A change is as good as a rest

I'm not quite sure that after my last blog I actually got out what I wanted to say. It looks like I babbled on for a while, but the point I was actually trying to get out was that since the rivers have closed and I've been forced to go elsewhere, I'm absolutely fed up of bumping into first class idiots on my other venues. For Christs sake someone shoot them all. There, I said it!

I was wide awake at 4am this morning, the missus has just had a wisdom tooth out and is in a bit of pain. She was awake and it doesn't take much to wake me when I'm already half thinking about getting up early to go fishing. I quickly checked the skies and all though grey, it didn't look too bad. I could be out and back before anyone in the house got dressed so off I went. I decided against my usual close season spot. Too many idiots as it is and then if you add me throwing lures at it all day the poor old pike aren't going to get a rest. So I decided on another venue for a change. I parked the car up just as the heavens opened, and boy did it come down. I sat there, five minutes, ten minutes. There was no point getting wet before I'd even started so I sat tight listening to morning radio and the heater on full whack. Twenty five minutes later the downpour had finished and it looked as though I should get off and take the risk. Walking to my pond, I spotted three lads walking towards me. What the hell are they doing out here at this time, they had no fishing tackle or anything on them. They just looked dodgy at this hour. As I approached I gripped the pair of pliers tightly that were in my coat pocket. A friendly hello from them and then straight on to fishing talk. These lads were already fishing and had been for a few days. They were just nipping for some food while the others stayed and watched the tent and fishing gear. We parted ways, them heading for the shop and me heading for the pond. After a hundred yards I stopped, turned round and walked back to the car. There's no way I'm going to go to this place when it's already full of idiots, and yes they were first class idiots at that!

I spent my morning at home catching up on all the TV my Tivo box had recorded for me. Robson Green and Matt Hayes just gave me the hunger to go fishing again and just after lunch time I had figured out where I was going to go to pass on an hour or two. I'd thought about this place some time ago but never ever fished it, I'd passed it and it looked fishy and I'd heard the odd rumour there were pike in but I hadn't even walked along the place or asked around on the forums. I just chucked my gear in the car and went for it. On arrival it did look well. A local canal which doesn't have too much traffic on it and even then they are only smaller vessels. There were no obvious signs of pegs and it wasn't that straight forward to get to the canal edge. I'd luckily decided to put the waders on to help stop my trousers getting soaked in the long grass, and it worked a treat. At least this canal had a bit of growth on the bank sides, with reeds and weed beds scattered around, it gave me a few features to target. The first couple of pegs produced nothing and I was already starting to wonder if it was worth the effort. No one else was fishing this place, that was obvious, maybe they knew something I didn't. But I'd seen signs of smaller fish so that gave me hope, there was at least something in and it looked too fishy not to keep going.

I'm so glad I stuck at it. Not too long later I'm playing my first fish from this new place. A decent scrap too for a jack, but before long I've safely got it in the net. A quick photo and I'm back in search of Esox with a smile on my face. Nothing more from this spot but then next peg up produces a flash as another pike has a go at the lure. Now this place has my attention, what else could there be in here? I work my way up the canal, creating a peg as I go along, often fishing from awkward spots but I'm always comfortable I can get a fish out from it before I start. After walking a mile or so I've now had three pike and another three or four hits on top. There's certainly a few in the place that's for sure. I decide to head back, and fish all the same pegs again and I pick up another fish and a couple of misses.


Four pike, that's not bad for a first effort, but I'm not finished there. I spot a follow but this one isn't a pike it's a stripy perch. He has a go at my lure but we don't connect. I quickly switch from my 13cm ghost silver lip lure, which is pretty much all I've been using lately, to a 9.5cm soft 4 play in roach pattern. This should help me bag a perch I'm sure. Slowly jigging the tiny lure through the area where I suspected they were, I was ready for a perch, and then bam! The lighting fast hit of a pike, which turns out to be my biggest of the day, weighed at 8.5lb. I then managed to pull out another pike with the small soft 4play lure from the same spot, bloody typical isn't it! 

Working my way back to the car I manage one more pike, just a tiddler this time but it shows me there's a good stock of pike in this place. Last swim and I manage to miss two more pike. Both I felt were solid for a brief moment but then nothing. Seven pike banked but it could easily have been more like fifteen. I did spot that some of the fish were very small jacks and that explains some of the misses, as for the others, well that's fishing it happens. I decide to make this last swim my final one for the day and it ends up giving me my biggest smile of the day. Finally a perch on the lures, I haven't had one for months. I suspect my lad will be coming back with me to this spot, armed with a light lure outfit. He's never caught a perch yet and wants to grab one on the lures.

Seven pike and a perch, I'm well happy at that but the best thing about it, not an idiot in sight. No other fishermen, no dodgy fishermen, just a couple of dog walkers and not one dead fish was washed up in the side. This is more my kind of fishing. Thank you fishing gods!

2012 pike tally

 Doubles 11

Total 50

Largest 22.5lb