Just one day out in my own boat last week produced five pike in all, the smallest was around 11lbs and the biggest 14lb 10oz.

No doubt about it now, the fish are well into spawning. Several of them were very lean and showed obvious spawning damage. Patches of scales were missing and some had split fins and swollen vents. It was noticeable too that those which had spawned had lost that sheen we usually see on clear water fish.

Several other boats were out that day, thursday, but most of them struggled. The wind was strong and gusting making it difficult to anchor securely and the rain persisted all day. I had considered staying out and fishing into dark but by nightfall I was soaked, as was all my gear. I'm glad I had the cuddy to shelter under or it would have been really miserable.

I fished at Blithfield on saturday, my last day there this season. As with all the other days I blanked. It really hasn't been my year on there. In fact it's the only year I've fished and caught nothing at all - I didn't even get a trout!

No pictures this week, the combination of heavy rain and no fish has meant that I've kept the camera under wraps.