help on lincs drains

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fishy pete

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i have fished for pike for last 5 winter seasons now, mostly on lincs drains, and a few s/yorks stillwaters and canals, but am struggling to reach my target of a twenty pounds drain pike.
i would love advice from anyone with a bit of knowledge about aforementioned areas .
i don't know if it is my methods which are letting me down ,or maybe it is location?

i prefer to fish lures or wobbled dead-baits,perhaps a switch to lives/static deads is the answer?
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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Lots of other people also struggle to get their first twenty from Lincs drains too Billy.

I have fished the fens for pike for many years and in doing so, became an expert in catching pike of 19 3/4 lbs!!

All my twenties came from one particular water in Yorkshire and I had lots.

If you are catching fenland pike regularly exceeding 15 pounds you are doing very well indeed.
 
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fishy pete

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could be location then Ron do you think?
heard the rumours about stainy and keadby,but having tryed three different areas at different locations along canal on quite a few occasions i still cannot find owt over 15 lbs?
 
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fishy pete

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beginning to wonder if a northern twenty still exists somewhere out there or weather they have all been pressured out of existence!!
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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I could put quite a few people onto definite northern twenties.

But I won't.

If I do, they WILL get pressurised out of existance.

Big pike are some of the most delicate fish of the lot. If you do catch a big pike, keep hell of a quiet about it and most of all, don't go back to the same place again. I learned my lesson many years ago.
 
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Chris Bishop

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There are stacks of fish being caught on some Fen waters but most people have adopted a complete embargo on naming waters after a sharp increase in fish killing.

Your best bet is e-mail a few of the lads who fish around there and see if anyone will guest you out somewhere for a day.

I'd personally say you'd stand more chance using static deads but changing swim or even water frequently. The most successful guys I know up there sometimes fish two or three different waters in a day to try and make the most of feeding periods etc.

Joining the local PAC branch is probably a good move. Dave Tovey, who posts on here sometimes, is one of the organisers up that way.

If it's any consolation you probably stand more chance of a 20 on a Lincs drain than a Norfolk or Cambs one the way the last few seasons have gone.

There's no shame in not catching a drain 20, I've fished in the Fens for eight seasons and my best drain fish is 18.5.
 
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Phil Heaton

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Billy,
It just goes to show that 20lb plus pike are not as easy to catch as some would have you believe. Ive tried for 8 winters now and still not had one, lots of fun and frustration trying though.
Best advice is just get on with it and keep your fingers crossed. Also you could keep a record of where big fish have shown, but by the time you get to know the water most probably will have been fished to death, then try next winter, you may be the first there.
 
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Chris Bishop

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I'd just concentrate on enjoying your pike fishing.

Get in with a good firm of lads, swap a bit of info, find a few waters you like and have a crack.

Get hung up on the numbers and you'll always have mates who catch more and bigger fish than you and it's very easy to lose sight of what it's all about and get disillusioned.

I haven't had a 20 for more than two years. Maybe it's nearly three.

Yet I've enjoyed this winter more than I enjoyed a season when I had three inc a near-28.

It's all about the company and all the laughs and banter you have and some of the magical things you see when doing this mad thing we do.

One of the best pikers I know has never had a 20. What makes him so good is he enjoys it so much I sometimes envy him.

I had a fish a few weeks back now that went three or four ounces under. Not so long ago, I'd have been gutted. Now I just think what a fantastic fish, which fought like a real nutter.

I could have left the bait in its gob when I weighed it (foot-long herring..) and had another 20.

What's the point, you're only deluding yourself after a while.

I'd concentrate on squeezing the maximum amount of enjoyment out of every day you get doing this mad, daft thing we do.

I blanked a few weeks back and saw a bittern just as it was getting dark and I was driving off the place.

How many people saw one of those that week..?

I work in a mad job where your stress levels are always in Heart Attacksville, Arizona.

Pike fishing's the perfect antidote, learn to value what you have.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA-Life Member)

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Pike is one species that has not become bigger during the past 40 years, unlike tench, bream, barbel and carp. A twenty pounder is a whopper and a 30 pounder a monster.

A particular Yorkshire lake I have fished a great deal, has produced a huge number of 20s over the past 40 years. But none of them, unless my information is wrong, ever exceeded 25 lbs.

And the record for that lake still stands at 31lbs caught in the 1930s.
 
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sash

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Good sentiments Chris, fully agree with you mate. Spent a lonely day on a Fen drain on Sunday with not a great deal of action but was fascinated and entertained all day by a sparrowhawk that was hunting the drain banks culminating in it killing a vole a mere 10 yards away.

Billy Boy,

A few years ago I would have said it was easy. Now it's far from it. A combination of more pike anglers (many of which handle fish badly), fish stealing immigrants, dredging/drainage practices, nitrates and lord knows what else have made the Fens a lot tougher than they used to be.

My advice would be to find out of the way areas with difficult access and fish them until pike are found. If that involves a mile or more walk to get there then that's even better because there will not be many who have tried.
 
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levelspiker

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sound advice from the posters above.
the most satisfying way of catching big pike is to search different areas of the waters that you are fishing.
you will build a bank of knowledge of the good areas,and when you do catch that rare 20,you will feel a sense of achievement that you have found,and caught the fish yourself.
static deads or lives will probably sort out the bigger fish,but don`t write off lures or wobbled baits.the angler who uses various different methods is usually more successful than the single method angler.
as has been said before,don`t publicise the waters that are good,pike thrive on neglect and there are always the "instant big fish brigade" waiting to trash your waters.
join your local pac region,once people get to know you,they will pass on their ideas of methods ,rigs etc that work for them.
you probably won`t gain any respect by asking where the "best areas are" though!
 
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sash

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Or you might want to attend the PAC presentation evening in Chatteris this coming Thursday where Rob Christen, one of the more successful Fenland poikers, will be giving a talk. Details are on www.elyfenlandpac.co.uk
 
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fishy pete

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thanks gents,sound advice as usual.
am fishing a fair few drains now that are well of the beaten track,but as has bean mentioned some of these drains are massive,not wide but really long and they are all feature packed,so knowing where to start and where to locate pike can be a real headache .
what i have found is that you can walk miles and not contact a pike ,then all of a sudden,and for no apparent reason you come accross a group of pike and start to catch,even if there appears not to be any feature/bait fish present.
do you think its a characteristic of these drain fish to group up like this? and if so why?
ass i have already mentioned there is not usually any reason for them to be grouped there like that, well not unless i am missing something anyway?
 
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Chris Bishop

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There's always a reason, we just can't always work it out.

Sash do you have address for this Chatteris doings..?

Steve Rodwell gave me directions and needless to say I'm slightly confused.
 
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sash

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Er no, sorry mate. I know the venue was on the Ely Fenland site and on the Pike & Preds site but I'm relying on Matt Taxi Services!! I think it was at the Sportsman's or some such place??? Will find out and give you a ring mate.
 
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Chris Bishop

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It's sort of in the town but it's not in the town if you know what I mean Bish.

That's all I have to go on so far.
 
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David Marrs

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All good info and posted by geezers with plenty of experience on the drains! 20lbers are fairly rare on the drains at the moment apart from a few places where guys have quite rightly been keeping shtumm!

Ron probably came out with one of the best pieces of advice I've heard in a while, ''If you are catching fenland pike regularly exceeding 15 pounds you are doing very well indeed.''

Very good advice, I reckon if you want that fish, then plenty of walking the 'unbeaten' track is in order. Most drains have plenty of water which don't see too many anglers. Have a walk, you may be surprised!
 
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Chris Bishop

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Dave,

I caught a zander today.

Must have been all of 6lbs, on a mackerel tail.

Knew you'd be *proud* of your old four-eyed Fen buddy.
 
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David Marrs

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Well in Chris, result mate!

I told you mate you're better off using those Mackerel Tails as bait, instead of for your sarnies! The preds love em lol

lol
Kind regards,
Davos
 
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