frosts of the year it was finally time to break out the Pike gear. An evening was spent at home rigging up my rods. I was taking no chances. Forty pound braid spooled, new traces made up and rigs fine-tuned.
A quick visit to the excellent Horncastle Angling Centre saw me leaving with a bag full of deadbaits, Lamprey and Smelts mainly before heading down to the river. It was slightly coloured, perfect really and it was a lovely morning. My hopes were almost non-existent. Still feeling a slight Piking fraud I merely wanted to see that magical sight of those ripples emanating from the float as an unseen predator grabs the bait before it moves off taking the float with it. I placed a full Lamprey next to an overhanging tree mid-river and one further downstream. Twenty minutes passed and my legendary impatience started to niggle me.
I decided to move. Importantly I left the upstream bait in place. As I moved a short distance down river I flicked the baitrunner on and brought the rod with me. This moved my float slightly but it was still close enough to the tree for my liking. Within a couple of minutes it had gone, no ripples from the initial bite, it just vanished. With such a long bait I'd spaced my trebles well apart so I was confident at least one would hold even with a quick strike.
My 2 3/4 lb Forcemaster hooped over and stopped it in its tracks. After an uncharacteristically turgid fight a went to net what I though was a reasonable double-figure Pike. It's a big net but even so it wouldn't go in sideways. That's when I realised this could be the one. It was. 20lb 11oz..........
After two hard winters learning and all the highs and lows I'd finally done it with my first cast of the season. I've caught twenties before but when fishing for Perch and always from stillwaters. This one means the most. It always will. I packed up after I caught it. Are there bigger ones in there? I would bet on it. For another time though, I'm going to wallow in the warm satisfying glow of this one for a while longer.
Round up
After the Pike I turned my attentions to Perch. They are always so obliging. I had a couple of low three's on lures but the majority have come to worm. The best one went 3lb 5oz,,,,,,,,,,,,
There's nothing like a new venue to get the imaginary juices flowing and Andy Wilson kindly invited me along with him to another river where we took a lot of Perch to a still impressive 2lb 15oz. Here's me with my best ones of the day. The biggest is 2lb 13oz.......
Now time for the usual round up with the rest of the gang. Andy Loble is featured in both the lastest editions of Lure and Sea Angler magazine. Here he is shortly after our lure day getting stuck into some nice Pollack in Runswick Bay.........
Our very own Jamie Potts with a 13lb Zander from Grafam Water.......
The effervescent (and slightly nuts) Carl Arcus with a stunning canal Zander........
An uncharacteristically stoic Dave Owen with a 15lb 9oz Pike.....
Darren Clarke with a fine snappper........
Phil Kenny with one of many canal Zander he has taken recently.......
These next captures deserve a bit of a build up. For the last few years Nate Green and Mike Lyddon have been making the short hop over to France to sample some of the superb Carp fishing over there. For an outsider to the Carp world it is a no-brainer for me. The Carp are bigger, they feed for longer etc etc. That is not to say you can just go over there and expect instant results with little preparation. These guys put in all the work to reduce all the odds and even then they aren't guaranteed to catch. Forget Carp having any kind of intelligence, they don't. They are incredibly cautious though and everything has to be right for any chance of success. Mike with a 52lb Mirror..........
Nate Green had three Common Carp during his trip. At 53lb 4oz this was the smallest............
The largest was this incredible fish that weighed in at a mind boggling 87lb............
The lake they fished is open to anyone. Here's the link
Last but not least is Ash Bradley with his new Pike Pb of 29lb 12oz...............
Tackle Talk
I was out on Benidorm Dave's boat recently and I managed to burn a hole in my coat via a dodgy battery connection. This proved to be a blessing in disguise because I now have a far superior coat. Even better still it was half the price of my old one. I will never ever experience conditions worse than during our lure match. If it weren't for the company I'd have gone home. My new coat didn't let in a single drop of water. It's warm too. Remarkable on two counts. It's a fishing branded coat and you can get them for a measly £40. One of the bargains of the year. The IMAX coastal jacket.
I use wire a lot. All of my Perch fishing is done with wire when Pike are present. Drennan 7 strand is a bit of an industry benchmark. Reliable, thin, cheap and durable. No frills but I wouldn't be without it.
One of my biggest bugbears in angling is the thought that cheap tackle must be rubbish. I've been using cheap braid for beach casting, heavy lure fishing and Piking this year and it has been nothing short of amazing. If the 20lb strength can stand upto the rigours of Smoothound fishing there isn't a coarse fishing application it wont cope with. The only problem is it only comes in 20,30 and 40lb. Price? From £4.99 for 400M...........
Lastly we have the DAM rolling dropshot weights. They are a unique design and very versatile. Perfect for when you don't want to fish static........
Final word
Fishing can be bad for your health. Mike Lyddon wont be doing this again in a hurry........
On a slightly more serious note safety is very important on a boat. One thing to consider though is the effect of waves, even on reservoirs. Anyone who had ever had bad motion sickness will know it is a horrible feeling. Big Leo Heathcote is the last person you'd expect to suffer from it but it caught him out recently at Grafham. It's always worth taking some sickness tablets as you don't want to pay all that money to hang over the gunwales all day.......
I don't know why he has had so much attention this time around. Probably because he spends most days tugging at my trouser leg like a needy child. It's Mike Lyddon again. He caught a gudgeon and expected everyone to be impressed. We weren't, it's rubbish..........
Till next time...................
