Pike on the upper Trent

Is it just me or has there been an explosion of pike numbers in the upper trent,Sunday last i had a five hour session on the trent down stream of Burton at Newton Solney i was happily catching small chub Roach and dace and after about two hours a pike attacked my keepnet and was doing a crocodile roll on the end of the net, i thought it must have ripped through the net, so i took the net out of the water to check, all was ok, but i noticed that four fish had been punc tchured by the pikes teeth and where dead, i have had pike attack my keep net on five occasions this season on five different strtches of the upper trent have any other anglers had the same experiences.

I've had similar on the middle Trent, there does seem to be a high number of Pike around and that's been the case for a couple of years.

I don't generally use a keepnet (I've got nothing against 'em though) but the last time I did it was for retaining small livebaits intended for Perch and I had exactly the same thing with Pike ragging the net to try and get at the contents.

It's pretty much a sure thing now that Pike will eventually turn up when you get a swim going on the stick, this is the one I posted on Sunday in the HDYGO thread and he sat below me for several hours whilst I swung in Dace...



I regularly see them when I'm sat back Barbel fishing, they often have a leisurely cruise into the margins.

I've always found it baffling why Zander don't make the same nuisance of themselves and there are plenty around on the waters I fish.

They've been prolific on the Trent for a few years now and the low clear water conditions we're currently enduring is ideal for them.

Good prospects for the winter then now that my usual Witham haunts will be defunct.

I've experienced this many times on the Trent and managed to jab one with my landing net the other week, thankfully it took the hint.

During a conversation just prior to the start of the season on this issue, an experienced match Angler suggesting I needed a keep net the Pike couldn't see the fish through.

Wished I'd asked for some recommendations later after thinking it over and any ideas appreciated, dark camouflaged perhaps?