Full of it...

Last week scientists from the John Innes Centre who have been studying the Prymnesium parva algae put forward a theory that resonated with anglers.  The scientists suggest a virus may be present in the silt and when disturbed it may be this that causes the Prymnesium to release its toxin.  Obviously this would suggest that dredging is dangerous, as anglers have been saying for a long time.

Sadly this has no effect on the great minds at the Broads Authority, they still risk the chain of life just so unsuitable craft can be sailed.  This was the scene in Norfolk last week.  Yes the BA continues to dredge using antiquated equipment while they plead ignorance of the latest scientific findings.  If conclusive prove appeared to be imminent the BA would probably just speed up the work.

Remember the Broads Authority is the organisation that bestowed the title "National Park" upon the area even though it doesn't meet the criteria.  Surely this is dishonest?  How can an organisation that behaves this way be trusted?

Memory lane

Since the new year I've continued fishing here and there on East Anglian stillwaters.  Another drive to 'Strangeways' resulted in a blank when everything looked spot on.  I also had a great day as a guest of Mr N when we caught plenty of fish though nothing of any size.  I always love Pike fishing, wherever I fish but I was beginning to feel the itch of withdrawal and an urge to get the boat out.

At the beginning of the week my mind was made up, I was going to the special place. As the days passed the forecast got worse and worse and I began to look for other options.  I had some precious time and was desperate to fish but where should I go?  I couldn’t get enthusiasm to travel to Strangeways and ‘Nail a tenner’ had been up and coloured when I’d gone for a look the week before.  I’ve found that normally clear pits fish badly when they colour up quickly, would it have settled down enough by now? 

There was a water close by that I had planned to fish this year but the word on this one had well and truly got out so I had opted to avoid the crowds.  However it is a place I knew well having fished it a lot in the past and I remembered a little fished area where the Pike used to move into at this time of year.  This may be a pre spawn gathering or it might just be fish moving away from the easy access, pressured swims.  How much would things have changed in the last quarter of a century?  The area would involve a long walk, and there was the risk I’d find a weekend Carp angler already bivvied up.  If that was the case there was a second swim I fancied but this was would involve even more effort to reach. I found myself finding reasons not to bother.

On Friday evening I had hoped to find a better forecast but the strong winds remained. I had very little enthusiasm but went through the motions of getting my gear ready to fish from the bank, somewhere.  The forecast threatened morning rain as well as the strong winds so I’d have to carry more gear than I’d like.  Could I really be arsed to fish the old place?  I decided I should get my gear sorted and ready to load and just see how I felt when the alarm went off.  Going to bed knackered I felt the chances that motivation would strike at 0600 were 50/50 at best.

The alarm woke me and I lay listening to the sounds coming from outside.  I could hear the rush of wind but I couldn’t hear rain on the window.  I swung myself out of bed and staggered clumsily around the house for half an hour before I managed to load the car and get away.  A short while later I rolled through the gate, happy to see an empty car park.  I loaded up and set off on a long walk through shit sticky mud.  I remember these muddy paths regularly clogging the wheels of my bike when I was a mad keen young piker.  By the time I reached the point where the path divided I was sweating and breathing heavily and it was this that settled the swim choice, I decided to fish the nearer, easier of the two swims.

The morning had a little drizzle on the wind and was very cloudy, all very dim.  I set up patiently as I needed a little light to see my targets.  My swim was a point jutting out into the lake, I always like bottleneck swims and this one has a gap leading to another bay and a nice tree lined island in front of me.  I legered a Lamprey in the gap and float legered half a Bluey alongside the island.  Both were tricky casts but they seemed to OK, as far as I could see through the gloom.  As usual my third rod was a paternoster rig baited with smelt.  I whacked this out into open water with the intention of twitching back but it occurred to me I hadn’t actually caught anything on this method for quite a while.  I also went through the routine of casting a spinnerbait around, counting down and checking depths.  My memory didn’t need too much of a jog as I’d spent a lot of time in this swim, albeit a quarter of a century ago, things hadn’t changed much at all beneath the water at least.  The banks are now unrecognisable as the place I used to fish.  Reminiscing I realised this swim had produced no less than three PB Pike for me when I was a teenage Piker.  It was also here, around that time that my Dad took a January swim to retrieve the brolley I’d received that Christmas which had uprooted and blown onto the island!

1985

 After a while I settled down under the oval brolly.  I rarely use this thing but every time I do I’m impressed by how stable it is on these windy days.  After about an hour I got out of the shelter and twitched the paternoster rig back a bit then started pinging the spinnerbait about again.  After a couple of casts a micron started tinkling, I looked round to see the float on the paternoster rig was travelling slowly but surely towards me.  I wound into a decent weight which I pumped slowly back towards me.  The fish felt fairly heavy but did nothing much other than splash a bit in the shallows and pull the rod down a bit, then it was in the net.  I left it there while I got all the paraphernalia ready then hoisted her out and onto the mat.  Hooks out easy, a couple of quick self takes then onto the scales, (a little heavier than I expected and within a couple of ounces of one of those eighties PB’s,) then back into the pit.

 I quickly recast a fresh Smelt on the paternoster and also decided to do the same with the other two rods as it was now fully light.  Both splashed down bang on target, happy days.  I sat back with a smile and a brew, delighted to catch a decent Pike on my first visit to this water for a very long time.  By this time the 2^nd ODI match had started so I had a nice morning chilling out and listening to the coverage on TMS.  It seemed a decent match with England just taking enough wickets to keep South Africa in check.  The Lamprey cast into the gap had landed nicely so I just left it there as I the strengthening wind would make a recast difficult.  Fishing from a peninsula gave me lots of water to cover and this I did with the other two rods and, from time to time with the lure rod.

The morning passed happily but it was still gloomy with a howling wind, it was going to be one of those sunless days. This mild winter has been bizarre but still I was surprised to see white blossom buds on the branches of a tree.  I was content and comfortable but I wasn’t catching so began to consider a move back towards the car.  These thoughts were shattered by the wail of the ‘Billy’, the Lamprey in the gap was moving.  I wound down quickly and had a repeat of the first fish, I pumped it straight back and into the net.  Grabbing the arms I peered down onto another good sized Pike, I began to suspect it was the same one I’d caught earlier.  The scales told me it was a couple of ounces lighter.  I decided to photograph it on the mat but like a muppet I clicked the wrong flank and now I’ll never know for sure if it was a repeat capture.

It seemed sensible to stay put but getting a bait back into the gap took about five attempts before I was happy.  An hour later this same rod was away again, hoping for a hat trick I wound down and felt a Pikey head shake before all went slack.  I hate losing any fish but at least this one had felt small.  By now it was early afternoon and England were batting steadily, not piling the runs on but keeping wickets intact with Hales looking set for a big score.  I stuck to the plan of keeping a bait in the gap while I searched the water with the other two rods.  A friend came for a visit and drew my attention to a nice treeline alongside the peninsula I sat on.  I’d left the paternoster here for twenty minutes or so earlier but decided to chuck half a Bluey just ‘round the corner’.  This bait was in place for about forty five minutes before it was picked up but this time I wound down and struck thin air!  Oh well, get it back out there there’s still a chance.

Back under the oval, in South Africa the cricket was heading for a tense, tight finish but then Buttler hit three sixes and Ali two fours to finish the match with England looking more comfortable than any of us fans actually felt.  I started casting the spinnerbait around again, instead of covering the bottom I buzzed it back quickly in mid water hoping to attract the attention of any Pike.  Maybe it worked because the float leger moved off again and this time I managed to set the hooks into a jack with attitude which helpfully unhooked itself in the net.  

When I left home in the morning I hadn’t planned to stay out much after lunch time but the cricket had taken me well into the afternoon so I decided to fish on till dusk.  I cannot remember the last time I fished a whole day for Pike sat in one place.  There was no sunset as I hadn’t seen the thing all day.  Bird life had been sparse today too just a few swans and geese along with a couple of ducks.  A brief visit from a Blackbird had been the only bankside birdy visitor.  Maybe I should have stayed into darkness but I started to tidy up ahead of darkness and ended up carrying on and going home before I needed a head torch.  It had been nice to catch fish from an old haunt and this water seems to have a reasonable head of Pike again these days.  I may come back again some time, maybe not for a while. I'm still itching to get the boat out on the Broads again.

Silver linings and a blue moon

Early January...

It was hard to believe that the dark Prymnesium clouds would have a silver lining but I suppose it has had the effect of getting me off my arse to go looking for interesting fishing.  Google earth is a brilliant start but the Ordnance survey shouldn't be ignored either.  The doorstep Piking just doesn't float my boat so an hour in any direction will do for now.  Old haunts, previously unknown or overlooked, some with history hopefully others without.  Then there are whispers and hints of which I'm fortunate to hear.  Search and research is pretty effortless to begin with but at some point you have to go out and have a look.  When having a look I like to take a rod or three with me too!  Some of these visits have been blind and just catching a Pike is a result but sometimes it makes sense to set the bar a bit higher.

Heading into the weekend the stars looked likely to align.  The weekend would still be mild and windy with a shower or two.  However from Monday, the first cold snap of the year was predicted to hit us.  Pikers know this is the time to fish but add the New Moon into the mix then some of us get even more excited.  With this in mind I decided to fish a water I hadn't fished since 2000/01 when I'd managed to catch a big Pike in the autumn.  My final visit that season had also been memorable, for a personal best Cormorant, (don't ask...)   Fifteen years later whispers of decent Pike had turned into a distinct murmur.  Two separate, credible tips from Roach anglers jogged my memory.  I had time to fish so given the conditions it made perfect sense to head to a water that gave me a chance of a whacker. 

Over night my bloody sinuses were giving me too much grief so the only option was to get up even earlier than planned.  I pottered around the house slowly getting ready and slowly feeling better and left home in plenty of time.  My soundtrack was ‘Electroshock blues’ as I wound my way through twisting country lanes but would you believe I got stuck behind a bloody bin lorry?  After that I was held up by some plank who couldn’t get their car to go quicker than 33mph.  I arrived at my destination later than expected despite the early start. As I unloaded the car I couldn’t help thinking things didn’t look right.  I hadn’t been to this water for a long time, it really had changed…  Then it dawned on me, I was at the wrong lake.  A few minutes later I entered the right car park and started unloading again.  There were two other cars alongside me and sure enough they were fishing two of the spots I’d ear marked on Google Earth. Things had to get better and they did the other anglers were carp/campers, I don't like sharing with other Pikers.  

The roach anglers had tipped me off as to where the silver fish should be so I headed round to the far side. The info was good and I was pleased to see small fish topping in the growing light.  I set up as quietly as possible and soon had a couple of baits out; Half a bluey float legered close in on the left and a paternostered smelt on the right.  As usual I then rigged up the lure rod and used a springdawg to feel around the swim.  I had a sharp drop off a rod length out then a steady slope into 14 feet at about 30 yards.  As time passed I recast the bluey a bit further and moved the paternoster around, the Pike should be up for it today, had they read the script?  A Robin hopped around in the bushes beside me but I didn’t have any food to hold his attention.

Two hours in I decided it was time for a move so wandered further along the bank to an area where the lake narrowed into a bay.  This felt right and also gave me enough space to put a third deadbait out after the plumb around with the lure rod.  Once again I float legered half a bluey to my left, about twenty yards out in ten feet of water.  My paternoster rig was whacked out towards the bay, I would twitch this back towards me over the next couple of hours.  When I’d finished with the lure rod I pinged another smelt across to the far side using my third rod.

The wind picked up, the sun poked through for a while and all looked good.  I felt sure that the fish would be willing to feed if I could put a bait close enough to them.  I had to keep on the move and find the fish; two hours in each spot should be enough.  When the paternoster rig had been twitched all the way back I rebaited with a mackerel and cast it further left.  By the time I’d completed twitching this back again it would be time to move.

For once I didn’t see the waggler float tilt and slide away.  I was starting to tidy away my gear when I was alerted by the micron sounding and the float had gone, something was moving off with the bluey.  I quickly wound down and pulled back into a solid weight which immediately moved to the right and went straight through another line.  This felt like a decent fish and it certainly wasn’t going to roll over and into the net.  She did not want to come up the shelf and twice powered away causing me to unwillingly give line.  Eventually the fish came into the shallows and a large head and long mottled flank revealed itself, my first Pike of 2016 straight in the net no messing!  Looking down in the clear water I could see that this was a good fish so left it secure in the net while I got the mat, forceps, scales and camera ready.  Everything went to plan, quick and easy.  The scales read a pleasing weight and I managed a couple of decent shots with the self-timer.  A quick look before releasing revealed a lean, spotty fish with few blemishes from a previous capture.  I was a happy man and didn’t mind the soaking I got when she powered out of the shallows.

I had a bit of a tangle to undo but that didn’t matter, I soon had all three rods fishing again and was sitting back with a mug of tea and a smug grin.  My two hours were up but it would be sensible to sit it out on this spot for a while longer, even though I’d had a good fish I was greedy for another.  Having spent most of the last decade Pike fishing from boats I’ve got into the habit of moving swims regularly and now I’m back on the bank I’m keeping this up.  Early in the afternoon I moved again and picked a swim where roach had topped early on, this also happened to be half way back to the car.  The only excitement was a swirl close in, the cause was soon revealed as a Little Grebe which splashed away noisily.  As the afternoon waned the skies darkened and light rain began to fall.  I’d planned to stay well into dark but the rain was getting heavier and I could still see the floats as I began to pack up.  The forecast had said ‘big fish’ and for once a Pike had read the script.

Pikey paranoia

There has been a bit of heated discussion in the strange Pikey internet world lately, this in itself is nothing at all new, nor for that matter is the subject; Publicity and Pressure.  Recently a photo of a big fish was published with no venue named, no weight given and no clues in the background, but it seems that to some even this is too much info.  We all want to guard our fishing but I think that is taking it a bit too far?

Anyone who’s ever read my nonsense will know I very rarely mention a water by its name and what might not be quite so obvious is the photos I post aren’t usually the best ones at my disposal, they are often chosen and in some cases altered, so as not to give too much away.  There are people out there who have a good idea about where I have fished in recent years but I put up won’t be telling them anything they don’t already know.  The reasons for this are obvious and have been said many times already anyway.  As far as Pike fishing goes I find it difficult to blog anything much at all without giving too much away.  I still keep a diary, because I enjoy it but I can’t blog it and this is a problem shared by many Pikey writers.

But on the other hand I love reading anecdotal pieces and there is a real lack of genuine contemporary Pikey literature, compared to Carp angling for example.  Every month top Carp anglers are publishing well written stories of their latest escapades and adding to a legacy of writing.  Yes I know Carp are different to Pike and impossible to kill but on the other hand they are not so different.  Pike can be big and impressive creatures and from my own experience it takes a whole lot more effort to catch one than it does a Carp.  In general Pike waters are a lot more interesting places too, usually larger, wilder and more scenic.  There are some excellent writer/Pikers and in general I’d say the average Pike angler has a few more brain cells than most carpers.  Pikey writing could be even better than the wealth of literature available to Carp anglers, if only they weren’t so bloody fragile.

John Watson’s original 1991 “A Pikers Progress” is one of the most popular Piking books and is certainly one of my favourites (and he borrowed the title from Dave Lumb?).  One of the reasons for this is Watto tells all, giving all the locations away almost to the yard.  This without doubt adds to the stories as the reader almost feels he is in the boat with the anglers as it all goes off.  The Piking world has changed a great deal since then and it is impossible to imagine anyone writing about Pike fishing in this detail again.  Thankfully we do get occasional releases of inspirational Pikey stories in book form, most of my favourites over the life of this blog have been produced by Stephen Harper.  However really good Pikey writing is rare amongst the monthly magazines these days which is a shame?

So it’s a classic Catch 22 situation; writing about our Piking risks the fishing itself, not writing about it and so much ‘history’ could be lost.  We are damned if we do and damned if we don’t.  However there may be a way round this.  I’ve always kept a diary and although I don’t blog much about Pike fishing, I still write it up for my own amusement.  Maybe I could turn the clock back five or ten years and put up my diaries from those times?  Or then again, from a purely selfish point of view, what do I have to gain?

On another, similar forum thread there was a comment that derided the use of google earth making the whole business of finding Pike waters too easy.  The writer harked back to the good old days where we had to work hard poring over Ordnance survey maps… I’m not entirely sure if this one was a genuine moan or a brilliant piece of irony?

Too much info??

 Fishing time has been scarce lately but I have managed a few short trips with a lure rod to a place where you could literally nail a £20 note to a tree.  I’m not sure what this water holds but I have established there are plenty of silver fish about.  And some Pike.

Change

So it’s that time once again, I’m sitting here thinking where the hell did those twelve months go? The truth is they flew passed because it was a bloody busy year. Lots of good stuff and some not so good. Looking back I wonder that it all fit in one year and I wonder how we got through it with some sanity intact, or did we? For me fishing is often therapy, escapism, headspace whatever you call it its almost always pure pleasure.

My Pike fishing in 2014 was as enjoyable as I’d ever known it and this continued into the New year and right up until the river season finished. I managed to catch good fish from three different waters which included my first twenty pounder caught from my home county for a long time. When I checked I was surprised just how long. Then came spring and the Broadland Prymnesium which has been covered at length, the system has been devastated and my fishing may never be the same again. My Pike fishing this autumn has been slow, partly because of what has gone on in Norfolk and partly because I’m spending my time scouting out ‘new’ places to Pike fish. More about that another time? Probably not. What has become apparent is if I want to continue to enjoy the type of Pike fishing I’ve become used to then I have to get out of my comfort zone, for a while.

I fished ‘The Marsh’ for five years but this year I gave it a miss and I have to say I missed the place. The waters I fished during the spring and summer were nowhere near as pleasant and relaxing. I did manage to catch loads of fish including a few Carp and a solitary Tench. The fishing was interesting but not enough to inspire me to do the same again next year. For the last three seasons some of my fishing has been on more popular waters than I am used to and without the Marsh this percentage grew. I’ve reaffirmed what I already knew, if anything I’ve become even more anti-social. I have a couple of other waters in mind for next year and if it all pans out I may even be spoiled for choice. I’m not thinking too far ahead at the moment because it’s still winter and as yet I haven’t caught nearly enough Pike.

Different

I shall call this place “Strangeways” for reasons that will probably never become apparent.  I scouted the place a few weeks ago and decided though although this pit is smaller than I’d usually like to fish, it was just about big enough as long as it wasn’t busy.  I thought ‘what the hell?’ and here I was pulling the car up in the dark.  I chose to fish an area on the western side as it gave me plenty of water to cover but was also sheltered from the gales that were forecast for later in the day.  As I tackled up I was pleased to see bait fish topping in front of me, definitely good news.

 As it was my first visit I kept active, fishing two deadbaits which were recast regularly, starting in the margins and working outwards.  I also used a lure rod with a mixture of lures which had one thing in common, they were all sinkers.  This was so I could count them down and get a rough picture of depths and contours.  This method of ‘plumbing’ sometimes gets a bonus fish and this was the case today, after half an hour a Replicant was engulfed by a hungry jack.  The lure was well inside the gob but that didn’t stop the fish chucking it out just as I bent down to chin it. 

After an hour or so of searching and dodging showers I’d found a steep margins and a gradual slope from left to right.  I was settled fishing a float ledgered Bluey just beyond some weed on the slope and a ledgered Smelt in the deeper water.  I bought an Oval brolly in January but because I like to travel light I’d only actually used it twice in all this time.  With a rough forecast I couldn’t leave it behind this time, in fact I had to put it to good use and was impressed at how stable it was in even the strongest gusts of wind.  I’ve worked out that if I’m careful (!) I can leave the poles attached, roll it all up and stuff it in my quiver.  That way I can leave the bag and the bloody groundsheet (I can’t ever envisage using) at home.

By 1100 I was restless so wound in the deadbaits and went searching with a lure rod.  Within fifteen minutes I’d moved my whole kit a bit further down the bank and was fishing a different area.  The bluey was cast beside a nice looking overhanging tree and the smelt lowered into a deep margin then once again I set about plumbing/fishing with the lure rod.

So Strangeways, it’s definitely not the prettiest place but I’ve fished a lot worse.  There wasn’t the array of birdlife that I’m used to but I did see a Sparrowhawk zipping around, there were plenty of Pigeons and Moorhens, a noisy Blackbird, a Wren and a friendly Robin who shared my roll.  Strange there were absolutely no ducks?  By early afternoon the forecast gales had arrived and I’d had enough. I enjoyed the fishing today, it was all new and interesting as I learnt my way around.  I’m sure I’ll return with a better idea of how to approach the place, a few ideas have already sprung to mind.  I’d prefer a larger water but today I had the place to myself (apart from two walkers who said hello, one of which may have been a couple of cans short of a six pack) and had room to spread out.  So far so good but if the place gets busy and the Pike are scarce it could see a quick end to my enthusiasm. 

The latest Pikelines magazine arrived this week and it’s the best for some time with articles for Pikers of all experience as well as a couple of absolute cracking reads that are as good as it gets.  Worth the club membership alone.  Pikelines has been around since the formation of PAC in 1977 and this is the 150^th issue.  This must be the longest running Pike fishing publication in the UK and I doubt there is an older ‘Pike fishing’ magazine anywhere in the world?  Unlike most contemporary fishing magazines Pikelines is mostly free from blatant product placements and advertorials.  Mostly.

There are no Pike left in Norfolk

There are no Pike left in Norfolk…  Yes Broadland anglers have been laying that double bluff down for years but unfortunately there is an uncomfortable element of truth in it now.  Yes the ‘Special place’ has always had low stocks of Pike and has always been renowned for being a tough fishery but now its way beyond ‘tough’.

I had my best season in 2011-12 when almost every visit saw big Pike coming to the boat.  It was around this time that a dramatic, unnatural increase in Otter numbers seemed to occur.  From seeing Otters a couple of times per season I was suddenly seeing them almost every time I went out.  That spring saw a Prymnesium Parva outbreak on Hickling and there seemed to be a dramatic decline in Pike stocks immediately after.  One season we were catching consistently, the next we were struggling, yes we caught fish but it had got a lot harder.  There then followed a couple of years of gradual improvement and towards the end of last season there was real cause for optimism.  Then came the devastating Prymnesium outbreak this spring http://fishingsgreat.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/carnage.html

I resolved to keep on fishing anyway.  I just love being there; to me there is no place in the Pike fishing world like it.  After ten years of fishing the special place I like to think I know my way around, (in fact I’m proud that I didn’t blank for two years) but even so this year has been tougher than tough.  Seven full days have produced just four Pike.  It’s hard to stay positive when you cannot be sure there are even any Pike left in your vicinity.  In the past we always knew we were in with a chance at least.  While I think about it I haven’t seen a Bittern this year and can’t even recall hearing one.  

Is there any cause for optimism?  Well there are a few Pike left; even the Jacks are cherished more than ever, these are the future. There is still plenty of Roach and skimmers so the surviving Pike will not be short of food.  Recovery will come in time but how much time?

On my last visit to Norfolk I passed the dredger which is tied up and ready to commence work once again when the temperature falls.  Yes the genius minds at the Broads Authority still refuse to acknowledge the connection between a disturbance in the water column and the Prymnesium blooms.  They’re not suction dredging either it’s the good old clam shell bucket, an environmental disaster waiting to happen.  The trouble is the BA has the “right” to dredge.  There is a school of thought saying they might as well get it over and done with now while there is little or nothing to lose.  On the other hand it’s more than hypocritical for an organisation that calls itself a ‘National Park’ (even though it fails to meet the criteria for such a title) to do something that is potentially environmental suicide.  As we’ve said before, whether or not there is life below the water makes no difference to the weekend admirals, all they need is a sheet of water.  The wealthy sailing fraternity is the tail wagging a mangy old mutt called the BA.