Well that's me done until autumn

After the rivers close I usually have a couple of sessions on canals or still waters before calling time on my pike season. This time around I was planning on heading north to fish a large water for the first time. Not knowing a great deal about the venue the bait boat and sounder would come in handy, only problem being that I hadn't bothered to repair it.

What a pain in the arse !

What a pain in the arse it turned out to be, over 3 hours to remove the adhesive just to get inside the boat. Luckily the repair was easy enough, 2 minutes with a soldering iron and it was sorted. Seal with the correct adhesive and good to go for the next day. Somehow whilst putting it somewhere 'safe' to dry I slipped, the boat split and I ended up with thick black adhesive everywhere! Needless to say I didn't bother going the next morning.

A quick review of my 2016/17 pike season

Number of pike caught - 28

Number of doubles - 6 (19.02, 13.06, 12.06, 11.10,11 and 10.06)
Largest pike - 19.02lb (new p.b)

Pike on bait - 27 (14 on deads, 13 on lives)
Pike on lures - 1

Different venues - 4 (2 rivers, 1 canal, 1 drain)

Overall I'm pleased with how my season went, despite going through a period of losing a lot of fish I managed a reasonable number including a new best. The majority of my pike came from my closest river which isn't the easiest venue. On this river I'm generally happy to avoid the blank, I consider catching a double or landing more than one jack a good day. I have concentrated on this river for years trying to get a twenty, however I think I'm ready to move on.

I have access to two other rivers, both within a reasonable distance from home and both are generally easier fishing. Both of these rivers seem to hold more pike and in contrast to my closet river blanks seem less frequent. I have already been out for a few recces, visited a new stretch for the first time, and found a few deep holes with a castable sonar. Hopefully next season I can finally land a river 20, until then I'll be concentrating on my other nemesis, a specimen eel.