Let me give you some blog writing advice. Specifically…writing an angling blog post is very much like making love to a beautiful woman. First you have to get the creative juices flowing, then you need to open proceedings with a joke or two before finally firing in your main content. Then when you’ve finished, stand back, wipe down your mouse, and light your pipe. Above all, try avoid your post turning into an Archie the pub bore monologue “I was over the ol’ club lake….I had four carp…Stan didn’t have nuffink….”. Easier said than done though….
Last weekend Stu and I paid a return visit to gravel pit we have access to. We used to do ok at this venue but the past couple of visits had left us fishless but I was determined to do better this time. I’d been reading Mick Brown’s excellent new book on deadbaiting and had also invested in a new unhooking mat, an insulated bait bag and a sackful of bait (joey mackerel and smelt). Bizarrely, the mackerel had no tails which is not ideal but they were all I could get at short notice.
We parked up on the road around 8am-ish and made our way across the fields to the lake but instead of autopiloting to our usual bank we plotted up on what we used to call, many years ago, the point of justice for it was around here where some big pike were caught in days of yore. The water here is deeper and I just had a feeling it would fish better today. As ever it took an inordinate amount of time to set up the rods, especially as we had to carry out a bit of bankside pruning to make enough space. My first rod was a float ledger set up and I plumbed the depths with the rig before putting bait on. Then I put out a straight ledger with my Billy’s Backbiter rear alarm, first time I’ve actually used it. Then it was a case of sit back and mount a sustained assault on one’s provisions for the next 6 hours whilst desperately hoping for a bobbing float or a beeping alarm.
Stu got a run in the afternoon which turned out to be a hard fighting jack. The pressure was off, we hadn’t blanked!
I genuinely didn’t care who’d caught the fish, I just felt joy we’d got one and it meant there were definitely pike still here! As the day progressed I drank more and more real coffee (forsaking my usual decaf) and consumed coke, chocolate and sarnies to the detriment of my bowels. I also whipped out my stove (a new deadbaiting accessory) around 2ish and we indulged in some Bombay Bad Boys to keep up our spirits.
When it got to about 4pm and Stu proceeded to get another run I wasn’t so chipper about my complete lack of action but was still excited to see another fish on the bank.
Both his pike had gone for ledgered vintage mackerel that had been in his freezer about 6 years! You hear pike anglers banging on about getting the freshest bait etc but these mfs wanted it dirty.
I finished the day entirely fishless and wasn’t overly happy about this but left determined to do better next time. Again.
