On the river and a new water 27-30 -12-13

Well i fished a swollen river on the 27 december with Kieth in a peg thats seen some good fish so far this season.We fished lives and deads,but couldnt tempt the pike,we put the fishing world to rights,but yet another blank,this time though spent in good company,cheers kieth.............................

Today was going to be my last fishing day of 2013,i decided to spend it on a new water,rather than go back to my no 1 choice.When i arrived at the water i was quit taken back,it looks really promising,and with the info i have i will be back.Today just wasnt happening,tried various baits,re casting,everything except moving due to the rain,it just didnt happen for me again.

The start of 2013 wasnt very knd to me and the end of 2013 hasnt either,but ive had some great fishing days aswell as the poor ones,i cant complain.I havnt done that bad for once a week angling.......................

Favourite days this year was my tench campaign,getting it right after struggling and getting a new PB 6 on the dot.My barbel fishing as been fantastic,a new PB 9.2 and a new PB Roach 1.12 also my 4.7 chub ,a new PB for the ribble.

Probably my biggest highlight was raising over £1700 for Henshaws society for the Blind,thanks to the 14 anglers that made the day and the sponsorship was awesome.......................................

Anyways,Tight Lines for 2014 fellow bloggers,see ya next year........................................

Back to Blank 22-12-13

Well my 7th pike session of the season today.After last weeks fish i decided to return to my target water that has seen 5 blanks included in that was a day i should off banked 5 fish,well thats a distant memory ,today is what mattered.

I woke up this morning greeted with pouring rain,now i do not like pike fishing in the rain,never done any good,unless it stops in between and i have had fish that way,but constant rain ,its not for me.

Once i arrived at the water it had stopped,i decided to fish the bay again,tactics,one rod roaming ledger,the other float close in.I could not of tried any harder,baits for the day were lamprey,joey,smelt and herring,not even a beep.

In between waiting for a bite i chucked lures and worked the area into a froth,enjoyable but no fish.

I have decided now to put this water to one side and go to my second choice,then come back to this water at a later date.With xmas only 3 days away,i will be looking to get out over the holidays before i have to return to work.

Merry Christmas to all fellow bloggers,tight lines,drink safe and enjoy the break..................................

A shot of the lake,always looking for the cloud shot....................................................

Wet net,Wet Mat......14-12-13

Today was the region 32 /17 fish in at wyreside lakes at lancaster,now if im being honest i didnt fancy it,my mind was elsewhere.I asked kieth was he going and he said yes with mike and bernie,they were fishing friday after work till saturday tea time.Thursday night i made my mind up to go and it would make a nice change to fish with the lads again.

I arrived at just after 7am and finally got booked on sunnyside 2,i made my way round to peg 6 and fished next to bernie,kieth and mike were on the point in peg 20.With it being quite a windy day,it was handy sat in the back of the van watching my rods.Bernie had one run on the friday night and had another while i was there early doors.

My only dissapointment off the day was i was told you could order breakfast when you arrived at your peg,when i rang up i was then told i would have to drive up,FFS.luckily bernie made me some grub,thanks bernie.

I just fished straight ledgered baits,lamprey and smelt.It was roughly mid morning and i had my first run,fish on,banked,quick pic,looked a chunky fish,weighed it 9.8,happy days the blank run had ended

The weather changed now and the drizzle started with the wind more in your face now,playing with the drop-offs and alarms.The drizzle stopped and bernie was in,a fish of about 4 pound,it wasnt any more than 10 mins later and bernie had another about 6.In between all this mike came over ,thanks for the teacake.

He had a cheeky chuck in river lake and managed a fish of about 2 and saved him a blank,kieth didnt catch but managed to catch a spod rod and reel,lol.............................................................

Here,s a few pics from the day..........................................................

9.8 happy days

The swim...............................

Mike scaring the wildlife........................................

I had a great day,nice to see Kieth,Bernie and Mike and hopefully get out again with them.

The Dry Net Continues 1-12-13

As we go into december im on my worse pike run ever,im not going to bang on about what happened today,instead ill share some pictures i took,Blank no 5.........................

Finally got my robin picture,landed on the barrow.............................

Best shot i got on the rod..............................................

Liking the new drop off.....................................................

A closer peep........................................................................

The best shot of the day.............................................................

Tight lines till the next time............................................................

Treble -7 roll arm indicator update.29-11-13

I have modified them again,id used the clips off another drop off and wasnt happy with how they sat on the bank stick.The line clips have come back from the custom shop now,so will be fitting them tonight.My original idea of the cable cleat was a better idea and will probably go back to that.Someone else has had the same idea as mine ,but used the pipe clips,they stand off to far for my liking.................

These have the solar clips in,i used these last weekend as they glow in the dark..................
I need to paint the heads yellow like the others,will be using them sunday,lets hope they drop-off.

Short Pike Session 23-11-13

With my mum having cracked her pelvis my fishing trips will be short,julie was working till 2 pm and seems others are not doing there fare share,anyway i arrived at the lake and was set up for 3-30pm.The plan was one rod on a gravel bar ,popped up herring,the other rod cast down a tree line on popped up sardine,i popped them up because of all the leaves.Once the light had gone,i moved both rods closer in.It wasnt that cold,but at 7-45 the temps really dropped,at 8pm i packed up,Another blank.

The Barbel Society Talk Stockport 18-11-13

No i havnt joined the barbel society.I went with Lee Barlow to see Steve Pope and Terry Theobald give a talk.Steve,s talk was a 40 pointer ,Basically 40 questions he,d wrote out on the do,s and donts off barbel fishing,some very good pointers.

Terry Theobald took too the stage,a very funny and witty guy.Terry has caught some great fish and fishes in between him working nights,a great speaker and well worth a trip if you want to go see him,you wont be dissapointed.

I won on the raffle,pellets,boilies,groundbait and paste............................................

Nice too see Dave Mason at the talk,a great night,looking forward to the next one.

Where have all the pike gone 17-11-13

I have decided to blog even if i dont catch,only for pike so i can keep a record of what i do.I arrived at the lake today at 6-20,very misty ,quite warm aswell.I headed half way round the lake to try a different swim.
Tactics,ledgered herring and float fished sardine ,close in.

As the mist lifted there was two bivvy,s,one on the far bank and as usual the peg i wanted to try out.After about 2 hours i decided to bring float rod in and replace with a pat rigged smelt.The baliff appeared at about 10-45 as i was packing up for a move.

I decided to walk to the bottom of the lake and try the shallower end,got to be pike here,looked pikey aswell.Stuck with the herring and got the float rod back out with sardine.

Looked pikey,a nice breeze blowing into this side of the lake,followed by drizzle.I decided at 1-45 to move again.

Finally got onto the fancied peg,popped one up on smelt and popped sardine up on the other rod.I stayed till dark and didnt have a single run,it was just one of those days that seemed perfect.
Till the next time.Tight Lines Bloggers

Interview with Nathan Edgell River Pike Specialist

For a while now I've wanted to do something different on my blog .So here we go I asked Nathan 10 questions about his fishing.

1.Hi Nathan ,How did you get into pike fishing.
I got into pike fishing about 9 years ago after having a small roach grabbed whilst out float fishing for bits & pieces and I was amazed at the speed and pure aggression and savagery of the take.From that
Moment I wanted to learn everything about esox lucius.I had a well informed friend and soon to be mentor Dodgy Dagenham Dave,who was schooled in piking ,rivers,pits and resovoirs like abberton
In Essex.He took me on my first piking trip,which of course I blanked.,that's piking eh,but I did have a follow and saw a pike of about 15 lb cruise up behind my bait,it was sinister and so stealthy seeing the dark torpedo shape lying there.Next time we went I had a jack and from that moment on I've never looked back,I may have caught that jack but pike caught me forever.

2.What are you're preferred venues for pike and why.
well pete I could narrow it down to anywhere that's wet and would willingly fish anywhere and have in lots of places.The said rivers are my forte and where my heart lies.There is something about wild
River pike that gets me and difficult to quantify into words.I suppose that river pike carry a certain amount of respect within the piking scene and my guess is that this is borne out of the fish itself and efforts you put into catching them.Dont get me wrong I have fished chew and other places and I can understand the attraction and please don't think for one minute I consider any style of pikeing easy because I don't think it's easy pike fishing exists .My love of river pike fishing was borne out of necessity of fishing waters available to me,there is a lack of still waters available where I live so I learnt my craft exploring rivers and fell in love with them.If I could choose anywhere to fish then I would pick a river any day of the week.I might not catch 40,s or even 30,s ,but every single pike I catch of any size is well earned and I love it and them.

3.What is your preffered method for catching pike and why
My preffered method for catching pike is a simple float rig  with a live or deadbait trotted down a marginal slacks of the river.Its what has produced most of my fish and is my preffered method and one i developed on my own really with a single rod approach.Moving swims every 5-10 mins,moving down river until you find a fish thats feeding.Its not in my name to sit still for too long ,plus having a family and not much money its a simple and deadly effective way of catching pike and maximising the little time i have to fish.

4.You have caught some awesome pike,how many over 20.
Ahh the odd numbers game,to be honest im not a huge fan of numbers so i will answer like this,very simple not enough!!!!...In the last 2 years i have caught 70 over the magical 20 pound figure.Size isnt important,to some it is and thats fine with me,however whats most important is consistancy in my pike fishing as i hate blanking and my motto is big or small love them all and i do.

5.If you could choose only one method for pike,lives,deads or lures which woud you choose
For me lives every single time.The reason being they get takes quick and like i said im married with 2 children and working full time means  time on the bank is extremley limited and therefore i get results quickly.If your not bothered about the size of the pike you catch then lives will always will alays get you a fish quick and i have said consistancy is the key for me.I sometimes wish i had time to travel around targetting select waters all day for weeks to grind out pike with large deads but thats a sacrafice thats too much for me.Family come first and fishing second so ill take a live anyday,please if you have any ???

6.When you fish rivers how do you choose tactics for the session.
Simple ,i only have one,a roving approach with one rod !!!!...Ok maybe there is a bit more to it than that.I love lure fishing and do lots of it and my experience has been that whilst it doesnt produce big pike consistantly it is a great way for getting out there and covering ground.My tactics are to get out with the lure rod,study the river,note follows and missed takes ,changes in the riverand features as they develop and get back to the hotspots with baits as soon as i can.The thing with rivers is that there in constant change and therefore you need to be constantly changing tactics accordingly.It makes river piking exciting but also challenging,truth be told most times i go i dont decide till the night before or when i get in the car in the morning.

7.Do you fish for other coarse fish besides pike.
There are other coarse fish ????.wow who knew????.oh you mean bait,well yes then i do after all any piker worth his salts could give any matchmen a run for there money when it comes to bagging up.Sorry i could not resist,ok seriously no i dont ive yet to find a species in the uk that inspires me enough to consistantly get out there fishing.That said i might try a bit harder to target chub ,barbel and perch nexy year.But hand on heart im a one species man to my true love Mrs Esox Lucius and im very lyal and faithful guy.

8.You are now a sponsored angler,what companys.
I am very fortunate to have a few sponsors and thanks for the opportunity to plug (pun intended).For lures im with www.jerkbaitmania.co.uk who have some fantastic lures including a lure named after me the edgell bomber.I have also been promoting and testing lures for a finnish company called www.lunkermania .co.uk
have a look at the s-killer one of my top 5.Im also sponsored by a float company floats online who produce premier pike floats and are the floats that have nailed me so many big fish.My fav is the self cocking vaned no 2 which is really an exceptional float that allows fantastic freedom of movement for the bait.And Finally
i have just been sponsored by www.team30plus.com which is a huge achievement for me.They are more a mainstream company which are big and established with a wide vareity of tackle,incl rods and clothes e.t.c
i relish the opportunity of working with them over the next year and putting products through there paces.

9.Being a keen river angler,do you stactic fish for pike.
I very rarely static fish for pike,not on rivers anyway.The only time i do on rivers if im targeting a wide deep bend or a slack area of a weir.I love weir,s.And in my experience of them on rivers is that they are a natural larder and pike move up river at different times of the day to feed as they hold bait fishLike ive said already its not in my nature to sit still for long and with limited time factor i prefer to get out there and go to them rather them come to me.

10 I f you could give advice to any up and coming pike angler,What would it be.
First and foremost have fun and enjoy your fishing and go with someone experienced as you will learn more in a day than you will going it alone.Put the time in and persevere as its actions that get results,learn your waters and your craft.Join the P.A.C  as its a wealth of information and full of passionate people who really care.Try to get along to talks and look up your region for talks by guest speakers.www.pacgb.co.uk
Also dont be afraid to ask questions,its always better to ask than not to.You are more than welcome to ask me anything ,you can find me on facebook.com/adventures of a riverpiker.

I,d like to thank nathan for the interview,tight lines mate for the season ahead.

Nathan will be giving a talk for Region 31 at the caledonian hotel ashton in makerfield at 7pm on tuesday 3 december 2014.It will be his first talk in the north west,dont miss it .

First Frost Of The Season 10-11-13

After looking at the forecast ,i decided to go today,a heavy frost predicted.Upon arrival at the lake i dropped in a different swim from last week.Tactics this week ledgered pollan and float fished herring.I decided to leave the baits out to see what happened.After 3 hours i decided to throw some lures with my new set up,no birds nests and was pleased,no fish.

As the day went on i decided to swap the float rod for ledgered sardine and sit it out an hour into dark.Nothing happened,i packed up and cant wait to go back,love the place cant wait to explore the whole venue.

Close up of the new drop off with magnetic line clip...................................................

Drop off with solar line clip............................................................................

My new mat,Angling Inteligence,very padded and really pleased...........................................

Jerkbait Rod & Reel Set Up 9-11-13

For sometime now ive been looking into an upside down rod and reel,LOL.I had been browsing various sites looking for a rod,i wanted a short 6 ft 6 rod,id bid on a few and missed out on them.Finally when i was away in october id put a cheeky bid on an unused 6 ft 6 rod,when we came back from dinner i found i had won it,Brand new £20,happy days..................................................

Nash jerk the specialist,had never been used,still had film on cork handle..............................

Next job was to get a reel,i had looked at a few,but asked a couple of very keen lure anglers what was the best possible reel i could start off with.I was suggested 3 reels to get and as the pair of them had suggested the same type of reel,i went with the Abu.

Loaded this morning,backed the reel with some mono,tied with an arbor knot,then 100 lb braid joined to the mono with a uni to uni knot........................................

Side view of the abu c3 6501,small dint left handside ,hardly noticeable,got for a good price...............

Rod and reel set up...............................................

I decided this year i would get a set up as when i go to america i love lure fishing,then i come back have the odd chuck with a fixed spool and spinning rod.I am looking now to add an edge to my pike fishing,was told off mike it will become an addiction.I have some lures suitable to use but will take my time sourceing some jerks and cranks out.........................................................

Treble -7 Roll arm indicator update 7-11-13

Here are the heads sprayed yellow,a nice and visual colour instead of red.The heads are 3 inches long,the carbon arms are cut at 5 inches in length...................................

The carbon arms are attached to the aceytal and at the back an add on weight.

I will take a photo on the bank of the complete arm to give a better picture.Also in the above picture of the heads you can see a solar adjustable line clip  ,the reason for this is because i left the heads in the kitchen and my grandaughter picked one up and has broken a magnetic line clip of the head,so i will try the solar one until my new clip arrives from the custom shop...................................................

Pike Season 2013-2014

Finally started my pike season today on a new water.Saturday was a windy,rainy day ,hailstone and thunder and lightning.

I arrived at the water before first light and had a walk around the lake,i decided to fish the bay area as you come onto the lake.Tactics,ledgered herring and float fished smelt.

Im not going to go into much detail about the day,pouring rain after i set up,continued throughout the day,but when it stopped in between showers,thats when the bites came,all 5 off them.

My float rose and slid away 3 times,each time i struck to early.
I had two drop backs on the ledgered herring,struck into two heavy fish and both came off.
Must take my Barrow next time.
Learned a lot today from one session and cant wait to go back again,whether i fished badly today or was just plain unlucky,who knows.......................................................

I left before dark,not like me,but needed too,gutted over the loseing the two fish.............................

Treble-7 Roll Arm Indicator

I tested the original ones i made last year,they stood up really well.I decided they needed  some modifications.
I have had the heads made bigger,just so they are heavier,The carbon arm remains,so does the aceytal that has the weight attached at the back of the indicator,a new clip added to attach to the bank stick.

I was using the matrix clips on the head,they worked really well even though when i mentioned them on facebook i got shot down in flames,who cares there for me only.

I have a new clip which is a custom clip,a small bearing inside holds the braid perfectly.I will be painting the heads,need to test first to see if the paint takes,then ill fully assemble them and show a picture.

Here,s a taster...............Picked the heads up today of Lawrence,drilled and tapped,ready for assembly.

This was the original version,the weight at the back is a inline lead,now replaced by a 30g weight.The clip i used was a cable cleat.I will assemble the new ones and update,watch this space.

Once a week angling.

Like many anglers all over the country i fish once a week,id like to go more but home life and work has to be a priority.I set off tonight at 4-15pm,i arrived at the river just after 5.The river was carrying a bit of extra water with a tinge of colour.

I set off up river to a spot i fished earlier in the season,rather than the long walk.I  settled in behind the cutaway bank ,pellet and bag and boillie wrapped in paste.It wasnt long before the rain started,no brolly,last week it was the flask.I sat in the swim and it was leaves leaves leaves.At 7pm and nothing to show for my efforts,i packed up and moved.

on the walk back i was looking at swims and decided to drop some gear back at the van and headed to my swim choice,i got the rods out and waited,by now it was lashing it down,what the hell am i doing here i thought,im not a quitter.I reeled one rod in and fished with the other rod, a few twitches and it was looking promising,the rain was getting harder and forced me to quit,so it was a blank.

Ive concentrated on three stretches this season,this stretch tonight ive fished five times,ive had a 7 lb barbel a 4.7 chub a splasher barbel and 3 blanks.ive done really well on another stretch with quite a few barbel,and the other stretch saw me get my 9.2 pb.

Think its time to get the pike rods out now,Tight Lines

A Rising River 19-10-13

I set off for the river yesterday tea time,driving up the m61 i realised i hadnt made a flask,Damn............
I arrived at the river when  the heavens opened,lashing it down with thunder and lightning,i stayed in the van till it cleared,within 10 minutes off it stopping i was set up and up streamed one rod and down streamed the other.

It now would of been nice to be sat there with a hot coffee.The peg i was in was one i had wanted to fish for a while,but was always taken.The plan was to fish for 20 mins then move.I hadnt been in the peg long and had my first barbel,just a splasher...........................

It wasnt long after the same rod went again and i lost the fish,my hook link came back snapped,probably on the bedrock.I reeled my other rod in and rolled meat for half an hour,knocks and twitches,but no takes.

The swim.................................................

At 7-30 i moved up river and decided to drop on a bank where i could move easily,what a mistake.The river was rising and i had to keep moving back,the leaves and weed were playing havoc,i moved two more times and finally gave up at midnight,i lost another fish aswell.Apart from the weed and leaves,the weather was perfect.I wanted to fish the opposite bank but decided not too,maybe a mistake,but thnk i should of stayed in swim 1 and sat it out,its a learning game...........................................

I have really enjoyed my barbel fishing this season,i dont really want it too end,with the weather staying mild
i might try to get out again one night next week......................................................
Till the next time ,it could be Pike,who knows lol............................

When is winter going to Arrive 14-10-13

Hi fellow blogger,s.................................

I havnt been out recently due to the clutch going on the van,a costly breakdown............

The temps are still not right for me to start pike fishing,and it seems its goin to warm up thursday onwards.The leaves are falling,but when will the first frost arrive,hopefully by the time the clocks go back it will be winter.Forecasters are predicting a bad winter,similar to 2010,no fishing for weeks on end,even the rivers froze.

Ive made a few paternosters,a few new rigs and in the process of getting the rods made up in anticipation of getting out there.Looking forward to it...................................

So looking forward to getting back on the barbel,also this winter i will definately be spending time on the river for chub and barbel,and not forgetting the pike...................

Last season was a disaster,fishing the wrong waters and canals,and having no money to travel.This season i have two new waters and will be looking at some different canal sessions.........................

So if you have already started your season ,good luck and tight lines,ive still got barbel on my mind till the first frost.........................................................

River Arrow Alcester

Just had a 4 day break with the girlfriend ,we stayed at the riverside at alcester.

The cottage far right with the balcony is where we stayed overlooking the river.......

A small intimate river that goes through the village of alcester.When we arrived the river was low and had some colour.
The trip wasnt based around me fishing ,my fishing was done after 9pm till late,i baited a few swims on arrival and we went out for the day..........................................

The view downstream beyond the bridge that was very shallow..................................

The access to the river below the cottage,which was probably a boat house many moons ago......

There was only 2 swims allowed ,,so fishing wasnt going to be easy.On the friday night i fished 9-12,with one twitch.
I decided to change tactics for saturday night,i fished a link ledger instead  of a lead,so to avoid disturbance.Further down river there were people fishing so no chance of a look.

I decided on the sunday to trott some bread for an hour while julie got ready,lol.I got sick of wading through the massive amount of minnows.......................................

Did this minnow save a blank....................................................................................

On the sunday evening i decided to sneak further down river,no body there as it was dark so dropped into a nice swim ,one rod only.I fished a bag and boilie,fed some paste and waited.

After an hour and one twitch i moved round the back of the willows and dropped into the last swim on the bend,i walked 30 yard to the trees and underarmed my cast under the overhanging trees,walked back and waited.

It was looking promising ,loads of knocks and twitches,how them chub nicked my boilie twice was unbelievable.I had some good knocks and twitches,but accepted defeat at 12-15 pm............

The minnow saved a blank,and enjoyable time spent on the river and me and julie had some great days out.
Roll on the ribble ,ive missed ya......................................................