October the first has, for many, always signified the start of the pike fishing season and for a dyed-in-the-wool pike angler what better way could there be to light the fires for the forthcoming season than to share the day with like-minded anglers, including most of the biggest names in the sport?
Well over 400 anglers agreed last weekend and were found at the annual Pike Anglers’ Club convention in Kettering.
With the recent hot weather most serious pikers were not thinking pike quite yet and visitors sizzled under the hottest October temperatures recorded in the UK and the welcoming air conditioning of the main auditorium became even more attractive as the main speakers for the day told their tales.
First up was pike angling mega star Dave Horton who told stories of his exploits over many years of pike fishing as only Dave can – with a grin and a wink.
Next on stage was highland pike angler Mickey Jones who also probably took the prize for longest journey on the day, covering a 1,000 mile round trip to regale fascinated pikers with stories from the land of Rob Roy and William Wallace, resplendent in traditional kilt and less traditional pike shaped dirk (ceremonial knife)!
Final individual speaker of the day was Broadland legend Steve Harper. Steve spoke about days on the Broads both past and present and the problems that the area is currently undergoing through dredging, otters and visiting holiday makers. Steve has very kindly given FishingMagic an interview that will appear shortly, so I won’t ruin it by going into greater detail here.
Away from the auditorium the many trade stands reported huge interest and good sales. The convention saw the release of two brand new pike fishing books to the market, both of which I shall be reviewing shortly for the site.
First up was angling legend Mick Brown who was selling the first copies of his brand new book ‘Mick Brown Professional Pike Angler’. Mick was ably helped out on the stand by his wife Jan and daughter Rhiannon who had christened themselves ‘Brownies Bitches’ for the day!
Less glamorously helped out, but equally as anticipated, was Volume One of Graham Booth’s ‘A History of Pike Fishing”. Nobody as yet has taken on a full blown account of how pike fishing has changed over the years and those that have been instrumental in that development. That the book has had to be split into two volumes speaks of how intimately Graham has gone into the research of the book and I look forward to reviewing it shortly.
Probably the most interesting book to be on show for me though was the forthcoming Perchfishers book ‘The Biggest Fish of All’. As a mad keen perch angler I really look forward to reading this book – all 390 plus pages of it! I am pleased to say that FishingMagic will be amongst the first to review this book.
Away from the literary section there were plenty of tackle stands to get the wallets emptying faster than partners may have wished! Eddie Turner was showing off his new Backbiter Alarms that made a lot think that the fire alarms for the building were going off continuously!
There were also numerous lures of all sizes and descriptions to view and, if you had a look at the Fox Rage stand, you could also try them out in their purpose built tank. The buzz around the hall was that of money being spent and a lot of old and new friendships being made or rekindled.
New to the convention this year was the Kid’s coaching sessions run by Eric Edwards in the second auditorium. 19 youngsters were present throughout the day and engaged in talks and demos and practical sessions with some of the biggest name in pike angling, including the likes of Mick Brown, Denis Moules and Julian Chidgley.
Shortly after the event finished a number of kids could be seen going round the stalls getting their brand new Rapala caps signed by the pike personalities on show. Personally I thought that this was the best thing of the show as you could see the kids enjoyed a great day and I am sure that there are 19 future pike anglers who will remember the event for a very long time.
To round the day off the auditorium saw the formation of Neville Fickling’s pike panel. Consisting of the main speakers of the day and chaired by the inimitable Mr Fickling himself, questions were fielded left, right and centre by the keen pike anglers in the audience. Some questions were serious, many light hearted and it brought the curtain down on a fantastic day and with the forecast for the temperatures to drop this week I imagine a lot of those present will be itching to get out on the bank very soon…
