Froggin'

This morning I had a few hours spare so I had a short lure session on a new venue. I had a quick recce of this water a few weeks ago and found that it had an otter problem, however I was still hopeful of a fish.

The weed had grown a lot since my first visit and I was pleased I had put a couple of frogs in the lure bucket. On my second cast I had a fish take the lure but I missed it, a quick recast and I had the fish on. The pike was quickly landed and went to around 5lb 8oz, a pleasing start.

3rd cast of the day

Over the next hour or so I had a couple of takes which were missed and another jack which quickly freed itself. I had a quick walk around the the opposite bank and quickly caught another jack of 3lb.

2nd frog caught pike of the day

Another fish was lost, then the sun came out and the bright conditions seemed to put the pike off. The water is full of bird life and a heron, a pair kingfishers, plenty of swifts and an arctic tern swiping the fry were spotted. There were also hundreds of damselflies scooting around the margins, mornings like this make me think about investing in a better camera.

One of many damselflies

In total I had 9 takes, hit 4 and landed 2, which is a better take/fish landed ratio than I usually get
when using frogs. I was home before 11 and was pleased with my first visit to this water, I'm looking forward to bait fishing this water in the winter when the weed has died off as the water has the potential for a surprise.

Short sessions

In the last week I've had two short sessions, the first being a frogging/surface lure session and the second was an evening tench session on the same water.

The lure session was very short as I only had around an hour or so, but that is usually enough time for a fish on this water. Unfortunately the pike weren't that interested in hitting any of the lures I was using. I did have a couple of follows, all the way to the bank but the pike seemed more interested in sun bathing than striking at a lure.

Spro 'Bronzeye' frog in action

I usually enjoy a couple of early season 'frogging' session when the rivers open, however my
catch rate is fairly poor, I get plenty of strikes but usually struggle to hit them. I have a couple of
stretches in mind that I plan to spend a couple of mornings/evenings on as soon as the rivers open, usually the pike are only a few pound or so, but it is a very enjoyable method.

Whilst on the lure session I noticed a fairly large golden orfe cruising around the surface, this is probably the only orfe in the water and it has probably outgrown someone's garden pond.

Golden orfe of around 4lb

The evening tench session was on the same water, which has a fairly low stock of tench that go to

around 6lb or so. The tench on this water are renowned for being difficult to catch and numerous
blanks are to be expected when targeting them.

I decided on a two rod approach, the first was hair rigged sweetcorn ledgered over a small bed of corn and hemp near a small lily patch in the margins. The second rod was a simple waggler set up fishing red maggot on the bottom also close to a lily patch.

Spot the float ?

I was expecting the water in this area to be around 5 or 6 feet however it was more like 11ft, which 

proved challenging when plumbing up with a 12ft rod. I fed a small amount of hemp and maggots hoping to gradually build the swim. Surprisingly the float went straight under on the first cast however this turn out to be a very small perch. The next dozen or so casts I was either catching small roach on the drop or missing the bite.

Plenty of these small greedy roach willing to take a bait on the drop

I decided to up the feed, fish corn on the hook and wait it out for a better fish. After an hour or so I 

had to change the float tip for a starlight, there were plenty of fish rising but I hadn't had a touch on sweet corn on either of the rods. At around half ten I had a bite on the float rod, immediately I knew it was a better fish but after a few seconds it was obvious that it wasn't a tench but a better roach.

Better roach 8oz+

After I returned the roach I noticed that the rig was tangled so I decided to call it a day(or night) and
head home.

I was expecting a blank so I wasn't too disappointed with what I caught, if I fish that swim area again I will probably use a pole as it will be a lot easier.

I was hoping to get out this week but haven't felt like sitting under a brolly all day, it looks like weather will improve as the week progresses so I might fit a session in tomorrow, possibly on the same water or on a club water that I am yet to fish.

Top 5 lures

The majority of the pike I catch are caught on a lure of some kind and over the last few years I have managed to acquire a fair collection. Yesterday whilst I was having a quick sort out of my lures I found too many lures in boxes, lures that have never been cast and lures that I have no confidence in or interest using. It got me thinking what are my favorite lures and what are my most successful lures ?

I decided to put up a short post so I could have a look back in a few years and compare with the lures I am using at the time.

Lures currently in favour

1. Fox Replicant - any size, but I have had most success on the 'Red Perch' variant.

2. Mann's Shad - 4 and 6 inch versions.

3. Salmo Slider - I have only recently starting using the sliders but they have quickly became a firm favourite.

4. Maxi Mouse - A handmade lure by Dave Greenwood. I have had success with both the Maxi Mouse and the XL version (pictured), I recently lost my standard size Maxi Mouse to a snag so I will probably order 1 or 2 more for next season.

5. Kuusamo Professor Spoon - I have a few spoons but have only caught on this type mainly on this 45g cooper version.

I could of easily included Burt's, Savage Gear 4 Plays and Rapala SSR's etc.... but the lures pictured are what I mainly use.

I wonder what lures will be in vogue lures in the coming years.....

Hit and Miss

Today I managed a full day on a still water, after getting up before 0430 hrs I was at the water for roughly 0630 hrs. Things were going smoothly until I went to put my waders on and I noticed a small tear on the back of the waders, I decided to carry on, wear them and hope for the best. After 5 minutes or so the tear was virtually from boot to boot and left me with no more than wellies ( time for some new waders ).

Luckily the water had dropped around 2 ft since my last visit and I would be able to manage in the torn waders. As I was setting up my first rod I dropped a backbiter in the water and then water got into the ripped waders as I was fishing the backbiter out, not the best start to the day !

Just after first light

I had 3 baits in the water before 0700 hrs and I had positioned the rods to leave me with enough room to have a throw with some lures. After 15 minutes or so I had a take on a Manta which turned out to be a jack.

1st of the day

The jack had a large scar on its back, which I'm hoping was from a much larger pike and not a cormorant or an otter. Whilst I was busy making breakfast I had a take on a dead roach, I saw the arm dropping but could see that I had left the bail arm closed ! As soon as the fish felt the resistance of the bail arm the bait was dropped. Around 50 minutes later a pike followed my lure (Savage Gear Freestyler) and tried to hit it 3 times but missed on each occasion, I recast and pulled the jerk bait through the same area again, the pike went for the lure again and missed. I quickly changed the lure and cranked it through the same area, the pike nailed it 1st time.

The leech covered pike that took a lure at the 5th attempt

An hour or so later I had a take on the left rod which was baited with a large section of lamprey, I lent into the fish and it felt heavy, the fish powered off but I managed to turn it and gain control, then the line went slack. After reeling in I checked the rig and trace and everything seemed fine, annoyed I baited with another large section of lamprey and recast into the same area. The lost fish felt fairly heavy and would of definitely been the biggest of my season.

After lunch the weather turned, what was a mild warm breeze had changed to icy cold wind with some heavy gusts thrown in as well. The change in weather seemed to turn the fish off completely and nothing happened for a couple of hours.

I was still annoyed from losing the last fish and was considering leaving and stopping by a stretch of river on the way home for an hour, however I had a quick chat with a local who informed me that the pike often have a feeding spell at around 4 ish. I decided to stay put, fish on and see what happened. At exactly 4 pm I had a take on another jerk bait (Hell Puppy) which managed to free itself within a few seconds. A couple of casts later I was quickly playing another small pike, this time fooled by a Salmo Slider, the pike was quickly unhooked and returned. The feeding spell didn't last long and was over sooner than I hoped, I decided to call it a day, although I did take my time leaving the bait rods in for as long as I could, no other pike were taken.

Slider caught pike

This is my third visit to this water and will be my last until June when I will be targeting a different species. In my 3 visits I have caught 7 pike with only 1 being a double, the water does hold a good head of doubles and I will be trying to improve this ratio next season.

Until June......