Effort equals reward

Heard it loads of times, said so myself plenty. Sometimes you forget and expect it to just happen. Sometimes you forget and go home without giving that one last push. Sometimes you push harder than ever but it just doesn't happen and you're thinking, "effort equals naff all" so stop kidding. Fishing can be full of clichés and a roller coaster of emotions at times.


I usually save a few days holiday to the back end of the year, just in case there's a kids school panto to go to or something along those lines. Seems this happens less now my two are older, which has left me with a couple of days holiday still to take before the end of the year. "If you don't take them, you'll lose them" claims the boss, who probably rolls a few over in to next year. So when to use them? I need to put them in a week or two early so I get the nod, but then that means it will most probably piss it down just before and I'll be sat at home bored stiff all day, watching the river levels on line and trying to work out if 14 feet of extra water in is still worth a go. My other major problem with putting in a days holiday is everyone seems to find out and then ask me to take them to the airport, baby sit, wait for the postman and all sorts and my day or two off is ruined. The Mrs doesn't mean to, but to make sure she didn't let it slip that I had a few days booked off I didn't even tell her until the night before. Need to know basis, and I felt no one except me needed to know.

I was up at two hours before light which meant I was surfing the web, checking the weather and river levels one last time. It had to have rained up in the hills, it always does when I have the day off. But no, all is well and apart from a bit of blustery wind I should be fine. Turned out to be pretty mild and even though I'd dropped one layer I still had another too many on, which meant I was stashing layers of clothing along the river bank. No one hardly comes here so I was sure they would be still there when I got back. Looking back along the bank from a distance it wasn't that easy to spot my camouflage gear, hopefully I'd remember where I'd left it.

Wow, some of these swims look spectacular. If there isn't a fish in here I'll eat my hat. The hat tasted a bit dry and like cardboard. Jesus fecking Christ I'm knackered here, where are all the fish? The bank is covered in soft mud, I'm having to climb down and then back up to get to each swim. I put my bag on the floor and the next time I look around it's rolled down the bank. As I clamber back up the bank the mud is sticking to my boots and I'm now carrying an extra two stone on my feet. Who's bright idea was it to book the day off work? It would be easier at work. I look back at where I started out and it's a bloody long way back to the car. Head down I trundle on, struggling with slippery bank side and scraping more mud off the boots. I was giving each swim a good go, with trusted lures both big and small. Smaller first just to try and find any fish before chucking a lump in to see if the pike were about. Effort equals reward my arse.

I headed back to the car. It seemed to take me ages. I usually walk pretty fast but paced myself or I just knew that by the time I got back I would be shattered. All this gear, all these layers of clothes and it's stupidly mild for a winters day. Finally I was at the car and I was down to my boxers. The thermal under layers were off and I was now down to my fighting weight. I sat in the car and necked a full bottle of coke, all the time trying to hatch a plan. As I drove I was eating and the plan was still hatching. I was at the point where I didn't have a clue what to do. I didn't feel confident in any of the local spots I'd been fishing and pretty much nearly threw the towel in. For a moment I was Sandra Bullock, "stay on or get off, stay on or get off?" and then Keanu finally made the call and I was off to my next spot.

I hadn't fished here in a good while. I picked up the pike rod and went to catch a pike, I was determined now. Food and drink had refreshed me and I was ready to go at it full speed again. There was a bit of a shallow pool, probably about four feet deep just off some fast water. Typical ambush spot in the summer but would a pike be here now? First cast through and something rolled on my lure and by the looks of it, a pretty decent sized fish. I flicked back out my trusty Squirrelly Burt and as it came past the same spot the water erupted again and for a brief second I didn't feel anything. Was the pike on or just doing another half arsed hit. I felt the smallest amount of tension start to build in my line and I lifted the rod in to the fish. It thrashed and rolled before I quickly slid the net under a really well marked fish. Get in, finally a fish!

17lb pike - Musky Mania Squirrelly Burt

So a fish in the bag and I was feeling good again. Amazing that just one fish is all it takes. I'd have taken a jack but a fat seventeen pounder has me bouncing. Not for too long though as I'm back struggling up and down steep muddy bank sides and for the next hour I'm having no more luck. Just ahead where the river comes towards a bend there's a bit of a decent slack. That will do me I'll have a few chucks here and then see how I feel. I can at least have a rest, food and drink and then ponder whether to keep going or make my way back. I've no idea of the time by now but I can tell there's probably a couple hours of day light left at most. With a half hour walk at least back to the car, then a drive to a new spot, I'd need to get it right or I would be wasting these last two hours of daylight. Forget that for now, let's have a chuck in here and see what happens first. It looks a decent spot to me anyway.

14lb pike - Musky Mania Squirrelly Burt

What a super looking fish. Nailed the Burt after two or three casts. Top result, I'm over the moon now. The mornings hard graft for nothing was well behind me now and I was throwing lures with a smile again. A feisty little jack smacked my lure and went mental before a bigger fish smacked my Burt and this time it was a fish of around twelve pound. Three pike in three casts now from this spot and who knows what else is in. I switched lures and put on the Savage Gear line thru trout. After about eight casts and nothing I popped the Burt back on and it was only a few casts more before I got a tap on the rod. I missed it but not long after I had one and then another and before long I'd done about four more fish, one being about twelve pound and then another stunner at fourteen. What a day, what a cracking finish and I couldn't ask for any more.

14lb pike - Musky Mania Squirrelly Burt

This swim produced loads of fish for me, but I'd also had a follow from something that was bigger. It came in and turned away as I lifted the Burt out. Was I too quick? Would it have taken if I'd ave left it there? I'll never know and I didn't let it bother me. I might be re-living the moment in my head that night or thinking about it at work all week but for now I was just focussing on the lure and where it was in the water. Casting out to the flow and letting it slowly sink and then bringing it back at different angles to cover the whole swim. The rod went solid and immediately I knew. "Big fish, BIG FISH!". I still panic. It's all part of the buzz for me. That initial whack, a brief moment in time where everything is a blur before finally you realise what just hit. When it's a big girl, it's a mixture of emotions. I was loving this. I saw her and knew she was big, knew she was a twenty and I couldn't help but be in awe. It thrashed on the surface once, before diving towards my feet, then turned to go back out and slowly rose to the surface once more. Wow, what a moment. The gills flared and she shook her head again, what a fantastic sight. The net only just got her in and I was buzzing, absolutely buzzing. Effort does equal reward.

23lb pike - Musky Mania Squirrelly Burt

23lb pike - Musky Mania Squirrelly Burt

23lb pike - Musky Mania Squirrelly Burt

Here's the video from the full day. It has to be my best video to date by a mile. Takes you on my roller coaster ride and finishes in spectacular fashion. A memory for me to cherish and share with everyone thanks to the GoPro. Watch it, I guarantee you will love it.

Can't stop catching pike. Didn't I just say that?

So on to my second afternoon shift and more importantly, the fishing that comes before it. What fishing? What am I going to be doing? I had no idea and didn't have any one particular thing on my mind. I hate that. Often it turns in to doing something and then wishing I hadn't done that and done something else instead. Worst thing you can do is be caught in two minds or indecisive. I didn't bother setting the alarm but was still up at just turning 6am. I came down stairs, made a brew and sat looking at the interweb thingy. May be something will inspire me or I'll get an idea. At half eight I was still sat looking at the screen with my brew long since gone. I was in one of them can't be arsed moods. If I'm not careful I'm going to waste my morning. Our lass nudged me for a lift to work so with my fishing clobber on I dropped her off and then kept driving. First junction comes up, left or right? Next junction, left or right? I was making this up as I went along. I narrowed it down to a couple of places and then the next junction was the decider. Some dawdling twat on the inside lane made me choose the outside lane, it was settled.

On arrival I was still in ultra light mode and grabbed the gear without thinking. Because I'd had all those pike the other day  from the canal and had net problems, I chose the pike net this time. I know they are in here but never really given them much attention. I chucked a Burt in my bag also and grabbed the pike rod too. Not the best thing to do because for one, you have more stuff to carry and I'm forever juggling it all and then secondly I don't concentrate on one thing and always think the other lures would work. You need to stick to one style and make it happen, switching lure styles and making sure you have covered it all. After ten minutes with the ultra light gear I'd had one small perch. The piker in me was saying "get the Burt out, get the Burt out". Where were the perch? had all the big pike eaten them? I bet this peg is full of huge pike. Now I'm not focused on my perch fishing. Am I purposely trying to fuck up this morning or what with all this indecision?

I grabbed the pike rod and stuck on my clown of a Burt. I cast up the bank one way, then the other, nothing. This Burt is set up lovely, so it stops and then slowly dips its nose and then starts to slowly sink. The amount of time you can keep this lure in the water with each cast is fantastic. Time in the water is better than time out of the water. A couple of taps and then let it sink a little. If there are pike about, that rattle is sending out the message and one will be along very shortly. Another short tap and the Burt screamed out once more. There was something in distress and a pike was on it's way to find out what.

I saw a flash as the lighter underside of a pike turned and hit my lure, and in a fraction of a second the line was tightening. I reacted and the rod bent, I was in. There was a tail swipe on the surface and then the pike headed for the bottom ripping off some line. I felt like I was fishing blind having lost my polaroid glasses a week ago and not yet replacing them. I wasn't too sure how big this fish was but it felt strong. A few big tail swipes down low had the fish moving right in front of me from one side to the other but still no sight of the thing. As I put some pressure on, this lunge was stopped and the fish started to rise, as it touched the surface I was greeted with a nice lump. She didn't like it, thrashed her tail and shot across the surface. I think that was the last surge and I maneuvered her towards my net. A superb result and easily a good double.

Pike on Squirrely Burt

I slipped the big lass back and tossed out the Burt again, this time in a different direction. A few taps to make my Burt scream and then I let it hang. Another scream and again it was hit. The rod bent, there was an explosion on the surface but this time It stayed up near the surface. I could see this pike and it wasn't getting it's head down as I worked to get it in the net. A pike of about 9lb which I unhooked in the water. I lobbed the Burt back to the spot where the bigger fish came from. As if I was going to be lucky enough for another lump to be lurking there! I gave the rod a big tap and then just left it, Burt slowly sinking and out of sight. There was the tinniest of twitches on my line and I instinctively struck. The bend in the rod told me I was right to do so. Again this fish dived down and apart from a good bend I had no idea how big this fish might go. This fish went right across me as the other had before, and then as I bent in to it even more to turn it round the pike had other ideas. The spool span and line ripped out, this was a strong fish. I claimed back a bit more line and again a powerful surge ripped more line off. The first time I saw the pike it broke the surface and then with another surge it took line and headed deep again, though this time i think we both knew that was to be it's last lunge. This was another super fish and another big double, slightly bigger than the first fish.

 

Pike on Squirrely Burt

 It was now about ten to ten, I'd been here less than an hour and I'd had my fill of fish. I was soaked through from kneeling on the wet grass. A few casts later and I was ready for off. I'd cover much of the swim and was confident that the screams of my Burt were being ignored. I could have move off down stream, I could have moved to a new water but I was happy, happy with that result.



Here's a short video of the two big fish. Only a minute long as the footage captured wasn't fantastic, but you get a good close up look at them so that at least is worth sharing.

Musky Mania Squirrely Burt

Long time readers will have heard me talk about the Squirrely Burt before. A favourite lure of mine after being put on it by Woody. I also know this lure to be a favourite for Neil too. It accounts for plenty of fish between us and for me personally I know it's bagged me hundreds and hundreds of fish over the years. However some people are totally unaware of its existence while others own the lure but struggle to catch anything with it.

The thing with Burts is that they are often a little random out of the box. They aren't perfect and sometimes you have to tinker with them. I recently covered this in an article where I explained how I re weight my Burts. That is the one thing you need to do, take a bit of time and set up your Burt to suit your water. Having a few Burts, in my case usually at least half a dozen, I can set them all up differently to help me tackle lots of situations. Now when you add this to different retrieve styles too you have a lure that can do so much. You just need to spend time setting it up and getting to know both the lure and your waters.

After writing that re-weighting article I got out and fished. First time out I did some instructional work, capturing it on video and then went and caught a nice low double pike within minutes. I was all set to make a nice video when somehow I managed to delete all the files. This meant I had to wait a few days before I could get out to do it all again. When I did get out I had an even better time with the fish so the video ended up being split, a tutorial and one just full of pike action and a surface Burt video as a bonus.

I believe that with the article I wrote before, and the videos I made I have pretty much covered everything with the Burts. Spend time reviewing this information and watching the videos and I'm sure your dust covered Burts will be catching you plenty if you give them the time in the water they deserve.


This first video is the tutorial. Use this, along with this article, to set up the Burts to suit, and then get out and practice with them.

This second video is all the proof you need to give you the confidence that they do work, especially after having a tinker.

Finally, the third video shows you another way to use the Burts to have some fun. Straight out of the box, these lures are often a great surface bait.

Re-weighting Squirrely Burts

A couple of new Burts have arrived, thanks to Lure Lounge for super quick delivery. Two shiny new Musky Mania Squirrelly Burts. All my others are a mess with so many teeth marks. A super lure that bags me so many fish. But the thing with Burts is, not all Burts are the same. There are un weighted and weighted versions. These two are weighted. However, you usually need to tinker so that you can set them up to suit. That part is the fun part and also the most useful when you are on the bank. Because you can have four or five Burts that do different things. Now these two Burts I have already tested, bagged one fish, lost two and had a load of interested from fussy pike (coming up and rolling but not taking....aaaargh! lol). 

Both these Burts are shallow and didn't go down too far, may be two to three feet but that was hard work. The aim of a Burt for most people is to set them up so the tail is in the air and the nose is pointing down. On the down stroke of your rod, this will push the lure down in the water and you can work it to the required depth. With multiple Burts you can then add more or less weight so they sink, suspend or float on the pause. You can then have them set up to work varying situations you will encounter. I also keep one of these weighted Burts as is, so that it just works that 2-3 foot depth and this lure is perfect for shallow bays. Also don't forget the surface Burt, a slow retrieve of a Burt on the surface is a killer!

My two new Burts I wanted to add some weight to help set them nose down, arse up. One way is to drill the lure and pop some weight in, but I'm not going to cover that as I'm too impatient and I'm also usually pretty crap at things like this so I'd end up ruining a Burt. So the way I do it, and others, is to stick a bit of lead on. Simple as that.

The first thing you need to do is get some lead. Cut it up in to small random pieces and then it's trial and error to get the lure to do what you want. An easy way I find is to just tape a bit of lead to the nose of your lure and pop it in some water, luckily for me I have a garden pond so testing is easy. When adding some weight, you need to remember to add a wire trace and also consider that you will be using epoxy to fix the lead in place too. These two Burts are now ready to test.

In the water, these two are perfect for what I want. Nose down, tail up and floating. On the down stroke they will dive deeper, tap again and they go down again. On the pause they will slowly float to the surface. For me this is perfect for 6-8 feet deep water that could be snaggy. You can get it down but also know it will come back up out of harms way. The photo below shows how they sit in the water.

Final step is to mix up a bit of epoxy and stick the lead to your lure, remembering which bit of lead goes with which lure. You can see in the photo below, that mine aren't a work of art or anything. I'm not too fussed for a square lump on the front, pike aren't fussed either. However if you are bit more patient you can take time to shape the lead and round off the corners and even paint it up so that when finished it isn't such an eye sore. That's time on the bank though to me so I don't bother.

Final tips for Burt owners. They come with big hooks and seriously strong split rings. Designed for 50lb Musky so they need to be tough. If you fish places with no snags, that's not a problem. However if you fish snaggy rivers like me, then those strong hooks and strong split rings will have you losing a lure. So change the hooks to something like Eagle Claw 3/0. These will bend out of snags a little easier. You can also switch the split rings for some that bend out at 30 or 40lb.

Check the tail. Some of them I have bought in the past have not been fixed in and it will fall out after a fish or two. Epoxy is good for setting them firmly in place. These two from Lure Lounge seem fine. One last check, look for holes around the hook eyes. For some reason they aren't always covered and you end up with a lure that sinks fast when it fills with water so use that epoxy to fill the hole. Again, these two are spot on.

That's it, your Burts are now super fish catching lures. I know a few people who don't always get on with them and can't catch a pike. I promise you if you follow this guide your Burt will catch pike. That downward stroke followed by a pause, however long or short you want, will trigger a fish at some point. 

Big lures for pike

I forgot to put a link on here for this video I made a week or so ago. Pretty much me just sitting and talking about why I use bigger lures for pike fishing. It's not going to teach any of the experienced lads anything, possibly a few things I do differently may be. But for the beginner, novice and casual angler looking to improve their piking it should have in plenty. It's a long video so be prepared for that but it will help a few people I'm certain.

Link to video

Epic session is epic

Ooh, err... What do I write here? It's a little embarrassing to say the least. I know loads of people who would be happy with one fish as it's often a struggle to catch, I'll happily take one fish as I know how tough it can sometimes be..... but then this happens.

First week of the season and I'd had some fun on the river then by Friday I was ready for a change. I didn't want to do the same thing and also wanted some new scenery. I scratched my head as to where to go and what to do before finally deciding to go look at somewhere I hadn't fished for about nine months. I expected perch and pike and quite fancied a steady session on the ultra light gear. Catching a few perch on my small soft plastics and cranks was the plan. Next to a bit of flowing water and a bit of sun there was nothing to beat it right now, well that's what I thought anyway.

I got my small box of lures sorted and put them in my bag, a drink to keep me hydrated but last minute I also decided to take the pike gear so chucked in a few bigger pike lures and took both rods. It gave me options and since there was a chance this place hadn't been fished this year yet, who knew what could be waiting. I was to be throwing the ultra lights but if I needed to I could have a bash with the pike lures and see if anything bigger was about. I also had a back up plan of a couple of spots to drop in on the way home should fishing be a bit steady. Ha ha, steady!

Scything my way through the grass and nettles I was a happy bunny, it seems no one had fished here yet, great stuff. I plonked my gear on the ground and stuck on a Zman shad. I have a sneaking feeling there's a decent perch or two living here. I've never had anything too big, possibly a couple of twos if I remember right. These shads are quite long, maybe four inches and have a nice paddle tail wiggle. That could bag me a big perch if there's one here I was thinking. I had a couple of knocks but maybe I was just bouncing bottom, but then the rod tip bent round and I was hooking in to a jack pike. Maybe five or six pounds and super fun on the light gear. Well at least the lure works and I wasn't going to blank today. Great start.

Zman shad

Happy with the fish I stuck with the same lure in the hope a perch might be about. I felt something pluck at it, then saw a tail but couldn't tell if it was a perch or a small pike that had nipped at my lure. Then the rod bent again and I was in, but then it was off. Oh well, keep going lad and before long I was bagging fish number two, another 5lber and losing another. A pleasing start. I fancied throwing a few cranks so put on a Mark Houghton crank and no sooner had it gone through the swim it was nailed by yet another jack pike. A few more retrieves and I was in again, great sport this. I switched to another MH crank and caught again and then again. (Sorry about the poor pictures)

Mark Houghton crank

Mark Houghton crank

After about seven or eight pike I was now sure there were no perch about. Catching pike on the light gear is great fun, but if that's what you keep catching then you are not geared up for it. The 25lb wire traces don't last for ever and can become kinked after a fish or two. The jacks thrash around a lot and there's more chance of something going wrong. Add to this the fact it takes much longer to get a fish in on the light, soft rod as even a jack has tremendous power and when it goes you have to let it go. The clutch is set light, the rod is soft and all you can do is take your time. The most sensible thing is to use stronger gear, and that's what I did. I got the big rod out, big lures and that is much better suited to getting the fish in with no fear of a kinked trace snapping or over playing a fish. Well done me for being arsed to bring a second rod. Maybe the bigger lures would winkle out a bigger fish two, who knows?


I think I put on a Savage Gear lip lure first. Wiggled and jerked it through the same spot and it wasn't long before another jack obliged. Then another, and another and another. This is a bit mental to say the least. Fish after fish after fish. I changed to a Squirrelly Burt and it was fish after fish after fish. I'm glad I had my GoPro switched on for this as no one would believe these fishy tales otherwise. Fish, fish, fish. I've now lost count. I've now got arm ache. I've now caught an unbelievable amount of pike.

Savage Gear lip lure

Most pike were between four and eight pound. I managed just a couple of bigger fish. Though I never weighed them they were a little better stamp of pike. Nothing huge but both were low double. They were solid muscled fish and made a nice change to the crazy jacks. It didn't really matter what size any of the fish were today though, I was in a bit of a daze after this as I would imagine anyone else.

 

I got in the car just short of three hours after getting out of it. I sat and tried to work out how many fish I'd caught but gave up. I realised that I could count them all up at home when I checked out my GoPro footage. I must remember to add on the five pike I caught after my memory card had filled up though. Usually if that were to happen I'd switch on the wifi, iPhone and the app' and delete any of the footage without fish on. However I figured that was pointless as pretty much all the clips would have some kind of fishy action on. Back at home I was sifting through the videos and the tally was rising. I ran out of time as I now needed to be at work so I had to wait all day, not knowing the final count until later that night when I could finish checking the last dozen or so clips. More fish to add to the tally, not forgetting the misses too, there were another ten or so hits where I didn't make contact.

Thirty five pike in less than three hours. I wasn't boat fishing all day, I wasn't on a large lake or anything. There' weren't two of us fishing. It was just me, 80 yards of water and a stack of pike. The number of times I've said it, right place right time.

First weekend of the river season came and went and I didn't even go out fishing after Fridays spectacle. I might get the stick float out next week and just catch some silvers....

My start to the river season.

All through the closed season, I like many was waiting, and waiting and waiting for June 16th. At times it seemed like it was years away but finally we're all back, it's great to be back.

Savage Gear lip lure

Luckily for me I have been on the dreaded afternoon shift but I don't always mind it too much as it allows me to get out on the bank most mornings and come the 16th I was up and about early doors. I'd got a few things to attend to mid morning so I could just get in a few hours of fishing and enjoy myself. Last year I bagged a twenty in no time and the year before I did ten fish in less than an hour or something so this year I was expecting to come back down to earth with a bang, as far as opening days go. Going with that mentality put me in the right frame of mind for a bad session, and just to go and enjoy being back on the water. Once I'm there, stood by the river there's really no rush, no urgency and no waiting any more and I actually just enjoy it. On that first morning it feels as though I have all the time in the world to do whatever I want and there's no rush or no need to catch. A fish would be nice though.

It wasn't to be a spectacular session fish numbers or size wise. I had a few half hearted follows to the point where you were tapping the pike on the nose with the lure and it wouldn't take. I knew it was going to be one of those days after that. I ended up missing two fish but landing three. A happy return, if not as spectacular as previous seasons, but I'm well happy to be back.
 
After that first session I was in a totally chilled out mood. There was no rush to catch a monster or have an epic session and so no major plans were made for the following day. I just decided to get up and go fishing and see what happened. I then spotted a photo on Facebook where Nathan Edgell had caught on his surface frog. Now I normally use those on still waters simply because there's usually weed and the waters tend to be of a good depth and clarity but I decided to have a crack on the river. So far this year for a few months at least there's been no massive floods and so the weed has had time to spring up in a few spots. Somewhere to aim for and to expect a pike or two laying up. So that was the plan, have a chuck and see what happens and I wasn't to be disappointed at all. After ten minutes I was shaking like a shitting dog. I'd had four surface hits and managed to not hook one of them properly. They were on and then off and crashed about in spectacular fashion.

I did hook one properly, had it on, played it right to the net. As it was just coming over the net, the pike thrashed it's head and the frog shot out. Oh so close! But with this kind of fun there wasn't even any need to land a fish, I honestly didn't care. If you've never done it before, get some heavy braid, a strong rod and a couple of frogs and just go out. Cast out, wind in and try your best not to strike at everything you see, just react to the rod being pulled out of your hand, that's the time to set the hooks. Get yourself over to Lure Lounge and grab a couple of Koppers Live Target frogs as now is the time for surface fun.

After the mayhem, it went quiet on the surface so I had a bit of time left, switched to the usual and bagged two pike, one on a Burt and one on a SG low rider. Two fish in the bag, loads of spectacular fun on the frogs and another great morning.

Squirrelly Burt

Koppers Live target frog

So I'd now got a bit of a frog bug. The adrenaline kicks in, you get the shakes and the visual spectacular show is out of this world. I had to go back and have another go just to get my fix and that's exactly what happened. Wednesday morning I was back with the frog for an hour and again I was in for a treat. Surface to air missiles were being launched from a submarine in my peg. Ha ha, you have done some frogging haven't you? Hooking up with these hits isn't the easiest, I expected to lose far more than I bagged but I was now due a fish to the bag and finally it happened. Success on the river with my Koppers Live Target frog. I even managed it again the next day landing another pike, a two toned fish I know I've caught before so that was pleasing to see again.

Koppers Live target frog

All in all a good first few days of fun on the river and I'm glad to be back. There's going to be more like this, more options and it's just going to get better and better, I can feel it in my water!

Savage Gear lip lure

Perch

I've made a Youtube video of some perch action. I need to do more detailed things later to show the tackle and lures used close up, how to go about using it all and catch some perch. But in the mean time I've done a brief look at perch fishing using lures to help with the latest craze that is sweeping the nation. It includes perch both big and small, and the big ones are from my recent outing with Woody with the three pounders. Anyway worth a look so thought I'd share with you guys first. Hope you enjoy.

What to do when the rivers close?

With the rivers closed me and Woody decided for a steady session on the canals trying to find some perch. We know that they are nice and fat now, so could be a big fish or two if we're lucky but we also know that every man and his dog are at them. With the light gear we wanted some light fun but we also took the jerk bait rods just in case as there's a couple of locations along the way that throw up pike and we can't resist them sometimes.

We started at a lock, obvious feature, and the first few flicks produced nothing so we moved on and had a crack around some boats, always a good feature if you can find them. The odd tap but nothing to start with so we got up and personal, dropping the kopytos right in the gaps between closely moored up boats. It's only a matter of time before we get a fish or someone from inside a boat comes out and has a whine. I dropped in a tight spot that Woody was in and just dropped the kopyto below the rod tip, I jigged once and it was nailed by a plump fat perch possibly touching two pound, though I never weighed it. As is the case when me and Woody are fishing, as one guy is playing a fish he points to the same spot and the other one drops in. You never know, often there is another perch or two hanging about. His kopyto was nailed instantly and a fat perch, busting at the seems was in the net. Smaller, just over a pound maybe but fat as hell. We're off!

Tactics carried on the same, in and around the next boats but only the odd small perch showed and after a while we were making or way back to the car, time to try a new spot we thought. As we neared the car, out pops an old woman from within her boat. In a loud, aggressive and damn right disrespectful manner she shouts "those better not come anywhere near this boat!"  while pointing and gesturing. We weren't anywhere near it and hadn't been. I replied with "good morning to you too my love" to which she barked back more aggressive crap. Again I said "good morning to you too love, how about you speak to us in a proper manner and raise your concerns, you might be pleasantly surprised at the response." She was just a miserable old git that thought she was lady somebody. After more words she threatened us with the old, "I'm phoning the police" to which me and Woody chuckled. There really was no need for the way she had handled this. She proceeded to explain to the 999 operator that she "was ever so sorry to trouble you" and that there were two fisherman and she had asked "nicely" to leave. Blah blah blah and then she finished with thank you. We were in trouble. Actually I kindly explained to the lady she had forgotten to tell the police where we all were. It would take her ten minutes to explain our location and she'd forgot to do that. Her act of pretending to phone the police didn't intimidate anyone and didn't fool us. We were on our way anyway so not long after toddled off. The police never did turn up. Some people really do need to learn how to speak to their fellow human beings.

We jigged a couple of other likely looking spots but never found any fish so we had to keep going to another spot we knew about. On this spot we fancied some pike and perch so took the light and heavy gear. Switching between both and trying our luck where we fancied it, leap frogging each other and swapping rods when something made us do it. We were both at one point throwing squirrelly burts (big pike jerk baits) about. We know there are often pike about and expected a take any time soon. There's also some nice perch along here and Woody commented, "I bet a big perch would take that burt easily" to which I agreed. Less than a couple of minutes later something smacked the burt. I struck and missed, cursed my luck but then said "I actually think that was a perch mate". It wasn't a big smack like a pike, so I cast straight back at it and brought the burt through and then bang, fish on! "I'm in" and Woody looked across and saw a jack, turned away and then heard me shout "get the net". When he looked back he saw the stripes, it wasn't a jack as he'd thought, so threw down his rod and came running with the net. In no time the perch was scooped up and safely in the net. Two super sized grins to match the super sized perch in the net. We jumped around like idiots, hugged each other and danced, it was like something off a Disney film. I'd stupidly brought the jerk bait bag and the net was too big to weigh the perch accurately so Woody watched the fish in the net while I ran back to the car, which was frigging miles away. About 50 yards short of the car I found a carrier bag hanging in a tree, that will do, so I then hot footed it back. We weighed the perch and I was gobsmacked when it went 3lb 6oz, what a result.

The "burt"

I stuck with the burt but can't remember if Woody was still doing the same. Fifty yards up I had another smack and this time it was a jack of about 6lbs. Finally a pike, by now I expected we'd had a couple of jacks. I guess they weren't at home today. Still with the burt I was bringing it in and as it neared my rod tip I could have sworn I saw something. I just stopped the burt below the rod tip and it ever so slowly started to rise. Whatever it was below was now not just a trick of the light rippling over the waves, it was a fish coming up and then I saw it. Another bloody great big perch. I didn't know what to do and it all was slow motion until finally the perch saw me, turned and dived back down. Holy cow, they love burts today.

Savage Gear Low Rider

We hit another jigging spot but again nothing produced so we turned back around and headed back to the car. We wanted food and drink now but couldn't walk past all that water without fishing. Woody had a small rapala on and was aiming for perch while I decided to stay fifty yard behind him and thrash the water with big lures, a Savage Gear 19cm low rider. From nowhere my lure was smacked and in seconds I saw another big perch on the end of my line. Woody was miles away with the net so I just scooped it up in one hand. It was a good two and after more smiles and amazement the fish was put back without a photo for some strange reason. I hope I don't sound like some snobby angler who doesn't like two's!(edit - grabbed a screen shot from a video I took)

Back out in front and Woody was thrashing the water with his rapala and then he got the hit, heart thumping moment, wondering what it was only for a jack of about five pounds to emerge. An enjoyable catch but not when you are only thinking of big perch at that moment. Then finally he had a bang and a fight he'd been waiting for and when we scooped up the 2lb 6oz fish we were well happy, another super fish.

We made it back to the car and I had my pasty with Woody his cat food/tuna thingamy bob and a drink to get us some energy back in. It was after midday now so we still had a bit of time to fish and set off in search of more.


A new spot produced a hit, a brief tussle and then what I thought was a perch shook the hooks free. A bit gutting but at least we knew we were on to fish again. A little further along all of a sudden all hell breaks loose. We were both fishing in the same spot. We both had small rapala shad raps on and casting at the same spot, a foot or two at most apart. Woody shouts "fish" and within a second I shout "double!". He was in to a big perch and he thought I meant I was in to a double figure pike, but in fact I too was in to a good perch. The net was nearer me and I whipped it under my fish. Woody had the foresight to have brought his pike boat net, so while my fish lay safe inside the net Woody worked his perch towards and at the last second I dipped one end and scooped up his perch too. A double hook up and two super perch sat in the net.

We danced around again like idiots. We've had double hook ups before but nothing in this league. The perch were unhooked and then rested in the net while we sorted scales and cameras. It doesn't really matter the weight, the fish today were fantastic but it is nice to know a weight as guessing can be way off. Woodys fish went 2lb 7oz, fatter than it looks there and then my fish was in the bag for a weigh and it went 3lb 5oz. Feck off, you're kidding me, another three!

Firetiger Rapala jointed shad rap

Covering more water we knew there was a chance of something else, hopefully another nice perch or two. Even a couple of ones and twos would be fantastic but after a bit of water covered nothing more came so when we reached a good distance we about turned and headed for home. We tried a few new things but then got back to the rapalas and back in to the same pattern of leap frogging and hitting any spot that shouted out to us. Three quarters of the way back and now fast running out of water it was nearly time to pack up and go home. However there was to be one last piece of magic to come. Woody was a little in front of me, twenty yards or so but his lure was towards me, and then all of a sudden, "I'm in" he yelped. I whipped in my lure and dashed up the bank with the net. I drew level with the fish and then saw it, a good lump with dark stripes and awesome spikes standing tall. I don't think Woody quite knew how big a perch it was just yet and I beckoned him to just angle the fish toward me, then scooped it up with the large net. This was another superb fish and at 3lb 7oz was the biggest today and a fantastic end to a storming day out. We had a couple of smaller fish, Woody one over a pound but that was it. We were happy and it was time to go home. Two jacks, a good sprinkle of 6oz to over a pound perch, five twos and three, three pound super stripeys. Another top day and one to remember. Missing the rivers much?

First comes the rain, then come the fish

I too thought that was an old wire trace, but happily it wasn't.

I'd not made any plans to go piking any time soon. The weather has been hot and not ideal for pike for a start. The few times I've been out I've taken the light gear just for an excuse to get out. Today I had plans...wait a minute, our lass had plans for me, which meant I wasn't going to be fishing. I should have had all the time in the world finishing work at 2pm but her indoors made a right mess of that. I probably had an hour or two spare from 3pm but it would be scorching hot and not my cup of tea to be out when it's like that.

Well that was the thoughts late last night. However I woke to see it had been raining, (apparently thundering all night but I never heard a sound as I slept like a new born royal baby). My first thoughts after realising shorts and a t-shirt were the wrong thing to be wearing in this weather at 5am on the way to work, were that there might be a bit of water in the river soon, and that might just get something feeding.

Too busy to think about fishing while at work I noticed it thundering again at 07:15 but then never really saw what happened the rest of the day. Walking to the car it was apparent I should have stuck to the t-shirt and shorts as by now the sun had won the battle and was making me sweat like a trooper. On arriving home I fed my fish and then plonked myself next to the PC and fired it up. I ignored the usual crap on Facebook, scanned the sport and the fishing forums and then suddenly I remembered the river. I quickly clicked on the river levels website to see my river hadn't budged, up to three hours ago anyway. I checked further up river and to my joy there was a few feet of water coming down. That would flush out a bit of weed, get the silvers and the rest feeding and maybe spark a bit of life in to the sunbathing pike. Right now might be the right time to get out and have a bash, if only I wasn't too late and if only I could find a bit of time. The missus got home from work and was met by me, a smile and wave and a "I'll be back before five and it won't spoil your plans". I just needed to get out on this tiny window of opportunity.

The river has been very low, lacking water, oxygen and anything else to make it worth a visit. I love to fish the river as it is running off after a flood. I've dropped on some good fishing when this is the case. I have had mixed success when the river is rising however. Though I wasn't fishing right now because the river was rising, it was because there was a massive change in conditions. I've also had good success when conditions have drastically changed. If I could get a bit of luck, the river on its way up, not too much colour, a little cooler water running in and also a little cooler weather (the thunder clouds were coming back now) I might drop on a feeding window.

I came for pike though still I tried a few small lures on the light outfit with no success. It was half hearted I'll admit as I was thinking "pike!" Since I wasn't out long I turned to pike lures and chucked a few around. There was no instant success, no apparent feeding spell and even though I hadn't fished the spot for a long time, the overgrown weeds on the bank confirmed that, no pike where here. The water was a foot up but still clear and it was still rising too. In fact it came up another foot in that hour I was there.

When the water comes up the river changes. Flows change, slack pools become not so slack, the current has a different course, there's lots of different things. An area of the river that has been low and shallow and pretty calm now was a foot or more higher and it had been cut in half, kind of like when your mum used to cut your sandwich in to triangles for you as a kid. Half of the space now had a decent tow on it with the other triangle a much calmer corner. If there are pike about, they're in this calm corner. I'll bet you a Squirrelly Burt I'm right too.


Five pike later and I'm over the moon. Not only did my quick thinking at home come good, once I got on the river a bit of water craft got me on to the fish. It was a mental hour of fishing, some great takes and all the fish were in good condition too. Two were about 8lb with the other three just over ten with one at twelve and a half pound. The last fish too was a bit striking in colour as the picture below shows. I didn't quite get the skin tones to show but the tail was a crazy orange colour. All the pike fell to the good old Burt, fished shallow and slow along the edge of the current and in to the slack water. If I can give you some advice, you should have been fishing today.

Bagging up with Captain Woodchucker (and Tike)

I've been lucky enough to go out a couple of times now with Neil and Woody on their boats and we've had some good days fishing. Even the ones which I'm told were very steady days were enjoyable for me since it was with a buddy or two, having a laugh and catching a few fish. I managed to get out again with Woody on his boat this weekend and it looked pretty promising for a few fish. Upon arrival the water was not too bad despite a bit of rain the day before. We reckoned the bit of rain would help more than hinder as it hadn't added much colour at all and since the rivers are so low, a bit of water pushing through might be good. Only one way to find out and in no time we were on the river. It's not the hardest job to get the boat sorted but now I know what my job is I can just go do it rather than be told everything by my captain, giving us a few extra minutes fishing time and that can only be good.


Ok, it didn't go quite to plan. As Woody reverses the car down the ramp to drop the boat in, my task is to simply walk along the jetty and hold on to the rope so the boat doesn't go sailing off down stream. As I made my way on to the jetty I nearly went arse over tit. My trainers skidded on something slippery and I only just managed to stay on my feet. Phew, I saved myself from embarrassment there. As Woody made his way down to the boat he asked "who's stood in the dog shit then?". Aww crap, I didn't quite get away with it did I? I've no idea if it was boat mascot and lucky omen Tike who had done the deed, but there was only two ducks in the area so If I was a betting man! Woody cranked up the engine and we were ready for off, apart from having to clear up a chunk of vomit on the boat carpet. Strike two to Tike! lol


So not the greatest start but we were now off and on to the water. Weapons of choice were the ultra light outfits which we would be doing the majority of fishing with though we did have the large lures just in case we felt the need/urge to use them. Clarity wasn't too bad, probably five feet of visibility which is good enough for the fish to hunt on sight and react to a lure flying past them and it wasn't long before we got in to the fish. We knocked up a couple of fish between us, small pike and perch and then Woody managed a clonking perch of two pound. Excellent start and things seemed promising for a good days sport. My captain proclaimed, "if we get ten fish before we clear this small stretch of water we'll be on for a good tally". We were about ten yards from leaving the little stretch when the tenth fish was bagged. A good day ahead was in store for us, but how good I couldn't possibly have imagined.


We continued along the river picking up fish after fish. A couple of nice perch around a pound sprinkled with some smaller perch and some small jacks. The weather was pleasant enough and it was great to be afloat on such a day. By the time we'd knocked up a few over twenty fish, it was still early morning and we had loads of water to cover. We were getting all the fish on jointed rapala shad raps in firetiger pattern but eventually we both switched around and were picking fish up on most lures we tried. We tried jigging kopytos in a couple of spots that looked fishy but didn't have any luck so it was back to trolling where we got in on the fish again. I couldn't take much more and had to dig in to my Ginsters steak pasty which was polished off by Tike who had been waiting patiently for some tit bits. He's a cracking little dog and makes me smile. A real character who seems at home on the boat. Switching from one end of the boat to the other, from one set of knees to the next. I can forgive this little lad for a bit of shite and a puke, he's ace.

It was starting to become difficult to remember how many of each and what lure we caught them on and even who had caught what so we just tried to keep a tally of fish to the boat. They kept coming and often a fish would be called by Woody as we passed a tree, snag, boat or feature. "5...4...3....2....1..." he would say and then fish on, right on time. "We're due a fish now" and then BANG, fish on! It really was like that. We passed a mark but didn't get a fish. A hundred metres up stream we switched to jerk baits and slowly floated back down river trying to entice a larger jack. It was slow though I did manage one jack on a squirrelly burt. We made the switch back to the light gear and slow trolled back up the same bit of river. We'd passed it once with the trolled lures, then drifted back with the jerk baits but this third pass produced fish. No idea why this time the fish started to hit the lures but we weren't complaining.



Approaching another feature I was told "I've had a few fish off this tree" and yep, we were in, double hook up. One of many this day. Going through a bridge we had a couple of knocks and then a perch was bagged followed by another at the same time we saw a massive ball of fish on the screen of the fish finder. We turned the boat around and came for a closer look. The spot was full of fish and we made the call to tie up and have a jig with the kopytos. The action was immediate and fish after fish came. A couple of nice pound, pound and a half perch. Some small pike and then Woody hooked into something which if it was a perch like it felt, it was a good one. As it came to the surface we both went in to panic mode as you seem to do when you see a nice perch thrashing around on the end of your line. It went 2lb 8oz on the scales. Aren't big perch awesome!

For some reason, Woody fishing on the left kept picking up perch while I kept getting pike on the right. We both swapped and fished both sides and picked up a few of each. Annoyingly I snagged up. I kept flicking the rod and yanking, hoping the lure would flick clear as it often does. Eventually it freed up and I flicked the lure clear and in an instant it was smashed by a pike of five or six pound. This spot was producing some great sport and it was fish after fish. I then got another knock and I was in to a fish again. Not quite sure at first what it was, we then got a quick glimpse of a decent pike. It then woke up and put a full on bend in to my rod. There wasn't much I could do but let it rip line off. It headed for the snags under the bridge and my rod was bent right under the boat. Wow this fish has some power. Finally I got it to the surface and was pleased to see a nice pike of eleven or twelve pound. May be I should have grabbed a quick photo thinking back, but at the time all we were thinking about was the fish getting back to rest and also about catching more fish. Not sure exactly but we probably picked up 25-30 fish this one spot.



The sport eventually eased up and we moved off for some more trolling, picking more fish up along the way. We still had a good amount of water in front of us but instead decided to turn back. If we kept up the catch rate all the way back to the boat launch that would take up the rest of the day, so we didn't have time to go much further upstream. We made it back to the spot where we'd had so much success and decided to test our luck, tied up again and started jigging the kopytos. I think Woody was in before I'd tied up the boat so at least some fish were back in the spot. My first cast, and after a few jigs I felt a good hit. As it came up I was thinking  a decent perch before finally it was panic stations again as we spotted the chunky stripy. Not quite as big as the one Woody had but it went two pound on the scales and I was very happy at that.

The troll back to the launch produced fish after fish. The tally kept going up and each target was met and a new target was aimed for. Forty fish, fifty fish, sixty fish it was bloody great sport. Every fish was welcome and each gave us as much pleasure as the last one. What a day, what a cracking bit of fun we had. We pulled the boat in, unpacked the gear, hauled her up on to the trailer and headed off home. The final tally of fish to the boat for the day ended at eighty seven. A mixture of pike and perch, probably 60% perch at a guess. They fell to multiple trolled lures, jerks baits and jigged soft plastics. I reckon Woody had a good few more fish than I did too, easily fifty fish I'd say though I don't think either of us cared who had what it was just great to be out on such a day. Cheers Woody.

By the way, sorry about the lack of photos. I managed to leave my camera in the boot of my car. Woody took a couple of photos so if I can grab those off him I'll add them later.