Another fix?

Today I made my third visit to Eden in eight days and I was joined by my nephew Josh and my friend Richard who was to fish from his own boat. It was a cold start to the day as once again I had to scrape ice off the windscreen. We had an uneventful journey but were buzzing and full of confidence. Not only was I coming off the back of a good session but Richard had had a superb day on the Wednesday taking six fish including big doubles of 15, 16 and 17 pounds. Richard and I were hoping for more of the same but for Josh it was his first ever visit to the Eden and any Pike would be a good Pike.

For Josh and I our first port of call was “The bay” whilst Richard motored off to fish an area we call “Ghost Town”. We sat it out for ninety minutes or so, the water was flat calm and I had no confidence so we upped the mudweights and made our own way to the Ghost town. By ten o clock we were fishing with deadbaits scattered about. This was the same spot from which I caught my first ever Pike from the system a few years ago. We spent an hour here then a further sixty minutes fishing close to the now sunken island. The day was bright and clear and the water was mostly rippled but when the wind dropped it fell flat calm and it was hard to feel confident. It was nice to be on “Ghost Town” again, it is the most atmospheric of Pike fisheries but it is very difficult. At the moment I really wonder if its even worth fishing at all. Richard did manage a fish on Bluey but it was small, not one of the monsters we dream about
Why would anyone want to fish a dump like this?

By 1240 we were back fishing in the basin, close to where I’d taken those fish on Tuesday, Richard had also moved back into the area and was fishing nearby. After ninety minutes we moved a couple of hundred yards to fish the far side of the basin. Confidence was slowly ebbing away but surely we’ll find a Pike or two here? Twenty minutes later Josh finally had a take on Lamprey. He set the hooks into a nice fish and expertly played it to the boat where I did the honours with the net. I guessed it at around ten pounds, not only was this Josh’s first Pike from the Eden system but his first double figure Pike from anywhere. I was very pleased for him and he was elated! At last a Pike in the boat, now would it be my turn?

Half an hour later it was decision time, should we make one final move for the day or should we stay put. The decision was made for us by another take to Josh. This time he christened a new Pike rod with a lean fish of around eight pounds, his second biggest Pike. Unfortunately the rest of the afternoon was uneventful, despite fishing well into dark, apart from one small fish to Richard at dusk. In hindsight we should have moved after Josh’s second fish but it’s hard to move when you’ve just caught a fish.

Josh, well pleased with his biggest Pike!

I was really pleased for Josh to have caught a new PB Pike but had felt disappointed not to have caught myself. I could console myself with the thought that I’d put the boat on the spot for Josh to catch his. Here I have something of a moral dilemma. I was very pleased that Josh had caught his personal best Pike but how would I have felt had he pulled out the big grandmother fish that we dream of? These fish are there and once on the water, my boat partner has as good a chance of catching as me. If Richard latches onto a huge Pike from Eden, I’ll be envious but delighted for him as I know just what it would mean to him and I know how much effort he’s put into fishing the system. I know I wouldn’t feel the same way about a “part timer” getting lucky. One thing is for sure, I always choose my fishing partners carefully!

We followed Richard’s boat back in the pitch black for a pleasingly simple journey for a change. On the long drive home we chatted about the system and agreed that the Pike would be now well and truly on the move. Some areas would become devoid of fish whilst others would have an influx of wanderers. We hoped we could stay on to of the fish movement and keep catching.