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Friday 17th February, 1....2.....THUMP!


AddictedToScopex

9676 views

Well today saw me very busy and finding the time to get out was fairly difficult. We had to go to the hospital to get a scan on the baby. Thankfully all was well. I spoke to a friend and we agreed that if we had the time we would get down to the canal for a few hours.

 

By the time everything had been sorted out and I had left the hospital it was quite late and I knew that if I got down to the canal it would only be for the last 2 hours of light. My favourite time and one that has proven successful for perch in the past although the target this time was to be the pike.

 

I have fished this stretch many times now on the lures and failed to produce any signicant results pike wise often with just a single fish on each outing. This has mainly been down to targetting perch and short sessions however.

 

The venue:

 

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Me and my mate drove down to the canal and it was to be his first session on there so i was rather hoping he could strike it lucky. We set up at the car and headed down to the banks. Two elderly gents were fishing the pole so I asked if they had any pike trouble and one mentioned he had had a pike in front of him two hours earlier. I kept this in mind for when they eventually left. My friend and I made our way up the canal trying good looking spots all the way down. After about half an hour and in a spot where I had had a few pike before I suddenly had a whack on the tip and a pike on. I shouted my buddy to come and net it as the net was further down the bank. I saw the beast under the water and it looked huge. Far larger than any I have seen on that stretch before. Before my friend had got halfway back the pike had slipped the hook leaving me with that horrible sinking feeling. I wondered whether barbed hooks would have kept it on but I find them more hassle than they are worth and always crush the barbs.

 

Not long after my friend had a follow off a small jack. That was to be the only action for a while and we ended up losing two lures to the same far bank tree. My friends big brass spoon and my own storm kicking shad. I wasnt too chuffed about losing that one as it was the one I had the take on and I had gained a new found confidence in it as I havent caught on one of them before.

 

As light started to fade we decided to head back and I said that I would have a few casts in the likely spots on the way back. I wasnt expecting anything but had a good feeling. The conditions seemed perfect for some reason. I did my retrieve how I had been all night. Due to the cold weather I let the lure sink right to the bottom and then retrieved slowly occasionally letting the lure sink again before twitching and continuing. On the third twitch all hell broke loose. My lure was only 3 feet from the bank and rising in the water and I saw a large swirl and felt a sharp tug on the rod. I was in. The light was all but gone and the stage was set for a heart thumping fight. The fish thumped into the weeds on the near bank and my heart was in my throat. I knew this was a big girl for this stretch and just had to bank it in order to find out what it weighed. After losing the big one earlier I couldnt let it happen twice. I maintained pressure to prevent the hooks from releasing and steered the fish back to open water. My mate put the net in the water and I coasted the fish over to it. As the net was lifted I saw the fish double over. I knew it was a lump. Its back was incredibly wide and it had a very lare belly on it. A superb specimen in prime winter condition tipping the scales at a shade under 11lbs.

 

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We got the pictures taken quickly and weighed the fish and returned it. I was over the moon. My biggest on this stretch by far and my friend was chuffed to have seen it too. I am pretty sure he will be fishing that stretch with me again. :D

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