Old Estate Lake 30-12-12

A while back i had a conversation in the tackle shop with a chap when buying dead bait,he said didnt know you fished for pike,only oct-march i replied,he said come and fish our lake anytime.So i called him up and arranged to meet him today,he let me in and said its all yours,no one else one.I had a quick walk round and picked an area that looked a good place,depth was about 5 ft .I fished a pat rig a foot of the deck,and a ledgered bait far out on the bottom,baits were small roach and smelt.The water was like a mill pond,flat calm.I swopped the ledgered bait over after a couple of hours to fish closer in,with a change of bait,Herring.
I now was chucking a variety of lures about ,only trouble i had was when retrieving close in i was picking leaves up,so i changed to shallower lures.The morning went without a beep on the alarms.The weather was overcast and a slight breeze on my back,time to move.I decided to move up the bank 50 yard,s.I changed the ledgered herring to a fresher one and cast to some tree,s on the far bank.The other rod i changed to a float and fished a bigger roach at about 3 rod lengths out.I carried on trying lure,s .I decided to try the savagear lip skull and attached a smelt for sink and draw,it worked really well,no takes but an awesome idea.I had to be off the water for darkness,i reeled in both rods and headed down to the bottom of the lake for half an hour throwing lure,s..A lot deeper at this end so will try down there next time i go.My only dissapointment was finding a hand line tied to a tree,which i removed.Probably my last fishing session for 2012,see you all again in 2013.

Savagear Lip Skull.........................

Push the red locating pin through the gill plate....

Once the pin is located,the bait is ready to go,i used a smelt...

This is how it looks with pin located,im going to add a stinger to it.......

Another Lure Session 28-12-12

After thursdays abandoned session due to an abccess and a trip to dentist,i decided to target the canal again.A different area this time,i arrived just after 8 thinking im mad as it was drizzleing,i wont melt so off i went over the bridge to see another angler fishing where i wanted too.i turned right and went the other way,spent about an hour on the move,no follows so headed back to see if he,d gone,he hadnt so walked past him and headed to walk as far as i could,i reached another bridge,started casting in and around the bridge,when all off a sudden i saw a pike strike so tried to tempt it to another meal,no reaction so moved on.I covered quite a distance,once i reached another bridge i decided to turn back and try the better area,s i had already tried.i could see the angler in the distance,he had moved,so i was in the area i wanted,tried various lures,time for a butty,well earned brew and me tablet back at the van.after about 15-20 mins i headed back out.I tried all my lures i had and couldnt get any follows,different retrieves,side to side,in a straight line and nothing,i did find a half dead roach which i tried to revive,a pike had hit it but damaged the fish beyond repair,wish id had a float and trace,nevermind,make a good bait for the drifter float or pat rig.
Till the next time................

Thought there was a storm brewing........................

The trouble with this country,full of litter louts,so annoying.........................

Boxing Day 26-12-12

After my xmas day lure sesh for 2 hours with no results,i decided to try the canal.Rain was forcast after 1pm,so i got there early,started in a few likely spots trying different lures.I made my way up the canal,staying in area,s ,casting under tree,s and some bridges.As i made my way up i spotted a dead fox floating in the canal.After walking a mile i made my way back,i changed over to a bigger lure,but no follows.I made my way up to the basin area and tried there,nothing.I headed back to the van and decided to try another area a mile away.nothing happened there either,so it,s back to dead baiting tmos,till the next time....

The dead fox.....................................

Photography

Another passion of mine whilst fishing is to take pictures,too capture a moment.Heres a few of my favourites whilst i have been on the bank.

A shot from the bivvy ................On a local Resovoir

A tricky robin,fed him biscuits to gain his confidence....

A self take on xmas day 2011,blanked ..........................

A picture i took behind a local still water............

The light was fading on the Derwent

The garden peg on the Trent.................

The Mighty Minnow.......................

Deer Lake Northern Pike taken on the original big s lure

My mate Lee with a canal personal best stereo speaker......

Local Pike Water 18 Dec 2012

I went yesterday with lee..Lee had a jack close in before the weather turned early on to bad rain,i decided to leave in the afternoon and try today.I went to a local water i keep trying .I arrived at first light fished paternostered roach on one rod,Ledgered joey on the other rod.I decided to sit it out at this end with the water being a bit deeper.At 11am i moved all my gear a good 70 yards up the bank to shallower water.I casted out the paternosted roach bait.I picked up my other rod to change to a float,the dropper went and i was into a 7-8lb Jack,quick pic and she swam into the weed.I tried popped up herring and float fished smelt.Nothing came of this,i left knowing ill be back for another go.Till the next time...........

First Light...................................

Fell to a paternostered Roach...............

A jack and a bucket 15-12-12

After last weeks blank that did include a run it was time to get back out.A long walk to a swim that i hadnt fished for a while.We got there and Alan set up far bank and i set up to the left.The problems started as i set up,the water was up,so i could only set one rod up in the water,ledger and lamprey as bait.I moved the other rod up and fished sunk paternoster and a roach dead bait.I set tip rod up later after the rain cleared to catch some baits,caught a bait for Al first,he put this out on the drifter.Wasnt long before i had one.I put this on the Pat rod and within 10 mins the dropper went,struck and landed a jack about 5 lbs.I moved the lamprey rod and carried on tip fishin,my swim got ruined due to a pike snatchin my bait and the swim went quiet.We Decided to stay till an hour into darkness.I reeled in the lamprey rod that was about 60 yards out,it was real heavy and as i got whatever i,d hooked nearer the bank it was a 10 litre Bucket.Nothing into dark and we packed up.Till the next time....

The Bucket...........................Just put the jack back,didnt take a pic.......................

Big Wild Water Pike Floats

I got these from Mark Berrisford at P.A.C Region 31 meetings.There 10 inches by 1 inch floats.These floats are self cocking.When fishing bigger waters where theres snags or when boat fishing theses floats sit perfectly still in the water.They also cast really well with the set up ive got for using them,ill post a picture of that when im next out....

Till the next time......................................

First Double of the Season 1-12-12

After the last two sessions blanking and nothing to live baits or deads,it was time to get back out.With overnight rain i woke to no  frost on the van.Arrived at the water and headed to a quiet spot to catch some baits.After an hour with only a small perch for my efforts,i packed up and a long walk to the swim.I set up a paternoster rig with a herring,on the other rod was a float ledger with a smelt.When alan arrived i set about fishing with the tip rod again,wasnt long before we had a roach each.I put one on the pat rig.I was fishing in between the pat rig and float rod catching roach and had two snatched of pike,so was confident.An hour passed and i moved the float ledger,removed the float and fished further out with a lamprey.It wasnt long before the Delkim beeped,drop off started to drop and as i grabbed the rod the fish was off,struck it was solid,after a good fight on my new Treble-7 rod,Alan netted the fish,weighed at 15.7.pictures taken and returned.Stayed till dusk and with no further fish we headed off,Till the next time....

15.7 Ready to go back strong............

Making Traces (Tracelets)

Ive been making wire traces from fox carboflex,im a crimper not a twister ,i was really happy with the carboflex.The only problem that occured was once you had a lively fish in the net,this ruined or kinked the trace,meaning a new one would have to be used.I then stumbled upon a thread on the old Pike & Predator forum about tracelets.These were the idea of Mark Houghton,and was featured at a later date in the magazine.How they are constructed is by making a seperate trace from Titanium then adding your tracelet,which is made up to suit the deadbaits you are using,this is the part that normally gets ruined and you can clip one one after each fish if damaged,and the trace stays intact.Ive made up the tracelets with e.t 7 strand wire and have become a twister,this is due to the fact,crimping is to fiddley.

The components to make the traces.

The Hooks,i use eagle claw in size 4 or 6.

E.T 7 strand for the tracelets.

Components to make the main trace,E.T.double crimps,Crimp Rubber sleeves and a Gemini clip.

This is the wire,enough to make 5 traces...

Here the wire is put through the crimp twice.

Here the wire has been pushed through 3 times.Then trim tag end.

Here is the crimp once its been crimped with double crimp pliers.....

Once you have trimmed the tag end,slide crimp rubber on for neater presentation..

The completed trace,at the bottom you can see the gemini clip which is crimped exactly same way.

The pliers needed to crimp the double crimps,forget anything else..................

The Tracelets,made to various lengths to suit the baits i use...........................

As you can see in the picture,attach main trace to tracelet,slide tail rubber over crimp and on to hook. .

Pike Fishing

Finally managed to get out.A change of plan was needed due to others not turning out.I went to a small water near home.cleaned the frost of the car and the day looked promising.Arrived at the water,chose my spot and cast in my first rod,smelt as bait on a float,poured a coffee and was just baiting the ledger rod up,when the float went.Nice jack of around 9lb.I had 2 more takes on the float,but failed to hook the fish both times.I moved to another area that has produced,but not a touch,so packed up and went home,Till the next time.....................

The Jack,did a self take but cant get pic of other camera................................................

The Swim................................

The Treble-7 roll arm indicator,no runs today,just field testing

New Stretch Of The Ribble

Got asked if id fancy a trip to a private stretch of the ribble,didnt need asking twice,so back out with the barbel gear,as if id put it away.We arrived at the river just as the light was fading,it was a warm evening ,well i thought it was,Chas an Lee didnt think so.we all spaced out about 100yrds apart.i decided to fish boilie and paste on one rod,and on the other with pellet paste and a p.v.a bag with crushed chain reactions.after a call from chas,we decided to go on a long walk up river,a nice area of gravel,looked real barbelly.As we were to set up,Lee phoned said he had a good fish,chas walked all the way back,which was really good of him,so i st up my two rods cast one across river and the other downstream.It seemed like forever before chas came back and Lee had a new PB 10.8,Well done mate.Chas moved down river,wasnt long now as i made a bag ,my right hand rod went,and soon a small barbel was netted.Rang chas and he,d had a small fish too.At midnight we packed up,made the long walk back ,and was home for 1-15am,tired,but at least not a blank.

Hereee Pikey

Well its that time of the year now,Pike Pike ,oh and More Pike/lol.Started off on the canal at first light.2 floats one armed with smelt,the other sardine.Wasnt long before the smelt float bobbed and sailed away.I kept leap frogging my way up and back down the canal,the bright sunshine wasnt helping,and i did get fed up with having to reel in on numerous occasions due to boat traffic.Packed up at 12-45 and headed for plan B,a water that i know holds a few pike and some good perch,on arrival there were 5 cars parked up .So drove off to plan c.set up in one swim for 30 mins,then moved camp,same set up sardine and smelt.Got the lure rod out and worked my way through various lures and spinners.I changed back to a lure and bang,big perch,my drag was set too lose and it headed for the bank and came off,gutted.wasnt long before my float bobbed on the smelt rod,hit it,the fish took line,wound down the spare line and the fish came off,felt good aswell.Decided to stay till the sun went down and had another take,a Jack,repeat capture from last yr.Had a good day and at least banked 2 fish...........................

The canal fish fell to a Smelt.....................................................................................

Stefan Jarl float makes its Debut,no fish but well pleased..........................................

Final Fish Of the day from a different venue,fell to a Smelt........................................

Pike Floats

My new floats arrived today from sweeden made by Stefan Jarl and there awesome.I cant wait to use them.Theres a funny story behind the posting of these but i wont tell Stefan,honest,lol

The floats can make there debut on the water below,watch this space........................

Here,s the link to Stefan,s Blog,you can translate to english.http://thespecimenhunter.blogspot.se/http://thespecimenhunter.blogspot.se/

Greys Prodigy Tackle Base Compact

I sent a letter in to the anglers mail in the Q&A section asking about cat fish rigs and they published a rig and i won a greys compact tackle box.

I was really chuffed and will come in very handy for my bream & tench sessions next year.......

My Barbel season

Im just goin to reflect on my 2nd  season as a barbel angler.Ive thouroughly enjoyed it discovering new spots on the river and moving swims to find fish.Ive kept it simple all season,running feeder  or lead,with all my fish falling to Pellet,cant seem to catch them on boilie or dumbells.Im really pleased now with my paste mix which i now have spot on.My last 4 sessions have  all produced blanks for barbel,but thats fishing.The river has been low most of the year apart from one decent flood,saw it run off and i had my new pb of 8.8.Ive had 3 8,s this season which is pleasing.I enjoyed rolling meat on the trent which is something i will do more next season.I also had a new pb Chub of 4.12.Ive now packed away my gear,but can put my hands on it should the winter temps allow for some winter barbel,maybe January ,who knows.Its time for Pike now .

A lovely view on an earlier session this season,peace and a lovely view...................

Penn Slammer 460L Live Liner Reel

When it comes to reels i can honestly say im always swopping about different models .When i purchased this reel for my Barbel fishing i could not believe how good it was,i wasnt happy till i owned a pair.This reel can be bought as low as £79 if you shop about.The reel in itself is awesome ,it has a super smooth drag which is needed for barbel,the baitrunner engages with a simple turn of the handle.It has a spool capacity of 210 yards.The only downside is you only get one spool & that the reel is black & gold,not my colour of choice but im not after looks its the performance.Casting a big feeder into the river is effortless to reel in.Another thing about this reel is it has no backwind facility,so if you dont like using the drag then this reel isnt for you.The reel was designed for braid so you could target big fish,i dont use braid on the reel,but will have no qualms using this reel for pike,its been specially designed to take the strain of braid ,where most reels in time will have the shaft bent or even worse the spool exploding.Basically its bomb proof and i love em.

View from the front showing the front drag

Penn 460L Liveliner

Pike Conference Update 22 September 2012

Arrived at harrogate pavillions this morning with my mate clive.Met up with a few faces i havnt seen for a bit from the south.The place was well set out and all the stalls were well set out.We had a walk round and i made my mind up what to buy,off for breakfast then back to shopping.I purchased some Titanium wire,split rings,crimps and some bleeding leader wire,i also got a new hoodie as my last one was stolen.The guest speakers were Steve Rowley (Esox World) Phil Wakefrord, Alistar Rawlings and Neville Fickling.The talks were great but could have been a little longer.The only let down was the tackle on sale wasnt priced cheaper,but thanks to Eddie Turner for the discount.Highlight for me was having my photo taken with a true Pike Legend Mick Brown.