Saturday 12th November - Cheshire Mere

Graeme took me Pike fishing for a day on a big Cheshire Mere on a guest pass from his club, the Mere is around 47 acres and is boat only - the club have one punt for use of the members.

The Mere is horse shoe shaped, it's actually an Estate Lake and was created by damming a stream about four hundred years ago.

We also had another club member with us, Andy, who had booked the punt for the day. He also had a fish finder and had been out on the water previously and mapped the bottom. It soon became apparent that the shallows which cover the majority of the water were devoid of fish but the deep channel in the middle which follows the old stream bed was showing pleanty of life - I know fish finders aren't always reliable in terms of the size of fish but some of the readings must have been right so we were itching to get started.

After a quick cuppa and a bacon butty we started fishing with a plan of giving each spot an hour then pulling up the mud weights and making our way further down the channel.

On our second stop Andy got stuck into the first and only fish of the day on a lure - an aggressive little Jack of around five pounds.

The fishing was definitely slow and the conditions weren't great - Gin clear water and clear bright skies. But we saw enough on the fish finder to warrant further investigation and apart from anything else the water is simply stunning - with sunsets like this I know I'll be back!