So I was supposed to go Pike fishing on Sunday with Alex and Charlie, I was all prepared however a slight overindulgence of alcohol on Saturday evening meant that I was feeling under the weather and had to stay horizontal. Being vertical made me sick. As It was I missed out on what sounds like a cracking day. Damn my greedy eyes for Gin n Tonics, Red Wine and Single Malt Whiskey
Alex reports:
It was with great excitement that Charlie and I stared into the oily depths
of our own wee slice of fly fishing heaven – the Forth and Clyde Canal, as
it rears it’s ugly head behind and industrial wasteland near Kirkintilloch.
Given that the Blue-Winged Olive hatch hadn’t really materialised yet, we
opted to match what we thought the pike would be feeding on: Charlie with a
mean sandeel imitation, and me with a 4/0 ‘satan’s goldfish.’
So, with rod’s set up we commenced to thrash the water into a lather;
passers by giving us a generous berth.
About half an hour goes past and Charlie up’s the ante as his fly is
molested by something big. Alas, it was not to be……Encouraged by this we fish on with ever-more vigorous thrashing as huge
flies whizz about the vicinity when it all clicked into place. For once
Satan’s Goldfish doesn’t end up in the tree behind me and bellf-flops into
the canal with a lound ‘thonk!’
Strip-wait-twitch-twitch-wait-strip-twitch-BANG!Pike on!!
After an impressive but short struggle a wee jack of around 3lb is wheeched
out by Charlie. After a quick snap, the offending article is removed and the
pike is safely back in it’s miserable abode.
Fuck. Pike FF really does work!!!
By now we are casting so frantically you could practically see steam hissing
off the canal as our lines thrashed it into submission. Charlie loses a
fish. A pattern begins to develop.So, back to the car for a bite to eat and discuss tactics. We decide to plug
on………
On go the lures: charlie opting for a wee flashy number and for myself, a
little rattling orange and yellow beastie.
On my first cast I can see my plug sailing toward a green and yellow
monster. It has ‘Eddie Stobard’ written on it’s side and is doing about
50mph on the A83 to Kirkie. ‘Bugger’ I think as the plug’s momentum is
halted by an overhanging tree. Charlie, the thankless hero of the day, takes
it upon himself to climb the tree and fetch it!It was only fitting then, that shortly after I should catch a fish with it.
Charlie is now seething, and decides to relieve some tension by losing a
succession of pike.The day is nearly done, and as I launch my plug out once more, a passer by
says “is that wan no guid enough tae keep?.” Taken aback by his rapier-like
wit, I smile politely and reel in the fetid remains of a disused fertiliser
bag. What canal adventure would be complete without it?The walk back to the car was spent in the main rueing Charlie’s curse, and
making plans for the next trip!cheers
Alex
So well done to Alex for catching his first Pike on the fly, I am looking forward to a bit of that action myself although to be fair my Pike would have eaten his for breakfast.
how does one remove ‘anglers curse’ . I am not entirely sure what haneous crime i have commited to deserve such bad karma, but it’s seriously starting to piss me off! I’m even tempted to resort to visiting a fishing bowl such as carbeth just to remember the feeling of landing a fish. Do you know anyone who’s into voodoo?
There is no easy cure for the curse.
This may sound daft but since your curse have you changed your smoke to a new brand, do you now use lynx not right guard, tesco hand wash not imperial lather – see where I am going with this??
fishing guide
hoorah, the anglers curse has been lifted. A rather dreich saturday on the canal resulted in a rather fine pike. ok, it was pretty small but he was a feisty wee fellow. took your advice and dropped the lynx, it’s not nearly as effective as it makes out on the adverts, lying b######s
Bugger me… Glad you broke the curse
when i say it’s not effective i meant its apparent power of attraction not its anti perspirent abilities. Strange isn’t it when you read something back it doesn’t look right.
Yeah, that’s one hell of a curse to be infected with when you’re trying to have a good day out. I’ve had to deal with many early weekend mornings with a bunch of my friends who had a “killer” night previously due to exorbitant amounts of food and “drink.” However, they would push on while I literally would hold their hand and do what I can to get them to the fishing area. We would have sandwiches, brews, and soft drinks with us as we spent the entire morning (from 4AM to about noon-1PM). Needless to say, glad everything turned out alright in the end. Take care.
Thanks for commenting – wooot! – now this is an old post – I like it when people comment on these old posts as it makes me look back at them – ahhhhh – memories of a simpler time!