| MARK HODSON | |
An angler since he can remember, Mark Hodson almost literally lives, eats and breathes fishing. A match angler in his youth, fishing for the junior Starlets, he turned to the dark side and joined the ‘floppy hat’ brigade in his college years. He worked in the tackle trade for ten years, on a part time or full time basis at Chaplains, one of Birmingham’s busiest tackle shops and managed the specialist department there for two years. He now fishes just for fun, although the ‘floppy specialist hat’ still dominates his angling, his writing concentrates on getting the maximum enjoyment from your angling and trying something different from the norm. |
The Legend of Big Bud – Part 2 – a guide to surface lure fishingBUD KNEW IT was going to be a bad day when a large cylindrical stainless steel chap who went by the name of ‘Aladdin’ dropped into the lure bag and announced he was full of coffee and ready to rock and roll.
The other lures in the bag became agitated, one who shared Bud’s preference for swimming in the surface layers and went by the ironic name of ‘Lucky 13’ bellowed, “About time, we haven’t seen a bankside in months, bring on those toothy monsters, they can try to rip me to shreds any day, I’ll take them all on, let them feel the steel of my trebles, come on!” Bud shrank back into the corner of the rectangular compartment he now called home, and prayed to his maker Heddon that today would not be his last. Stalking the Stalker Most pike are seen by mistake, a vortex left by a disappearing tail at the water’s edge as a heavy footed, blundering angler sends out an all too easily detectable warning to freshwater’s most accomplished killer. Or a casual look down at the keepnet reveals a pike casually lying alongside, intimidating the inhabitants of the net, whispering nightmare tales of what awaits those in temporary sanctuary upon their release from captivity.
Pike love the margins, they offer snags, reeds, weed; all perfect ambush points and, of course, they offer an easy meal, as the margins are where those immature, inexperienced, baitfish seek shelter from the rest of the aquatic life’s hazards. Even in the depths of winter they quickly seek out water as shallow as two feet deep, which warms rapidly with the frost-melting sun. Given a quiet bankside, a pair of Polaroid sunglasses and a stealthy approach, such fish can be spotted and targeted. It is quite often possible to tickle a lure right past the nose of a pike in such situations, who of course, always do one of two things. They either give a pikey look of disgust, a flick of a beady eye in your direction and if they could I’m sure they would sneer “Your having a laugh ain’t you mate,” which is followed by a leisurely swim away into the unseen depths. Or alternatively they go from complete inaction to a torpedo-like blur of spray as the camouflaged assassin launches a vicious attack on your well placed artificial offering. Whichever response you get it is truly heart-stopping stuff, and because of the sheer dramatic aggression involved in a take, it is an experience I would rate as one of British coarse fishing’s finest. Big Bud gets his trunks on Bud had his eyes clamped firmly shut as he was lifted from the lurebox, a quick glimpse gave sight to lush green vegetation and ….a huge testing tank! That was surrounded by trees and had strange feathered things paddling around on it. Bud suddenly felt brave and quite fancied a quick paddle, after all they said in the factory he was a fine swimmer with a great action. “Let’s go!” He screamed as he was fired out into the middle of the lake at 50 mph.
Bud was quite enjoying showing off his great ‘action’, occasional fancy moves incorporating tail slaps and quick shallow dives were sure to impress the ladies. This was the life. But then it happened. As Bud was experimenting with a new style of noisy front crawl he sensed he was being followed. He paused and looked behind. At first he couldn’t see anything, but then he focused on the mottled green outline of a head with two rather sinister looking eyes and a rapidly opening mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Bud screamed a soundless scream, turned and fled, he could sense the lunge of the monster behind and the rush of water. Then it had him. It had grabbed his tail and trailing treble. Bud was pulled down into the dark depths. He was struggling. His life swept before him, those happy days in the welsh dresser, the sing-a-longs in the lure bag, they all slowly shrunk into a small dot of light.
Suddenly, Bud was infused with a new power, immense strength swept through him and he surged upwards taking the monster with him, Bud didn’t know what was happening, but he liked it. Kicking and screaming, Bud took the monster to the bank, with his newfound fighting ability he won easily: “Bring it on, I’ll have the lot of ya!” Screamed Bud, and leapt back into the water on his release from the pike’s bony jaws. Lets get our gear heads on Lure fishing, like all branches of our sport, is now overloaded with many tackle choices that dazzle and confuse like a kaleidoscope of opportunity. It’s hard to know what to use for the best. There is no winning formula, as with all fishing there is no replacement for experience, skill and, of course, good fortune, which will often derive from the first two. Find lure set-ups that you enjoy using, not what the latest fashion or trend dictate you should use. I will now detail the gear I use, it’s not perfect, it’s not the best money can buy, but it suits me and that’s all that matters. Use the same approach and you won’t go far wrong. I carry two set-ups when surface fishing. The first is a 9ft Drennan E-SOX Spinflex which casts up to 50 gms but will cast heavier comfortably if required. I have reviewed this rod on FM previously and I remain delighted with it. Coupled with a 4000 sized reel and 30lb Berkley Whiplash braid it can cast medium to large surface baits with ease and accuracy.
I have used multipliers in seasons past and swore at the time they were unbeatable, however I now personally find I get less tangles, less hassle and can play fish easier using a fixed spool reel complete with Fighting Drag. Many find the opposite to be true, but as an angler who at times displays the manual dexterity and finesse of a drunken arthritic sumo wrestler I get more enjoyment (less hassle) from my use of a fixed spool. Try both and decide for yourself, the correct decision will be the one that provides the most enjoyment. My second set-up is my light surface set-up which consists of a 6′ 6″ one piece Penn Power Stick which is coupled with a 2500 sized fixed spool reel loaded with 20lb Berkley Fireline. The diameter of the Fireline combined with the fixed spool and the ‘flicky’ tip of the Power Stick means getting distance with the smallest of surface lures isn’t a problem and is perfect for the close-in stalking approach I have already described. Both setups are coupled with Drennan 28lb Soft Strand traces, which are twisted and finished with Berkley swivels and Fox cross link swivels. Again, everyone has their own preference, experience will dictate yours.
Lures are like floats, you can never have enough but always reach for the same ones time and again. My favourite surface lures include the Manns Baby Minus, Heddon Lucky 13, Heddon Moss Boss, Mean Jimmy, The Arbogast Jitterbugs and Mean Bugsy. They all catch fish, some, like the plastic frogs, have limited seasonal lives but experiment and enjoy. The rest of the gear consists of forceps, pliers and wire cutters for unhooking, a glove, one landing net, a set of Avon scales, spare traces, small extendable bankstick with camera adapter, Polaroids, and a bag to carry it all in. Simplicity itself. Remember pike may look tough but their image disguises their fragility to poor fishing techniques and incorrect handling. Never go pike fishing if you’re inexperienced or without the correct tackle or unhooking equipment. For more excellent advice read this series of articles by Gary Knowles and go to www.pacgb.co.uk, because if it’s worth doing, do it properly. Big Brave Bud Bud was like a lure possessed, repeatedly he tussled with monstrous pike, winning each time, leaving them looking somewhat bemused at what their supposed easy meal had done. Come the end of the day, a battle scarred Bud dropped wearily into his rectangular home and was held aloft by the other lures who proclaimed him their new champion. Proudly Bud looked down at the scratches on his paintwork, looked at his slightly blunted and dulled trebles and smiled proudly, he never thought of the welsh dresser again. |
