Disastrous Start

Well the new pike fishing season has been under way for two weeks now and to be honest, I was rather hoping to catch something worthwhile before posting to the blog. Truth is though, I've had a succession of blanks followed by something even worse - read on!

First it was an experimental trip to a new water. This is a very big lake which I had had my eye on for a while. Formerly run by a trout fishing club, they have had to let it go and it's currently free fishing. Access is very poor for a variety of reasons but I did manage to get on for a few hours and fished with both baits and lures. To cut a long story short, I caught nothing and didn't even see a pike but it's early days yet. Lovely spot though and I'll definitely be back.

Next it was a trip to Oxford to fish a large reservoir with no track record. Twenty of the country's finest pike anglers were allowed on for two days to assess the potential. The result? Another blank - for everyone! Still, at least I blanked in very good company and at least we all know not to bother going back. It's not an attractive water, being just a concrete bowl and it's heavily stocked with trout, some of which I caught. The picture shows a series of buoys which mark barley straw bales, meant to keep blue-green algae down. They don't work, the place is full of the stuff.

A trip to record water Llandegfedd came next. I went with my old mate Grant Everson who appears in the picture. It was yet another blank after two days of very hard fishing. Only five pike were caught in total over the two days so it appears "deggy" is not up to its best just now. The company was good though and it helped me get my boat fishing gear straight for other trout water fishing that's just around the corner.

Last of all came a trip to, erm "a river", somewhere in Britain. At last I caught some fish, but really blew the chance of a biggie. The two I caught took a livebait and a bulldawg and both weighed around seven pounds. I had a take on a mackerel though that left me shaking rather. The fish picked up the legered bait and barely moved with it but I wound down and struck immediately. It was a very snaggy swim and I knew I would have to "hit and hold" if I had a chance of getting a fish out of it. The 3lbTC rod and heavy line made no impression on this fish however and despite heaving as hard as I dared I never gained an inch of line. Indeed the pike made the sanctuary of the snags and I knew I was in trouble. There were several minutes of see-sawing back and forth with the fish stuck in the snag but it was hopeless, it wasn't coming out and eventually, the 30lb trace snapped just above the top hook. I was gutted. It was a very big fish, that I knew and not only had I lost it, I had left hooks in it.

I HAVE to catch that fish now. I know where it lives, I know it's big and I need to remove that trace.