Hello all. As this is my
first blog and I cannot think of a compelling intro I’ll crack on with it. You
can expect this and my future post to be about the angling adventures of my
friends and myself. I am 22 years old, from Exeter England
At the moment (as most know) a
lot of anglers are out chasing the thrilling Esox Lucius (Pike) or are thinking
about packing their gear away for the winter as the temperature drops and the
nights are drawing in. The only thing that has kept me from fishing is the
horrific flooding we've had across the country. I don’t know about you but for
me personally I wouldn't risk my life to wet a line.
Anyway, on to my fishing.
I had been down to the river
for a few sessions in pursuit of a decent Chub to no prevail. The Exe is in no
way a Chub water, it holds a hand full of good fish to most peoples’ standards
however at the moment I am finding them rather hard to locate. The weather
conditions haven’t been in my favour to say the least with a high pressure
around for while, but that has never stopped me before so why would it now.
I set out after a three day
blank in search of a bite again, though this time accompanied by a back-up plan
in the form of my pike gear and some dead baits, I was pretty sure Id have a
fish by the end of the day. In addition the high pressure had started moving
away and the temperature rose by a couple degrees, so I was feeling confident. So
as I walked through the bushes and trees covered with all the litter left by
recent flooding something caught my eye, it was another angler, which is rare
due to the trek to the swim. More importantly, he was in the swim that I had
been pre-baiting. Nevertheless, I set up in a different swim, which I had been
baiting previously. An hour or so passed and there was no sign of any fish
whatsoever. I continued to move swim roughly every hour, moving down the river
with the bait and still no joy. Having tried every swim that’s good for Chub on
the stretch without even the slightest indication of a fish, I retired to a
trusty Pike swim for the last hour of my day.
Rods outs and baits in place
I sat down anticipating a bite after the slow day Id been having. Only ten minutes
or so had past when my bite alarm sounded, as you can imagine I was eager to
see what had found the mackerel on the other end. After about five seconds the
fish picked up the bait and shot off, trying to take my rod with it; I wound
down to it and gave a firm strike. The hooks set, then the fish tail walked and
I was over the moon. A few minutes past with a good old scrap, then it saw the
back of the net.
9lb
10oz (slightly out of focus picture)
Not the biggest in the fish
in the river, however I was still a happy man. After some snaps and quick weigh,
it was slipped back to fight another day.
With a fresh bait in position
I poured a cuppa and viewed the pictures which where all out of focus and I was
not impressed. No longer than ten minutes had past and the alarm’s gone again; I
wound down to it, struck, and I couldn't believe my luck, I was in again to
what felt a bigger fish.
11lb 11oz
Well
after that bit of thrilling action, with pictures and weighing done, I slipped
it back safely. I packed up my gear as I didn't have any more bait then returned
home with a smile on my face.
Happy
days. The back-up plan came through and saved the day, ending a string of
blanks.
Until
till next time.
Tight
lines
