14lb Birch Pike – my first!!

It’s been a while since I posted on my own blog so I’ve waited till I really had something to write and here it is!!

Nick took me with him to Wales this time so I could have a go at pike fishing – never caught one before, or fished for them, so I was dying to give it a go. The weather was c**p – really windy and bursts of heavy showers, but I am not a fair weather angler – don’t get enough opportunities to pass up the chance to be honest!!
 
Big John has been piking for years and he agreed to take me under his wing and show me how to catch a pike, bless the man! He’s a true gentleman and despite his protests, is very knowledgable about predatory fish. He’d made some simple (but efficient) traces up and we used deadbaits on double hooks. I cast out about 3 rod lengths into a Force X gale and set the rod with the bale arm open. Being fairly blonde, I’m not keen on baitrunners, so that suited me just fine!!
 
Within 3 minutes, I had a take, but lost out to a snag… John told me I’d done nothing wrong, that’#s fishing, so I recast and continued. The weather got worse and we chatted amicably all day, taking a break mid-morning for a Birch breakfast and a cuppa and persevered. John said that we should expect some action around 3pm when the light started to go and he had a couple of dropped takes and then the line started to peel away on his rod. He hooked the fish, handed me the rod, saying, “Here ya go, play this pike will you?!!”
 
I quite happily took over and it did feel quite heavy, in fact the rod had a lovely bend in it, went very solid and took some line… I managed to hold on, bring the rod tip back up and began to reel in carefully. There was no way I was going to mess this one up! John stood beside me with the landing net and I did actually gasp when I saw the head come up… here’s why:
 

This lovely pike weighed in at 14lbs exactly and we were all so chuffed – 2nd biggest out this year!! Woohoo! (He who shall not be named caught a bigger pike during a carp match back in the summer….) I have to thank Chris (TheBigLongy) for taking photos of me playing it and holding this beastie. He’d landed 2 superb Birch carp (1 common, 1 simmo) before I caught my pike, so we both had a great day and nobody wanted to talk to us!! (joking!)
 
I had a blast and here’s my pike hero – Big John
 
 
And this man made the trip possible and allowed me onto the Birch – cheers, Martin!
 

We had such a laugh despite the weather and I can’t wait to go back – especially seeing Big John’s organising a Pike Fest in March 2008 on the Birch Lake.
 
We played darts and I taught them a new style of throwing and of course, there’s the (in)famous “Pike Dance”…. Thanks to all the lads who made my trip so memorable and put up with all my c**p!!!

If you notice the marks on the side of the Pike, the theory is that it was hit by a similar (or bigger) pike as I was playing it… 

Wow! My DD fishes too!

OMG – strike me down with a feather… DD’s caught the bug too! We were at El Dorado again on Wednesday of this week and DD decided that she’d like to try fishing with a 4m whip. We thought it’d be easier for her not to have to cast on rod and line, get tangled, etc. etc. She took to it like the proverbial duck to water and caught 39 small orfe, rudd, roach during the couple of hours she fished… I think it was all about quantity that day!!

Having said that, she sat between us and I had a really good day, too. Some lovely carp and plenty of rod-bending action! They were slightly bigger and less frequent, but DD wanted to touch all those she saw us land and have her pic taken with them! My best was this 6lber…. and the following pics are of her!!

That’s a pretty common, innit? DD with a baby rudd…

And DD holding one of my carp!

Sharing the passion!

I thought I’d post a couple of photos from Tuesday’s fun fishing so you can see Sophie – the journalist – with Nick, present as he landed his first fish for the camera!!

And while she was chatting to me… I caught this one!

Personally, I think it’s a better-looking fish than Nick’s – but that’s just my personal opinion – hehehe! And of course, I had to take a pic of him landing the next one, from his wheelchair.

We had such a great time and although it threatened to rain, that didn’t happen till we were alone again. We decided to pack up a bit earlier than usual because we’d achieved what we wanted to AND caught some lovely fish. It was a really nice way to relax and unwind and made a pleasant change for me.

Now to get hold of Gary, who’s going to teach me to fly-fish!