Canal pike

I decided to continue piking for a few more sessions, my most recent session being on a canal with Mick. The season was a bit of a grueller, with only one take each. Mick missed his chance but to be fair the take wasn't the most confident. Thirty minutes later it was my turn, a large float fished mackerel was taken, I gave it a few seconds longer than I usually would (due to the bait size) wound down and stuck into a decent fish. 

After a good scrap Mick did the honours with the net, we both though it was a double and after a quick weigh it went 12lb 1oz. Initially I thought it was the same fish I caught on my first session on the canal, but after comparing the photos they are definitely different fish.

I'm hoping to fit in another pike session in the next week or so, possibly across the Pennines or maybe to the Scots borders, should conditions and time allow. I'll then be spending a few sessions targeting the perch then the tench and as soon as the waters reach the right temperature I'll be focusing on the eels until the rivers reopen. 

A new p.b on my last session of the season

I've had three sessions since my last post, all difficult sessions and all were in some way affected by the river/weather conditions. I'm only posting about my most recent session, as it was the only time I caught something!

Thursday was my last chance to fish a river this season so I headed to a local(ish) stretch with Mick. We were both hoping for a decent pike to finish the season with, although we also took the barbel/chub gear. The first action was to my pike rod, a popped up sardine was taken, line was peeling from the spool and the fish was heading upstream. I wound down, felt the fish and struck..... nothing. The bait was taken and strangely not a scrap was left on the trace or the pop up stick. Baffled I rebaited, recast, hoping for another take.

I was using boilies on the barbel rod for the first few hours but after no interest I decided to change. A large cage feeder filled with minced beef and a piece of hair rigged steak were cast tight to the far bank willows. It didn't take too long to get some interest, but nothing worthy of a strike. A few minutes after a second cast to the same spot and the rod ripped round, an unmissable bite. A decent chub was on and after a short tussle in the increasing flow Mick netted what turned out to be a new personal best.

4lb 11oz
Not a species I target very often so it was good to increase my p.b

Things went quiet so we reeled in, rested the swims and went for a bit of a recce. After a good 45 minutes we returned and realised that the river had risen a good 4 inches on the bank stick marker. I'm never confident fishing for pike on a rising river, especially in the winter. Needless to say we didn't get any further interest in the pike baits. The odd knock on the chub gear but no other fish were landed. It's never a bad session when you land a new best, but I was hoping for more. During the recce we found a few areas that will be night fished in the summer, the areas scream barbel so hopefully we will bank a few in the warmer months.

Jacks

I was aiming for a late season perch session on my local river today, but conditions weren't ideal so I had a sleep in and later than planned headed out to a still water to target the pike. I was fishing by 09:30 and before I could get the second rod out a smelt was taken. A jack of about 5lb was landed, which is a typical size for this water. I was fishing a bay facing into the wind, hoping that the fish had followed the wind, however the early fish was a false dawn as there was no more interest in the baits.

By early afternoon I decided to move to the opposite side of the water and drift a couple of baits over the weed beds. After an hour a second jack was taken, again on a smelt. The jack was smaller than the first and was covered in leeches, obviously still laid up after the recent cold snap we've had.

I'm hoping to get out for a few hours on Thursday, hopefully the rivers will be at a decent level and I can target the perch.

February - A struggle so far....

I've had 3 sessions so far this month and they have all been a bit of a struggle, nothing noteworthy caught but I thought I would update the blog while I'm watching the darts

3rd Feb - I fished a new stretch of a 'North Yorkshire' river for the first time, as soon as I arrived I knew it was going to be a difficult day as the river was full of snow melt. Water temps were 1°C and air temp barely passed zero, needless to say it was hard going. I was targeting the pike but after a morning without any interest in the baits, I switched my attention to the chub. Ten minutes after my first cast I had a decent chub in the net. Blank avoided I put the pike rods back out but nothing happened. A final 20 minutes for the chub, saw the rod wrapround again but I missed the bite.

3lb 7oz taken on a hair rigged piece of steak

10th Feb - A recce the day before on my local river and it was good level, fairly clear and I was confident of finding a fish or two the next day. I was on the river bank for first light (before the E.A had updated the levels) and the river had came up a good foot making it the stretch I wanted to fish unfishable. I headed to a much deeper and wider stretch 5 and a half miles downstream, I stuck it out until 13:30 without any interest in the dead baits.

The next night was my local PAC regions first talk. Dennis Moules was the guest speaker, a very enjoyable night made even better when I managed to win a nice raffle prize.

Well worth attending if Dennis is speaking at a PAC region near you

17th Feb - I headed to the same river as my first session of the month, this time I planned to stay mobile, moving frequently hoping to land on a few fish. I hedged my bets and took rods for both chub and pike. Less than 5 minutes after dropping a smelt into the margin, the backbiter sounded and soon after a (very) small jack was on the bank.

The jack was definitely my smallest this season, but the blank was avoided which was better than my previous sessions. Whilst handling the pike I noticed how warm it felt so I dropped the thermometer into the deep margin for half an hour, the reading was just over 4°C, up 3°C in the last 2 weeks. I kept on the move, moving swims after 30 to 40 biteless minutes. I did have the odd interest on the chub rod but nothing worth striking at.

The majority of this stretch is accessible with a 4 x4, so the old jeep came in handy, meaning moving swims wasn't a chore and I probably fished 8 swims by 13:00.

Roving the easy (lazy) way!

For the final hour or so I decided to move to the next stretch upstream, pick a peg and sit it out. Again within 5 mins of putting a bait (lamprey) out, the backbiter sounded, another jack but any pike is welcome on difficult days like these.

So far February has been a struggle, not just for me but most lads on the local forums have been struggling. Catch rates have increased over the last week or so, with some nice bags of chub coming out. Jim had one of these catches, 5 chub over 4lb in less than 3 hours, quality fishing. Jim's catch report can be found here.

Hopefully the temperatures continue to rise and I can get a few better fish on the bank before the rivers close, I'm out again on Tuesday, river undecided but I'm hoping conditions are kind.

Video of p.b pike capture

Towards the end of last September I finally beat my pike personal best whilst livebaiting for perch. My previous best had stood for over 3 years, so I was very pleased when I finally beat it. Just as pleasing was recording the capture on my GoPro camera, the video quality is HD (if you enable HD on YouTube) but the sound isn't the best quality as I had the full waterproof case on.

Anyway I thought I'd share the video -

Link to the original blog post - http://northeastpiker.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/an-unexpected-personal-best.html

I didn't manage to fish on Thursday as Lindsey was ill so I spent the day with her instead. I'm aiming to get on the bank on Tuesday and hoping that the river conditions are kind so I can target the pike.

I had some good news this week, the club that controls a still water I fish has removed the close season, this will allow me to target the eels and tench as soon as the water warms up, instead of waiting for June, very happy.

A nice river double and a quick catch up

I've had a few outings since my last update but these have been a struggle due to the river conditions, I'll mention these later in this post as they weren't very eventful.

Yesterday I finally managed to get on the bank while conditions were favourable, although there was a little extra water it was fining down nicely. I took a rod for the chub and the pike to give me the best chance of getting something on the bank. Things started slowly for me, no interest from either species , after a couple of missed bites Mick landed a nice chub of 3.07lb.

I tried bread, cheese paste, garlic spam and steak but couldn't get any interest from the chub. After a couple of uneventful moves I tried an area downstream of Mick and dropped half a sardine in the margin while I baited an area with liquidised bread for the chub. Ten minutes later and the pike rod started nodding, I unclipped the backbiter took up the slack and struck a decent fish was on. The pike fought very hard for a mid-winter pike, more like a late summer pike, minus the tail walking. I thought the pike was going to be a good mid-double but the avons settled at 11lb 3oz's.

Fought like a bigger fish, but it's hard to be disappointed when they look like this

We fished on for a further hour, no other fish were landed. I had a decent bite on a hair rigged piece of steak but I was waiting for the wraparound that never came and didn't strike.

Previous sessions

13th Jan - I fished a different river than my usual, on a stretch that I haven't had a lot of success. Conditions were awful, very low temps and high winds the river was also up, I had a rod for both the chub and pike. The only interest coming to the chub rod, but I didn't see the bite properly due the high wind, a chub of around 4lb shed the hook as I got it to the surface, the lamprey was well chewed.

The ejected lamprey

15th Jan - I headed to a stretch of my local river, a lot of water had gone in upstream but I was hoping to get a few hours after the chub before the water reached the stretch I was fishing, however I got the timing wrong and the river was rising fast. The river rose about 2ft in the hour I was on the bank and showed no signs of slowing the highlight of the morning was an otter that was running in the shallow margins. The otter was completely unaware of  my presence until it got to about 4ft away from me, a quick about turn and it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

20th Jan - Fishing with Mick we headed to the same river in fished on the 13th but to a stretch much further downstream. Again I took chub and pike gear to keep my options open, the river had some snow melt in but Mick had a nice 4.01lb chub on the bank on his first cast so I was hoping we would have a decent day. It was a struggle no positive bites on the chub rod, nothing on the pike rod. I decided to reposition the pike bait (a large sardine) and as I was slowly retrieving the bait a small jack  shot out from under my feet and hit the bait. I landed the jack which was probably only twice the size of the bait, no other bites/takes for either of us so we recce'd a few areas for future sessions.

A small jack and Mick's 4lber

22nd Jan - A short lure session, my first in a while, nothing to report a definite blank.

Planned sessions

If the weather forecasts are anything to go by it's going to be hard to stick to any plans over the next week or so, but I might try and get out for a couple of hours tomorrow species undecided and will depend on river conditions. Currently Tuesdays are the easiest day for me to be on the bank and next Tuesday will see me targeting chub, grayling, pike or perch on my local river. If the river is in flood I'll probably head to one of my stillwaters to target the pike, but I'm hoping that the rivers are fishable....

Blank, River levels, Recce and planned sessions

On Thursday I fished a stretch of river that usually produces a few pike, 4 of us fished the stretch and I was initially confident that a few pike would be landed. My optimism was short lived as the river was rising, although the water was reasonably clear the rising water usually puts the pike off feeding.

The river rose around 2ft in the few hours we were on the bank and we all blanked, not even a take. The highlight of the session was seeing a buzzard in the nearby farmland and a heron on the water.

River levels

As a river angler I rely on the Environment Agency to update their website so I can keep an eye on the levels. Although the EA's website is ok, I find the River Levels site a lot better as it easier to read and provides some historical data which is a good reference. This is obliviously a massive help to anyone who chooses to fish the rivers but I think the EA could do better. Generally the levels for each station are updated twice in every 24 hours, they are updated more frequently during times of flood etc... but I feel they should be updated every hour.

All river level monitoring stations are automated, so I don't understand why the website isn't updated more frequently. If the levels were updated every hour or so it would make it so much easier for the angler to decide when to fish, where to fish and what species to target.

Generally I can predict what condition the river is going to be in and my time is rarely wasted, but occasionally I do get it wrong and turn up on the river take one look and know I'm going to blank, should of brought my chub gear or should of went to a still water.

Recce

Yesterday I called in on a stretch of my local river that I've never fished before, further upstream than I've ever fished. Its not a known pike area and although I would bet on the occasional pike turning up it is more of a barbel/chub stretch. It looks like a cracking stretch of river well worthy of a summer evening session or two.

The coming week

I hoping to get out at least twice next week, a short session locally and a full day session on a different river and on a stretch that I haven't visited before. I'll be going for the pike if conditions are ok, if not I'll try for some chub.

First canal session

With all my local rivers in flood (most of them in the fields) I took the opportunity to fish a stretch of canal for the first time. It was a good 90 minute drive in my old jeep and I arrived at the canal by 08:30. Shortly after I had baits (lamprey and sardine) in the water, both on simple float ledger rigs.

I had a take 45 minutes later on the sardine rod, as I was netting the pike I realised that I still had baits defrosting in the landing net. I had the pike in the net and while I was trying to re-net the baits, the pike thrashed, the trebles caught in the mesh and the pike got away!

I give the swim another 30 minutes but nothing happened, so I leapfrogged the rods along the stretch. Lunchtime came and I hadn't had any further interest in either bait. I was approached by a member of the club that controlled the stretch he informed me that day tickets were no longer available, yearbooks only! After a bit of a chat he rang the membership secretary (Richard) who said he would come down and sort it out. An hour or so later he turned up just as a sprat was taken.

My first pike from a canal

After a short fight a pike of 12lb 4oz was netted. Richard was on hand to take a couple of photos and he also sorted me a yearbook (for yet another new club). The last couple of hours past quickly, without further interest in any of the baits I tried. Not a bad start to the year, a first session on a canal, a nice pike and a new club with a few more waters to explore.

Looking forward to my next session, hopefully the rivers will be at a normal level as I might get the lures out.

2014 review

2014 has been a productive year for me, mainly due to the amount of time I have been able to spend on the bank. I have also put a fair amount of effort into finding new waters, using new methods and targeting species other than pike. During the last 12 months I have broken a p.b on 14 occasions and achieved the modest targets I set myself at the end of last season.

Monthly breakdown of my year -

January - I was struggling on the rivers and didn't really catch anything of note but I attended my first PAC event (motorway pond) which I enjoyed even though I blanked.

February - I was still finding it hard on the rivers but had some success on the still waters with some nice pike that (just) made it into double figures.

10lb 6oz

March - I was catching pike during March but they were all jacks, I fished the rivers for the last 5 days of the season and struggled, but I managed to get a jack on the last day. I started my perch campaign and I was concentrating on a farm pond, the sessions were enjoyable but I couldn't get anything over the 1lb mark.

The largest I could get from the farm pond

April - Lindsey was busy with her dissertation and finishing her final year at uni so my fishing time 

was limited, I managed 2 sessions, one for the perch and the other a pike session in the Lake District. The perch session was on the farm pond but I didnt get anything over 8oz, the pike session was more enjoyable with a few pike to double figures.

11lb 6oz

May - I had my first eel session of the year, which was uneventful and another difficult session on the farm pond. I was on a course for a week and I managed to fit a few short evening sessions. I caught a first rainbow and p.b carp and p.b crucian.

16lb 10oz

June - The start of the river season and my first chance to fish opening day for years. I managed a nice but unspectacular net of small chub, perch and roach on the stickfloat but ultimately I will remember the day for what was lost (a definite 20!) and not what was caught. Another stickfloat session later in the month ended up with similar results but I also managed to bank a nice pike of 12lb 10oz. Another eel overnighter, no eels yet but a couple of jacks.

The first fish of the river season and a nice river pike

July -  I managed 6 new p.b's during July, eel, grayling (twice), perch and tench (twice). The tench came during an eel session and went 4lb 15oz and 6lb, I later found out that the venue record is 6lb 4oz which made the capture more pleasing. 

A brace of p.b tench 4lb 15oz and 6lb

I caught my first grayling (no more than a few ounces, but still a p.b!) during a stickfloat session. During a perch session I managed a new p.b of 2lb 4oz with plenty of other 1lb plus fish and also another grayling p.b, 11 oz this time. The eel came after a change of venue and was the only fish of the session, 2lb 7oz.

2 new bests

August - I caught another eel p.b (2lb 15oz) and targeted my first running water barbel in years. I managed a couple of whiskers increasing my p.b to 5lb 1oz.

A personal best - 2lb 15oz

September - Whilst bait snatching with the whip I caught another p.b grayling, this time it was over a pound (3 grayling, 3 p.b's). I had another barbel session and caught 4, taking my p.b to 6lb 7oz. 

An enjoyable session

I finally beat my pike p.b with a 15lb 14oz fish which took some landing on my perch live baiting gear.  The captures of the barbel and pike were both recorded on my GoPro, which have been good to watch back. 

Finally beat my p.b - 15lb 14oz

I also caught a few other pike, including a couple of doubles to 14lb 6oz.

October - Getting pike to take a bait wasn't a problem, but keeping them on was. I lost as many as I landed, with the largest going 10lb 6oz.

A lean river doubles

November - Frustratingly the loss of fish continued, I managed to land 6 in November but they were all jacks. I did have a double take and landed both, which was a first for me.

2 in the net, a first for me

December - The river conditions weren't ideal and the only pike I hooked was lost...... I did have a short chub session and caught a couple of small but welcome chub.

2014 highlights -

Barbel to 6lb 7oz*
Bream to 4lb 5oz
Brown trout to 1lb (approx)
Carp to 16lb 10oz*
Chub to 4lb 3oz
Crucian to 1lb 4oz*
Dace to 6oz (approx)
Eel to 2lb 15oz*
Grayling to 1lb 1oz*
Perch to 2lb 4oz*
Pike to 15lb 14oz*
Roach to 10oz (approx)
Tench to 6lb 0oz*
Rainbow trout - 2lb 4oz*

* personal best

Thoughts on 2014 - 

I'm very pleased with how my year went, I increased more p.b's than expected and have already achieved the targets I set myself for the 2014/15 season. The most pleasing catch of the year was  beating my pike p.b which had stood for over 3 years.

The most disappointing/frustrating part is the number of fish I lost, especially pike. This is something I'm working on and hopefully can sort out before the end of the season.

Although I beat my eel best on two occasions they were the only 2 eels I caught, looking back I wish that I'd had a few more sessions after them, especially on a still water I had access too. I'm planning on renewing the ticket for the water and hopefully I'll get one from there next year.

This year I've kept a diary of every session and recce I've been on. I've made comprehensive notes on captures, baits used, methods used, weather conditions etc.... I'm hoping to keep it going next year as it has become a good aide for comparing river levels to previous sessions, knowing what baits have been successful etc.....

Plans for 2015 -

Until the end of the river season I will still be concentrating on the pike, however I'm only going to target them when I think conditions are favourable. When the rivers are up I'll either target the chub or head to a still water for the pike.

For the 2015/16 season I'm going to set myself a few targets -

• P.b eel
• P.b pike
• P.b perch
• A first zander

I doubt I will be able to spend as much time on the bank next year, but I'm going to aim for quality sessions and not quantity, perhaps I'll head a little further afield when time allows.

I am keeping all the clubs/tickets I currently have and I'm also joining another club which will give me access to some prime chub and pike waters. I'll aim to fish more eel sessions than last year, but I'd also like to fit in some evening barbel sessions. I'll mainly be sticking to the rivers for the pike hoping to up my p.b again. For the perch I'll stick to the same tactics as this year, stickfloat or small live baits. This worked well this year and I hooked a few bigger perch than I landed.

I have a few waters in mind for zander these are about a 250 mile round trip so I'm hoping I can bag a few and make the trips worthwhile.

Happy new year and tight lines for 2015.

Daz.

Last session of the year

Having spent the best part of the last week wrapping presents and then building toys I hadn't had any spare time to get on the bank. This morning I managed to sneak out for a few hours, with the aim of landing a pike or two. The river seemed ideal, nice colour, good level but the water was very cold (2.5C).

Over the four hours I was out I tried a few different areas and various different baits but didn't get any interest. Despite the blank I thoroughly enjoyed the morning as there was plenty of wildlife to keep me interested, a buzzard, grebes, woodpeckers and unfortunately a few cormorants.

I took the back roads home, so I could do a bit of a recce on the way. The roads were still icy and I passed a car that was being recovered from a farmers field, 'dickhead' I thought as I went past. No more than a mile later and I'd went off the road as well!  I hit a patch of ice just before a bend, no brakes, no steering, luckily the verge and hedge slowed me down. After a bit of messing around I managed to reverse straight out. Luckily the jeep wasn't damaged, if I'd been in the car I would of needed to be recovered and probably would of had a large repair bill.

I was hoping for a better session to end the year with, but never mind there's always next time (most
probably Friday). This is the first year since I started this blog that I feel I've fished enough to do an end of year review, I'll try and post it before the years finished.