Woke up - 8am - already things are not going well as I have slept in. I get my shit together and head out - the day is not looking good - pretty wild weather with a smattering of light rain. Still, I have been looking forward to this all week. It does not matter it is only for a few hours I am determined to be there are the right time at the right place and finally manage to land my first pike on the fly.
I forgo my usual place on the canal and decide on an alternative another mile up the road. It has good parking next to a pub and good access. I string up my rod and then have a decision to make regarding the wire trace. I usually use little snap links so that changing flies is a breeze however I have noticed some people keep a wire trace permanently attached to individual flies. This might make storing them difficult (and is the very reason I don’t do it) but I think that little extra weight might affect casting so decide to try it out. I use pretty easy wire to work with that only needs a little crimp to secure it and I am up and running in no time.
I walk along to a little platform for the boats to moor on - this little spot is ideal as it seems to be devoid of wind - everywhere else it seems to be blowing a gale. I cast a few times, getting used to the extra weight - it always takes me a few casts to get into the swing of things. There are lots of bait fish on the surface - I think they might be roach - the whole place reeks of nervous water. Could those Roach be panicking as a hungry Pike is chasing them or in the vicinity.
Suddenly I get a take - like a green torpedo a pike slams into my fly, it misses and sits motionless, I recast but it is gone. Still - a good sign that my ridiculously flashy fly is working. I spend maybe another half an hour working my fly, trying to cover every nook and cranny - a wide fan of casts - you know what I mean!
I see a likely looking spot on the far bank, there are leafs on the water and some reeds - it looks like a likely place for a Pike - I cast……
Bang! First cast, after just a few jerky retrieves - it is small - laughable to people who catch pike regularly I suppose but still - my first Pike on the fly.
The fly is a mess….
But after a few more casts it is swimming and looking just fine. Eventually the wind gets up and I head home.
18 responses so far ↓
1 Wyatt // Nov 10, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Strong work! Ccongrats on your first “hammer handle” pike.
2 Alistair // Nov 10, 2007 at 7:21 pm
It was a long time in coming
3 scott // Nov 11, 2007 at 1:02 am
good on ye! makes me that little bit more gutted that i didnt get out this morning, typical i spose haha
4 Alistair // Nov 11, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Scott, I am no expert but today looks like a better day than Saturday - I am stuck writing an essay all day though
Alistair
5 scott // Nov 11, 2007 at 10:30 pm
today was a no go aswell, had work unfortunately. A useful alternative to the snap swivels on your traces is little fly connectors, they serve the same purpose as the swivels but theyre tiny and a lot lighter, its roughly two quid for a pack of 25 and theyre just as easy to crimp onto the trace, i think theyre made by mustad. looks like tuesday is going to be my next trip down the canal, got a few likely looking spots i cant wait to try!
6 alan atkins // Nov 12, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Nice one Alistair, your determination has paid off. I didn’t get out at all this weekend, the car had to go into the garage after some prat ploughed into the back of me. With the weather looking a wee bit more settled i hope to get in about the grayling next weekend. But, the proper grayling fishing on the special river will start next month, in ernest
7 Pete // Nov 12, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Awesome. Great to see the photos of the pike and the collateral damage done to the fly.
8 Alistair // Nov 12, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Thanks chaps - I am really getting into this whole Pike malarky - I may actually lay off the grayling for a while to concentrate on them - it is just something totally different that I like.
I will look into those snap swivels - i wonder if it is the same things that I already have !
9 scott // Nov 13, 2007 at 5:58 pm
possibly, theyre basically small rings with an eye at the top and a tiny gap to slide the eye of the fly through which snaps shut. Had my first fish for ages today, nudging 10lbs i reckon, it fell to a roach deadbait but i can only imagine what it would have felt like on my fly rod!
10 Alistair // Nov 13, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Well done Scott - that is fantastic news - did you manage to get a photo ?
11 scott // Nov 14, 2007 at 12:29 am
thanks mate! was pretty chuffed with it, looks like a personal best, i did manage to get a photo and ive stared at it all night haha, gonna give a local pond a go tomorrow morning with my fly rod, hopefully my luck has changed
12 Alistair // Nov 14, 2007 at 6:31 am
Would like to see a copy of it - possible to send it over the net ?
13 scott // Nov 14, 2007 at 10:29 am
aye sure, what address will i send it to?
14 Alistair // Nov 14, 2007 at 11:18 am
Sent you a mail Scott !
15 scott // Nov 14, 2007 at 11:39 am
send it again to XXXX, the other one is temperamental and rarely recieves anything sent to it. Wish i had managed to get out today, its stunning!
16 scott // Nov 14, 2007 at 11:46 am
sorted.
17 Alistair // Nov 14, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Edited out your mail so you dont get a gajillion spam emails
Will check out photo when I get home !
Today does look stunning - I hope this good weather keeps up for the weekend - I am half planning on a few hours on saturday morning- all depends on how much work I get done between now and then though !
Pull……pull…..twitch…twitch…..BANG!!
Fingers crossed !
18 scott // Nov 15, 2007 at 10:23 am
I am desperate to get back out with my fly rod, i reckon the loch i caught that fish from would be ideal, the fish was taken at fairly close range and the majority of the bank makes for easy casting, looks like tomorrow or a super early start/finish on saturday or im gonna have to wait till tuesday, which i dont think i can do! oh aye, cheers for editing out my address, theres actually nothing worse than spam!
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