It was a cold morning, minus two on the display in the car and as we made our start to the day as daybreak began we had to battle with the rings of the rod and the reel freezing up, before eventually the sun came up and fought back the frost.Typically the fishing was as tough as predicted and between a dozen or more anglers there was just one fish landed to my knowledge, a pike of around 15lbs and not even a sight of anything else following in the depths. A tough venue to fish, yet you have to stay focused each casts because you might get just one chance and that fish could be a magical one.
I'm kind of confused as to how I feel right now. I'm not disappointed, because I didn't target a monster, knew it would be very tough and the result was what I predicted. Any fish, any fish, would have been a bonus. But days before I was already finding myself thinking, "what if?" While I was fishing I kept imagining that at any point I would see the shadowy figure of an enormous pike coming out of the cloudy depths. My mind seems to have been working overtime thinking up and dreaming up new monster pike. I'm used to my head constantly thinking about fishing and i've relived the lost twenties over and over, but this seemed a bit different today.
However the bit I'm confused over is how I would have felt had I caught the 15lb fish today. I'm happy with that usually. A 15lb river pike from my swim is greatly appreciated and I love to battle them. I don't doubt the 15lb fish today wasn't a nice fish either, but would you feel a bit deflated if this was "the one"? I've not fished Chew, the more famous big pike venue, but would guess that this is what many go through over and over again. In fact a couple of mates have just come back from there this week and I can only guess this is how they felt, because they didn't land the monster, the pb or the UK record. Is this what I want from my fishing? Do I want to chase the monster but run the risk of not enjoying the 6lb jack or the fighting fit mid double? Or do I stick it out chasing jacks with the odd big fish coming along every now and again? I'd say initially I love to fish for pike, with lures and any pike will do me and so long as I can keep getting results I'm happy. That said, I'm back on this place in a few weeks for another shot. Most probably it'll be a fruitless battle with the elements, mind games and the rest and unless a fish of twenty plus doesn't come out it'll be no doubt (stupidly) classed as a failure.
Early thoughts are that i don't think that I'll be finding myself fishing these trout reservoirs and big lakes all the time, hopping from one to the other in search of mythical beasts. My sensible head though says I should at least give them a go a couple of times a year, in moderation, just to keep the dream there because you never know!
2012 pike tally
Doubles 34
Total 213
Largest 22.5lb
Twenties - 2
Bonus Perch 54
Largest 3lb 12oz
Bonus chub - 1
Twenties - 2
Bonus Perch 54
Largest 3lb 12oz
Bonus chub - 1
I tried it and it wasn't for me. One or two mates have done well on these places, I always found myself totally out of my depth and wishing I was back on my local waters.
ReplyDeleteThe hard work doesn't put me off, it's trying to not have it in my head that only a big fish will do. I guess if that was my local water and not known for biggies then I wouldn't think twice of giving it stick to see what comes out but since I know there's something huge in there you can't get that out of your head when fishing.
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