February

At this time of year, when I have the time and the conditions are right, I only want to fish in Norfolk, as was the case a couple of weeks ago.  I set off knowing the fishing was likely to be slow and I’d have to work hard to maybe catch a couple of fish if everything went to plan.  The plus side is the surroundings cannot be bettered and when the float slides away it could be literally anything on the end.  So I got up in the middle of the night, drove north then dragged my boat onto the water and gave it a go.  It was a long hard day spent searching, an hour here then an hour there but twice the float moved and the baitrunner purred resulting in a couple of nice fish, the biggest just into double figures.  I fished into darkness and arrived home late, thoroughly knackered but satisfied.

A week later and another mild one but this time I went afloat in the ‘other boat’ in the company of Mr P, a carp angler making his annual trip for proper fish.  There were many similarities in venue to last week and the methods were identical but this was a totally different kind of day.  Mr P wound into his first fish before I’d got my second bait in the water and by 0830 we’d boated six between us.  And so it continued, every time I mentioned maybe making a move a float would heed the call and delay any exploration on our part.  By midday we were approaching double digits and still hadn’t shifted the boat.  In the end things did slow up and we did move the boat on two occasions just to enjoy a different view if nothing else.

The afternoon was slower but we caught fish from both new spots however I’m sure we’d have kept on catching had we stayed put.  Whenever I’ve fished with Mr P we’ve done well, there’s been loads of chat and plenty of laughs as was the case today.  This is a place where we can reasonably expect a few fish but even so today was exceptional.  By the time we tied the boat up at dusk we’d managed fourteen pike between us with my guest taking the biggest share, most were between six and nine pounds although we both managed double figure fish.  Two days afloat with contrasting results but anyone who has read this shite before will know which one I prefer.

On the subject of all things Pikey, Roy Lewis’ thirty-two year old Pike record was finally broken this week with an amazing looking fish of 47-05 caught by Lloyd Watson from Chew Valley – where else?  This water has probably produced more thirty and forty pounds Pike than all the other waters in the UK put together but this Pike obsessed angler has never been and probably never will.  Over the years I’ve taken an interest from a distance without ever wishing to drive across the country and chuck a bait in.  There’s no need, I love what I do already.