wellyphant

I've been toying with the idea of groundbaiting for pike recently and was wondering if anyone has done the same. I've been thinking about this since I was bought a Nutribullet for Christmas which is basically a blender that turns anything solid into a liquid. The groundbait I have in mind is something like a simple breadcrumb, with a few pellets mixed in and soaked with liquidised raw sardines. In my mind this would do two things, firstly, the smell may attract Pike and secondly it would attract bait fish which in turn may attract Pike I can't see how it wouldn't work. Piking folk, what do you reckon?

Personally I'd welcome the three rod license, even though most of my fishing is done with one or two rods, sometimes I use a maximum of three in winter for Lake district pike. Also, having a five year old son who I'd like to become interested in fishing, a free license for him wouldn't go a miss either.

Thanks everyone, I'm going to give the Chameleon a try, see how I go with that.

Please can someone recommend to me a good mono both for mainline and hook that has a relatively low diameter, is supple and abrasion resistent. I'm hoping for something like Drennan double strength but mixed reviews have put me off buying that particular product. I will be mainly using the line fishing straight through to the hook, mainly from a centre pin to wrestle tench out of lillypads. Thanks in advance

Inspired by a post on another forum regarding Pike fishing on a lake in the beauitful Cumbrian lake district, I decided I'd go and visit one of my favourite swims there from way back, I caught my first ever 20lber there over 25 years ago and it's been about 18 years since I last fished it. I've been wanting to go there since this lake was mentioned but work, family stuff and Christmas doings got in the way. Anyway, today was my first chance. straight after a 12 hour night shift, crap weather forecast but my little lad in after school club meant I could look forward to a day of freezing wet weather, sleep deprivation but more importantly some Pike fishing. I started fishing at first light and even though the weather was horrible, the lake and surrounding views still looked awesome. Three baits were cast out and they remained motionless until the rain stopped for a short while about 10am and my left hand rod was away, resulting in this nice pike, I didn't weigh it but would guess it was a scraper double. I decided to change the bait on my RH rod to the same as the one I'd just caught on and about 30 minutes later it was away resulting in this nicely marked pike About another 30 minutes passed and the left hand rod was off again resulting in this smaller but no less pretty fish The weather started to improve and I decided to bait my middle rod with what was proving to be the best bait. It wasn't long before it was the turn of the middle rod resulting in this paler fish All baits were recast and repositioned, It was coming up to the end of my session when my left had rod screamed off, this is normally the sign of a bigger fish and I wasn't to be disappointed when this fish which I weighed at exactly 16lb slid into my landing net. After I'd taken a few pics it was time to pack up, as I was doing this a big shower came in and drenched me and all my stuff, not that I was bothered, I was made up with this session. From memory, this is the best winter lake district Pike session I've ever had. When I fished the lakes all those years ago, two fish in a session was a result, maybe there are more fish in the lake now or maybe I've just become a better angler, who knows.

Yeah, I worked that out before, need something in between, from about 80-110 grams. Maybe I could countersink a few more holes into the ones in Chesters link.

So if I was 'fishing' with two rods and used another one for spodding or to cast a marker float, I'd need two licences?

Them's the ones,, cheers.

I can't think of anywhere I'd least like to fish than on a busy park lake like this. Looking at the evidence that Friends of St James Park have gathered, I think there should be an outright fishing Ban but is killing the fish in order to deter angling really the way to go about it?

Thanks Chesters, this is close but looking for a heavier version.

The lake in question is on the following video 15 minutes in. Interesting confrontation 20 minutes in. I've seen fish in worse condition in commercials.

Does anyone know if or where I can acquire this lead mould? I need one to make my own feeders. My google searches seem to come to a dead end.

Every year, I organise a kids camping trip with friends from a local Mountainbiking club and this year, like last year, we stayed at Coniston hall campsite. This is a great site as there is loads to do in the area but best of all, It's right by the lake so I can sneak off for some early morning Pike fishing before the kids wake up. As the weather wasn't very good for the first couple of days, I didn't go out until the third morning, the water was calm and the sun was out so decided to set off from the shore near the campsite and paddled to the shallower water at the northern end of the lake. I'd been trolling a Savage gear 3D line thru trout and not had much action so decided to stop to take a selfie. Once I'd done this I thought I'd reel in the lure just to check that I hadn't picked up any weed and it was hit almost immediately by what felt like a decent sized Pike. I'd been trolling the lure about 40 yards behind the boat so it took me a little while to get the fish to the boat and this is when it started fighting. Luckily, my camera was still at hand to catch the action. It took me under the boat with a couple of times with some spectacular lunges before finally coming to the net. Once landed, I managed to get one more snap of this stunning fish which I estimated to be around 13lb before returning it Happy with the catch I returned to family duties and returned a couple of mornings later, no action that morning but the peace and tranquility in the early hours more that made up for the blank.

Have you ever thought you have sussed how to fish a water? only for it to tease you from that point on. Skelsmergh tarn near Kendal is such a place. It's a gorgeous little water, full of Lillies and has a real Mr Crabtree feel about. It contains Tench, Rudd, Perch and thousands of big leeches It's also a SSSI, it's run by Kendal Angling club and in my opinion fishes best at first light on a dull day. It's not an easy water to fish, apart from the mass of lillies, the bottom is full of water lettuce and there lies the first problem, setting your float to the right depth is a challenge. You think you've got it right but it doesn't take long before you start questioning yourself, especially when the tench start fizzing around your bait but your float remains motionless, this happens quite a lot. When the fish here start feeding they give themselves away with huge patches of bubbles, I've never seen fizzing like it anywhere else, it's like someone as dropped in a bucket of Alker Seltzer but this doesn't always guarantee a bite and more often than not the fish catch you unawares when the fizzing dies down a little. When you get it right, the fishing can be excellent. When the bites start coming this brings the next problem. The fights these fish give are brutal and they have the lillies on their side, good strong hooks and a minimum of 6lb line are essential. My best session here was a couple of years ago and resulted in 9 fish landed,about the same amount lost in the lillies and more than that amount of missed bites. This was my best fish(unweighed) from that session. I have been back a few times since but have never been able to get them feeding like I did that day. When the fishing is slow there are always the cheeky Robins to keep you entertained. I've heard the tench in hear have reached the 10lb mark and although I've never caught one, I've hooked and lost some very heavy fish. This weekend, my biggest tench and a new PB graced my net after an epic battle in which it locked me up in the lillies a number of times. When I eventually got it in it took the scales round to 7lb. The fish here are in stunning super fit condition and I recommend this place to anyone who likes a challenge. Be warned though, this place will mess with your head But sometimes it's worth it.

Wow, some great advice, so much choice. Cheers guys :-)

Cracking tench there mate, I wish I knew a seldom fished water like that.

This is probably a subject that has been done to death so my apologies. Looking for a set of scales that will weigh fish up to 20lbs mainly for Tench and Barbel fishing. They have to be compact, good quality, weigh in lbs and oz's and cost no more than £25. I'll avoid a set of Reubon Heaton flyweight scales which I once had but the mechanism inside failed quickly and at a time when I potentially had a pb Barbel. I have since been carting round my heavy carp/pike scales so want to dump the weight for something lighter. Suggestions anyone?

I've recently had a sort out of my fishing bags and found loads of moths and moth larvae in my rig wallets etc. I'm thinking of buying some mothballs but am worried that the chemicals in them might give my tackle an odour that will be sensed by the fish. Has anyone else had this problem and used any product that works well?

Can anyone recommend a decent DAB radio for between £20 and £30, Wanting one for my garage whilst I'm fiddling with my tackle. Thanks in advance.

Having a garage clearout and I found some old Carpworld magazines, Issues 10 14 15 16 17 18 and 19. These are free to anyone who may be interested in them, all I ask is for the postage to be paid for.

Thanks for that Alan.

It's a pity the EA don't sell a 3 rod license for £40

Thanks fellas, went on WSFF, good info on there.

I'm going to Funchal for a week in October and looking at pictures of the place it appears to look promising for a bit of rock/jetty fishing. Does anyone have any tips on tackle/bait and also what species to expect? Thanks in advance

Cheers guys,,I've bought one of Lumbys