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.
Strong work! Ccongrats on your first “hammer handle” pike.
It was a long time in coming 🙂
good on ye! makes me that little bit more gutted that i didnt get out this morning, typical i spose haha
Scott, I am no expert but today looks like a better day than Saturday – I am stuck writing an essay all day though 🙁
Alistair
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!
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
Awesome. Great to see the photos of the pike and the collateral damage done to the fly.
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 !
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!
Well done Scott – that is fantastic news – did you manage to get a photo ?
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
Would like to see a copy of it – possible to send it over the net ?
aye sure, what address will i send it to?
Sent you a mail Scott !
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!
sorted.
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 !
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!