Last month I spent a lot of time fishing in unfamiliar places, exploring stretches of river I’d barely looked at before. Combine this with gruelling times in Norfolk and I haven’t actually caught many fish at all lately. For some bizarre reason I feel compelled to catch Pike at this time of year, I’m like an addict, when I’m not catching, I crave. I needed a fix and had the perfect place to score, a day afloat on more prolific waters in the Suffolk boat in the company of Mr W should scratch the itch. Well ninety nine times out of a hundred it would but on this occasion, fishing in good conditions, we did all the right things but obviously not in the right places as between us we didn’t get a touch. That never happens on this system and was a big boot in the bollocks confidence wise. What is going on?
So this week it was back to the river where it was tempting
to fish familiar water, spots I’ve caught Pike in the past at which I’d expect
to find a fish or two. But this season I
can’t help ‘doing different’, wherever I fish, and after arriving fairly early
for a change I set off on a long, long walk upstream to try an area into which
I hadn’t yet dropped a deadbait. Today I
was travelling light, two twelve foot rods with inline float rigs and legered
deadbaits. I’d be recasting every twenty
minutes or so and moving back downstream regularly, every thirty to forty
minutes. I’d still humped the chair
along with me because I realise I enjoy fishing most when I can spend a good
part of the day perched comfortably on my arse.
I had two baits out by just after 0800 and didn’t have long to wait, a sardine swung upstream started heading away at a rate of knots and the rod bent round nicely. A couple of minutes later I slipped a nice lean fish of eleven pounds or so back, just what the doctor ordered. The day was clear and bright, the river about as low as it will get for the rest of the season, in theory ideal conditions for fishing in a roving style. After forty five minutes I had my first move but nothing happened there, however minutes after moving into my third swim of the day the sardine went again and I added a jack to the score. The trouble with this bit of river is there are almost too many pikey looking spots and over the next few hours I dropped my baits into many of these without sign of a pike. Maybe it was too bright today or perhaps the Pike just weren’t at home in these places but I can’t believe that will always be the case and I certainly won’t be writing these spots off yet. By the early afternoon I’d reached more familiar water and I’d run out of energy. One last hour in a known swim didn’t bring anything so I decided to get away home before the roads went mad.
I’d planned a lay in for the following morning but I woke up
annoyingly early and couldn’t drift off again.
Another day dawned bright and clear but according to the forecast this
would be the last one for a while, it’s looking like rain for the rest of the
year at the moment. If the forecast is
correct this could have been my last chance to fish a low clear river for a
while so I got my kit together and head to the river but not before I’d sent a
verbal rocket into the ear of the wanker using my drive as a lay by.
I was fishing by about 0930, this time at a totally
different stretch to the previous day but I fished the same way. I had a jack swirl at a retrieved bait early
on but it was a couple of moves before I had a small Pike and a couple more
before another take was dropped. I
decided to sit it out in this spot as there were there were tall reeds on both
banks downstream and trees behind me making the area nicely shaded. Another hour passed and I was starting to tidy
up when the downstream rod went again, this was another jack and I decided to
call it a day there. Once again all the
takes came on sardine, the dead roach on the other rod hasn’t moved over the
last couple of days and oily baits worked best last year so maybe time to try
something else.
So that’s my pikey itch scratched for now but I’ll be back
on the river before long. What I really want to do is fish the broads, if
conditions are favourable I’d like to get back in the boat again soon. If not maybe a bit of Chubbing?
