Still the rain falls

Still the rain falls, the river has barely been within it’s banks over the last week so hasn’t been on my mind.  This week I was due to fish with Mr P, it’s about this time every year that I remind him there’s more to fishing than Carp.  We usually go out in the Suffolk boat but with another miserable sodden day forecast we opted to do the sensible thing and sit under a brolly on the bank somewhere.  There wasn’t much choice for ‘where’ either, it would have to be the Olde Lake.

We set off in the dark and started laughing almost as soon as we were on the road and so the journey passed quickly.  By 0730 we were set up fishing deadbaits with two rods each, squeezed into a gap between reeds, this would mean we’d have to have our wits about us should we need to bring a fish to the net.  The water in front of us sloped from right to left, somewhere that’s always worth a go, indeed I’d caught a few fish here on my last visit.  The water was still high and coloured which is unusual for the lake but I’d done okay in these types of conditions the last time out.  We sat under a low set oval brolly peering out into the gloom, supping tea and having a good yarn.  An hour zipped past in no time at all but I was starting to get a bit twitchy, where were the pike?

At 0850 conversation was interrupted by stabbing float and a fizzing baitrunner, my rod baited with sardine was on the move.  I soon had a fish of seven or eight pounds in the net and we were off the mark.  A take here is often followed by one or two more in quick succession but that was not the case today and we spent the rest of the morning on our backsides putting the world to rights.  By midday we’d had no more action and with a brief spell of brighter weather it was a good time to have a move.  The area I fancied most was just too flooded, we couldn’t get in between the trees so we opted for the next available space.  We managed to squeeze our rods into another tight gap then set up camp on an island of slightly higher ground surrounded by flood puddles in the meadow that is fast becoming a marsh.  The waiting game began again.

An hour passed and as usual I was at the stage when I was beginning to have doubts then at last Mr P had a take on smelt.  We soon had a fish of eight or nine pounds in the net, Mr P was pleased and I was relieved, my Pike finding ability would not be called into question today.  Half an hour later the same rod was away again, a repeat performance with a similar sized fish and Mr P had a second.  At 1415 it was my turn with a take on a smelt I’d hurled out on a leger rig.  This fish swirled on contact then a decent weight kited round to the left, Mr P quickly wound in my other rod and got it out of the way in the nick of time.  I gradually brought the fish back towards me and it felt heavier than a Pike from this lake had any right to.  The fish didn’t want to come in and even took line off the clutch at one point but I soon had it on the top and Mr P scooped it up.  A most pleasant surprise, at 15.04 the biggest Pike I’d had from the Olde Lake for several years and an absolute cracker, fat with fantastic colours.

After that we had a quiet hour but with a couple of fish each we were content,  it was a happy afternoon in which we even saw the sun for a few minutes.  The time passed quickly with conversation and in the gaps the sound of Skylarks came down from up high.  At some point I manged to fall flat on my arse in the puddle but my partner rescued me with a hand before the water seeped through the layers.  Mr P had another take on smelt and added a third Pike which like the others was eight or nine pounds or so.  With the light beginning to fade and more dark clouds coming towards us on the south east wind we decided to wind in and make a break for it.  We got away and onto the roads just before the evening whacky races commenced.

Still raining

Last time I fished with Mr W we took the Suffolk boat out and didn’t get a touch but for some reason we decided to try again, mostly because it’s a bloody nice place to spend your time, even if the fish don’t show up.  We were in position and fishing by 0730 on a gloomy morning that didn’t get a whole lot brighter through the day.  At least being mild with a light breeze we’d be comfortable whatever else happened.  Tactics today were the same as always, to fish deadbaits and keep moving till we found some fish.  I’d brought a lure rod too but it has barely stopped raining in the east and the water was up and as coloured as I’ve ever seen it here.  Not really what I expected or wanted to see.

Despite this, today things went a little more to plan; I had two takes in the first half hour boating two Pike of six pounds or so, one each on smelt and sardine.  After that things went quiet and we commenced an anti clockwise circle of moves that took us through a series of spots that sometimes hold a Pike or two.  At our third stop a smelt cast towards the edge was picked up and this fish had a little more weight to it.  I didn’t weigh it but we agreed between ten and eleven pounds wouldn’t be far off and like most of the Pike in this water it was beautifully coloured.  By the early afternoon our moves were taking us back in the direction of the boatyard and Mr W still hadn’t troubled the scorers.  I had to be off the water by 1600 and time was running out so it was a relief when Mr W’s float wobbled then buried at last.  This fish wanted to have a scrap and we got our hopes up but as is often the case, it shrank near the net but was a little cracker all the same.  It’s always best when both anglers catch and this capped an enjoyable day of chat and laughter.

A final move didn’t bring anything further and soon it was time to head back to base.  The Pike here often appear to show a preference and today three of the four takes came to smelt.  This is slightly skewed as both of us used smelt on one rod but the bait used on 50% of the rods accounted for 75% of the fish.  A couple of years ago, fishing this water in similar conditions lamprey fished on one rod accounted for 80% of the action, today it remained untouched.  These things interest me but I’m still not sure about these apparent bait preferences; do we anglers contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy?  I can’t believe a Pike will ignore one type of deadbait and take another through preference or taste.  A couple of years ago I wrote in ‘Pikelines’ that I think that one bait will be detected quicker than others due to the conditions on the day.  For this to be correct then preferences should change over the days and weeks and this is certainly the case, the example mentioned above being one of many.  Over the years fishing the Broads I consistently caught Pike on Lamprey, in October 2022 I netted a particularly memorable one on this bait.  Since that day I’ve not caught a Norfolk Pike on Lamprey, not one.  In recent visits I’ve not bothered to use them, lack of confidence leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy?  If there is a lesson from this surprising ramble of thought it is this; always use a variety of deadbaits, every day is different.

With little respite from the rain the rivers were properly flooding, for the first time this winter the fields and meadows were swamped making the river largely unapproachable.  This came at the worst possible time as I had a couple of days off which I’d intended to spend wandering the banks.  I was determined to fish but it would have to be a stillwater and with nothing to lose I found myself paying my first visit to a place that had been on my radar for a while.  The day was wet and windy as usual so for once I set up the oval brolly and sat behind a couple of buzzers.  Between the showers I’d emerge every now and then to twitch a deadbait or recast into another likely looking area.  I’d also brought a lure rod onto which I clipped a sinking lure which I’d cast out and count down to get an idea of depths.  On one occasion my curly tailed jig was followed by a Pike which slowly swum away never to reappear.  I did get a good look at it though and although not a big fish it was impressively barrel shaped, a light bulb moment in my pikey brain.

I blanked on that occasion but got back at the first opportunity, first light on a still, dry day.  This time I fished from the opposite bank with a couple of deadbaits and a lure rod which once again was used for checking depths as much as anything.  I’ve done very little pit fishing in recent years and I was enjoying being back in this once familiar environment. At around 0830 I had a take on a paternostered smelt which I just twitched back.  I wound into a Pike that bent the old Tricast nicely but when it popped up in front of me I thought it looked about seven pounds or so.  However once in the net I could see it was another barrel of a fish and I had to weigh it just to see, sure enough it was just into double figures.  My train of thought now will be obvious to any Piker…  I fished till midday but didn’t add to the score but once again thoroughly enjoyed myself and who knows what the future holds?