Fasten Your Seatbelts....

Summer! Where did the summer go? more about that later, right now I think we should cut to the chase.....
In reality to start piking in October this year would have been car crash material. The river was ridiculously low due to a serious lack rain and still full of summer growth from the unseasonably mild weather. I must admit that I'm not one for farting about with lures up to my neck in nettles trying to tempt lazy sunbathing Pike. I much prefer my piking cold and calculated (literally). So finally the rain came, a fortnights worth... in a week. It lashed like never before, I held my breath as the river shot up and the mercury dropped.
Phones started chirping across the mobile networks as a few of the usual suspects and myself texted covert daily reports on the state of the river, after a few days, the overall concensus was It was time, "The Boys Were Back In Town"

After much sorting of tackle and cobweb blowing we arrived at the river on Friday morning with more gear than a subterranean terrorist cell. To say we were ready for the "first" day of the winter season was an understatement. Alan "Burkie" Burke fished downstream. The junior Piker and myself fished a slack above him. Things were quite, very quiet. An opening day anti climax I thought to myself. Then my phone rang..."A NET.... I NEED A BIGGER NET" Burkie screamed down the phone so loud he needn't have bothered ringing. The junior piker legged it down the bank.
I waited for news, then waited some more... it was uncanny to say the least. I missed a run and then my phone rang, it was Burkie breathless but happy. As it happened he put the bait in the swim and was hit immediately, he couldn't reach the net. After a major power struggle on a tricky piece bank himself and the junior piker landed a really decent double. Its fair to say, on our first day out since last spring the Biker Piker nailed a WHOPPER and was he nowhere near Burger King. But there was more to come...

Burkies Whopper!

With a double already accounted for we fished on, enthusiasm and confidence had been intravenously pumped into our systems. Even though we were on a high things remained quiet our prey had gone to ground, we fished on ever optimistic. I searched the river and finally decided to settle down once I hit my fifth swim. Some time later my rod gave a gentle knock,  the alarm barely croaked a couple of sedate blips, I squinted at the rod tip through the cold sunshine. Hmmm maybe, maybe not... I struck and was well in, not such a big fish but still this bad boy got 10 out of 10 as he cleared the surface and tail walked across the water. We were gobsmacked.

The River Barrow Piker and the tail walking Pike.

We saw no more fish that day but what a great start to the new season on the Barrow. I went back to the river on Monday and met another three fish. That story and others will be posted here in a day or two. I headed home for a cuppa thinking along the way, Philo said it well when he said "The boys are back in town"...

A Red Letter Morning...

Its been two weeks since I last walked the Barrow's towpaths, Its not that I didn't want to be fishing but the "real world" was calling and for a change there was much work to be done. The barometer was rising yet the temperature was only tipping 1.2 deg C. when I pulled the backdoor behind me.
The dank cold morning started to brighten slowly, damp icy air caught my breath as I headed for the first swim. All the time the river flowed silently beside me, like a quiet slightly unfamiliar friend. I couldn't help it but my eyes kept scanning the water, I was looking for a sign or a signal of where to go but the river did not speak, it just continued to flow, low and clear after the unseasonal dry spell. A feeling crept slowly over me, I was uncertain, almost doubting myself. My time away from the bank had left me a little unsettled, the river now seemed like a vast endless flowing wilderness, could I read the water, could I bait up the right swims. I was on my own, no one to consult with or to talk up the confidence levels. Just me and the river.
In hindsight I was a lot more content once I had the baits out and happier still an hour later when a well rounded fish of about 8lb or 9lb came to the net. My confidence levels soared when slightly smaller fish hooked up  ten minutes later and was happy to pose for a small video clip with me!
 

I wanted to cover more ground, eager to capitialise on the feeding spell. I headed downstream to another swim, its a featureless stretch of river which doesn't evoke confidence, you have to have balls of steel or be stone mad to sling your baits out here as it looks nothing like a pike swim but nonetheless I had met fish here before. It was a gamble but with only one more swim in mind I thought it worth an hour or so. That hour passed uneventfully, I was getting ready for the next move when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a rod tip twitch, the alarm remained silent, it twitched again and then two solitary blips. I wound down a touch and waited... I pondered what was going on, no screaming run, then I felt it, the rod twitched again, I struck but into nothing! I checked the bait and had it back in the exact same part of the swim in seconds. I was playing "cat and mouse" with fish! I repositioned the other rod at the bottom of the swim and happily played the waiting game as the river watched on. About forty minutes later, the rod which produced the missed run earlier signalled the arrival of a fish with an almost unnoticeable twitch, it barely moved, not even a blip. I was intrigued to say the least as the pike gently mouthed or pushed the bait about. One more subtle twitch and I finally felt her move off. I struck, all was good. Such an incredibly gentle take from such a hard fighting river pike. A pristine mid double came to the net about ten minutes later.

As I watched her kick off into the depths the rod at the lower end of the swim gave a blip, I scrambled up the bank and witnessed the gentle twitch style take once again. A moment seemed like an eternity, two equally spaced blips and she was slowly on her way with the bait. A far more stubborn and agressive fish this time. I had visions of fighting a submerged supermarket trolley with a life of its own. As it came to the net, it turned out to be not a trolley! but a low double with a a lot character.

I could have so easily stayed and fished on but the school run beckoned. I couldn't believe it, four fish, two of those doubles and a missed run.....
My unfounded doubts and uncertainties had vanished as quickly as the chill of the early morning air. Maybe my quiet friend the Barrow had been speaking to me all along perhaps I'd just not been listening. We were on the same wavelength, in tune with each other once again.

Barrow Muscle Cars.

I've not fished the river for a whole week (six days to be precise), withdrawal symptoms were well set in by today. Living so close to the river is real a double edged sword, it would be very easy to spend a lot time on the bank and yet when your not there the mind often wanders as to what you might be missing!
I've been watching the river like a hawk, checking the level and colour everyday whilst on the school run, still no rain, things were looking good. If my memory serves me right, the river has not been this low and clear since last June. I couldn't resist it any longer, I was off out to get my Fix.
Heading to the swim there was a distinct touch of spring in the air, no coat or extra layers required today. I quickened my pace!
Two ledgered deads were the order of the day, the usual routine,  one popped up the other hard on the bottom. Ninety minutes in and an alarm burst into life, not a screamer of a run but a take of sorts. Fish on!...Oh.... Fish off... I left the bait in for a few moments longer hoping the fish may slam it out of frustration if nothing else but no joy. I cursed myself and the fish, if the truth be known.
I brought it in to see if there were any signs of the encounter. Once again it was all proper horror show, slashed like a Romero movie.

Things then went decidedly quiet, I moved everything around, changed the baits but the swim still appeared to be void of fish. I moved upstream and put the coffee on. I needed to cover some ground or water as the case may be. A 30g WaterWolf Scud float was now patrolling the new swim, third trot through, it bobbed and disappeared, that was the last I saw of it for some time. Through the braid I could feel the fish chomping on the hooks and rig, this was not a good sign yet some how all remained secure. This was one angry mother! A superb hard fighting river pike, this high octane fish was like a muscle car on a quarter mile strip... At will, she ripped line off the reel at very high tension quite a number of times.

By the looks of this of this old girl, she has seen her fair share of action in the past. She was very lean compared with other recent fish, clearly she has not been feeding up perhaps due to previous captures. She also carried a number of small cuts and nicks on her lower flanks and back. She had a noticable lesion or bacterial infection at the neck of her caudal (tail) fin. This could be due to stress or mishandling. I also wonder due to her condition and wounds was she maybe a post spawn fish, were the jacks nipping her whilst jostling for position (could some of the Barrow pike have spawned already). Looking at my "self take" timer photos she reminds me very much of a "summer pike". Tonight she swims, I hope she feeds up well and finds a place of refuge to make a full recovery.

As I mentioned at the top of this post, I'd not been on the river for about a week or so. I dug out a bit of old software one of the days (Windows Movie Maker) and put a few bits together, I suppose its a bit of  a look back at the season and blog so far. I think it turned out alright, Give it a click and let me know what you think.

Double Trouble.

Right now I'm very conscious of the fact that time is running out. Spawning time is on the way, maybe another two or three weeks left depending on water temperatures and levels. Time on the bank is time well spent. A chance to meet a "big girl" before she retires to entertain the boys. With this in mind I was at the river again (any excuse to fish). Nothing had been organised with the lads so I was on my own and had a morning to kill. I was on a solo, a RECON mission. Reconnaissance is nothing new it actually dates back to 1918 but its often overlooked in relation to angling. I was checking out a few new swims and some possible access points to various stretches of the river. All was going well, found some nice water and a road I never knew even existed. Back to the map and I was en route to the second location. This time not so lucky, large amounts of NO ACCESS/PRIVATE LANDS etc...
So, I ended up with rather alot of time on my hands, what else to do?
I headed to another swim for a couple of hours before picking up the kids from school. I wasn't long there when I got a pick up, the alarm signalled a slow steady take. After the string of dropped runs last week I decided not to waste a second and immediately struck into what turned out to be a turbocharged jack, he went off like a bullet and was in a proper strop coming to the bank.

Micro Jack.

From little acorns....

With nothing else happening I moved upstream a bit to a rather featureless swim and waited. It was almost time to head for the school run when the rod twitched a bit, or did it... The alarm remained silent, no drop back signs either. It twitched again, the fish moved and the alarm registered, this fish was in no hurry, a slow blip blip blip... I struck into a good solid resistance, she didn't budge. I held my ground as did the fish, we both knew we were in for the long haul. Eventually she turned and cruised downstream slowly peeling line off the reel. Not until I had to keep her out from the weeds did she make a few insane lunges (time to readjust the drag very quickly). After another run for freedom and she finally showed, a plump double by the looks. Like any river pike she put the boot in hard and held her ground as best she could, second attempt at the net and she was on the bank.

You know, it never ceases to amaze me how folk (not little people) magically appear on the bank when a fish shows up. A very pleasent elderly couple were sure it was a salmon and were extremely disappointed to find out it was a pike!

Another angler (Chris from Kilkenny) was very kind to spend some of his valuable fishing time helping me land, photograph and release the fish. Chris if you ever read this "Thank You"
A few hours on the river, two fish and the Barrow delivers yet another double. I was on the road and still in time for the school run. Sweet!

So what happened next?

The following day I was brimming with enthusiasm (an expression I hate but it was true), Burkie was off work so the Biker piker and myself decided to join forces and meet up for a few hours to see if the river might magic up another double. It did.......
Levels are now dropping rapidly, and the river is running with just a touch of colour due to the early spring dry spell. Conditions were ideal, we slung out a couple of deads, hard on the bottom and popped up. An alarm blipped as a fish snatched a bait. Alan was in.... (Alan was into the fight of his life) this fish was not keen to move on any account, I wondered if were glued to the riverbed. Eventually the runs came, the line cut through the water as the fish moved upstream still holding firm. Alan was patient... he had to be! This fish was in no hurry. I don't know who had the greater workout Alan or the fish, eventually I reached down with the net and she came to the bank.

Check out the small video of the release of Alan's fish.  I hope to add some more soon. So what a crazy couple of days, the Barrow delivers two doubles in two days,  I can't believe it. Can things get any better... I think so! Already looking forward to the next time out.

 

Three Hours.... Double Figures.

I got a text yesteday from a good friend inviting me to fish another venue today. It was somewhere we had discussed on a number of occasions and would involve a full day. Due to time constraints, it was not to be and I had to decline - maybe next time.
However I did have a few hours available to fish locally on the Barrow so I met up with Frank the plasterer after the school run for a morning session. We headed to what over the last number of months has become my favourite swim, its by no means a "hotspot" or even a "dead cert" but it has quite a number of different characteristics which means that you can employ any number of methods in an attempt to achive a result. I suppose you could almost say its three swims in one! Besides all that, its a great part of the river to spend time.

We decended into the morning mist which in truth was more like a freezing fog. It was laying heavy in the Barrow valley this morning, the sun fought to light the sky from behind the endless veils of moisture. In short, the whole place looked like something from a ninteeen fifties B horror movie.
I decided on two static deads, a Roach (popped up) and an Eel section hard on the bottom. Frank dropped a half Mackerel in the swim and proceeded to set up his feeder rod.
Just over an hour in Frank got a very gentle pick up, a fish took the bait and moved very slowly downstream towards the near bank, He struck and was hooked up well. The fish took some time to realise what was going on but then it put the boot in, giving Frank a serious run for his money! It never ceases to amaze me how agile and powerful river pike are, to see a double figure fish tail walking on a misty January morning is a sight to behold!

For Frank this is a special day, his first double figure Pike and a new PB all in one. Congrats and may it lead to many more. The fish came in on the scales just under 13lb.

ps. Needless to say my almost endless run of blanks continues, think I'm up to five in a row, almost lost count at this stage. The law of probability must soon say things will change, so I'll fish on!

 

On The Double

I haven't been on the riverbank since Sunday and blanked then even still I could feel mild withdrawal symptoms setting in. I wanted to get out and about, see what was going on and what state the river was in. The weather's been pretty much a mixed bag this week but theres been a noticable drop in temperatures again especially last night, we were down to 3 deg. having said that theres not been enough rain for any flood the river is only up an inch or two. I'd noticed  from my local travels over the last few days that theres been quite a bit of activity on the river, I'd seen a few boats out trolling and the bankside brigade have been out in force too. Was anyone catching? I didn't know, I'd not heard anything for a while such are the joys of being a solitary fisherman! I wasn't going to catch anything sitting at home, the forecast looked reasonable so with any luck I wouldn't get soaked. I'd got a few new lures during the week and fancied trying them too so I threw a stripped down (lure only) kit in the boot. The mission keep moving / travel light / cover water, no exploring or new swims today as I only had a few hours. I had two places in mind both have produced jacks on a fairly consistant basis maybe there would be some bigger fish about willing to feed with the onset of cooler temps, taking the current levels into account I figured these would be as good a place as any to start.

With the school run complete I was on my way to the first swim, conditions appeared ideal a cool misty morning with the hint of a bright crisp day to follow. I wondered if it was my imagination or had the trees already turned a good deal, everything appeared distinctly autumnal this raised my expectations even further. I first went to the swim that has most recently produced fish.  A new addition to my "working lure" list the Rapture swimbait was first to hit the surface, as it came closer I could both see and feel it knocking in the water as it sent out vibrations to my unsuspecting quarry. I was sure something was going to happen at any moment.........but it didn't. Nothing, not even a knock or a follow! I went through all the lures old and new, up and down the bank I covered alot of water at all depths....... Nothing. The mist lifted and the river lite up as the sun shone through.....still nothing! This went on for just over two hours until I grabbed the gear and headed to the second swim a couple of miles downstream.

First double of the season, 11lb 7oz.

This is a very small weedy swim near a slack it could be fished thoroughly with a lure in less than an hour. I put on a Savage Gear 4Play and got down to business, after forty minutes I was preparing myself for another blank when it happened! I had twitched the lure back one more time and was about to take it out of the water when a late taker forced me to keep it in the water a moment longer, one of those takes when you see the whole thing happen under your nose (nature in action) incredible! Stealth attack, seize and retreat all in the longest split second you could ever experience.
Such was my position on the bank that two anglers in a boat were good enough to come by offering to lend a hand if I was unable to land the fish (bit of a stretch but I got there in the end)  and a passer by the name of Sean was kind enough to take a few photos. Came in on the scales at 11lb 7oz (first double of the season) and went back kick'n. Many thanks to all especially the fish!