Russell Fitzpatrick

thats the way to do it! but it still works for pike chavender,seriusly,sometimes they dont want it whizzing past theer nose so hold it back,works when trotting for other species but with an open bail. with the pike as they hit the bait the freespool is already on so not much resistance is felt plus it stops teh top of the rod violently whacking rod.

hi rabster its a shame the tail is cut off,i fully admit it being an oppurtunist shot taken as i was realeaseing her,she went 13+ not that it matters,looks good tho dont she!

nice fish fella,very light colouring.-coloured venue?

it does work, i do it when im troting lives and deads on the river,i am using braid tho,you can slow teh run of the float right down and hold it back nicely,lifting the bait up in the flow. could work with mono,but why bother? i fished there last year,and used a open face reel to trot with no prob,just gotta use your index finger to control it,misssed a few bites but connected with a few too. me trotting the itchen last year-photo by seph. note teh open face reel!

oh well hopefully soon dave

aarrrgh i need me fix,getting withdrawl symptoms now,i even went fishing today

been down since thursday mate,been trying to get on but cant,summit to do with teh new website maybe?

a fen sunset after a hard days predator fishing

lovely...oh elsie....shame i cant hear her,nice pic dude

my friend mr robin, and mr esox

not doing too bad, slowed right down after xmas,still catching em tho,no 20's yet but theres still time! looking forward to throwing some lures about in the spring once the weed cover strats to creep back in i think,should be fun,hopefully i might actually catch sumit on the damn things!

i point the rod at the fish,wind down and strike upwards,with braid and sharp hooks, i dont have many probs setting hooks. even better with a float becuase i can see wich way teh pike is going,if it dont move off same procedure. dave l,whats up with p+p site fella?

if you have a take,be it movement of the float or teh alarm just blurting into life,....set the hooks. i had a fish at the beginning of october last year,didnt set the alarm off or pull out the drop off clip,i just caught sight of the float twitch and waver slightly,i unclipped the drop off wound down and struck...she went 16+ too always be alert,always keep ya eyes open! strange really,why hit feeders and floats?...i think they are just switched on at the time in full on feedeing mode,ie anything comes close...bang! i'm eating that!

there fine mate,i have used em my self in the past,with running rig,i take it your after a sensitive set up? go for light bobbins mate

i too log all my predator captures, in much the same way as,vagabond,dont need sketches as the rigs are all what i normally use and swims i know from my memory,i just record the small details like date and time of take,method bait,venue, weight,conditions around capture and pressure readings too. i say small i think they can be very important,at teh end of each season i tote up my captures and see what has been caught on what...lives,deads,lures, etc be intresting to see what my most used bait/method will be too. forgot to say its written in a simple hardbacked book with lined paper,make teh charts up my self.

my'n would be my first gravel pit pike, 16+ cracking fish well built and a hard scrapper,she took a sardine float legered in the crystal clear margins,on a mild winter morning

me too , rig bins all the way! i carry two mix of pop up,paternoster,standard and difering size trebles and trace materials...proper tart me i open em up when i get home let all the moisture dry out,stops rusting trebles!! might nick budgies tip tho!

flurocarbon.... well i know a freind who use it here,he has'nt been bitten off,also hes landed around 10 pike without be bitten off,altho in time i'm sure he will be.the reason i dont have a huge problem with it is he use a barbless size 6 single,not much of a problem to a fish if hes bitten off but still not the point i know. now i dont see teh point of using fluro,i use wire,supple wire,i get as many takes as he does so i dont see the point!

well up for it gerry,going away on the thurs 19th for teh weekend tho begginng of feb is good for me? boozlebear walthamstow is speci paradise mate,theres a good 6 or more carp over 40+ including three difrent commons and a 45+ fully scaled mirror,plus a good few others that rarely if ever see teh bank,bream to over 16+,even a double figure babrbel in one of teh ressys! oh then theres the trout ressys you can fly fish,no disrespect ,mate but its not skant pickings or overfished its HARD,simple as lots of natrual food,but those that do there homework crack it and get teh rewards just tehy keep it quite cos it is popular with carpers,just a shame i chase predators!

your on then, i shall have new lure rod and abu multiplier by then,gotta get some on lures.

to catch a double figure zander,just to see one in my landing net and hold it up for the camera,wonderfull fish! i love night fishing on my own,peace and tranquility.

well this is a funny one for me,i dont drive! but when i go with my piking partner we often get up at around 4.30 am and he drives the 100 odd miles there and back,i just keep him awake with pike talk! often drive up the night before and lodge at a b+b too,spend the whole weekend lost in the fens! when i go by myself i go by tube and train i think its about 15-20 miles away,usually worth it tho,its a damn sight better than london! then there are the poeple i know from the two forums i post on,here and p+p,some of wich have gone well out of there way to pick me up from my home and take me out for the day and drop me off home,i think they know how much i appreciate that,top blokes. happy new year to ya gerry,gerrys boats is lovely,we must meet again gerry.

been fishing since i was 10,so around 13-4 years for me,had a bit of a brek between 17-18 years of age but back on it after that chasing predators!

hi jamie plenty of info already given for you to try,if i were you this is what i would do.... get that lure rod and a few assorted lures and get searching,walk as far as you can trying every inch of water,even if you dont hook up you may well get one or two follows giving away the pikes location note where the areas are,you could come back and pre-bait as suggested or come back and fish 2 rods with deads,also fishing a deadbait and lure fishing around it can be productive it helps get teh pike moving,sometimes they will hit the lure instead of taking the dead too. cant already add to what else has been said,apart from good luck and dont give up! once had a 4 month blank myself...ended up with a 20... stick at it.

quite right tigger,they grab it any wich way they can,when using lives i have noticed the go for it across the jaws,prey being held horizontal,before turning it. i used to watch my python eat live prey(illegal now i believe?) he always used to swallow head first. strange how when i have stalked pike they can take an age to actaully pick up the bait other times they have it big time,straight away.