Well what can I say other than Novembers been a bit of a wash out. We had fully intended to concentrate our efforts on the local rivers but with all the rain we've had they've been up and coloured, this got me thinking, we was in need of a local back up water or two. Me and Sefo got are heads together and decided it was time to re new our membership with a water thats been kind to me, Bernie also come up with a small water we've fished before that is a day ticket venue with fish to over 25lbs.
I managed a very short session at the beginning of the month on a local river to try my hand at a swim I'd been looking at but never fished. Due to other commitments later that day I planned a dawn raid, there are two swims very close to each other and my plan was to fish the downstream swim first then move up to the next. The first swim was barely wide enough for two rods, I first dropped a paternoster live bait under a over hanging tree to the left and then one to the right. The bait on the right seemed to be working well but my other bait was motionless. I decided to check the bait, it was snagged, I ended up straightening one of the top trebles. I put a fresh trace and bait on and cast it slightly further out, same again, it happened three times in total so I thought thats it, enoughs enough so I moved on to the next swim. Again I had a nice over hanging tree to my right so I put a bait there, no more than 5' from the bank and one to the left. After a short wait the bobbin dropped on the right hand rod and after a very breif fight she was in the net, a scrappy little 8lber, I took a few self pics and put her back, mission accomplished, I've learned a lot today and I will be visiting these swims again when the river is more settled.
The next day we planned to fish one of the waters controlled by the club we had just joined, Sefo couldn't make it which was a pitty because he'd just forked out for the permit so it was just me our Mike and Bernie. Although we set of early to make first light we didnt get there as intended, bloody roadworks and diversions sent us on a right merry go round. When we eventually arrived we got out the van to find that the reservoir was not yet full, even after all the rain we'd had, it was about 6' down which gave me the opportunity to fish and area I hadn't before. Not long after casting in I had a run on my right hand rod, a jack of around 7lb. The other rod went soon after, another jack no more the 1.5lbs, bigger baits were in order so out they went.
Bernie was the next one to get a run bit the fish pulled out, he was disappointed but that was short lived with another run soon after that resulted in a double, Bernie's first fish from this venue, well done m8.
All the action came and went with nothing till late afternoon, our Mike was getting very restless, Bernie and I had both caught and he hadn't surely he was next. His billy backbiter dropped on his left hand rod, he ran to his rod and struck, fish on, he played the fish for a short while but let his rod down and the line went slack, the fish came free, he was utterly devastated. He put another bait out and sat by his rod, I've never seen him concentrate so much in my life. Mike asked if I could set the hooks on the next run if he got one, I told him not to worry too much about losing his last fish, it's all a learning curve and that even the pros get it wrong sometimes. He finally got another run, I set the hooks and he played the fish to the net, a small jack but it made his day. I think he's started to realise that he's had a very good season so far and the fish sometimes beat us.
Bernie was the next one to get a run bit the fish pulled out, he was disappointed but that was short lived with another run soon after that resulted in a double, Bernie's first fish from this venue, well done m8.
The rivers were still high the following weekend so it was back to the reservoir this time all of us. This time the reservoir was full. We chose to fish an area I'd not fished and to be honest I didn't fancy it when we got to the swims, the water was up and bank space was at a premium. We all cramped in, pitched tents as we were expecting rain and put our baits out. Sefo had the first run, a small jack followed by another. The morning was soon over, all quite so I decided to send the bait boat out on a reccy to discover the depths, 46' deep in some areas and shelved of pretty quick. This was in my opinion a swim for the colder months but I was here and was going to try and make the most of it. Fred the weather man forecast strong westerlies to 40+mph so I took a drift float rod set up, he couldn't of got it more wrong, the wind was coming from the north, I ended up sending the drift float out with the bait boat to find the wind but had to bring it back in ever 30mins or so to prevent it crossing Bernies lines. Our Mike managed a few jacks but me and Bernie ended up blanking, maybe next time.
The next weekend I took Mike out, just him fishing, I'd been on a 40th birthday bash at a casino in Liverpool, great night, even won some money. I was in no rush to get him out fishing the following day, I got up about 07.30, lounged around for an hour then we set of to do a bit of fishing on several local venues. We first arrived at a park lake thats full of jacks but didnt stay too long, the place was still heavily overgrown with weed, we wrapped up and set of to the next lake just a few hundred metres away. There was 5 lure anglers thrashing the water so we didn't bother getting the rods out. Next stop was the local canal, it was totally unfishable, very coloured, we got back in the van and set of to a bigger lake. When we got there I was surprised to see Keith fishing there, he's a truck driver and only fishes at the weekend but not here, he's a member of a syndicate that has exclusive rights to a country estate lake with some very good fish in. We set up next to Keith so I could have the crack Mike asked Keith if he could have a go with his lure rod and we chit chatted the rest of the morning away. Keith had a jack about 8lb, Mike blanked but he's getting good with them multipliers now.
Over nighter
After a hectic week in work and the river levels finally dropping of we opted to do an over night session, Saturday afternoon till Sunday evening to be more exact. Myself and Bernie had things on on Saturday morning and the intention was to meet up eventually during the course of the day. Me and Bri arrived first, we picked swims we'd both fished in before and had caught. I was im no rush, I was not for one minute goimg to be governed by time, I was here to relax and hopefully catch a few fish. I had the first run mid afternoon a jack of 8lbs, it took a paternostered live bait, I shouted Bri over but he was busy unhooking a low double so I put my fish back and took my camera over to Bri to photograph his catch.
Not a bad start, I eventually got the other rods out, 2 on lives and one ledgered dead bait. I took about 3kgs of course and sea dead's to pre bait, I'd put them in a bucket frozen and half filled the bucket with luke warm water, by the time I'd got settled most of the bait had defrosted. I chopped it all up into chunks about 1.5" and left it to soak in all the fishy juice, I then systematically fed my swim up over the next 24hrs and in my opinion it was worth while.
Bernie arrived after dark, by this time I'd had another 8lb jack, we helped Bernie to his swim, later we had a few cans and watched England in the rugby league world cup then retired for the night. There wasn't much action through the night other than a missed run for Berny so at first light after a coffee I recast all my rods, the dead bait was well snagged, I ended up snapping the 30lb trace so I reset the rod and put it in a slightly different spot. I'd caught fish on dead baits in the same place earlier on in the year but you can't guarantee a snag free area on a river, they change with every flood that passes leaving snags in areas that were once snag free.
After resetting the traps I put the kettle on and started to make fresh traces and one of the live bait rods went again, I unhooked the fish, zeroed the scales and weighed the fish, 8lb 12oz, another 8, three in a row. While I was weighing my fish Bernie had shouted over and asked if I could come over to weigh his fish, he had a low double in his net, 10lb 12oz took some photos and he put her back, the photos I took were pretty rubbish, the lens had fogged up, sorry B!
I got back to my swim wondering if it was going to be one of them sessions, the last thing I wanted to see on my mat was another 8lber, I'd be happy with a 2 or a 12 just not another 8. I though it was time to check the dead bait again, I was worried that it may be snagged, I picked the rod up and it was solid again, this time I managed to pull free but bent the hooks on the trace. Sod this, I set it up on the paternoster and fished the same area. I kept a steady flow of pre bait going in and re cast my right hand rod, this time into open water and it paid of, a run shortly after clipping it up, as I struck I thought please don't be another 8 lber, it wasn't, it was only a little one of about 6lb. At this point I was pleased, no doubles but 4 fish but what pleased me even more though was a phone call from Bernie who had cooked up some sausage butties on his new Coleman petrol stove, he's well impressed with it, he even managed to melt the handle on his frying pan.
Bernie arrived after dark, by this time I'd had another 8lb jack, we helped Bernie to his swim, later we had a few cans and watched England in the rugby league world cup then retired for the night. There wasn't much action through the night other than a missed run for Berny so at first light after a coffee I recast all my rods, the dead bait was well snagged, I ended up snapping the 30lb trace so I reset the rod and put it in a slightly different spot. I'd caught fish on dead baits in the same place earlier on in the year but you can't guarantee a snag free area on a river, they change with every flood that passes leaving snags in areas that were once snag free.
After resetting the traps I put the kettle on and started to make fresh traces and one of the live bait rods went again, I unhooked the fish, zeroed the scales and weighed the fish, 8lb 12oz, another 8, three in a row. While I was weighing my fish Bernie had shouted over and asked if I could come over to weigh his fish, he had a low double in his net, 10lb 12oz took some photos and he put her back, the photos I took were pretty rubbish, the lens had fogged up, sorry B!
It was mid morning and the left hand rod took a hit, this was a better fish, the fish came to the surface a few times while I played it and I could see that there wasn't a lot of trace showing, I netted the fish and placed it down on the unhooking mat, opened its mouth and all I could see was the tail of the bait. By this time Bri had come over to help out, I unclipped the trace so I could get a good look and make things easier. That was the 5th fish in a row that had come on the left rod in 2 sessions that resulted in a deep hooked fish. I honestly don't understand why, all the runs get hit straight away, the previous 4 fish deep hooked with the bottom hook and were easily delt with and returned unharmed but this fish was hooked well and truly down its throat. I eased the trace but it didn't give, so I clamped the forceps on the tail of the bait and slowly pulled, it came out quite easy along with the top treble. I had no chance with the bottom hooks so I cut the wire as close to the hook as possible and put her in the water for a breather. We weighed her and took a few quick photos and sent her back home. I was gutted, thats only ever happened to me twice while I've been pike fishing and I cant help thinking its all my fault regardless of hitting the run immediately, I sincerely hope she's ok.
Bernie had another fish of about 4 lb shortly after that he wrapped up so it was just me and Bri, it was around 1pm when Bri had a screamer, I ran over with the camera hoping to take some action shots but all I found was a gutted old piker who had just lost a very good fish, unlucky m8, maybe next time Bri. Has I got to my swim the middle rod had a run, I hit it before it pulled the bobbin off, it was 11lb 6oz, I had to chin it because my landing net got stuck in the water on a tree root and there was a flying treble, didn't want to chance it.
4 jacks and 2 doubles but it doesn't end there, I had a take on my middle rod, a small fish of about 4 lbs, has I was landing it my right hand rod took of like a train, I chinned the jack out the water, all but threw it at Bri and struck into my other rod. This was a good fish, Bri unhooked the jack and returned it to the water then started to photograph me playing the fish. At first I thought it was a thirteen but when we got it in the net and on the mat I thought bigger, Bri said upper double and maybe a new river pb, it turned out to be 17lb 04oz not only a river pb but beat my previous by 3oz. I was made up, what a great session I'd had, in fact all of us, we all managed fish into double figures.
Seconds later the rod in the foreground went
Its mine
My PB 17lb 04oz, stunning fish
No comments:
Post a Comment