My first trip of 2022 and for a change I had company. Mr W is a former workmate I’ve known for over a decade but he’s only discovered fishing in the last two or three years and being a man of taste he’s particularly taken with Pike fishing. We try to fish together a couple of times each year, just catching up is enough, the fishing a perfect excuse. The first time was two years ago, he’d only recently caught his first Pike, a 17! He took top honours on the day with two fish including a new PB of 19 pounds and has been a keen Piker ever since.
Today was clear and bright, apparently the temperature
reached seven degrees at some point but the fresh westerly wind meant we spent
most of our time fishing from the sheltered side of the stretch, casting deadbaits
across to the shaded far bank. Something
I’ve noticed, when it’s bright the shaded bank always produces most of the
takes and so it was today. My first Pike
of 2022 took a smelt from the far side and would have weighed around seven
pounds. We had a fish each in our first spot but I also dropped one but added
another from the next spot, three out of four takes came from the shaded bank.
The middle of the day was very quiet despite us moving twice
more and working hard we couldn’t find any fish wanting to take a bait. Our final stop of the day was back towards
the cars, the sun was now low and being hidden by clouds, would this convince
the Pike to move? Something did, I had
three quick takes on the same rod cast to the far side again, bringing two more
fish on Herring. Mr W wanted just one
more Pike and I was debating letting him use my rods too but in the end it
didn’t matter. He twitched a mackerel
head back a bit then seconds later that float was on the move and his second
fish on the day was soon in the net.
We finished with six fish between us from eight takes on
smelt, herring and mackerel; the first one at 0810 was caught from a bush on
the near side but all the others came from baits cast to the far side, baits on
the sunny side of the drain remained untouched.
The fish were all between six and eight pounds, one of those days when
the big fish don’t come out to play? We’ll
do it again soon.
Another gap in the week that I could fill with fishing. This morning I didn’t hurry out of bed as I wanted to have a look around in daylight before fishing, my destination was a pit I first checked out a few years ago when another Prymnesium had made me desperate. Even so I still got to the pit at a reasonable time, this after a three quarter mile walk. I liked the look of a shady area on the southern bank, remembering it shelved quickly into deep water here. I’ve realised what I thought was a shortcut isn’t and it’s just as quick to take the official footpath and this way I don’t risk any awkward questions from the quarry workers. When I fished here before they were sound but who knows if things have changed since then. I was in place and fishing with two rods by 0845, a float paternostered smelt swung to the right and a static herring head to the left. Both were fished relatively close to the bank, as far as I could swing them under arm beneath the canopy of branches. Overhanging trees provided excellent cover for a lurking Pike, in my mind at least. The morning was mild and grey but without a breathe of wind, not great conditions for gravel pit fishing but what the hell.
After half an hour or so I thought I saw ripples from the
left hand float, this repeated maybe a minute later. I approached the rod cautiously and
expectantly but nothing else happened.
After a few minutes I decided to check the bait but as I slowly retrieved
it went solid. I thought snag but
something pulled back, my surprised strike didn’t set the hooks and there was
an angry boil and a flash of gold, bugger.
I’d blown a chance, would I get another one? Time passed, maybe an hour? I decided to move things around and as I wound
the paternoster in and there was another flash and another deep swirl in the
water. I recast quickly then set to work
with a lure rod but nothing grabbed the reel eel.
At around 1045 I heard the unmistakable beep, beep, beep, beep… I was by
the rod in seconds, the float was definitely moving, very slowly, so I wound
down quickly and swept the rod low to my left feeling a pleasant weight on the
line. The fish surged up and down the
margins, stripping a little line and bothering the snags but I mugged it
quickly into the net. The fish was short
and fat, dark green with beautiful yellow spots, an absolute belter apart from
an old healed scar. At some time in the
recent past a bigger Pike had definitely grabbed it. A fish of this length should weigh about
eight pounds but this was clearly heavier and I decided to weigh it quickly as
I thought it might just be a double. It
was, with over a pound to spare and my first of the year.
I fished on for a couple more hours and even moved into another swim but never really felt confident here. The day got even gloomier and the wind never disturbed the surface, I didn’t get any more takes. The return walk had me sweating and it was a relief to get back to the car.
I left home at 0645 on a cold crunchy morning with clear
skies and sub zero temperatures. The A
road was as manic as ever but hassle free and I was soon heading off into the
flatlands. Once off the dual carriageway
things had changed, the road for a start with new stretches and roundabouts. I know another new road and bridge now cuts
across one of my favourite spots on another river, is this progress? There’s also a lot of new houses, expanding
once quaint villages, who’s buying these things? The roads get smaller and icier, I had to be careful
or risk ending up down in the fields. A
Barn owl flew low across in front of me, both of us were glad it got its timing
right.
To the river, a new spot for me, fishing from the bank at
least. I was set up by 0800, in time for
a glorious winter sunrise. Just two rods
with float leger rigs; half a herring on the far side and a smelt dropped in
close. Now all I can do is wait and with
time to think I remember this area was good for the odd fish but not exactly a
banker. Doubts set in, what am I doing
here? After twenty minutes there was a
disturbance on the far side, splashes, ripples and shaking reeds. It could be a fish but I’ve seen this kind of
thing so often that I’m not at all surprised when an otter pops up and swims
casually along the far margin. This was
followed a few minutes later by a pair of Little Grebes which got me thinking
that maybe I’m not far off the mark.
These creatures won’t be too far from food will they?
Around 0840 the float stabbed, no mistaking that, something
had picked up the herring and was heading upriver. With the hooks quickly set a decent weight
plodded up and down the river for a minute or two. I had a little bother with marginal weed but
soon dragged a fat Pike into the net. My
first Fenland Pike for over a decade which could have been a twin of the pit
fish from a few days ago. A low double
that had no right to be as heavy as it was, photography is a piece of piss when
you’re bank fishing so after a quick self take back she went. An early take and a fat Pike, two very good
signs, had I dropped in lucky?
With the sun climbing in a clear sky the fen looked glorious
in its coat of frost, just as long as I didn’t climb the flood bank and look
across the threatening black fields. But
that’s Fenland, the watercourses look beautiful but they cut through a flat
arable wasteland that used to depress me on a gloomy winter day.
I spent the morning working my way downstream, moving
alternate rods downstream every forty five minutes or so, we used to call this
leap frogging once upon a time. The day
was bright and pleasant, the birdlife abundant and welcome, apart from the
swans that swam into my line, I saw Fieldfare, Jay, Buntings, Pheasants,
Moorhen, Starlings, Pigeons, a Wren and a Sparrowhawk. But despite working hard and covering about
150 metres of river I hadn’t had another sniff, it was nice sitting by the
river in the sun although I had forgotten about the noise, the regular roar of
jets from away to the east. The USAF
still patrol these skies making sure all is well in Airstrip One.
At 1330 I was thinking about calling it a day but then I
noticed the near side float was moving.
It wasn’t an obvious take but looking closer, something was definitely
bobbing my float. I positioned the net
then picked up the rod but wound down to nothing but a tooth marked smelt. I dropped the bait back out and sat for
another hour hoping it would come back.
It didn’t.
Back in the car heading towards A road mania. I’d enjoyed my morning in the Fens, I doubt I’ll ever fish regularly these parts in future but I definitely won’t leave ten years between visits.
I had another busy day in prospect but there was just time for a few hours fishing in the morning. A couple of hours with a lure rod would have been sensible but Isaac fancied a fish and he likes to be afloat so we ended up going out in the Suffolk boat. The dawn had long gone by the time we launched and it was 0900 before we finally spread a few deadbaits around a likely swim. The morning felt good, a mixture of sunshine and cloud with a moderate north westerly, decent conditions for a January Pike?
Not judging by the first hour… Lack of activity spurred me into action and a
freshly re cast smelt finally got a response, the strike didn’t meet much
resistance and I soon chinned a jack which was unhooked in the water. We gave it another twenty minutes then had a
short move and I hadn’t even cast my second rod before the first was away. Another take on smelt and I soon had another
small fish which was also unhooked in the water.
Our cut off time was 1200 and time was running out fast when finally Isaac was away. He was a bit out of practice but soon dragged the fish towards the boat and I scooped it up in the net. Isaac’s first Pike of the year took a herring and was probably the best fish of the morning, at least that’s what he claimed. With that it was time to pack up which we did contentedly, three Pike in three hours would do us nicely but now there were jobs to do…