A Cold Morning

I was awake before the alarm and loaded the car in the dark.  A cold morning, the grass was frosty and the windscreen needed a scrape before I left; proper Pike fishing weather according to some.  But to be fair I’ve always found rivers do fish well in the cold, or maybe they are less adversely affected?  Either way this was convenient because that was where I was heading, I’m enjoying mooching around on this unfamiliar venue.

I crunched across the meadow then quietly got into position in the spot I’d fished the previous week.  The sun was now up, not that you’d know it on this gloomy, windless morning.  The river looked cock on, a decent pace to carry the scents downstream and the ‘greenish tinge’ that gets river anglers quivering.  I was fishing by 0755 with two float legers, a smelt upstream and a bluey downstream both tied on as usual!  Only fifteen minutes had passed when the downstream float appeared to be misbehaving.  Normally when a pike takes a float fished bait there is no doubt, we just know, not on this occasion however.  Still I did the right thing and checked it and was pleasantly surprised when the rod took on a decent curve.  There was a bit of weight but the fish was sluggish in the cold water and was soon in the net where the hooks conveniently fell out.  The scales came out and this was my best Pike from the river so far.

The bluey was a bit chewed but still on the hooks so out it went again and I settled back into my chair with the first brew of the day.  And here was where I mostly stayed for the next couple of hours, I moved the baits around the swim but didn’t move any fish.  By 1015 I had itchy feet so tidied up and wandered upstream, eventually settling in a ‘new’ area with Norfolk reeds upstream and a nice looking overhang down river.  The same two baits were dropped in and the waiting game restarted.

There was no quick take this time, over an hour passed and I was considering another move when the upstream float jabbed.  This was another finicky take but more obvious so I wasn’t surprised to feel another fish.  This one also felt decent and made some attempts to run up and down the river making the clutch tick a little.  Another nice fish popped up in front of me and I scooped it up in the net quick smart.  This one looked like the twin of the first but was actually nearly a pound heavier and like so many from this river I was able to twist the double hook out with my fingers.

The late morning saw a break in the gloom although it could never be described as bright, I did glimpse a patch of blue sky on a couple of occasions.  Another hour ticked round without any more action, I considered having another move but looking around I saw lots of bodies on the footpath which was enough to make this unsociable bastard pack up and head for home.