Twelve years in the making

 I’ve not had too many pike sessions this season, consciously spending the time I would usually target pike, fishing for barbel and perch instead. A decision which paid off as I caught new p.b’s of both species, however as the end of season was approaching I was eager to finish off the season with a pike session.

I had two stretches of my local river in mind but my preferred stretch had two cars in the car park (a lot for this stretch) so I did a quick u-turn and headed to the back up choice.

Within 20 mins of arriving I had a screaming take on a margin fished sardine, almost immediately after striking a huge chub was on the surface and with a quick flick of its tail it was gone. I have caught a number of 6 pounders over the last few seasons and this dwarfed any chub I'd previously caught or seen.

I was still at a bit of a loss when my second bait was taken, smelt this time and again fished in the margin. A very fast positive take, instantly I was hoping the chub had came back for a second helping, but thought more than likely it would be a jack. Thankfully after striking there was healthy curve on the rod, which was maintained during an uneventful but dogged fight. The pike was netted at the first attempt, a definite seasons best so scales and camera were sorted whilst the fish was resting in the net. 

Only on lifting the net from the water did I think this would be anywhere near the 20lb mark.

Late season, as fat as butter and just over 20lb.

For an accurate as possible reading the Reuben Heatons were hung from a tree branch and thankfully they went passed the 20lb barrier, only just, but I'll take that any day !

Just over the magic mark

Over the moon, a quick couple phone calls to a couple of close mates and despite being in a shite reception area they got the gist of what was going on!

I caught my first pike from this river in 2006 and started fishing for them properly from around 2010. Since then I have been dreaming of a 'twenty' from this river, I've had a number of close calls, both near misses (19lb plus fish) and losses of definite (known) 20lb plus fish. 

I had spent a lot of time in previous seasons focusing all of my pike sessions on this river (borderline obsessed) , but after landing fish to over 19lb and becoming a little burnt out from the hunt I decided that I would move on and just pike fish this river as and when and without too much of an agenda.       

The decision paid off as the pike was landed on only my second visit to this river this season and I've had some great times pike fishing on other rivers and targeting other species during times when in the past I would of been going through the motions on this river.

The pike was my last fish of the season, I had a chub session (different river) until midnight on the 14th but didn't manage to land anything. The capture will definitely see me through the close season and has reignited the drive to pursue a 20lb plus pike from another local river. Club tickets have been bought, google earth surveyed, recces have been planned, time off work requested............

Roll on October !!

 

Late Autumn Trent Barbel (catch-up part 6)

 A planned social session down to the Trent for a mates birthday, 3 of us stopping for some food and a beer then heading to the middle Trent in search of barbel.

Ben had the best of this session with 7 (maybe 8) barbel to 12lb.

I split my session, between barbel and pike/zander, 3 barbel to 9lb and a modest pike.

The birthday boy had a bit of a nightmare session, forgotten equipment, a barbel blank and a lost rod ! I don’t even think a birthday pint cheered him up !

A week later I was back down with Ben, a short session, turned up as it was getting dark, left at first light, just the one fish this session.

The only interest on a difficult session, far too much debris coming down a river running cold

A week or so later I had the chance for an overnight trip back down to the Trent, more favourable conditions with very mild weather, the river had dropped a bit and most importantly the barbel were on the feed.

A full 35 mins after casting in I was into a good fish, the fish didn’t pull hard, just held its ground in the powerful flow. Eventually it tired and I pulled a new p.b over the net.

12.03lb - a new p.b, a great way to start the session

That first fish was the start of a very memorable session and a very busy night!

11 takes, 9 barbel landed with 6 doubles. (12.03lb, 10.04lb, 9.11lb, 6ish, 11.06lb 10.10lb, 11.09lb, 11.08lb and 6lbish)

On some of my local rivers I fish that’s a seasons worth of barbel and a lifetimes worth of doubles!

Obviously I couldn’t wait for the next trip down the A1……

Autumn pike (catch-up part 5)

Early October came and as planned I headed down to Lincolnshire to pike fish a syndicate gravel pit. The 2.5hr drive passed quickly with the thoughts of the huge pike that are rumoured to reside in this water. The excitement quickly turned to disappointment after seeing the water for the first time as 90% of it was choked with weed from lake bed to surface.

'About 2 months too early' was the thought of the day as I walked around the pit. I decided to recce the water properly and return at a later date. A few pike strikes whilst using the deeper confirmed the presence of pike and then a quick chat with a bailiff confirmed the size of the pike which had been caught in the previous season. 

I decided to head back north and fish a river for a few hours on the way home. The short river session almost went as well as the gravel pit session!

Shortly after my first cast I had a 'take', struck into nothing, same again next cast and the next. The bait was fairly trashed so I changed it to a bluely, within 5 seconds of the bait hitting bottom I had a positive take again, which turned out to be mitten crabs! I've had to deal with crayfish on my local rivers but these things are on another level!

Less than 1 minute in the water

I didn't have time for a move so I persevered for the final hour of daylight then headed straight to the closest pub, which fortunately served a decent pint of Guinness.

Ten days later I was back out after pike, running water this time, only my second session on this river. 

It took a couple of hours before I had any interest, a hard fighting 12 pounder on a margin fished sardine.

12.02lb - sardine

Another hour or so and again a sardine in the margin was taken over a paternoster live bait, slightly larger this time.

13.06lb of greedy, hard fighting northern river pike.

Both pike fought hard, but this second fish really didn't want to go in the net, tail walking, thrashing and even regurgitating a recently taken female mallard on the way in! The fish was rested in the net for 5 mins, whilst unhooking the remains of crayfish and possibly a young cygnet were found at the bottom of the net.

The fish went 13.06lb, I'd imagine it would of been around 15lb or so if it hadn't of ejected the contents of its now saggy stomach on in the way in!

After a couple of short blank sessions, I finally had the time again for a full days pike fishing, unfortunately conditions were against me as the chosen river was carrying 3ft of snow melt. I've found it best to stay active in these conditions, one hour per peg, recast the rods every 30 mins and try to drop a bait close to a pike.

Eventually the tactics paid of and five minutes after casting into the 5th peg of the day an ever reliable sardine was taken. Size is irrelevant on tough days like this, any pike landed makes it a successful session in my book. 

Covid catch-up part 1

Approaching 2 years since the last update to the blog, plenty of reasons why I haven't posted anything, the main one being that I couldn't be arsed! 

I have half an hour spare so thought I'd try and bring the blog up to date, maybe get back on track with some regular posts.

End of the 19/20 season

Like most my season was cut short by the pandemic, but a few local pike were had before any lockdowns etc….

19lb 9oz my best from this river

19/20 highlights - 

Barbel - 11.07lb

Chub - 5.08lb

Pike - 19.09lb

Perch - 3.06lb

20/21 season

During the start of the 20/21 season, time on the bank was limited, travel restrictions, home schooling, blah blah.....

Some local sessions produced river best barbel and chub, nothing huge, but decent fish for these venues.

As autumn arrived the focus changed to pike and perch, again a number of river best were beaten.

My nephews first pike, live bait in the margin, last cast of the day.

A few stocky pike were landed during a difficult November barbel trip to the Trent. The best of the bunch being these 18 and 19 pounders.

With a number of more modest pike from rivers closer to home.

After the turn of the year, I focused on catching a 6lb chub from one of my favourite local rivers. A number of nice 5lb plus fish were eventually followed by a new p.b of 6lb 7oz.

20/21 season highlights -

Barbel - 8.03lb

Chub - 6.07lb

Perch - 2.09lb

Pike - 19.03lb

Autumn and winter perch part 2 (river sessions)

I haven’t been able to perch fish my local rivers as much as I would of liked this winter as they always seem to be in a constant state of flood.

Living in an area surrounded by spate rivers you become accustomed to them but this year has definitely been the most challenging for a number of years.

The image above shows the recent levels during a typical winter week on one of my favourite rivers. Targeting predators at anything over 0.8 meters is a real struggle, (pissing in the wind springs to mind). As you can imagine opportunities to target these fish are very limited especially when you factor in family life and 60hr working weeks.

Anyway I’ve managed two river perch sessions so far, one on my closest river which as usual was a bit of a struggle, small live baits fished close to deep marginal snags when unscathed.

A week or so later I headed down to one of my favourite rivers, I’ve never really fished for predators on this river, usually targeting the barbel and chub but I know it holds good perch and pike. 

After catching a few small silvers I chose a peg for the short session with features both up and downstream. A small gudgeon on a float paternoster upstream and a small maggot feeder with worm flicked under the downstream willow. 

It took half an hour or so to get some interest on the feeder a 12oz perch was the first in the net, shortly followed by one of around a pound.

I was being pestered by small jacks on the live bait rod, I was using a light wire trace so all were landed without to much fuss but the distractions did lead to a few missed bites on the feeder.

Eventually a better fish on the feeder, initially I thought it was a chub but eventually a nice perch surfaced, easily my largest from this river.

2lb 9oz, a new river best

Bites were hard to come by after the two pounder, a good wrap around was missed whilst landing a jack. I switched to a larger lobworms as dusk approached, hoping for a final chance of a bigger fish. The bite came but it was the smallest of the day.

One of 3 jacks landed, a nice looking fish 

Hopefully I can get on this river for a longer session in good conditions soon as I think I’d be able to put a few more fish on the bank, maybe get closer to a three pounder.

New Years blank

I couldn’t make it out on New Year’s Day, dog walks and a family meal took priority however I was on the bank on my first opportunity, the 2nd! For a change my closest river was looking good, a nice winter level carrying a slight colour and stable weather in the preceding days. I took a chance and headed to a difficult stretch, feast or famine!

A ball breaker of a stretch, long walks, steep banks, massive snags, no fish.....

When its fishing well this stretch is very rewarding, however when it’s bad I question if the stretch has been polluted as it seems lifeless. I knew what type of day it was going to be after dropping in on a banker peg! Anyway I worked hard, enjoyed the time on the bank but didn’t start the year with a bang!

Backend chub and pike

Amongst the perch sessions I’ve had the odd short pike session and a few flying visits to the river for a quick after work chub session. I landed pike on every session, mostly on rivers but I also had a first pike session on a large gravel pit, which produced two of the skinniest jacks I’ve seen. 

One of the gravel pit pike

Almost a double from my local river

The chub fishing was steady, with a good average size fish of 4lb + on most sessions, but it was often only a single fish landed, not too concerning as these sessions are very short, 2-3hrs maximum. My last session of the year was a bit better, two fish landed with one being 5.08lb and a new river best. I’ll be continuing to target the chub in this river throughout the winter, with the long term target of increasing this river best to over 6lb.

5lb 8oz with plenty of room to fill out, potentially a very big chub at the right time of year

The 5.08lb next to a low '4'

First cast on a flying visit after work 4.14, only bite of the session though.

2019 highlights 

I don’t have the time or motivation for a full year review, so I’ll just stick a few highlights up.

Barbel - 11lb 7oz

Chub - 5lb 8oz

Perch - 3lb 6oz

Tench - 5lb 2oz

Any other species were either not weighted or are not worth mentioning.

The overall highlight of my fishing year was the capture of a double figure barbel from a river I’ve been working hard on for a couple of seasons. At 11lb 3oz it equalled my then p.b and really did make my fishing year, doubles from this river are definitely few and far between and they seem to be getting rarer each season. 

The highlight of my angling year, despite catching larger barbel from the trent this capture definitely brought me the most pleasure. I'll be surprised if I ever catch a larger barbel from this river.