First piking trip tomorrow.

As the title says, I'm off on my first ever piking trip tomorrow.
At the age of 50, and with 46 years behind me since I caught my first fish I've decided to specialise in pike.
Books have been devoured and DVD's watched, Ebay was plundered (as was my bank account).
It's like being a kid waiting for Christmas again.

The venue is Loch Achray, and I must thank the guys at PAAS for inviting me, especially as I've only just joined and the first meeting was on Thursday.
Rucksack is packed to capacity, bivvy and rodbag are propped against the wall, I suppose I'll have to add some food and drink eventually.
I don't expect to catch a monster, in fact I'll be lucky to catch anything I suppose.
Still, at least I can learn the basics from the guys and thats as important as catching the first fish.... almost.

welcome to the dark side! be positive , and enjoy your self i`m sure your will catch one, no doubt you will get all the help you need from your fellow pikers

"Ebay was plundered (as was my bank account)"


Bought any lures yet? How's your overdraft? ;-)

Have a good session, I hope you get a beast!

Oh God, don't ask about lures. My buddy who introduced me to piking spent a fortune last year (his pb went up to 29 1/2 though). So far I'm out about ?100, guessing that's not too bad if they work.

What I didn't realise was the cost of the small things, like trace wire, weights, swivels, trebles, floats and the myriad of other kit that you need.

Of course the rods and reels I bought will probably not be up to the task of Scottish pike and I'm already gasping at the price of possible replacements.

Worst point, weight. I just tried on the 90 litre rucksack (that the wife swore I'd never fill), between that, the bivvy, the rods etc it looks like I'll be changing my name to Quasimodo.

nicey,catch a NICE PIKEY...........

good luck my friend ,ps thats a good loch for pike as is loch venichar, loch ken , loch awe, and loch gelly did you hear the pike record has went again 50lb 12oz [but not confirmed yet] mill loch , tight lines chalky.

I enjoyed the day out, still lots of snow on the ground, weather was great but sadly we all blanked.
I still learned a lot though, with the exception of fish handling obviously.

Downside I think was the damage done to the area at the swim, evidence of fires, tree branches cut down for firewood and broken bottles just left at the base of trees.
How long the owner of the land will let this continue remains to be seen.

Quite a few lads fishing on Loch Venachar, overnighters too probably, going by the bivvies set up.

Saw a report on the pike record, also think it's mentioned in another post on here, it's likely to be dismissed I believe.