Stillwater Pike mission

[JV44]

Bought a ticket for a local lake this season and have only fished it four times so thought i had better get off my butt and give it a go today,Turned up this morning armed with deadbaits,rods,banksticks and alarms,bag of tackle to try to cover as many swims/water as poss.

The first swim i got to is a known pike holding area and the first rod was away before i could even get a bait on the second one,Small jack was the result but at least i wouldnt blank now.

despite the tempation to stay in the swim which has been kind to me in past seasons i wanted to stick to the plan so 30 mins later i upped sticks and move along the bank to the next likely looking spot.

Gave that swim the regulation 30 mins with no takes and moved again,Five swims later i was beginning to thinkthat i should have stuck it out in the first swim as no more takes had been forthcoming.

The next swim didnt look very pedunkle at all but forced myself to stick to the plan and dropped my herring tail by a bush in the margins which remained untouched as the 30 min mark arrived,I picked up the rod to move again and another jack instantly grabbed it so my spirits lifted.

Moved another three times for no result when the last swim of the day produced another small pike .

The lake backs onto the river Kennet and there is a backwater stream feeding into the kennet by the side of the lake ,This stream is no more than 18 feet acroos and about 3 feet deep but has produced big fish in the past esp when the river is up so decided to give it 10 minutes with my last bait of the day.

The float cocked and drifted down the stream maybe 20 feet from me when it turned round and headed back against the current at twice the speed it was before,This is it i thought this is the big girl and struck into another jack that put on a ariel ballet for a couple of minutes[they allways seem to get airbourne in shallow water anyone else noticed this] then i chinned it out and went home happy.

Nothing big and i worked hard for my fish but really enjoyed it,Allready making a mental note of what else in the tackle bag can be ditched to save wieght.

Didnt take a chair sat on my unhooking matt proped against a tree/fence post,The weather was kind and have to say if it had been raining hard i would have taken everything and the kitchen sink perched on a carp barrow and sat it out under an umbrella.

Going to the Marina tommorrow to fish off the back of the boat with lives so hopefully connect with a monster there to be continued steve

Edited January 26, 2008 by JV44

[ShaunW]

Nice post mate.

[Steve Burke]

Missed this first time round for some reason. Do let us know how you do on your next visit there.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Pedunkle? Peduncle? Does that imply 'fruitful' since a peduncle is a flowering part of a plant? I'm just curious since I've never heard the word used as an adjective.

[JV44]

Pedunkle? Peduncle? Does that imply 'fruitful' since a peduncle is a flowering part of a plant? I'm just curious since I've never heard the word used as an adjective.

Pedunkle supposed to read pike likely swim but due to excessive red wine consumption didnt lol steve

Edited January 29, 2008 by JV44