Paul reports:
Over the last twelve months the search for big pike has become a bit of an obsession for me, and despite achieving my initial target of a fish over 30-pounds relatively quickly, the fishing has continued, with its fair share of ups and downs along the way. In that twelve month period I have been lucky enough to land four fish over thirty pounds, along with another four over 27lb. The culmination of this campaign came a few weeks ago, when I had a couple of magical days fishing on a large midlands stillwater, that resulted in a catch far beyond my wildest dreams.
The first day was on the back of a spell of very high winds that I am sure contributed to the fish being on the feed. The weather was still very rough, but this made almost perfect conditions for drifting and casting lures. I had a low twenty in the morning. As the afternoon wore on I had a very positive hit on a lure over a deep water feature and after a fantastic scrap boated a really chunky fish of 28lb 8oz, a great start to the session.
The following days results followed a similar pattern, the stiff breeze meant that we could systematically cover a large area of water, and hit groups of fish as we went. After a couple of hours fishing I had a very delicate take, almost like a trout nipping at the tail of the lure and for the first few seconds the fish must of come towards me as there was very little resistance. Things then changed dramatically, as the fish decided it didn’t like that and dived deep, spinning the boat against the very tightly set clutch. I knew it was a good fish, so braced myself in the boat and kept the pressure nice and steady. Eventually the fish was visible, gills flaring, about six feet below the boat. The sight of that huge pug face staring straight at me will stay with me forever. With very little drama the fish eventually rolled into the net and we could see from the incredible thickness of it, that it was over 30lb. After double checking the scales we settled on a weight of 33lb, in a rocking boat that was good enough for me.
Previously when I have caught a big pike I have tended to let it get to me and have spent the rest of the day not fishing very well, but this time I was determined to stick at it, as it was obvious that the fish were really having it. As the day progressed the conditions were also improving rapidly, the rain stopped, the wind started to die away and the sun even came out! The second big fish of the day also fooled me initially into thinking it wasn’t that big, but as it neared the net it was obviously a good couple of inches longer than the 33, although it didn’t look quite as solidly built. In the net it looked quite lean in comparison, and so I wasn’t that surprised that the scales stopped at 29lb.
Later that day I hooked what I think was another big fish right under the boat that almost dragged the rod out of my hands. Unfortunately, after a few seconds the fish shook its head and was gone.
Obviously, I have been back to the venue since, but the fish have disappeared and results have almost entirely dried up. I guess I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and could probably go back a hundred times and never experience anything like it again.
The winning method over the two days was slowly retrieved big rubber lures crawled back right in the silt on the bottom. I find this tactic works on most of the big reservoirs, the secret is that the lure should stay within a couple of metres of the lake bed at all times. You can periodically check this by stopping the retrieve and waiting for the lure to bump down.
My boat gear is now packed away for the rest of the year, although I plan to have a look at a couple of stillwaters and a rivers over the coming months, along with a bit of more sedate roach and grayling fishing!
