Friday 16 October 2009

A great day to be out - and catching!




One day I will land my twenty... until then I'll be happy catching pike of all sizes!

Today was surprisingly slow with many commenting that a chill wind over the last few days had made the fishing harder. It was unseasonally pleasant - dare I say, warm away from the wind. I tackled up before dawn broke and had a session where nothing much moved until 1030 hrs. I lost one of my killer patterns to a snag... yah boo sucks and put on an Orvis pike fly... a non descript baitfish pattern which I felt was too long... after casting this fly and having a few takes/nips I decided that drastic action was required. Wielding a pair of braid scissors I reduced this fly by a 1/3 of its body size. The amputation/remodelling had the effect of turning this into a stubby baitfish... a skimmer rather than a herring!

Next mark along and 2 or 3 casts in I brought the fly to a pause opposite me... with a flash I saw the golden side of a pike turn on the fly and it was mine. A few aerial displays and a tug of war saw the well marked fish yield. Photographed and back in to grow and fight again!

The perch was a little later and caught by an old boy I see from time to time... lovely fish - second only to pike... only just though!

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