P.b pike

Looking back through my blog and diary, this time last year I was having some success with livebaits. So Sunday mornings plan was to fish maggot on the stick float and hope the predators would follow the chub and dace.

The morning didn't start too well, falling down a rabbit hole then later snapping my Drennan Acoloyte wasn't an ideal start to the session, but it got better. Interest from pike in the first two pegs I fished, then a perch of about a pound in the third.

The fourth peg had a nice near bank glide and on the first run down the small dace bait was snatched. After an epic battle I managed to net a definite new best at the first attempt.

A long, lean and mean river pike - 17lb 9oz

The next peg and another perch, 2.01lb this time, again taken on a small dace.

I was running out of time but called in on one final peg for a last cast, a cast to the far bank, then a long trot downstream. Just as I started to retrieve there was a big swirl a foot behind the bait, but it didn't take the dace, never mind, a very enjoyable but no doubt expensive session.

Usually I like to call into to a pub for a celebratory drink (a p.b pint) but I had rush back as we were taking the kids swimming in the afternoon. I did enough a couple of beers later though.

Plenty of pike activity on this stretch, which I will be hoping to revisit a few times over the coming months.