pike

February 2026 Part 1 -How many magpies?

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday 3rd February I set off at 9:53 in the rain for the Three Magpie stretch of the Kennet and Avon Canal and got out of the car at 10:06. I am so lucky to have a number of decent venues within short distances of home! Anyway I gathered my tackle, haversack seat on my back, bait bucket, whip mag, landing net, handle unhooking mat and pike rod and set off up the canal towards the swing bridge but stopped about 40m past where the concrete moorings stop and half way between two moored boats, giving them a good 30-40m space each. Pike rod was set up with my usual float and two single hook wire trace with a sardine and was lobbed out towards 3/4s across. Set up the 5m whip with a 1g Chinese float with a 18 hook and double maggot. I chopped up some worm in a bait box and added a handful of groundbait then mixed it up with just a dash of water. Two squash ball sized helpings were introduced along with a half dozen maggots. Started to get bites immediately with a couple of roach coming to hand before the pike float bobs and disappears, a strike, an initial heavy weight then nothing – it had left go leaving me cursing!

Back out and within five minutes another run, this time it was connected with properly and soon a pike of 9-06 was on the unhooking mat.

The session carried on in a similar vein as by the time I was driving away at 12:18 I had added pike of 3-00, 8-12 and 8-04 with 6 roach, 4 perch and a skimmer for about 2lb.

As you can see from the pictures, I needed to make some repairs to the net!

Friday 6th, day before Gareth and family arrive, sees me back at the Three Magpies but this time a lot further up as the boats had moored in the previous spot. Fished 10:40 to 1pm when heavy rain descended. No runs on the pike rod and fishing the whip in the same way but with a different Chinese float (with a bulbous tip shotted down) accounted for 22 roach, 2 skimmers, 2ruffe, a gudgeon and10 perch, the best being 1-10,1-04 and 1-02.

Sunday afternoon Three Magpies near the swing bridge end as the boats were multiplying! Gareth and I fished but the weather was wet and cold, during our time we had three deer in the field opposite watching up from the relative shelter of a hedgerow! Gareth fished a 4.5 m whip and I stayed on the 5m but it was hard with Gareth ending up with about a pound and a half while I managed about 3lb, boosted by skimmers of 1-04 and 12oz to go with 3 roach, a micro-perch and6 smaller skimmers.

Gareth et al fly off to Finland on the Tuesday and will return the following Tuesday so Friday 13th (good job I’m not superstitious!) I am back at the Magpies fishing 5m from the bench started at 9:40 and packed up at 11:40.Fished the same way and ended up with 18 roach, a ruffe, 9 skimmers including 4 net ones and two micro perch for about4lb plus a pike of exactly 6lb. Should really have been two pike but just as I started to get the initial bobs as a precursor to a run I had to wind in as the Canal and River Trust barge came down just at the wrong time! At which point I packed up.

As you can see the net repairs were not great! Meanwhile in Finland Gareth and Zachary where ice fishing to no avail!

Chew valley coming up soon!

January 2026 Part 2 – a start!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So Sunday 18th I finally kick myself in to gear and get on the bank! The weather was not great, rivers up and flooding, Bowood chocolate, possible match on canal so I opted to go to Blacklands for a change. I paid my money at Reception and said I would fish peg 13 – my first mistake as they had re-pegged it! So instead of being near the overflow I was now on the opposite side of the island- the furthest point from the car!! As it happened I was the only one on the lake but I stuck with my choice and primed two areas both at 11m, the left hand swim with worm and caster and the right hand with micros. Groundbait is not allowed so loose feed was the order of the day, fishing with a 0.10mm hooklength to an 18 barbless under a 1g Paster.

Bites came straight away with a piece of worm about an inch long and despite a couple of slow periods when I was playing around with different shotting patterns and baits it was a pleasant few hours with 18 roach averaging 3-4 oz, the one in the picture is one of the smallest, 8 skimmers (best 1-04) and 3 perch(10oz best) for a total between 7 and 8lb.

Wasn’t until the following Sunday I got out again this time for the rearranged pike match at Peatmoor. I had missed the first one when everyone blanked as we were in Yorkshire.The plan was to fish two deadbait rods on floats (Bowood style) one with smelt the other with sardine. I fancied two pegs- peg 1 which was right in the top corner that had form in previous years and peg 13 which was on the corner of the bay. I ended up going to peg 1, blanked and only one pike caught – that’s right from peg 13 in the first 10 minutes!

No further visits this month as life got in the way! However on the other side of the world Gareth made is trip to Thailand to fish at AmazonBKK, a predator lake. The rules were lure fishing until midday then bait fishing, but after a couple of biteless hours the guide had a word with the owner and he allowed Gareth to bait fish. The results were over 30 runs, that produced 2 Arapaima (110kg and 30kg) 2 Alligator Gar (12kg and 7kg) 1 Red Tail Catfish (25kg), one snap off and several hook pulls. The alligator gar are notoriously difficult to hook due to their hard tooth beak of a mouth and that was the cause of the missed bites and pulls.

Even as I have been typing this he has been fishing the bass commercial he went to earlier this month and has sent me this!

February is likely to prove interesting as he arrives next week!

January 2026 Part 1- yet to start!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As I write this at 11:15am on Wednesday 14th I have yet to go fishing this year! Life and weather have got in the way, closest I have got is this morning when I managed to load the unhooking mat and landing net in the car when I discover a rodent had eaten away my haversack seat! Combined with a temperature of -2C, a frozen bird bath again and no prospect of it getting above zero until after 10am along with month old maggots that did not look great I decided to cut my losses and instead sort some things out in the garage! First on the agenda was to replenish the rodent bait trap!

Working through the garage I have concluded I have too much kit! I found two rods that I didn’t remember having! Now the prompt for the tackle inspection was the impending visit from China of youngest son Gareth and family who had informed me that despite being number 518 in the queue for pike tickets at Chew had managed to get a ticket for a boat for two – so that was an additional prompt to check out what tackle I had suitable for the 20lb main line minimum and 40lb wire minimum!

So while I have been not on the bank Gareth has been busy starting by flying to Nanjing for an 8hour session on a predator lake after pike. The owner suggested he spent the first part of the day lure fishing on the bass lake before going on the specimen lake to deadbait for pike. When he arrived it was 3C, 17C lower than when he took off! The morning lure fishing went better than expected with 47 bass, 3 pike and a trout!

The afternoon session on the specimen lake went less well with a missed bite, possibly a liner and two taps but nothing else.

Back to Zhongshan and his next outing is on the river which has hard going with only one “fish” answers on a postcard for the species! (I think it is a type of loach)

He then gets an invite to go with one of Wendy’s friends husband, ironically to the very fishery he was considering trying himself, it turned out very busy with 200 on the predator lake and 15 on the non-predator one.. A few of the anglers were drop shotting on whips which sounds an interesting method while others were fishing 5m whips with whole shrimp or fish. Zachary was with them and had some success fishing close in with pieces of shrimp .

Some UK matchmen should fish here (LOL)- you catch a fish then immediately there are 4 people next to you fishing within inches of where you caught, totally different customs and regard for personal space! Zachary enjoyed it so much he didn’t want to go home!

Still not content Gareth is off on one of his flying visits to Thailand – fly out after work at midnight, arrive 3am, couple of hours sleep in hotel then days fishing back to hotel for nap and flight home at 1am. Oh to be young again!

December 2025 part 2 – Must do better!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So after returning from family duties in Yorkshire I headed off to Semmington to fish next to the pump again. The weather had changed from the days of heavy rain and was dry and very sunny so much so I fished from 10:20 to 12:40 when I had to pack up as I could no longer see my float with the sun and glare on the water, having stupidly left my sunglasses in the car! I decided to fish mainly worm and wanted to try out a couple of different shotting patterns and that is what happened apart from a couple of fish on maggot. I was fishing a 1g Blue with and 18 on the 0.10mm hooklength with the shot strung out at the start (proved to be the most productive) while various versions of bulk and droppers were tried as well. Two small balls of groundbait laced with chopped worm were introduced at the start and topped up with a small golf ball size when bites began to slow. The result was 17 roach,5 skimmers, 2 gudgeon and a solitary perch for a modest 3-12.

The following Tuesday sees me at my usual haunt- peg 10 at Bowood, fishing 9:45 to 11:45. Tackle was the usual with the pike rod not getting any attention despite the occasional scattering of fish. Groundbait was just two balls at the start and then loose feed with maggot on the hook.Nine roach, twenty rudd and two skimmers succumbing to my net which took the scales down to 1-10. To add insult as I packed up there was a huge pike strike just off the edge of the platform!

Christmas came and went but Sunday 28th sees me at the Pondtail for a short cold session between10 and 11:35 on the Frenzee waggler. I’ll just say I had a bite and missed it and leave it at that! I had a planned visit to Tunnel Barn Farm on the Monday as it was close to the wife’s friend in Coventry, who I was going to deliver some presents to. Car was packed ready for an early getaway however that all changed when the oven gave a loud bang and ceased working, fuses checked,etc… and it had definitely expired. So quick call to cancel the trip, tackle removed from car and Monday was spent sorting out a makeshift mini-oven and contacting a firm to come and sort us out, of course with it being the festive period it will be the New Year before anything is sorted!

We will see what the New Year brings, Happy New Year !

December 2025 Part 1 – All I want for Christmas

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , ,

Managed to get out on three occasions up to now for short sessions mainly due to other commitments and the weather. For the temperatures to be sub-zero one day and double figures the next is not conducive to getting bites in the waters I fish (learned the hard way by experience!). So session 1 I opted for the Pondtail as the amount of rain we had received I knew the main lake would be rock hard plus the trek would be very slippery as the sheep had been in the first field. So peg 2 beckoned armed with a 5m whip and maggots and worms plus the ubiquitous wheat I lasted from 9:30 to 11:00 (first and last casts) in the absolutely bitter wind for no bites and no indications on the bait! A great start to the month!

Next session 10th sees me opt for the canal at Rowde armed with the seat-bag, a 5m whip (the cheaper Chinese variety) and the pike rod. I settled on the first space after the lock moorings as there was a long line of boats moored up along the rest of the pound. Interestingly there were a couple from the C&RT that were going along and noting the barge numbers as there is a limit to how long they can moor up in one place (canal traffic wardens!). Starting at 9:40 the sardine went out and received no attention. The whip was slow although there was a decent depth and I used a 1g homemade float to counteract the likely tow when boats went through the lock, although no boats went past while I was there! I lasted until 11:40 having scratched out 3 perch, 2 roach and a skimmer form about 9-10oz. Mistake I made was just to loose feed a pinch of maggots every so often whereas I felt on reflection I should have mixed a bit of groundbait up.

Two days later Friday 12th sees me try High Penn, this time in the south-west corner, a swim I had not tried before. It was a bit muddy, so much so that I put down a cross patch of branches to put my feet on so I didn’t sink into the mud while sitting on the seat-bag.

Sorry about the picture but it was that very fine drizzle that the wife calls wet rain as it seems to get in all the nooks and crannies, especially camera lenses! Anyway I had taken the 15ft waggler set up with a 3AAA homemade insert waggler – sarkandas cane with a 3mm pole float tip, 0.12mm reel line to a 0.1mm hooklength and 20 barbless. Loose feeding maggot at about 20m in 8-9 feet of water I lasted until 11:30 when the wet rain turned to full on rain and with no bites despite trying various combinations of maggots and worm, I settled for a return home.

So what do I want for Christmas? Well world peace would be great but not likely to happen so at a more mundane level some settled weather whether cold or wet I don’t mind as long as we don’t get the fluctuations in temperature that we have been experiencing. Bites would be gratefully received but that is down to me working at getting them, so finally that whoever is mad enough to read these ramblings has a good and healthy Christmas and New Year.

November 2025 Part2 – At last!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday sees me try something different, armed with the seat-bag the pike gear and a 7m Chinese whip I headed off to the other bank and peg 22 (almost opposite 10) where I have seen fish scattering previously. Pike rod went out but on plumbing up with the whip, the expected 5ft of water had become 2.5ft despite the rain we had been having. I surmised that the sluice had been opened a bit too long! Added to the low level it was weedy, clear and very windy. A 1.5g Chinese float with a 0.10mm hook-length to an 18 and maggot ended in 20 rudd and no pike runs for 1-08.

It wasn’t until a week later that I returned, back to peg 10 fishing 10am-12pm. The sardine bait was put out at about 20m and I set the pole up. I had just had a couple of roach in the first couple of drop ins when another member came by and stopped off for a chat before heading to the top field. I had taken my eye off the pike rod to turn towards him when he says your floats gone! My first run of the season, in fact the first for more than a year! The top kit was put down and a strike met with a firm resistance and after a short scrap a 9lber was in the net, at which point chaos ensued- I was out of routine and forgot to pick the rod up when I started to take the pike off the platform to unhook – goodness knows what the guy thought as I must have looked a right numpty. Anyway the pike was safely unhooked and weighed with the net adjustment showing the pike was dead on 9lb. The subsequent photos did not come out well as I think I must have smeared the lens with my wet hands! Anyway there was no more pike action but 18 roach, 16 rudd and 9 littler skimmers kept me busy for a 2-12 total.

Friday sees me back at Bowood peg 10 again 10-12 but this time no pike action although seeing the egret fly past, the kite swoop overhead and the kingfisher catch fish opposite did provide compensation. The pole produced15 roach,11 rudd a perch and a small skimmer for 2-06. It is noticeable that the roach are becoming the dominant catch now rather than the rudd. The perch was also noteworthy, not because it was large but the fact that it was unusually in the 2-3oz bracket whereas the usual size for the main lake is either microscopic (size of my thumb) or over a pound (on rare occasions)!

So last day of the month and I decide to give the Pondtail a go. Well I lasted an hour on the 5m whip, the temp was 3 Celsius on arrival at 9:30 and starting at 9:45 I had not had a sniff by 10:45 despite trying worm and combinations of maggot so I packed up and am writing this instead!

December is around the corner with lots of days taken up with family things but I’m sure I’ll get a few days in!

November 2025 part 1-no fireworks here!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

First outing is on the 4th when I took the Frenzee waggler to the Pondtail peg 1 and had a pleasant couple of hours fishing (9:45 to 11:45) double maggot and just loose feeding a few maggots at intervals. I set the homemade peacock waggler with the bulk around the float , a no. 6 about 2 feet from the hook and a no. 8 about six inches from the 18 hook, the result was 3-06 comprising of 36 roach and 4 perch.

Friday sees me wander down to peg 10 at Bowood, fishing 10-12. The pike rod with sardine went out to no avail and the lighter elastic and winter rig with a homemade body down float taking a bulk of 1g and 2 no 8 droppers to an 18 carried double maggot to start and later worm but no real size of fish came to this even with a bit of chopped work in the initial two balls of groundbait. 17 rudd, a roach, a microscopic perch, a hybrid and a skimmer managed to pull the scales round to 2-03.

Wednesday sees me back at Bowood but I changed plans as there was a car already parked up and I recognised it as an angler that in all likelihood would be on peg 10, no with the lake still holding vast amounts of weed the only peg worth fishing with known clear areas was 10 so I made the decision to leave the sardines in the car and fished the Pondtail on the pole for a change! Fishing 9:30 to 11:30 I started with 2 firmish balls of groundbait with some wheat and then loose fed wheat every few minutes, only topping up the groundbait with a ball every 40 mins or so. The weather was typical November- wet but this time quite warm at 14C. I set up with a lighter elastic than usual teamed with a BGT Blues taking 0.75g to a 0.10mm hooklength and an 18 with double maggot. Shotting was the usual bulk set about 3 feet from the hook with two no.8 droppers. Bites came steadily apart from a couple of blank periods when the flow changed, fifteen roach and two perch took the scales down to 1-10.

Friday was going to be my next outing but waking up to a dark oppressive gloom and rain I took the easy option and decided to write this instead! On the other side of the world Gareth had returned to the commercial he had visited previously- the one where you got money back for every fish you caught!

Fishing a whip he ended up with 3 large tilapia (4-5lb) and a carp fishing the traditional two hook method with a soft paste on the top hook and a firm paste on the bottom hook. All the fish came to the bottom hook with a paste made from the fishery provided pellets he was loose feeding.

One of the tilipia had a tag which apparently made it count as 3 fish – only 100 fish in the whole lake were tagged and of course he had to get one! The most fish caught when he was there was 5 and the lowest 2 so he didn’t do too bad in the four hour session.

A pike from Bowood now becomes a target for the remainder of the month!

October 2025 Part 2 – a myth dispelled!

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

With the up coming visit from Clive aka SidestreamBob I thought I had better return to Semington and make sure there was plenty of bank space, so I also took a pair of shears and cut a swim closer to the pump than I fished before but still close enough to Clive’s peg.

Peg duly cut I set up a single rig of a 1g homemade float to 0.14mm Tornado and 0.12mm Tornado hooklength to an 18 fishing the 2+2 line in about 6-7 feet of water. Double maggot was again the bait with two pudding consistency balls of groundbait introduced with a little maggot and chopped worm in it. This is not the typical canal approach but for this particular area it is a basic approach. First put in was 10:15 and by 12:15 I had amassed 28 roach, 28 skimmers, 5 larger skimmers, best being 1-08, 3 perch (best 0-14), 2 gudgeon and a rudd for a total of 8-08. I had lost 3 good fish to hook pulls, two were most likely big perch and one a bream judging by the slime on the line. Perch have bony mouths so a hook pull is always possible and the bream tend to have softer mouths than usual.

Anyway it looked good for Monday. Sunday I nip down to Bowood and set up on peg 10 putting the pike rod out and fishing my usual style. However I fished from 10 to 11 at which point the heavy rain got heavier and there were no signs of any pike activity, further evidenced by no slack periods on the pole – 40 rudd, 4 skimmer and a perch for 2-12.

Monday comes around and the sunny fine day of Friday at Semington is replaced by dull wet weather! Clive and I met up as arranged and I led him along the pounds to the pump and put him on the first peg I had fished as it was flatter and no vegetation in the way while I dropped in to the newly cut one from Friday. I had told Clive pole only as it was an ideal opportunity for him to get used to the pole while getting plenty of bites. To cut a long story short the day went off with intermittent rain and dry spells, Clive lost a good fish to a hook pull, possibly a big perch but did manage to get a perch of 1-04 plus a load of smaller fish for a 4lb total.I had a similar experience losing 3 good fish , landing a perch of 1-12 in a total of 8-07. The pump was active for about 30 minutes during which bites dried up significantly. However, the myth that SidestreamBob can’t catch fish is well and truly smashed after his exploits today and earlier in the season. (You will notice he is far better at taking photos than me!)

The myth breaker

Sunday is the next time I get out and this time I head for peg 10 at Bowood armed with the pike rod and 6m Chinese whip with just the haversack seat. Pike rod went out at 9 and the whip followed ten minutes later. I admit I got fed up with the small rudd, 34 of them by the time I packed up at 11:10 when the rain started again, along with 2 roach and 3 small skimmers for 1-08, not a sign of a pike or any activity.

Undeterred I returned next day to Bowood – to peg 11, yes eleven, armed with the haversack seat, pike rod and waggler. It was a very windy blowing left to right and a cold day. The peg had not been dragged at all and was weedy but I stuck at it and from 9:55 to 11:50 did not see a pike or get a run, but did get 18 rudd on the waggler for 1-10, as you can tell a better stamp than previously but still small.

Last day of the month and a dull very windy start that would turn into wet and windy later! I decided to head for High Penn as there were water mains repairs on the road to Bowood and they were working right by the entrance which made things awkward.I decided to take the haversack seat and just a waggler rod although I opted for a 15′ Filstar Premier Match that is at least 12 years old teamed up with a Kastking Sharky reel with 0.16mm line to a 0.12mm hooklength and size 18 barbless hook. Float was a homemade peacock quill taking 4AAA with 3AAA and a BB locking the float with a number 1 shot about 2 feet from the hook and a number 4 about 9 inches from the hook. Heavy set up but in reality needed in the 10’+ of water at 16m and the heavy wind creating a flow. I fished 9:40 to 11:30 when the heavens opened for a second time but fed sparingly, simply loose feeding 20 or so maggots every time bites slowed after an initial two helpings. The rod needs a bit of explaining as it is not like the ultra slim rods available today, it is noticeably thicker and heavier but has a very nice soft action in the tip which allows you to feel even the smallest fish whilst retaining a lot of backbone further down the rod. I was thinking this gave me the best of both worlds given the number of carp in High Penn.It was bites from the off with 15 perch, 16 rudd and 4 roach coming to hand, nothing bigger than 3oz, for a 2-06 total.

Taken during one of the calmer periods (there weren’t many!)

November awaits, will it bring a pike from Bowood?

January 2025 Part 1 – a frozen landscape

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , ,

The high winds, rain and freezing temperatures have been so far this month limiting me to just two excursions so far. Friday 3rd sees me head to peg 10 at Bowood in bright sunshine but the air temperature was -2C on arrival lifting to 2C just under 3 hours later. The Pondtail was still frozen after the cold days and nights we had been having and there was ice still on the main lake all the way down to just after peg 7. It was very still with a gentle breeze rippling the water at times but fishing from 10am to 12 produced not a single bite or run. Fish were starting to show (silvers and pike) at the edge of the ice around peg 7 which was just about fishable when I left; I should really have chanced it and fished up to the edge of the ice rather than going to the deeper water but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Eleven days then pass before the next visit as a further deep freeze put a firm lid on the lakes and I resolved to let the ice melt and for the temperature to be stable for a couple of days before venturing out.This time I went on peg 9, mainly as there was a couple of pike anglers on the far bank, one of which had his pike float about 20 yards from peg 10. There was still thin ice on the lake up to peg 5 and I was tempted to fish there but knowing that it was only 3-4ft deep did not appeal.

I got a bait in the water by 9:55 and fished until 12. I mixed up one 250ml cup of dry groundbait on the wet side to act as an attractant and fed a single ball with some pinkies. Ten minutes in and the float dipped under and a small roach came to be resident in the keepnet. Just after this the swans swam by and the pike float bobbed almost as if their wake had caused it but I was not convinced. A couple of minutes later the run materialised and the strike resulted in what felt like a decent fish, until it let go- I obviously struck too soon in my haste!

No further runs which was annoying as the water was constantly erupting with small fish evading marauding pike although one of the anglers on the other bank had a pike which from a distance looked to be around the 5-8lb mark from just up from peg 5. I had an interesting time on the pole ending with 3-03 comprised of 33 roach, 20 rudd and 7 skimmers/blades – yes they were small! I did catch a couple on a Chinese honey jelly ball that I had bought, I will try these further as I bought them in a variety of flavours.

NO pictures this time as I did set the video up for the session and the weighing but on playback there was nothing!

November 2024 Part 2 – climate change?

jacksonb1 Uncategorized , , , , , , , ,

Sunday 17th sees me back at peg 10 with no real hopes of catching given everywhere seemed to have turned off due to lack of rain and the subsequent lowering of oxygen levels in the water. To cut a long story short I fished 9-11 in tap water for a second consecutive blank on the main lake although it was warm so did not need to wear my coat.

Two days later I decide to go to the Pondtail as we still had no rain and the temperature had dropped from 10C down to 0C. Set up the 4.5m Chinese whip and rig and loose fed just 4-5 grains of wheat every other cast starting at 9:15 after 10 minutes I had my first roach and the snow started! I lasted until10:15 when it was snowing heavily and I returned the 9 roach and went home to get warm.

Before it snowed heavily!

We then had a ten day block of snow, heavy rain and floods plus my knee was playing up so it was not until Friday 29th that I got out again to peg 10. Now to give this some context Thursday at 8am it was -3C, Friday it was 10C and today it is 14C, no wonder that all wildlife are confused. Peg 10 was coloured, windy and bright sunshine, although the wind was cold. Setting up as normal the pike rod was out at 9:15 and the pole followed at 9:25 after depositing two small balls of groundbait into the coloured water, followed by light loose feeding throughout the session. The time swings around to five past ten and I get the impression of a bite- the float sat literally a mm or two lower, a lift and a one ounce hybrid prevents the three blanks in a row on the main lake! A further half hour passes and I introduce some finely chopped worms (10 to be exact) and try a worm head, this produces another tentative bite after a quarter of an hour, a very slow “runner” to the left which could have been mistaken for tow, a lift finds a small bream of 1-09 coming to the net. That was my lot on the pole – two “bites” two fish.

During the session I had spotted pike come to the surface and take in air, possibly to try and clear any sediment from the coloured water off their gills. Two of these had been to my left about two rods out, one at 12m and the fourth to my right also about two rods out. I had put the pike rod over the left to no avail, but decided to put it over the right hand area while I started packing up the pole. This produced a bob and the float disappearing, a strike was met with heavy resistance and a run before after 5 secs the pike let go! I needed to give it more time before striking! That was my lot and I was home by 12:15.

December arrives on Sunday so I will try again on the main lake!