Commercial Fisheries - Perch

Perch on my local Commercial

My aim for the last couple of seasons has been to catch a 3lb Perch, with commercials becoming the source of a large percentage of big Perch I thought it only appropriate to head to my local commercial. I have caught Perch to 2lb 5oz so far from this lake and I have witnessed Perch to 2lb 15oz so I'm sure there is a 3lber in there somewhere. When targeting Perch I have always fished the margins, specifically amongst the reeds as that's where I believed they always were, hiding and waiting for their pray to come to them.

This season I have changed my approach, as it has been cold consistently for the last month or so I have come to the conclusion that the Perch are in the warmer water, in the deeper parts amongst the middle of the lake. The bait of choice for this lake has to be King Prawn,cooked and broken into half a piece.

I cast one bait out into the middle of the lake on a feeder rod using a bobbin as an indicator and also set up a float rod  and flicked that amongst the reeds in the margin. The bait cast in the middle of the lake was supplemented by spraying maggots to pull in smaller fish and inevitably a hungry Perch or two. An hour soon past with just a Perch of about 6oz to show for my troubles.

A bitter wind picked up and I started doubting my chances of catching, my mind began telling me to leave when my feeder rod bobbin slammed up against the rod. I grabbed the rod and struck upwards. The rod whipped around and arched over. I could feel the head shaking through the rod. A Perch for sure but how big? I unhooked it and placed it in a sack in hope and excited anticipation that the Perch were perhaps on the feed? Another hour went by and just like clockwork the bobbin shot up again and WHACK. Another Perch. This one looked slightly bigger, perhaps 2lbs?

 

A lovely brace

Both Perch were in beautiful condition and were beginning to fill with spawn. One weighed 1lb 14oz and the bigger 2lb 1oz. Not quite the 3lbers that I was after but hopefully signs of fish to come. Keep an eye on the blog in the coming weeks as I target the lake more exclusively for a 3lber.

Pike fishing on the Bristol Avon

My phone alarm let out its morning cry. "Who in their right mind would allow their alarm to ring at 6am on a Sunday morning?" An angler of course.

I pulled back the curtains and gazed through the misted windows, the grass was white and crisp, a light mist hung in the air. Perfect solitude.

I quietly fumbled around in my partially lit bedroom for my clothing, it would need to be warm and body hugging to combat the freezing conditions that lay in wait for me. I stumbled into my kitchen and boiled the kettle; a flask of coffee is a must in such conditions. I then proceed to load my car with the necessities. Unfortunately for my fiance she would also have to get up as I was dropping her back at her parents on the way to the river.

We set off on the short journey to my fathers; he would be accompanying me on the river bank today, hopefully to photograph all the fish I had dreamed about catching during the night... We loaded his gear into the car, we were intending to cover as much river as possible in our short window of time. After dropping off my fiance we headed for the river.

As we arrived at our destination we could just about make out the meandering river through the slowly clearing mist. The conditions were perfect, the river looked as if it was clearing and a slight pace was present.

 

After all of our kit was unloaded from the boot of my car and I had replaced my trainers with warm boots we headed upstream, away from the oncoming match anglers and hopefully towards our target species. We were here to catch fish but I couldn't help but record the beautiful scenery with several pictures capturing the beautiful morning landscape that laid in front of us. 

 Panoramic Bristol Avon

Misty River

 

A Touch of Frost

If you hadn't guessed already, we were after a fresh water crocodile, Esox Lucious, the Pike. A powerful, predatory yet delicate fish, a fish that would most certainly be the icing on the cake for us (no pun intended.)

Our aim was to rove, covering as many swims as possible hopefully persuading a few Pike to trip up on our freshly prepared sea dead-baits on the way.

I took a bucket with all what I consider crucial components on any pike session. 

• Forceps - Small and Large
• Wire Cutters 
• A pair of unhooking gloves
• Several adjustable wire traces 
• Leger weights and floats
• Some baits - Mackerel and Sprats.
• A camera (just in case)

After arriving at our first swim we set up our rods, using 15lb BS line, a 1.5oz lead to hold bottom and an adjustable wire trace. At the crucial end I used half a Mackerel on one rod and  a sprat on the other. My father echoed this. After perhaps only two minutes my dad had some movement on the end of his rod, it knocked and slowly went around. He struck and felt a solid resistance. Fish on! After several powerful surges, the pike held its grounds but eventually succumbed to the depths of my Fox Predator landing net.

A Pike just under 10lb

She was in cracking condition; fin perfect. After safely unhooking her I took a picture and slipped her back into the depths. One thing we both noticed was that on the gill plates were several lice which perhaps suggested the pike were not moving at the moment? Another reason to move from swim to swim, the only way to catch today maybe to land the bait on the pikes nose.

 Cobwebs - Frozen in time.

As the day progressed we found the session didn't quite live up to a great early start. We tried perhaps a dozen different swims to no avail. Maybe another couple of weeks of similar conditions would signal a change and the fish would begin to feed more voraciously? Only time will tell.

Two Rivers Meet.

 To sum it up, fishing isn't about catching fish, it is about enjoing the moment. Just you, a fishing rod and the countryside. Or as one person once put it " a bait at one end and a fool at the other..." Until the next time.

Floodwater Fishing

A flooded river for some can be daunting, even off putting. I have seen so many anglers turn up at the river bank, see the water gushing through and turn on their axis heading back to their car with their heads dropped.

However, I like many other Barbel anglers see this as a window of opportunity, with the river full of colour surely the fish are more likely to find their food source completley on sense of smell, taste and opportunity. Using a big, smelly bait is my usual choice for such an occasion. Baits such as flavoured luncheon meat or glugged pellets usually do the trick.

As my eyes wondered along the horizon all I could see was water and lots of it! It was creeping into the field and perhaps 7 foot higher than on my previous outing only a few days before. This meant only one thing, I would need to find a slack spot which is easier said than done when the river is lapping through at a rate of knots.

I come across a chap who had just arrived at the river scratching his head somewhat.

"You're brave" I said to him. "Most anglers just turn around and head back to the car when it's like this".

 "I would have but I've come across from Yeovil and I don't fancy the drive back".

 We had a little chat about the state of the fishing on the river and I headed just upstream with a slack in mind. As I arrived I was still in shock at the height of the river. Big swirls were forming out in the middle and branches I would normally cast under were submerged by the oncoming waves.

As I mentioned earlier, in conditions such as these, a big smelly bait seems to work best to attract your chosen quarry to your bait. I settled on Luncheon meat and used a Robin Red soft pellet to hold it onto the hair. A method that has worked well for me in recent weeks.

Combinig this with a 4oz gripper lead I dropped my bait just in front of me to the right, unlike my fellow angler who had cast out into the middle of the river and struggling to keep his rods on his rod rests I located a slack and wasn't troubled in the slightest.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining but it was bloody freezing with a sharp strong wind cutting through to my bodys core. A tree floated up river and a couple of mallards were seeking sanctuary on a very copious looking mound amongst the water. It took all of  5 minutes for my fellow angler to move swims and fished just one peg up from me as fishing downstream was nigh on impossible.

I only had a small window of opportunity as I had to pick up my fiance from work, so time was of the essence. No sooner than having got off the phone from my old man who said - "you won't catch anything when the river is like that" - my rod sprung into life and slammed round.

It's hard to tell the size of the fish when the river is pushing through as it was, it adds to the excitement and the overall battle. It's important to use a rod with a bit of backbone in such conditions and it can be the difference in steering the fish over the net or loosing a fish to a snag. After only a couple of minutes a beautifully proportioned Barbel lay in the net. No monster but a welcome fish in such conditions.

Lacock Chub

For me, nothing quite beats catching fish on your local river. I am fortunate enough to live within a 5 minute drive of the beautiful and famous village of Lacock. Meandering through the grounds of the glorious Lacock Abbey is a well known stretch of the Bristol Avon. Known as the Abbey fields, this section of river is a perfect habitat for chub and barbel. It is rich in natural food sources and contains many overhanging trees and weed beds for my quarry to hide amongst.

The likes of Trefor West and Tony Miles brought this section of the Bristol Avon to the forefront in perhaps the most famous of all Barbel books “A Quest for Barbel”. They enjoyed large catches of barbel over a number of years from this stretch and in fact from time to time I bump into Trefor guiding or simply fishing himself. It has however declined in recent years, most notably due to otter predation (say no more).

 

                                     Quest for Barbel - Tony Miles and Trefor West

As I arrived at my chosen swim there was still a noticeable pace, it was however dropping compared to the previous weeks. With many non-anglers complaining about the deluge of rain we have had in the last couple of months I can hand on heart say it has been a blessing in disguise for us anglers. Fishing on Lacock can be tough as summer normally means stalking tactics with lighter tackle. The extra water has generally led to fish feeding more voraciously, and as a result, catch rates have improved drastically when comparing to the previous couple of years, not just on the Bristol Avon but, up and down the country. 

                                      The wait begins...

This swim in question had all the features which pointed towards my chosen quarry, not barbel but a fish for all seasons, the chub. To the right of me was a reed raft and beyond that an over-hanging tree, both ideal holding spots for a hungry chub, I  could envisage them hovering there waiting for their meal to come to them. I threw a few pellets out into the current perhaps 10 yards upstream from the spot to allow for the pace of current.

As there was a significant pace on the water I decided that a 3oz gripper lead would hold my bait in position. The bait in question was a pair of drilled 10mm Dynamite Halibut pellets attached to a hair rig. Pellets have become a staple part of the chub’s diet in recent years and I have complete faith in using them to pull in fish of specimen proportions. With the pellets attached I made my first cast and sat back in anticipation of a ravenous chub picking up my bait. 

                                          A 3oz gripper lead teamed with a pair of 10mm Dynamite Pellets

As time frittered away I sat back and enjoyed my surroundings. A suicidal squirrel jumped from tree to tree, a blackbird sang its merry song and perhaps the most beautiful bird of them all, a flash of blue, the kingfisher flew past at an astronomical pace several times in search of its supper. Not only do I envy the kingfisher for its stunning appearance but also its ability to out fish me everyday of the week.

As I watched a kingfisher sitting on a branch on the far bank eyeing up its next meal my rod started moving from left to right - just a small tap - I struck and was met with a small resistance. This fish was indeed my target species but it was unfortunately ounces rather than pounds. Somehow a chub of perhaps 8oz had engulfed two 10mm pellets! A chubs mouth is rather cavernous for its size, and what many people do  not realise is that chub have a set of teeth in the back of their throat, specifically designed for crushing their food, in this case pellets.

 

I wouldn't recommend putting your finger in a chubs mouth!!!

I recast my bait into the same spot using the now famous Wallis Cast. PLOP. It landed just under the tree on the far bank; the flow pulled my bait further along the river and nestled perfectly under a reed raft. It must have only been a further 5 minutes and my rod tip sprung into life, once, twice and whack. The rod was bent double and my 1930s Allcock Aerial began screaming. I swept my rod from its rest and pulled into what felt like a very good fish. It held its ground to begin with, staying firmly on the river bed. I began easing the fish in, just as I thought about putting one hand on the landing net handle the fish changed course and headed straight for a snag.

                                      Let the battle commence

                                       ... scooping up my prize.

I held firm not giving the fish an inch, chub are famously considered expert snag finders and this fish was by know means an exception to this. However, after a good battle, I finally defeated the chub and it floated towards my gaping net...

A perfect combo - a pristine chub with my favourite reel.

                                         Worth the wait. A Bristol Avon chub of perhaps 4lb 8oz

What a stunner! This beautiful chub was both scale and fin perfect, it also still appeared to be holding its weight from the spring. I would say it was a typical example of a Bristol Avon chub, perhaps 4lb 8oz of pure power. Why not try for yourself by joining the Bristol Amalgamated or purchasing a day ticket?

Bristol Amalgamated website

All pictures courtesy of my beautiful fiance Mandy Garner

Tight Lines

Vince

Stait Lake SCAC on a swap ticket.

It was only recently that I realized that Chippenham AC had South Cerney AC on a swap ticket. Not only did they have some wonderful lakes but SCAC is where it all began for me as an angler. As a young boy my first memories are of the Cotswold water parks. We lived in a small village called Ampney Crucis which was within spitting distance of many of the gravel pits including Top Pit and the Large Lake.

Fish included Roach, Perch and the occasional Tench. After a little bit of research online there were some good noises coming from a small lake by the name of Stait Lake. It is perhaps 2 acres in size but match weights have included several weights over 200lb and there were also several mentions of Tench, apparently even fabled double figure fish.

I had to investigate such a claim so I took my girlfriends Dad, keen match-man John Garner with me for the trip. I purchased a couple of loaves of bread which I liquidized, a tin of sweetcorn and 2 pints of Maggot, I felt this would be a good armory of baits for any Tench fishing occasion. We arrived at the lake on the Spine Road and passed several lakes on the way including Dab Chick Lake which is also on the swap ticket. As we pulled up through the gates we noticed that there were perhaps 8 cars present which wasn't a great number considering there were 3 lakes next to one another.

John had fished the lake once before in a match and had bagged up on Roach but felt the opposite side proved to be the match winning area of the lake so we headed in that direction. We got to the swim and unloaded our gear. I fished close to the margin under an over hanging tree and John used a method feeder to target the island in the middle of the lake.

I was catching a few small Roach and John was getting no action at all. He was however continuously dropping bait closer in the margin and about 20 foot out, a good match fishing method. I couldn't help noticing the bloke next to us pulling in Carp after Carp all on straight sweetcorn. Not a species I was after however. I continued to spray in Maggots and finally got a more telling bite, it felt fairly sizable and then began to shake its head, a Perch. After netting and unhooking the fish I realized that it was a good 1lb 8oz and thought I may have been onto a shoal? John changed methods and began targeting the area that he had been baiting previously.

Almost straight away John was onto the fish, the swim was alive with bubbles. Perhaps there were finally Tench on his bait? He had put in several droppers of pellet and luncheon meat so we were both hoping so. The float sailed away and the first fish in was a Carp. This action continued for a half an hour catching several Carp in the process. Amongst those Carp were a few Bream in the 2-3lb bracket. In this time I had caught another Perch of perhaps 1lb 12oz when John had hooked yet another "Carp" on his pole set up. "If only this was a Bream" he chuckled. No sooner had he said that than a bream surfaced from the depths. After netting the Bream, he realized that it must have been at least 6lb, a good sized Bream by any account!

Fishing began to die down so we both changed methods, I had caught one more Perch of about 1lb but an hour had passed without a touch so I changed to sweetcorn. John brought his pole in and began changing back across to his feeder rod when I heard a shout. I looked to my left and all I could see was the last remnants of Johns pole top section disappearing into the depths of the lake. He had done what he said he tells everyone not to do, left his bait in the shallow margins whilst changing to his feeder rod  thinking nothing would take it. A hungry Carp had come along and hungrily snaffled the bait in the shallows and took more than it bargained for. In desperation John tried to catch the pole/carp by casting out his feeder rod and reeling in roughly where he hoped the pole would be to no avail. That would be the last he would see of that section and most definitely the last time he would be leaving a bait attached to his pole whilst not fishing with it...

As the day turned to late evening the Carp appeared on top of my baited area, after several runs resulting in lost fish I caught a couple of Carp about 5-6 lbs a fish and we called it a session. John had perhaps landed 35-40lbs of Carp and Bream and I'd probably caught about 18lbs of Perch and Carp. Not a bad session but no Tench to show for our troubles. We would certainly be coming back to Stait Lake very soon.

Next stop Dabchick Lake.

Tight Lines.

See Links:

SCAC

Stait Lake Info

Wrong Species right result - The River Kennet

As my local river the Bristol Avon continues to decline through Otter predation my hand has been forced to look elsewhere for specimen Barbel and Chub. I truly believe that catching a specimen fish from your local river cannot be beaten, however, with so few specimens about my patience has been exhausted to the maximum.

After a few great Barbel catch reports on the River Kennet from my good friend and specimen hunter Martin Hooper I thought it was about time that I had a go at one of these leviathans. The Barbel on the River Kennet are at their peak right now with double figure fish not uncommon and teen Barbel frequent. Martin is not one for reporting his big fish these days but what I will say is that he has caught an astronomical amount of big Barbel and in recent months gone by some huge fish. I will not say anymore about that however.

The time had come for me to head to the Kennet. I got to Martins at around 8am, after our usual chin wag, McDonalds Sausage and Egg McMuffin and a Tea we hit the road. I always get excited at the prospect of fishing a new piece of river, especially when there is the prospect of 15lb + fish swimming around in front of you!!! We unloaded our gear and walked toward the swims that Martin had decided would hold the fish of our dreams. As we arrived we were greeted by Martins friend Jem and also a friend of Jems. By now they had already had Barbel to 7lb and explained that the fish appeared to be feeding heavily on Maggots.

We walked on for another 50 yards or so and staked out our swims for the day. I was going to fish two Leger rods, both with pellets at the end of the line as tempting offerings to the monster Barbel. One was placed under an overhanging tree and second was placed to the left, three quarters of the way across and in a deep area full of silt.

The first thing I noticed once I had cast out was that although this river held giants among Barbel, it was no different really in appearance to the Bristol Avon. Fairly narrow, snaggy and also very picturesque. The banks perhaps were not as steep and if anything less worn.There are a couple of obvious key differences however, one the number of non indigenous Otters and two the Cray Fish. Cray fish have become a staple diet for many fish including Barbel, Chub and Perch to name a few. The fish gorged on this high protein diet with aplomb and they grew into super fish accordingly. More recently however, cray fish are being trapped, in fact one trapper over a period of a year had pulled out as much as 4 tonne of them so they were certainly there in numbers!!! Will this affect the Barbel growth, time will tell...

Out of the blue there was a shout from upstream, Jem had just equaled his PB Barbel with a stonking 13lb 10oz fish. A truly stunning Barbel in every sense of the word. Golden, muscular and in mint condition. I was envious but happy for him at the same time as he has fished this river for a few years now, I was fishing this stretch for my very first time. I was still confident though...

My method for Barbel fishing is not to keep moving from swim to swim, try picking a likely looking area and stick with it. The fish are moving all of the time as the same Barbel have been known to have been caught miles apart. For that reason it is inevitable that Barbel will eventually cross swords with the bait you have put out for them, whether or not they take up your offer of a hook bait is another question. Secondly, reeling in and casting out is a big fishing sin of many anglers. You see it and more than likely hear it all the time "Sploosh!!!" Its not just you the angler that is hearing it but the fish feel and hear the vibrations. Chucking a bait out into the river can only disturb the fish and it can take sometime to get the fishes confidence back. I tend to reel my bait in once every hour, sometimes 2 hours and put a fresh bait on along with a PVA bag of smaller pellets. If the initial cast spooks the fish, leaving your carefully positioned bait out for a longer period of time will often increase your catch rate.

The day progressed very quickly without a fish for either of us, I was beginning to think it was going to be a blank for me when my rod seemed to spring into life. First of all a nod, then the line slackened completely then it it went tight and kept going round. I struck and felt resistance, was this what I had came for? It plodded around for perhaps a minute or so, I shouted for Martin to come across and witness what was coming in, a head appeared not of a Barbel, but that of a big pair of rubbery lips, a specimen Chub nonetheless.

After another dive or two the fish rolled over and was duly scooped from the river by my Gillie for the day. It was certainly more than 5lbs, was it a new PB though? My PB stood at 5lb 4oz which I had caught from the BA earlier in the summer. I pulled a set of Avon 8lb scales from my bag for true accuracy. The sing was zeroed and the fish was placed ready for weighing. "It could go 6 mate" predicted Martin. 1,2,3,4,5,6 nope. 5lb 15 and 3/4 oz. Not a 6lber but a new PB and a beautiful Chub to boot.

After releasing this stunning fish back into its home, the baits were released back into the water and I sat back behind the rods. Although it wasn't the target species for the day I had a big grin on my face. The day turned to evening and there was still time for Martin to catch his obligatory Barbel. Perhaps 7lbs he said. We packed up and hit the road.

There was still time for us to head back again as the season door slammed shut on us but to no fruition.

I have to recap on this season as my first true Specimen hunting season with Roach to 2lb 5oz, Pike to 19lb and Chub to 5lb 15 3/4oz. If anything I have actually fished less than previous seasons but caught more. This is down to concentration and treating each session with more care and thought. I mustn't forget my girlfriend who has been very supporting of my fishing habit and has even given me a few tips along the way...

Here's to next season and hopefully more big fish.

Tight Lines

Vince Cater - The Fish Botherer

__________________________________________________________________________________

Piking on the Hampshire Avon - Britford

It's that time of year again where the Pike rods are dusted down and readied for a Pike session or ten. I am fortunate that I am one of four anglers in my family and my brother booked us to fish Britford for a couple of days fishing.

I decided to take one float/feeder rod for the Grayling and one Pike rod. We bought a nice selection of baits for the Pike, Mackerel, Sardines and Sprat and a pint of Maggots and a few loaves of bread for the Grayling. I loaded the car the night before as I really didn't fancy doing it in the early hours of the morning.

The Alarm sounded and I rolled out of bed to the dismay of my Girlfriend, "it's way to early to get up" she said. After persuading my brother to get out of bed and picking up my father and youngest brother from their house we hit the road. The weather reports suggested wind but no rain.

We arrived and were greeted by the lively and extremely helpful river keeper Stuart and his dog. He told us the biggest pike to come out so far this season was 19lb 4oz and may Roach over the 2lb mark had come up to 2lb 13oz (there are 3lbers there if you know where to find them). He advised us on which swims to fish and we went our way. Me and my Father headed off in search of Grayling and my brothers went off in search of the freshwater crocodiles.

We arrived at the swim advised and began by trotting maggots, the pace was spot on although the river was a little shallow. After trotting for perhaps only ten minutes the heavens opened and we got absolutley soaked. The trees were trembling, the line began wrapping itself round my centrepin and the rings of the rod like a Boa Constrictor and I had to stop ths method as did my Father. I swapped tips on my rod and moved across to ledgering for the Grayling and whatever else fancied a pair of succulent red maggots.

After a couple of minutes this method appeared to be paying off as my father landed several Grayling to nearly 1lb. I followed suit with Grayling to 12oz and a Brownie of a 1lb 8oz. A quick call to my brothers and they had a Jack Pike of around 5lb between them so fishing for us was fairly slow.

The rain seemed to get heavier and my clothes were clinging to me, my nose was running and I was getting rather cold. We decided to have a break, regroup and decide what the next step would be. We all decided to go for the Pike for the rest of the afternoon and continue in similar fashion the following day. We all sat in a line, 4 swims 4 anglers and 4 rods; surely one of us would catch a Pike I concluded? My assumptions were correct and my Fathers Pike rod twitched for a few seconds and then arched around. He was into a good Pike by the looks of things and it fought for a good couple of minutes before surfacing. Once netted we all witnessed perhaps one the fattest Pike we had ever seen. In the Bristol Avon a pike of this length would struggle to hit 10-11lb.

15lb 8oz

After a weighing and discounting the weight of the landing net the pike registered a weight of 15lb 8oz. A great start to my father's piking session. The rest of the afternoon and into the evening faded into dusk and it was time to head back to our lodgings.

On the way we were diverted to Salisbury District Hospital as my youngest brother fell ill and was being sick profusely with sharp pains in his stomach. We guessed it could have been food poisoning and after two hours and a bottle of painkiller in his blodd stream later he was out and the conclusion was most likely a dodgy Turkey sandwich.

We were staying at John Searl's The Swallows cottage; it's a perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle and is only about a 20 minutes drive from Britford so ideal. Not only that but we always end up in his house recounting fishing stories, looking at his cased fish on his walls and I even ended up fixing his computer for him. I was rewarded with a signed print of a Tench for my troubles; suffice to say I was more than pleased.

I rose at 6:20am and got the frying pan on the go, sausages, bacon and egg are the only way to start a fishing session. I woke everyone else up by simply turning on the lights in their rooms and walking back out again; mean but fair. After wolfing down our sumptuous breakfasts we packed ourselves back into my car and hit the road for Britford once more. Were we going to catch or fail?

The conditions again looked spot on and we started where we left off the previous night on the carrier. In 2 hours we managed one Jack between us, the same pike my brother had had the previous day!!! We decided that it was time to get back onto the Old River. My brother had one to 19lb from this stretch the previous year (see below) so anything aprroaching this size would be fantastic.

19lb Exactly

We fished in pairs with my brother and me fishing one area and my youngest brother and Father fishing another area about 150 metres further along. My Father struck first with a cracking Pike of 16lb 8oz and we caught in quick succession with a couple of 10lbers between us.

16lb8oz

10lb 5oz

Me and my brother had a couple of knocks each but things went quiet so we moved about 50metres up to a likely looking spot. After wondering up to photograph my fathers 16lber I found a perfect little swim with a dead tree in the water, it screamed Pike so I settled there and my brother fished about 20 metres further along. I was fishing perhaps 20minutes when my rod signalled a take, to twitches and then the rod heaved round. I struck and everything went solid. I thought I had hooked the bottom but it started moving, it was a pike and it was definitely a PB (my previous best was only 12lb8oz so fairly easy to beat) it held firm but i was well equipped with a strong 2.75lb tc rod and 15lb bs line. After a couple of deep dives the Pike came in fairly easily. To me this fish was massive, a very long Pike and also quite chunky which seems to the norm along this stretch. 

19lb Exactly

The scales settled on 19lb and it as I had guessed it smashed my old PB and what a stunning fish it was. I believe it will definitley top 20lbs judging by the chunkyness of the Pike my Father had caught and there is most likely a 30lber hidden away somewhere.

Not to be trumped, my father shouted out that he had hooked into a "big" pike and my little brother confirmed this by saying "it's bigger than yours". After weighing the fish we decided on 18lb 4oz so not quite as big as mine but a great brace of Pike for him in around 1 hour. 

18lb 4oz

I didn't feel the need to cast in as I was over the moon with my Pike, I was confident I couldn't better it but the angler in me took over and after 15minutes I got bored and cast out another sprat. The weather was now settled and it turned out be a nice last hour to our fishing trip. I caught one more Jack Pike of around 6lb as I reeled in my dead bait and we called it a day and trip.

To conclude it was a great weekends fishing with 9 Pike being caught and 6 of those being doubles. I would highly recommend a trip to Britford and hopefully see you on the bank sometime.

LAA - Britford - More Info

John Searl's - Swallow Cottage - More Info