Valid capture, or not?

[Wordbender]

No big deal, just wondered how you guys would see the following;

 

Out piking on New Year's Eve and I had a 14 and an 18 to my popped-up deadbaits - which was nice.

 

I worked those baits seriously hard in bitterly cold, clammy conditions, re-casting every 45 minutes or so and changing location four times from 07.30 until 2 p.m. Then, when the lake felt more dead than my baits I gave it best and started to pack up.

 

I reeled in my second rod and, whilst jiggling the lead to dislodge a clump of weed, a large pike shot out of a weed bank virtually under my rod tips and absolutely nailed the bouncing bait. I quickly played the pike out, landed it, and released it. It was possibly a scraper 20 and certainly bigger than the 18, but I didn't weigh or photograph it because it was caught completely by accident rather than design.

 

I've caught pike on retrieved deadbaits before, but only when I've deliberately 'twitched' them in to try to provoke a last-chance strike. The only twitching I did today was to free the lead of weed, so to me that doesn't count. Also, if I'd had any brains at all, I'd have sussed the weed bank from which the pike emerged as a location worth trying - rather than looking further out the whole time.

 

All in all, I considered that there was no merit whatsoever in that catch - I even 'tried' to get the fish to throw the hook - and that it didn't 'count' (hate that term, but you know what I mean) any more than a foul-hooked fish.

 

What say you chaps?

 

Terry

[Andrew]

A legitimate catch i would say wordbender.

 

Twitching 50 yards or 10 yards, all the same.

 

Log it as a legitimate catch

[Leon Roskilly]

Reminds me of the freezing cold blank session I once had on the River Medway.

 

Not a sign of life in the river, and everything was numb with cold.

 

I reeled in, packed up my gear, and tossed the sprat into the river.

 

As the fish headed toward the water, I saw the shape of a pike heading up to meet it, from the close in weed bank on the bottom.

 

The sprat was taken in a flash, and the pike had turned and disappeared even befor the word "&*^(*&" had left my mouth!

 

I really had it in my mind that the fish had been patiently waiting for me to pack up and toss my bait in at the end of the session, laying there waiting for it, watching me get colder and colder, and gently sniggering.

 

They aren't that 'intelligent' - are they?

 

I'd count it Tel, plenty of times when you should have had a fish and didn't!

 

Tight Lines - leon

[lufc999]

I'd say lagit catch mate in the past i have caught whilst putting a fish in my net ... dropped my line in the edge so not to stand on my float and the next thing all hell broke loose had a good 1lb roach ..lol , That went in my net too next cast .............. at my feet ..lol

 

ian

[Wordbender]

quote:

---

Originally posted by jangar:

[QB] Twitching 50 yards or 10 yards, all the same.

---

Perhaps, but I was doing neither, mate. I was simply bouncing the lead around beneath the rod tips to dislodge weed.

 

Oh well, at least I found another 'pike feature', eh?

 

Terry

[Wordbender]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leon Roskilly:

 

plenty of times when you should have had a fish and didn't!

 

[/QB]

---

Ain't THAT the truth, mate!

 

During that session I hit some superb casts (he remarked, modestly ) and most were first-timers, too. My finest chuck put the lead right on a gravel spot within pike-striking range of a seriously raunchy snag that has yielded some decent fish in the past. The bait was totally weed-free so the popper could take it to any depth I cared to fish.

 

I explored everything from near-surface to off the lead, and not a touch. That bait just HAD to be taken, but no. Only after I'd cranked it in and tried to de-weed the rig did I 'provoke' a strike. Result - skill-nil, dumb luck-1.

 

I mean, what's the point of learning to do it right, if the bloody pike don't have the common courtesy to read the script?!

 

Sometimes, just sometimes, I think those fish don't deserve my devotion.

 

Terry

[jeepster]

if you dont want it, can i claim it as one of mine?

[Peter Waller]

You hooked it, you played it, you landed it, legit fish!

 

At the end of the day it's for you to decide but I'd be happy to accept it.

 

Ask yourself, had it been a thirty, would you have accepted it? I would and so would scores of others.

 

Nice fish, lucky so and so! I've had a dire Xmas as far as fish have been concerned. The highlight for me was discovering last years turkey gravey in a heated hostess trolly that only ever comes out for Xmas!!

[Lid]

There's always an element of luck in fishing, so this is a valid capture. Look at that record perch taken in 2002 by a young lad reeling in his bait!

 

Personally I've caught a number of decent chub just after a piece of weed or rubbish has moved my line. Is this luck, or skill in using a light ledger so it happens in the first place?

[Wordbender]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Peter Waller:

[QB] You hooked it, you played it, you landed it, legit fish!

---

Sadly, Peter, it hooked itself while my attention was elsewhere, I tried to get it off more than trying to land it - and I couldn't even do THAT properly!

 

As you say, mate, it's a personal thing but that fish came via 100% fluke, not any version of skill that I'm aware of, so it will never feel legit to me. If it was a 30, I'd have taken a photo - but it would no more 'count' than this one.

 

Same goes for tench, eels and bream caught whilst carping. I've had some stonking 'non-carp', and although I enjoy and celebrate pretty much anything I catch, I can't credit them when they've been winched in on a 3.5 lb. rod, 15lb. line and a size 6 hook.

 

Call me an old queen, but I can't fib to the little git that runs my conscience. It's all part of my personal angling equation and, rather than reducing my pleasure, I find it intensifies it when everything comes together by design.

 

Luck is an ever-present, of course, but there's little satisfaction for me when it becomes the main-player in a capture. As I say, I enjoy them all, but there's a sliding luck/skill scale that directly controls my pleasure-potential.

 

Terry