Small River Pike Fishing

After talking about sorting a river pike fishing session with my friend Oscar Bates for some time, I suggested that a roving trip on a particular tributary would be the best call for a catchup and the chance of a nice fish or two. On arrival at the small waterway, we could see the river bed in many areas suggesting that the water was very low and gin clear. We certainly knew that our work would be cut out to get a few takes. After acquiring a few baits to lip-hook, we started slowly roving our way through. On the second swim Oscar had a take and had hooked into a good perch, which was soon landed. My bait was left in the water and I then saw my float sail off. We must have found a pack of decent perch! Oscar's plumper fish weighed a little under 2lbs at 1lb 11oz and mine went 1lb 8oz.

A pair of beautiful River Perch!

Later on in, the session took a different turn when there was an accident involving my favourite feeder rod when we headed back to the car for lunch. Henceforth, we decided to leave all the excess feeder gear in the car and headed back out with a lot more roving flexibility. In the process of Oscar catching a few more small baits on his lure rod, we suddenly saw a pike come and flash at a particular perch Oscar hooked. Hoping we hadn't spooked it, I casted my float out and waited. Sure enough as the bait steadily settled into a steadier area within the swim, it slowly sailed under. I waited as I was only using a single hook on the trace before winding down. I had connected with the first pike of the day. It was only a 'Jack' pike but it certainly gave a great account of itself and displayed some fine colours.

A lovely streamlined River Pike!

Oscar and I were both overjoyed that we had managed to break the deadlock and roved on with a spring in our step. After covering a fair bit of water, we had now roved the entire stretch. Just as we were thinking of retracing our steps, Oscar sighted a decent pike sitting in a slack really tucked away. With the swim being an awkward one to get to, Oscar scrambled down with his rod and managed to beautifully cast the bait towards the fish. Just as the pike was looking at it, Oscar's bait mysteriously disappeared. We were both quite confused until I got a better view of what was going on and saw another pike was moving the bait in its jaws. Oscar struck and hooked into the pike, but as he was doing so the larger fish came into view and was either eying up the smaller pike or investigating the commotion. I couldn't resist to have a cast, considering the fish had moved into a perfect position to cast to. As soon as my bait settled into the water I saw the pike absolutely devour the bait with its whole jaw structure committed to engulfing the whole thing. Without any further hesitation I struck and we were in this bizarre scenario of having two feisty pike on at the same time! Oscar quickly landed his which was a nice Jack of a similar stamp to the one we had just caught, before kindly giving me a hand with the turbo-charged culprit I had hooked into, confidently chinning it after what had been a series of serious sprints!

A cracking small stream pike!

We quickly took this quick shot and released the stunner back to swim back to sulk at her snaggy home. All in all, it was an enjoyable session on the river with thanks going to Oscar for being great company throughout the day.

Tight Lines,

Tom

First time Piking in a while!

A tiny carp from a recent session on the river

With the rivers having been low and clear of late, the past few trips on flowing water have been far from straight forward. I was in actually sorting this blog out the other day and had a good look at what I had published since starting this little site. It is evident from the last couple of years or so that I have certainly neglected my perch and pike fishing in general, so I knew now was as good as time as any to go and do some pike fishing with the season having started. As I had only a few baits in the freezer, the session was always going to be a short recce which I didn't mind with limited time anyway.

After getting some work done, I decided to head straight for the lake. The morning had been rather chilly and I knew with the bright sunlight making an appearance that the pike could well be in a sluggish mood. On arrival at the lake, the largest lake looked the most attractive for the first cast. This was due to the fact that it was too quiet and I knew that breaking this silence with a deadbait offering could go down a treat. Having seen a strange swirl in a nice bay, as well as the wind blowing into it looked far too good to wander off elsewhere. Excitedly, I casted out a sardine offering to a more shaded part of the bay and started to tighten up my line to set the float. After the float had cocked and was set, I was pretty confused when my float suddenly seemed to have fallen flat. I tightened again, but noticed my float was moving unnaturally. I picked up the rod and realised that something had picked the bait up. After a second or two, I decided to wind down and strike. I connected to a good fish which made a prompt dive for the lillies on realisation that this was not one free sardine meal! Some vigorous charges towards the cover followed and luckily I managed to get the pike under control and the fish thrashed furiously on the surface. As I started guided this prehistoric creature to the net, I knew that this fish was at least approaching double figures with the girth of its back and decent length about it. Once she was landed, I readied my photography kit and sling, whilst a well earned revival was carried out.

A nice low double to start the pike season!

As a result of striking early, a nice and quick unhooking procedure was to follow. The fish weighed in at 11lbs 13oz, which was a nice start to the official pike season and hopefully one of a few fish that will make an appearance in the coming months. This was to be the only fish of the session, but it was certainly nice to have got my first proper pike from this particular lake and to have had one when the sun was getting up. I look forward to getting back out for these fantastic creatures as soon as possible.

Tight Lines,

Tom

July 2016 Update: Carp, Tench and Lure Fishing

A fine summer's evening

Last week, I decided to renew one of my Club Tickets to make the most of all the waters within walking distance from my home, and target stillwater species in conditions which are tougher from a river perspective. The species that have been on my mind of late are carp, tench and eels. I have also been contemplating getting into light lure fishing, which was also on the agenda for my local river. For the first outing, I decided to venture down for a short afternoon's session on my local club lakes after some carp and tench. As the light started to fade, and the workers on the peninsula of the lake had stopped strimming, I started to get some takes. The result of this was a few bream and tench, but sadly no carp were around to make an appearance in this duration. I think they key to catching these fish is to introduce some bait, so that the carp can potentially dominate the swim in their, at times, greedy fashion.

A powerful little tench!

On the next session, I set my stalls on another club lake to try and stalk a carp or two out. My choice of bait was a single piece of fluffy bread flake which I was hoping to trigger a couple of fish into slurping in. I arrived at the lake, brimming with enthusiasm as I saw plentiful carp, some of which were bathing and others were slowly cruising. There was also some slurping that was taking place with carp sucking naturals off the Canadian Pond weed. The first swim I chose, I saw a group of fish and a common which looked as if it was up for a helping of flake. After casting just over the fish and teasing the piece of ever-expanding bread towards the fish's path, a few agonising minutes were to follow. The fish carried on taking naturals off the weed and slowly made its way to my bait and paused. The mouth extended and sucked the piece of flake in. I let the fish take the bait and was baffled at the fact that I had managed to strike into thin air! This fish was well into double figures, which was a great shame as it would have been a lovely fish to start with. After missing another fish, cheaply getting away, I found myself right at the corner of the lake which was also thick with weed and a nice group of lilly pads. After drifting my bait to the edge of these pads, a small pair of lips came up and slurped in a medium-sized piece of flake. I struck more positively this time and connected. Despite this being the smallest fish that took my bait, the reward was a lovely dark little mirror.

An enjoyable tussle in the weed!

For the final session, I decided to head out and do some light lure fishing. Having chatted with a mate, Mark Lindsay, about fishing light jigs before, I decided to get myself a light lure rod and some braid for a 1000 sized reel. With the rod having not arrived yet, I decided to dig out a telescopic rod I had found in the garage from a previous holiday. After loading my reel with some light braid for some perch fishing and finding some abrasion-resistant fluorocarbon, I headed to a stretch close to home with some depth. This stretch is very weedy and boggy, but I knew that I was in for a chance of seeing some nice perch and pike in the gaps in the weed to cast to. After fishing a few swims and failing to tempt the perch, despite appetisingly pausing the lure in their field of vision, I headed to a stretch downstream of here. Within a very short amount of time, I had managed a few tiny perch which tend to congregate in this little pool which was certainly a start! Following the fact that I had seen a few little pike in the gaps in the weed and chasing minnows in the silty and stagnant areas, I decided to have a go for a few with my little jig. After getting a few chases, but failing to get a take, I casted the jig in a gap in the weeds which looked a likely area for a pike to be hiding. As the lure started to work, in light-speed a pike came out of nowhere and snatched the lure. The take was amazing through the braid, as you felt the fish crunch into the lure. With a quick strike, I managed to hook the pike comfortably in the scissors and it gave a wonderful little tail-walking scrap.

Maybe one day this will go from a minnow mincer to a duckling worrier!

It's wonderful with these small jigheads how easy it is to quickly unhook the fish and release them back into their watery home. I took a stroll onto a silty and stagnant section nearby and saw this tiny baby pike with a stunning green hue sitting boldly in the silt. With a little flick just over its head and the lure fluttering in its view the lure was absolutely devoured! With an energetic and lashing fight, it was lovely to see another one of these stunning juvenile pike in my hands. The immature markings on juvenile pike are wonderful to feast your eyes on, especially from my local chalkstream. By the time I had managed my third little pike, my lure had been bitten in half, so I felt with my family wanting to have some supper that it was a good idea to go home.

See what I mean about the immature markings?

Thanks for reading and tight lines,

Tom

Autumn River Pike Brace

On another kind invite from Clearwater's Ollie Johnson, I could not resist paying another visit to his local waterway after some river pike. After the one that got away last time being easily an upper double, the taste was in my mouth to try and catch a personal best river pike.

We arrived and bumped into Andy Little again, who was catching plentiful quality perch. He informed us that there was a big pike in the top swim, therefore Ollie and I went upstream to investigate. Pike were seen patrolling near a wall settling in the streamer weed close in from time to time. After one missed take, where a small jack dropped Ollie's bait, he very kindly let me have a cast. I flicked the bait very close to the wall and waited. Action was instant with the float bobbing down aggressively before starting to whizz across the water's surface. Just after Ollie informed me the pike was turning the bait in its mouth, I wound down and struck. From this moment the drag started screaming as I tried to cup the spool and slow the surging run, but with the agility and muscle of river pike, this was like a steam train and unable to be slowed easily. This intense battle became nerve racking as the fish swum close to the wall, trying to cut me off on the concrete. I eventually managed to turn the fish's head with some firm pressure and then guide it into the waiting net. I was a very happy angler as this fish was likely to be my personal best river pike. At 11lb 10oz, it was a new PB, which I felt was an overwhelming start to the day as quite frankly, I haven't had too many fights like this!

A welcome double on the first swim!

After this, Ollie and I rotated pike fishing and trotting but nothing more was to be managed apart from the inevitable game fish on this certain river. After photographing a pretty perch for Andy downstream before he had to go, he informed Ollie and I that there were some big pike showing in his swim. After Andy had packed his gear away, he pointed exactly at the crease where I had lost the big pike last time and had the scraper double from.

I flicked my paternoster rig out and waited. It was not long until I received my first take, but my nerves got the better of me this time and I struck early, meaning that the hook pulled out on this fish. After casting a few more times to get it perfect, I again waited and tried not to let my nerves get the better of me this time. I was holding the rod with the line in my fingers, and suddenly felt a bang through the whole of my arm, like an electric shock! This was followed by the float moving slowly before picking up pace and starting to dip under the surface. I gave this fish a few seconds and then wound down. On contact with the fish, the rod absolutely arched over, and all hell broke loose. I knew I was into a better fish with it absolutely rocketing off into the pacy current setting the reel's drag to absolute meltdown! With my adrenaline at critical level, I was shaking and at times losing concentration. With the weight of the fish and this current, the strain I had to put on was a lot more than I'd usually dream of. After one very hairy moment where the fish almost buried me into a nasty snag, I managed to steer the fish and it eventually managed to slide into the waiting net held by Ollie. Ollie and Andy recognised this fish and knew it would easily smash my personal best river pike and give my actual personal best pike a run for its money. After a quick unhooking, we zeroed the sling and weighed the fish. At 18lb 8oz it had equalled my personal best and smashed my river best. Andy kindly did the honours with some really nice photos and we watched the pike swim off resiliently which was very encouraging!

Nice big girl and personal best river pike!

Big thanks goes to Ollie for inviting me again on this beautiful stretch and his photography, as well as Andy with his advice and the nice shots!

Tight Lines,

Tom

Clearwater Chubber Floats and Opportunistic Piking!

My friend Ollie Johnson has just launched a new company called 'Clearwater' and has brought out some very good quality, robust floats. He has also kindly given me some to try out and have tested them on my local river with my favourite float so far has been the wire stemmed avon style float which is perfect in the larger sizes for controlling a bait in a turbulent swim.

Nice visible tip for fishing at some distance

On this particular session Ollie kindly invited me to one of his local bits of river and in the first swim he had located some nice chub up in the water skulking about, as well as some good specimen-sized roach gliding on the clean gravel run. We also noticed some nice dace about. The swim was a steady glide formed by a snag with a confluence coming in at the rear end. As Ollie was fishing at distance he chose one of the Clearwater Chubber Floats and opted to fish maggots on a size 18. After spraying maggots for a good 15-20 minutes Ollie casted out, but by this point we noticed some dark shapes emerging that were not there before which were some good-sized pike.

Trotting into the slack to begin with

The roach, chub and dace were now nowhere to be seen, therefore Ollie wandered downstream, just below the crease and fished at some distance on a quite shallow, gravelly run and instantly was catching some nice dace. The float was standing out beautifully and you could clearly see that Ollie had good control due to its buoyancy. After giving it a good forty five minutes, Ollie managed a few more dace and grayling but the larger fish that were located had clearly cruised off and noticing some nice pike in the swim, Ollie kindly offered me a shot in catching one. As we were sorting out the gear, Andy Little, who is a good friend of Ollie's, came over and had a chat with us before he headed upstream to target some perch, which was certainly a nice surprise!

Hooked a dace!

After catching a small dace livebait, I flicked it out into the crease on a paternoster, on Ollie's instruction, and waited. Within 10 minutes, if that, I saw a pike come and seize my bait. I didn't decide to give it too long and wound down to the fish, it was nice Jack pike but on one of the first head shakes he managed to slip the hook. Amazed by the instant action, and with a bait still on the hook, I made the same cast again. The second take came very quickly and this time I let the fish run a bit as it was only on a single treble trace.

About to wind down into the pike!

After a few seconds as the fish moved to the back end of the crease to the shallow water, I wound down and was into a better fish. Although it wasn't fighting particularly hard it was a big dead weight and after pulling it through the weeds and seeing it emerge, it was certainly an upper double and at one final thrash by the net it managed to shake the hook out, I could not believe it. I was rather disappointed as this was certainly a much better fish and would have smashed my personal best river pike, but not feeling disheartened we got the float rod out to try and catch another livebait.

The one that got away!

The first chuck resulted in a minnow which was certainly a good size for a perch livebait and certainly one we couldn't waste. After chucking the bait and letting it settle under the in the near bank slacker area, the float was gone in seconds and Ollie struck into a lovely little vividly coloured perch. Although the fish was not going to break any records, it gave a great little scrap.

Hooked a perch!

After this Ollie had a phone call from Andy. He was telling us of a big pike (around mid-20) upstream which had been attacking the perch he'd been hooking. Without hesitating we headed straight up there! On arrival at the swim Ollie sticked on another small livebait, exactly where Andy had said the pike was attacking the perch he hooked. We were hoping the pike was going to make another appearance at some point but we were slightly unsure as it had certainly taken a fair few perch off Andy's line.

Whilst we waited for a take, Ollie got his float rod out again and attempted to catch some roach, but all that could tempted was large trout which not only caused a disturbance, but were much more obliging than the roach we were after, therefore probably driving them away. After watching Andy continuously bagging beautifully conditioned perch, Ollie and I opted to also give it a go and after catching a few livebaits we trotted them to likely looking areas and where we could see the perch and takes were instantaneous!

One of a number of quality perch for Andy

The chubber floats were fantastic for this, as they are not dragged by the minnow livebait on the end so the takes would be easy to detect. Another advantage is that you could literally let the float control the livebait by casting out and letting the current sweep the bait wherever it would and the it would perfectly settle in the slacks on this particular swim where a number of perch are lurking and patrolling, leading to savage takes!

Beautiful vividly coloured perch for Ollie

After a few more thoroughly enjoyable hours catching plenty of perch and having a nice social with both Andy and Ollie, we decided to head back to the swim where I had lost the pike. Unfortunately the bigger pike in this swim did not make an appearance but I'm sure that's one of a number of pike on this stretch which has either Ollie or Andy's name on it!

The light's starting to go, prime roach time!

Ollie brought down his trotting gear and fished below me and managed a few nice quality little roach, dace and grayling, but the question was where had the bigger ones disappeared off to. After catching another livebait, I flicked the paternoster to the same place. After 15 minutes or so, I had another take where this time the pike sat on the bait, but after giving it a bit of time, I wound down and struck into another nice fish which certainly gave me quite a battle - managing to successfully weed me a couple of times and shake its head like mad when it came towards the bank, we thankfully managed to get the this one in the back of the net. Although it wasn't massive, it was a nice result as I had managed to lose quite a few, and the markings were absolutely stunning on this fish.

After a quick photograph and release it wasn't long until another livebait was caught which I quickly hooked up as a last ditch effort, and flicked it back into the same spot - this one was on the money. The float absolutely sailed away instantly. I gave the fish a few moments to spin the bait in its mouth and run with it, then I wound down and set the hook. This fish stayed nice and deep and taking it steady I slowly guided it to the bank, by which time the fish had really woken up and starting thrashing in the shallows and charging off at speed tearing line off the reel. Hoping the hook would stay proud, I gave the fish some stick and Ollie kindly netted it for me. A quick unhooking was to follow and it weighed in at just a double at 10lbs on the nose - not massive for many's books, but my second river double which I was really made up about. It was also in good shape and again, had stunning colouration.

By the time I got the fish back, I realised it was time to pack up as my mum had arrived, but it was a fantastic session and a big thanks goes to Ollie for taking me to the stretch and showing me a spot with a few nice pike lurking about!

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Tight Lines,

Tom Aldous