Fear of Jack Frost

[John Bailey]

Remember when we lived without central heating, when a single room would be kept warm with a coal fire, and when you’d wake up with a sliver of ice on the bedroom windows? When the canal, or the pond, or wherever you fished, would be frozen months on end, sometimes winter through? When all you had to wear were thin, plastic wellies, an anorak that soaked sleet up like a sponge and, if you were lucky, a pair of jeans? When you cycled to your fishing, or queued for a bus, or simply walked?

Of course, a whole lifetime has passed since those childhood days on my Northern canals, but the memories flooded back this week as day on day, I checked forecasts, and early doors looked for the depth of ice on the car windscreens. Would my Norfolk pike water have a lid on it, or would the springs that feed it keep Jack Frost away?



Full moons and clear night skies become your enemy, low pressure and warm Westerlies your friend. Yesterday, I drove the two hundred and more miles West to East, my heart in my mouth, past endless frozen lakes and pits, and watched the full moon climb clear and bright above the Wensum flood plains.

And now, at just before 7.00am, Wednesday the 19th January, I still don’t quite know what I will find, and whether I’ll wet a bait today… I’ll drive there soon, eager as that Northern kid to see what my angling’s next chapter has in store.

That killer moon!​

The post Fear of Jack Frost first appeared on FishingMagic Magazine.

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[John Bailey]

Guiding Dilemmas...

The lake has gone clearer than I can remember in the last five years, probably as a result of endless frosts. This opens up lure fishing opportunities, but slows dead bait action, though sink and draw comes into its own once again.

But the dilemma is this. In the clear water, on Wednesday, it was possible to see a very big pike cruising the bay in the north east corner. I mean huge in fact. A monster. Way above the twenties we have been catching. Thursday I recommended that JG blitz the area with three rods, and he did have a couple of pick-ups that didn’t develop. Jacks? Or that fish just too picky to commit itself?

Today I have suggested Simon has his attempt in the bay, but with a different approach. One rod. Small bait weighted with two/three SSGs. Twitched back every few minutes. Each cast to take up to half an hour to retrieve. Complete attention throughout, and Polaroids on in case the monster shows itself again.

I don’t know, advice is always a dilemma, and the fish might even have moved off. I do know this though. Today, we always go for the multi-rod approach, oblivious to the harm three or even four lines through the water can inflict. Back in the day, one rod was the norm, and the concept of using even just two crept in during the Seventies. Perhaps today might just prove less can be more?

 

[John Bailey]

Guiding Dilemmas...

Looks like Simon and I pulled this one off. Just as I suggested yesterday, he used one rod, a couple of SSGs on the line, and twitched the bait back with extreme slowness. Moreover, he sat well back, barely moved for over three hours, and kept every bit of disturbance down to a minimum. This was his second fish... his first was not a deal smaller. Two pike for well over fifty pounds suggested we were doing something right.

But, of course, you never know for sure. Perhaps the multi-rod approach which had failed on the Thursday would have run riot on the Friday. Perhaps the fish had moved in overnight and were there afresh, waiting to be caught. Perhaps the weather was on our side. A hard frost followed by a day of bright sun isn’t everyone’s idea of superb conditions, but such a combination can work surprisingly well.

Was it the monster I had seen earlier in the week? A long and broad fish this was, but I am personally quite sure it can’t hold a candle in size to the fish I had watched swimming free. It’s good to have mystery still in such a long fishing life!