A morning lure fishing on the river

Plus 3 minus 2

 .... Is the result of this mornings jack pike tally.

The first of the fish coming on the Big S,  proving that they do indeed catch.  Although I think I still need to work out what my best technique is for it, surface or diving, fast or slow etc.  I'm not that au fait with cranks as yet but I'm looking forward to trying them a little bit more this summer.


Big S  - success !!

The pike in my regular spot were not really willing to take a lure this morning. I had two or three follows on the purple real eel with a nice medium size pike closely flanking it all the way in as I wound it slowly.  Heart pounding to watch but equally frustrating when they don't go and inhale the lure at the last minute ! When I tried the Big S though a small jack took it second cast. After that I think the resident fish had become a bit spooked, so I moved down 20 yards or so to the next swim.

I tied on the orka shad tail and lost another jack straight off. Following this up quickly with another that managed to stick this time.  Interestingly as I returned it another pike, possibly the one that had come off shortly before, came slowly up to it  nose to nose. They paused for a second eyeing each other up, then both bolted in opposite directions as if wary of a confrontation, a bit like cats meeting at the garden gate. I lost another fish out in the middle that whacked the lure but came off on the powerful first run, only another small fish though.

First one on the Orka 7.5" Shad-Tail  

Lastly, I cast down further to my right alongside the margin and tempted a strike from yet another small jack, this came unstuck as well. However, next cast it followed again and snapped at the lure right by my feet,  hovering for a while before whooshing back to his station with a flick of the tail, leaving a cloud of sandy silt in his wake.  I drew the bait slowly past his lair once again and he snaffled it practically under the rod tip.  Jack pike do have some power and he proved this by ripping some line off the clutch before I subdued him and netted the third and final jack for the morning.



Orka shad tail - no 2

Nothing big from this stretch yet but I have heard that there can be the odd large female terrorising the match anglers from time to time, so I will keep on trying as it's pretty close to home and easy to nip down for a quick session at the drop of a hat.



Pike like the Orka shad tail

Sunday morning saw me out in time for the first of the early rain showers that steadily increased in intensity throughout the day, while I walked a stretch of local river. After searching for likely spots to cast a lure I eventually headed back to the car to get my gear and start at then nearest swim with the intention of working back downstream till it was time to go.

First lure out the box was the medium Big S in perch flavour, I haven't had a fish on this yet but I've had a pike swipe at it and miss, so it should only be a matter of time. Not sure why I have to catch a  fish on it but I suppose it's just because I remember reading all about the Big S so much as a kid and before I really knew anything about pike or lure fishing or was able to afford the luxury of splashing out on specialist pike tackle. I did have a small original one at some point during the 80's that I must have found on he bank somewhere minus its diving vane and hooks. I never managed to renovate it as planned and had long since threw it out regrettably.  On Sunday though after a few casts with it I couldn't get it to manoeuvre around or under a bunch of streamer weed  splaying out from the near margin as I wanted. So I swung it out to change for a  jig type lure that I could sink under the streamer. As I began to unclip it I noticed a smallish pike sidle up in front of me fins alert and obviously attracted by the movement of the lure. I selected on a new curly tail jig lure that had yet to make it out of the packet. A suitable jig hook was selected and she was clipped on. Out she went for her maiden swim to be followed in by the fish I had just seen.

I stumbled upon these on the AGM website and thought they looked a bit eely really !

Next cast and the lure was just about to be lifted from the water when it was side swiped by a hungry jack of 6lb

As I dealt with the fish I heard a voice shout over from above me on top of the bank,

"You can't fish there, there's a match on soon, Oh, your piking well that's OK, are you putting that back" ?

Me:  "Of course I am" !

"Why"?

Me: "Because I love pike, and I'm not really into match fishing so I"...

"Oh right "...

Before I could finish saying that I didn't agree with the notion of needlessly slaughtering pike, which is not really the right way to maintain a balanced fishery, he'd disappeared in disgust, and before I had the chance of enlightening him on the benefits to all anglers of a well balanced Eco system that includes both predator and prey.
I understand why the match lads must hate the pike but they need to realise the pikes role as designated weeder outer of the weak and diseased that helps to maintain a healthy stock of silver fish, so they can then go ahead and pass on their superior healthy genes to the next generation.


I've managed about 10 casts with the new lure so far and landed two fish and had two follows, so not a bad return I don't think.  Here's the second taken on a short 15min session on the way home tonight.
A fish that appeared to be fat with spawn still, either that or it was fat with match sized fish ?

8lb still with spawn ?

Random photo of Fox gloves... well, it is summer !!

New season - Afloat in a boat

The new seasons start was at 12:00am clock sharp, the rods in at the chime of the church bell. An invite from Andy saw me as a guest on his newly renovated boat positioned securely in the middle of the Warwickshire Avon in time for the kick off.  Where I cast a hopefull pellet into the dark waters and sat back to wait for the tip to wrap around....

Despite all the planning and pre baiting it was not about to bear fruit and we gave up after a couple of hours inactivity to get a little sleep in time for the dawn chorus, when we would hit the river again with float rods.

We headed out toward a weir and floatfished for silvers for a while, before deciding to try for some of the big perch near the bridge. First cast for me and a surprise Zed of about four pounds that put up a hell of a scrap - for a Zed anyway.  Then straight after Andy was in with another, and a new 7lb PB for him, a beautifully dark immaculate fish it was too.

My next take saw a 12lb 2oz Pike landed, before Andy followed shortly after with a Jack to keep the score even.

We paused for morning coffee and breakfast, then headed back on the river for more predator action. It was Andy who managed another small zed and pike, whilst my rod failed to find any more takes. By 10am though, we were all fished out and called it a day, happy but shattered by the lack of sleep.  The perch fishing was a bit of a let down, it would have been nice for us both to get the predator Royal flush, but they just didn't show today.

All the same it's so good to be back on the river.