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.