Pike.......................

I have not been up too much recently; work and the poor weather conditions have stranded me at home most evenings.

This week though I have a few days off so I am going to make the most of it. My brother gave me a great selection of lures as a birthday gift yesterday and I was out on a local lake trying to search out one of the legendary giant perch that inhabit the water. As far as I am concerned they are still something of legend, I never saw one nor any pike but I did get a better understanding of the lake while counting down my lures too the bottom. I was amazed at how clear the lake was, I could easily see the bottom in nearly seven feet of water!

Not too happy.

Today saw me pike fishing on another lake, a pressurised carp lake that is rumoured to hold a couple of big pike. Things got off to a flying start with a sixteen pound fish within an hour of casting in, a long lean fish that could do with a couple of really good meals inside of her. She took a small dead roach in about three feet of water just too the right of my pitch, my bait being placed in one of the very few small weed free holes. She was unhooked swiftly and returned to sulk by my feet for a little while before moving off. My second bait, which remained untouched, was cast to my left just under a small over hanging branch where there was another small hole in the weed. The weed in this lake is incredible; it is so thick and makes fishing there a matter of precision and not just chucking and hoping. I watch a guy with his marker rod casting around for ages looking for a hole in which to place his baits, I carefully noted down the results of his labours.

I was making up some new traces the other evening when I decided to use just one single large hook on the trace instead of my usual two double hooks. It is a method I have read about several times and always thought “I will try that one day too see if it works” and today it did………………… lucky first try, maybe.

I have caught many pike over many seasons and I would like to think that I have a modicum of skill when it comes to catching and unhooking pike but there is always that nagging fear of deep hooking a fish. I strike early enough on the run; I would rather loose a fish than deep hook one but that thought is always in the back of my mind. While using lures I have noticed that a lot of them have just one large hook too them so it would make sense to do the same with a trace……………. At least it makes sense in my mind, so I will from now on use just one large hook and see how I get one.

When the sun shone today it was lovely but when it ducked in behind a cloud it was really quite cold but at least the rain held off.

A day on the Frome tomorrow, I will hopefully catch a roach or two.