WINTER COMES WITH A VENGEANCE - Stillwater pike (Winter fishing. Series 1: Episode 11)

Click to play video

 

Read the blog entry here: WINTER COMES WITH A VENGEANCE

 



 





 

 

WE SHOULD ALL BE PLEASURE ANGLERS - Pike on a Shropshire lake (Winter fishing. Series 1: Episode 5)



Click play to watch video. Includes: Getting to know your venue - Tips on starting pike fishing - Advice on when to strike - Temperature relevant to the venue

 

 

The big thing as far as my fishing is concerned is that I have to enjoy it. I often get requests such as 'Could you do a video on this species?' or 'Could you do one on that venue? Although I appreciate the interest very much, the bottom line is that, in the truest sense of the meaning, I'm a pleasure angler. My fishing is based on what I fancy doing at that time, and following on from targeting pike last week, it was more of the same this time round.

 

Mute swans on the lake

 

I don't know about a kid on Christmas Eve, I often struggle to get to sleep the night before a fishing trip - and I'm in my 50s. So it was this time round, with the alarm set for 6.30am it was the early hours before I dozed off, and even then I was just cat-napping. Heading for a club lake in the neighbouring county of Shropshire, I was fishing by first-light. I was using my favourite method for pike - float-fished deadbaits.

 

 



 

The first fish on the bank

 

It's always good to net the first fish of any session and I did that an hour and a half in. It was a decent enough fish for the venue and that's important for all anglers to bear in mind; you can only catch what's in there. Although I always try to catch big fish whenever I go fishing, 'big' is relative to the venue. Within an hour of my opening pike I had another two runs, resulting in one fish and one where I 'pulled out'.

 

 

The second pike of the session

 

As you can see from the video, I ended the session with four runs resulting in two fish on the bank. On the nature front I managed to capture a few seconds footage of a common buzzard in flight, which a few moments earlier had been mobbed briefly by a carrion crow. I also saw - and heard - a pair of ravens, which is pretty common for the area. On arrival I also heard a muntjac in the woods surrounding the lake. 

Winter sunshine on the lake

 

Happy with my two pike, I decided to see the week out with a couple of early-morning sessions on the Staffs/Worcs Canal after the elusive pike there. I covered that in last week's blog entry and highlighted just what a challenge it is to even catch one, regardless of size. So it was, as both outings resulted in a blank. But at least I had a chance as my baits were in the water.

Always keep your tools at hand

 

Both canal sessions were in atrocious conditions, with gale force winds and heavy rain. In fact on the second, which was the most severe, I couldn't put the umbrella up as it was so windy, so I just sat it out in the rain. There's always a positive though and at least, with it being from the SW, it was 'warm' rain. As this is the first blog entry of 2013, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a great, fish-filled year ahead. (Published January 4 2013)

 

 

(Blog entry 547)

Visit my angling website HERE updated every Saturday since 2003

 

MEET PIGEON, MY PET PIKE - Pike on the Staffs/Worcs Canal (Winter fishing. Series 1: Episode 4)



Click play to watch video. Includes: Making pike groundbait - Not revealing locations to others - Pike float fishing set-up.

 

 

  

With the rivers rising and coloured, my decision to target pike saw the options limited to stillwaters. Up for a challenge, I narrowed that down to the Staffs/Worcs Canal. Certainly the stretches I fish are not noted for pike, in fact many anglers still maintain that they're not in there. They are, but not in numbers. That's the challenge.

Neat and tidy tackle box

I love float-fishing for pike, there's something exciting about a motionless piece of plastic suddenly coming alive. A tremble, tremor and bob, followed by movement across the surface before finally disappearing has to be one of the most enjoyable ways of fishing. As you can see from my tackle box, I've got a selection always at hand.

The first fish of the week

 

You can see the first session of the week in the video and I was absolutely thrilled to catch a fish for the camera. I say in the video that it is only a small one but as I got it on the mat I realised it was bigger than I thought. It was quite a long fish and not lean, so healthy enough, even though it had some gill deformity on one side. I recognised it as a previous-caught fish, so its appetite is fine.

The Staffs/Worcs Canal in December

 

With the alarm on my phone set for three consecutive early-morning starts, I was back on the canal the very next morning at first-light. With heavy, overnight SW rain having affected the water, the temperature was up 0.5C. A good box to tick, but one that in itself is not guaranteed to put fish on the bank. The four-hour session produced a blank.

A repeat capture

 

The following day, following colder winds and rain, the water was down a full 1C over the previous morning. I'm a great believer though, in the obvious fact, that you never catch sitting at home. My faith was rewarded when, after a brief but determined battle, I banked the second fish of the week. On the net I recognised it as the same fish caught two days before - and previously.

Pigeon on the mat

Definitely my pet pike, I posted on my angling Facebook page, inviting people to name it for the blog. There were some really funny replies. I let my wife pick a winner and she went for Jason Butler's Pigeon - because it keeps coming back. I quite liked Ben Hervey-Murray's suggestion of Nigella, and his reasons why, but it was all in Mrs B's hands, so Pigeon it is. (Published December 28 2013)

 

(Blog entry 546)

Visit my angling website HERE updated every Saturday since 2003