Has anyone

[Chris Hammond]

Fantastic fish Michael! Well done mate.

I've done comparitively little piking this winter, but what I have done has been very poor anyway.

Recorded a total blank today... still, god willing, its one blank closer to my next twenty.

The shoal fish recruitment on many of my local waters seems to have been heavy over the last two or three seasons, I had a feeling I might struggle with deads this year. I'll have to make the effort to fish livebaits if it keeps up.

Regards chris

 

[Andrew Macfarlane]

Well done Michael. Be as happy as you can be, tell everyone, get really drunk, buy the wife some chocolate and look after the pics. That is a mighty fish and it'll take some beating. Enjoy it while you can.

 

[jon cotton]

Many congrats michael, well done.

The somerset levels are dreadful this year, I've not caught since november, worst season for years and by the look of the weather forecast it ain't going to get better anytime soon!!

 

[David Marrs]

Nice one Michael, I caught my first ever Pike 22 years ago aged 10 and still await my first 20lber, the law of averages state that even using course baits whilst Zandering you should still see one every so often, but not me! lol They aint that common mate. Many Congratulations indeed!!!

Still, Im well enjoying a cracking season Chris everythings huge, PB Catfish (by 86lbs+ lol), PB Perch, PB Zander, PB Pike (only 4oz off now) and even PB Bleak (Had 2 Zeds off the Channel on it!) Mate, even the girls chests Im talking to this year seem bigger.......

Take care all

 

[Kevin Cox]

Congratulation Michael (AKA golden balls) that's a fantastic catch, well done mate.
I'm begining to lose confidents in deadbaits & i seem to have the whip out trying to catch lives on all but the shortest sessions, it's like i've come full circle & i'm 14 again when the only deadbaits used were expired lives, now where's that bung with the dowel through the middle !

 

[Chris Hammond]

Lol
I'm with you there Kev, but don't forget the little pilot float to ride above it!

Regards Chris

 

[stuart palfrey]

Jon,i too have not been able to fish the drains weather hopeless.Pretty much as you say had a 17lb on south drain just before christmas,but dismal since then.Jon do you ever fish the sowey.Hope weather improves soon for both of use,the wye is bank high as i write.Did manage 5 fish today on my local lake taken on lures,only small but at least a bit of sport.

 

[sash]

Just depends if the girls are getting bigger too Disco???

I should be able to get out on Wednesday if you care to join me in the quest for giant snappers again mate?

 

[jason fisher]

i'm going tomorrow, they're forcasting severe localised flooding for the cherwell and thames tributaries by the end of the week which means the thames will be out of the banks too by the weekend.

 

[jon cotton]

Stuart, I fish the sowey regularly, had loads of fish to 20+ over the years (not recently!!!) Drop me a line on my home email and i'll fill you in.

 

[jonathan warrener]

My local is slow this year, and everybody you talk to seems to be struggling, even tho we have seen plenty of evidence of feeding pike, this may be the problem tho, as they seem to be pre-occupied on fry. From what ive read on this thread, slow pike sport this year seems to be a widespread problem.
We enjoyed a good summer last year, could it be that fish up and down the country had such a good spawning year (or a good year for fry survival) that pike almost everywhere have so much easy food that they are hard to catch on our baits??
Just a theory, no doubt it'll get shot down in flames LOL

 

[jason fisher]

on the day's i'm seeing the swirls and splashes of feeding pike i'm catching.
the problem is the fish aren't in their usual haunts.
one peg i fish has plenty of small jacks in the summer but come winter the doubles turn up.
this year there's no pike there, they are about 100 yards down stream and catchable on the far bank only. but i've only just found em.

 

[jonathan warrener]

thats the strange thing, the pike have been holed up in one corner since mid october fry feeding, you can sit there watching em swirling and striking, with indicators and floats staying motionless. Even lures have been largely ignored.

 

[sash]

Jonathan,
Try matching "the hatch" as it were by presenting a small livebait (2 inches or so) on a single treble or even single hook.

 

[David Marrs]

or failing that Jonathan, maybe 2 or 3 bleak sized baits on your hooks could do the trick??

Nice one regarding the girls Sash!!! lol mate, I like em exactly the opposite to my fish, ie slim and petite! Needless to say, Im crap at catching both!!! lol

 

[Pete Denness 2]

I've just broken my Jinx....

Went on the Nene today got 5 fish.

2 (7-8lb) on Fox mini bullnose Pike pattern

1 8lb ish Sardine dead
1 7lb ish Half Mack dead
1 17lb 3oz on a Roach

Also lost 3 others, can't believe it really had nothing for 2 months then I get a new PB.

 

[jason fisher]

well done pete it's always nice to hear of people catching, especially when i'm off after em tomorrow.

 

[Chris Bishop]

Disco you are so funny. Slim and petite..? I don't think so.

 

[sash]

Nice one Pete. That's a nice fish from the Nene. I take it the river's back within its banks and you weren't fishing in a field then! I had a look at a lake the other day that sits right next to the Nene and had to stop my exploration as I couldn't see where the river started!!

 

[Pete Denness 2]

Yeah, the water's still up a bit but relatively clear. Got the fish trotting down with the baits around 3ft deep in a 6 ft swim.

The biggy (for me anyway) was a really gentle bite, just one small tap and that was it. Weird cause I remember reading another thread here about shy bites and avoiding deep hooking yesterday so I hit it and off it screamed. Even then it was hooked fairly deep so I'll agree with hitting them fast at the moment.