Finally!! A decent haul of pike proves I’m not a complete numpty when it comes to these fish. Easily my best day predator bashing for decades (possibly ever) 🙂 Just need to work on their size now 🙂
This November trip targetted a remote corner of a remote loch, one I’ve only fished once or twice before. Faced with a hike of several kilometres along forest tracks I even blew the dust of my old mountain bike.
Biking along the forest roads still left me with an off-piste stretch through thick woodland. Not too difficult and not too far, but pretty squidgy underfoot! I was glad I’d only taken travel rods with me, as threading 6 foot rod tips through the trees would have proved tricky.
I wandered along the banks and across some dodgy looking inlets until I found a fine little peninsula. This allowed me to fish a broad circle of ground without sinking up to my knees. Given that I wasn’t going to get a better offer than this, I dropped my rucksack and set up my gear.
I’d three rods with me – a pair for use with mackerel deadbaits and another to try a bit of spinning (there are perch in here too). Casting out deadbaits in opposite directions I spent a little while with a Droppen trying out a few likely spots for perch.
All this really proved was that the loch was shallow, as almost every cast produced weed. Certainly no fish took an interest! That remained true as the morning wore on and morale gradually sank with no hint of a fish.
Finally, after more than three hours with zip-all to show for my efforts, my bite indicator beeped encouragingly. A twitching rod tip confirmed things and I struck into my first fish of the day.
Hardly a biggie, at somewhere between 4 and 5lbs, but a very welcome fish. Proof of life is always welcome when trying out a new venue!
A Comedy of Errors
That’s the polite way to put it – I actually said something a bit different! Things began well and pike number two kicked off even before fish number one had swum away. Picking up my rod I struck into something reassuringly solid. Winding in, I’d barely started to turn my reel handle when I was left just holding it my hand like a complete wally.
Thinking it was just my usual senility surfacing I looked down to see what I’d screwed up – only to see that it “reely” was in two very broken pieces.
Having little choice but to handline my fish to the bank I was left trying to land it through the coils of braid at my feet. This meant lifting my net quite high in order to clear the water. The photo below captures the exact moment my net parted company with its handle. Aagh!!!
Two cockups in quick succession, although I didn’t actually lose the pike. And this fish was still on the bank when the next one grabbed a bait – the loch had certainly come alive now!
Carry On Piking
Fish after fish decided that mackerel was their dinner of choice so I was kept busy. It does get hard netting fish when the handle is only 6 inches long though!
By now the sunshine was giving way to more showery weather, although I was treated to a succession of classy rainbows as a result. Many of them were doubles bows and they certainly added to the atmosphere throughout the afternoon.
The pike weren’t large fish, with most in the 66-68cm range and my best topping out at somewhere over 6lbs. Who cares though – it was great fun being kept busy.
Perhaps small enough to make a hardened piker snigger, but I was very happy to settle for quantity over quality today.
The body count kept rising until I reached nine in total, all safely returned to their peaty home. I clung on for number ten, but around 4 in the afternoon everything abruptly switched off again.
I hung around for a while longer but without any interest in my baits. By now I was getting chilly and the sun was gone, so it was time to call a halt before darkness fell. However, with nine pike for the day, it was a very happy angler that trekked back to his car.
