Sometimes when you go fishing there's a very fine line between success and failure. Often it's the weather or river levels that affect my fishing and even though you are doing everything exactly as you always do it's just not happening. On these days I still persevere and try other things to see if I can earn a fish, sometimes it even works and the rewards come. Wednesday though wasn't anything like that, it was just an unlucky day. Everything about it seemed exactly the same as Tuesday and I expected a fish, I was so close but this time lady luck and the fishing gods just didn't look kindly on me.
Only ten minutes in to my session and I hook in to a fish. It felt not too bad but the first few glimpses of it I presumed it was a jack, though as the battle went on and me expecting the fish to come to the surface, this time it didn't. I got a better look of the fish and all though it didn't look a monster it certainly looked a long fish and the sight of it's tail made me excited to get a look at it. It stayed low for a while and it started to feel a bit decent. With the fight virtually over I decided it needed the net and as I carefully pulled it towards me....what the hell.....the hooks have come out! I desperately attempted to scoop the pike up with the net but it was too quick and made its dash for freedom. I was so close, the fish had it's head over the net when the hooks gave. I'm guessing a low double but it's length just made me a bit less sure of what to actually expect had I got it out. Now I'll never know and sometimes the thing that hits me most at these times is the fact I didn't get to see the fish up close. I don't care too much about it's weight or that it's another notch but was really curious to see the fish in the flesh because it looked a bit different.
I fished on and twenty minutes or so later I hook another fish and it does the head down, tail flipping out the water trick on me. Not sure what that means? Well for some reason that is the sure fire way of escaping the hooks in this bit of river. I've no idea what or how they do it but when they nose dive and thrash their tails wildly they always seem to come off. Pfft!
It sure is a fine line. So close to having two fish in the bag yet I end up coming home with another blank.
Roll on Thursday!
Thursday
I was up at 5:15am but not for fishing, not just yet anyway, but for my shift starting at 6am. It was a bit chilly and the mist rolling in across the river made it quite picturesque. Had I been an experienced blogger I'd have been out with the camera for a blank space filling photograph, but I missed out on that opportunity unfortunately. By mid-morning the mist had cleared making way for bright sunshine. By the time I finished work at 2pm it was really quite pleasant and as I made my way to the car for my gear I even took my coat back off. The first day of March really was a bit of all right. I started to unpack my fishing tackle from the car and as I did so I heard the familiar sound of a magpie, screeching some random message to anyone who would listen. I did a double take glance and then realised that this magpie was sat in a tree roughly 25 feet from me and not only was he screeching away as loud as he could, he seemed to be screeching right at me. "Oh you are kidding me?" I said out loud as I reeled off the old children's rhyme. "One for sorrow.... you're taking the piss!".
At that point I may as well have put my stuff back in the car and gone home. To cut a long story short I didn't catch a thing and never even saw a fish. I doubt the magpie had anything what so ever to do with it and it was probably more to do with the water being down to it's minimum, being virtually crystal clear and the sun shine being so bright. I would imagine as a predator you wouldn't bother wasting your time in these conditions chasing something that can see you coming a mile off. The other alternative of course could have been that the pike had something else on their plans today.
After a while not catching I grabbed some lighter gear out of the car and put my waders on and headed up stream to some faster water. I switched between small spinners, small plugs and some small soft 4plays and various jigs. Wading out into the flow I could cast across to the far bank under some trees and I could cast down stream to slow work the lures up current either in it or just to the side. I was hoping I could pick up a perch or a chub which I've never really fished for here. I've caught a couple of small perch before on spinners while chasing pike, and I've caught some even smaller perch and small chub on maggot here so there must be something bigger but I couldn't tempt anything.
Friday
Day of rest. I had the plumber round fitting some new radiators and had to be home to pay him some pennies. There's also the rugby to go to tonight to watch my team most probably hammered by our local rivals. But don't tell the missus, I have plans to be up at the crack of dawn for a session! So all being well, the sun and the magpie will be no where to be seen tomorrow.
2012 pike tally
Doubles 6
Total 16
Largest 17lb
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