Last Autumn I began looking around for potential big pike venues for the Autumn of 2011.
In particular, I was looking to get as much reservoir fishing as possible, particularly if it was a venue that was a little bit off the beaten track. My reasoning was simple. I love being out on a big water and if you want to be catching big pike regularly then there is no better place to look than the trout reservoirs.
I managed to put together a fair list of venues, most of which were closed to pike fishing, but which I would keep on the back-burner for the day when the did decide to allow some pike trials. One of the venues on the list was Farmoor Reservoir in Oxfordshire, a venue that had already had a history of producing huge bream, and with it being right next to the Thames I was sure that the odd pike must have found it’s way into the ressies over the years, even though a previous trial had drawn a blank.
With no chance of bait fishing on Farmoor I thought that I might have a day fly fishing on there just to check it out and see how the land lay. Then, fate took a hand. Farmoor was going to be opened for two days of pike fishing trials in February for the first time in a number of years. The first date was out as I would be on a business trip to China, but I would just be back in time for the second date.
Whilst sitting in a product meeting in China my phone chirped with a summary of what had gone on during the first trial day. One jack pike was the sum total for the effort put in. Not quite what I had hoped for, but to be honest I wasn’t that surprised. We are a bit desensitized at the moment as to how rare big pike really are, thanks to the phenomenal fishing at Chew. Chew really is a one-off though and to my mind no other venue has ever produced so many big pike for such a period of time as this mighty Ressie. The norm is the odd big fish and a LOT of blanks. So there could still be a big fish (perhaps a really big fish) hiding in Farmoor’s 300 acres.
Although the alarm was set for 4AM, the jet lag meant that I already had the car packed and was on my way by 3:30, and a couple of hours later pulled into the car park, got signed-in and had a sausage buttee and mug of coffee. By 6:45 the boat was loaded and we were off!
To cut a long story short the fishing was slow, as we had expected. Gordy and I moved constantly, drifting live baits behind the boat and casting lures, constantly studying the echosounders for signs of fish and features.
By lunchtime we had drawn a blank and were thinking of having a break for a while, but decided on one last spot before heading in. Stopping the boat tight to the bank in the lee of the wind I clipped on a garish orange-tiger original Rapala and chucked it within a couple of feet of the concrete bank of the lake. With the bottom angling steeply into 24 feet of water it stood to reason that the pike could well be right in the edge.
The first cast the lure tangled and I cranked it back across the surface. Second cast I made three turns of the handle before the rod tip was wrenched down hard.
In the gin-clear water I could see the lure clamped hard across the pike’s maw way down in the lake. It was certainly a heavy fish, and looked like a good double, perhaps a twenty. As it rose towards the surface I realised that it was actually further down than I had thought and it might be a bit bigger than I had first thought. As she hit the surface I went to pieces as a massive fish lay passively in front of us. After a bit of a drama with the net getting wrapped up in my bait rod Gordy scooped her up and she was ours.
An absolute beast of a pike, huge head and fat right to the root of the tail. We recorded a weight of 31lbs 12ozs – an opportunity taken and one that I will never forget.
Paul Garner is a consultant for Nash Peg One – www.pegone.co.uk
Paul Garner has his own website and regularly updated blog at www.drpaulgarner.co.uk
