Jump to content

Sunday Piking on the Canal


BoozleBear

Recommended Posts

I fished the Kennet and Avon canal on Sunday for pike. Here's what happened...

 

I got up early (ish) and was on the bank and fishing by 7.20am. The sun had risen and there were signs of small fish sploshing at the surface so the piking possibilities looked good.

 

I was near the bridge, and cast one into a stretch nearby where a few pike are known to roam, and another near a bush opposite me, which I took a 9lb and 11lb pike from in May.

 

Here's what it looked like...(You can see my floats if you look carefully near the far bank).

 

post-4843-1160406020_thumb.jpg

 

At about 9am I missed a fish off the bush. The float shot away and perhaps I sturck too soon - but I would rather that than a deep hooked fish. It felt nice and weighty, I would say pushing double figures. (but I would, wouldn't I!)

 

The bait of choice today by the way was sprats, each one floatledgered on home made wire traces with 2 x size 6 trebbles.

 

At 9.30 lots of blokes with trolleys started coming past for a fishing match. I packed up, as the lock on the other side of the bridge was due to be shut all day, as some wally in Devizes drove a barge into a lock and broke it - good news for fishing as it meant no barges. However, this also meant I was fishing a dead end. I'd missed one pike and it'd gone quiet there, and any pike travelling up towards the bridge end would have to swim past loads of silvers and perch munching up groundbait, so I spoke to my mate Greg on the phone, and he suggested another spot for me.

 

I packed up quickly and drove to said spot, and cast out by a bush and in front of a bush/tree thing. So pleased with my first cast to the corner near the bush I took a photo of it!

 

post-4843-1160406076_thumb.jpg

 

After taking the photo I looked over and saw my float shoot off, so I sprinted back and struck into the fish, and had my first pike of the day. Only a little Jack of perhaps 1lb but a nice start, hooked nicely in the scizzors. It did try to slither like a snake off the net and into the grass by the canal, so I had to be quick to grab it and get it back in the net and in the water.

 

With a new sprat on I cast again to pretty much the same spot. 10 minutes later off the float goes again, this time it's a bigger pike, which fought much better.

 

I had borrowed my father in law's landing net. He insisted on attaching the pole to it before I departed. He's getting on a bit. When I was netting this fish, the net fell off the pole into the water at my feet. As one hand went for the pole as it fell (and missed) the other lost grip and the net with fish were in the water.

 

I wanted to grab the pole to hook the net out, but the fish wanted to swim away in the net. I couldn't reach with my hands and had to act quick, so ended up stepping into the canal and grabbing the net and got it back on the bank, all whilst not trying to hit myself on the head with my rod, which I'd wenched under my arm!

 

All was fine, apart from my pride, and my soaked left leg, all the way up to the knee!!!! Moral of the story is always check the net is securely on the pole, even if Grandpa says it is!

 

After another quick unhooking (amazing how much nicer it is for me with a pike glove!) and I quickly weighed it with the digital scales I bought a few months ago on ebay - their first outing.

 

The scales said about 4.5lb, including net, I would weigh the net later after getting the fish back in.

 

Here it is...

 

post-4843-1160406307_thumb.jpg

 

Greg then came to join me and started off doing a bit of spinning with a big rubber jerkbait he got on ebay. It was a sort of holographic sparkly blue with black perch like stripes. His second cast was a good one, right into a corner near some reeds, and he got a fast take. After a good few runs it came in and I scooped the net under a beautiful fish.

 

The fish was at a guess around 12lb and in great condition, with a very big head!

 

Once unhooked it was quickly weighed and the scales tried to tell us it was 3.5lb! I turned them off and on again, and similar, so great, my new lovley scales were a load of rubbish. Greg was still delighted with a fine lure caught specimen.

 

As I was wondering about getting my camera Greg spotted my float (yes same spot as before) going and I struck into my biggest fish of the day, the highlight of the catch being its reaction to seeing the net, which was a great tail walk about 2 metres from where we stood.

 

Once on the bank we unhooked the fish, and didn't bother with the scales as they were still rubbish. Gregs guess was 8lb which I agreed with.

 

This one was slightly more difficult to unhook so we skipped the photo and got her back in the water.

 

We moved on after it went quiet there and went on to another promising spot. I liked the look of this bush and the reeds round it...

 

post-4843-1160406363_thumb.jpg

 

 

Both Greg and I had a run and lost a fish at this spot - again within minutes of each other. After half an hour with nothing more there we moved again.

 

At the new spot we both picked good likely spots and cast out deadbaits. Greg had tried some other plugs and rubber worms on the lure rod but no success. We then, once more, had a fish on the end with a few minutes in between us. Mine came off after an almighty shake of its head and Greg pulled one in, at an estimated 4-5lb.

 

We then returned to our inital spot of success, thinking another head of fish might be paying it a visit and to our delight we were right. I hadn't caught a fish since just after midday and was getting greedy, it was just gone 3pm now.

 

My float shot off, and I probably struck too soon, but I missed another, gutted it might be my last chance. But no, a little later I had another run off the right hand side of the tree. Some passers by started standing round me, too close for my liking, and watching what I was doing.

 

I was aware I needed to be careful but quick in order to get the net to Greg, I needed to ask the people to get out of my way to get space for unhooking! Soon my fish was back in the water, my guess is 5-6lb, and over I went to put the net under Greg's 7lb fish.

 

That put the lid on a marvellous day and I simply can't wait to get out there again. And Greg needs a good mention as he was once again a very helpful Ghillie.

 

Cheers,

 

Simon

www.myspace.com/boozlebear

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is great when you can have a days piking like yours. Especially in the good company of a fiend. The little mishaps just make the day more memorable

Regards from Gareth.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice one Simon.My pred seasons all a bit behind with the rain and all.Still Zedding at the moment but just waiting for all the rain weve had to run off the local rivers before my piking proper starts.

 

Mind you I think the early floods will do me a favour on one of my rivers as they will shift a lot of the summers weed growth that doesnt normally die of just yet.

And thats my "non indicative opinion"!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nice write up, i'd much rather read about a real fishing trip than those that they put in the angling comics. nice photos too. well done on a good day's fishing.

great story m8 i was tuned in all the way. i hear ya with people crowding you, once caught one and i swear these people were hiding in the bush waitig for me to catch, stood all over my line and almost pulled lure outa pikes mouth :angry:

Owner of Tacklesack.co.uk


Moderator at The-Pikers-Pit.co.uk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nice one boozle!

good days fishing that mate.

 

i been out a little,one venue the pike are being very finicky,slow takes,lightly hooked fish,a lot of lost fish,...not good.

still as budgie said alot of cabbages and weed in the river and what with all the rain one of my other venues has been completly unfishable...doh! its still only early tho!

Edited by Russell Fitzpatrick

AKA RATTY

LondonBikers.Com....Suzuki SV1000S K3 Rider and Predator Crazy Angler!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I cant remember such a wet start for years Russ be interesting how this season progress's.It was a strange one for me last year!

 

I had my best winters piking last year and hoping it gets even better. We had 8 fish and 5 other takes. So 13 fish in one session not at all bad.

 

Sorry to hear about what sounds like shy pike elsewhere, all I can say is get down the canal, they can't get enough!

 

One thing I did notice was that with 7 out of 8 of the fish, they were hooked nicely in the scizzors. I have heard sprats can get swallowed right down because they are so small. I could imagine this only happens when the strike is left too long. I struck within 5 seconds every time and never really had a problem.

 

Thanks for all the nice comments. I will write up each trip I do this summer. I agree with the comment that it's nice to read a real and proper fishing report rather than some sponsored person writing about dragging some massive fish out of a water that's been reserved for him for the day and probably baited up for 3 weeks prior!!!

 

Cheers all,

 

Simon

www.myspace.com/boozlebear

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I cant remember such a wet start for years Russ be interesting how this season progress's.It was a strange one for me last year!

 

my best piking session was in the rain, 2 jax and a 12lb (best guess) ive never had another session like that.

 

i should probably write up a little story on that aswell, if i can cast my memory back that far

 

I agree with the comment that it's nice to read a real and proper fishing report rather than some sponsored person writing about dragging some massive fish out of a water that's been reserved for him for the day and probably baited up for 3 weeks prior!!!

 

i heard a few people talk of a book called somthing along the lines of "real fishermens diarys" or just "real fishermen" with stories and articles of real anglers life experience and the funny sides of angling. i believe the book is some what new but is made to look like a realy old 18canteen type book

Owner of Tacklesack.co.uk


Moderator at The-Pikers-Pit.co.uk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my best piking session was in the rain, 2 jax and a 12lb (best guess) ive never had another session like that.

 

i should probably write up a little story on that aswell, if i can cast my memory back that far

i heard a few people talk of a book called somthing along the lines of "real fishermens diarys" or just "real fishermen" with stories and articles of real anglers life experience and the funny sides of angling. i believe the book is some what new but is made to look like a realy old 18canteen type book

 

I write a bit (halfway through a novel at the mo) and have a dream that if I finally finish my novel and if I got some money from it I would love to chuck in my job and travel around the British Isles fishing. I would like it to be a sort of McCarthy's Bar with fishing, I think it would be a good idea. Shame I haven't got £50,000 spare to fund it!

www.myspace.com/boozlebear

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We and our partners use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences, repeat visits and to show you personalised advertisements. By clicking “I Agree”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.