As suggested in last months update I went down to Windermere this week with Ben Haynes to find out what sort of mood the pike were in and test a few theories. It had rained hard and the lake was well up so launching was no problem at all and before long we had the anchors down and a range of baits out off a gently shelving slope. Not being a great fan of trolling I tend to prefer these sit and wait tactics and provided you have the confidence in your chosen area, have great faith in a well presented deep fished deadbait. Getting things right sometimes takes a while but if you are lucky it all comes good in the end. I think it was the golfer Arnold Palmer who said that the more he practiced, the luckier he became, and the same seems to apply to my fishing. First aboard was a fat fifteen pounder and as often happens we had another run a few minutes later. Lifting the rod there was a great heave from down below and then all went slack. Reeling in the brand new 15lb Maxima had nicked just above the trace and I cursed loudly. It’s not the losing of a fish that bothers me but I don’t like to think of a pike swimming around with a trace in its mouth or even deeper. Replacing the business end with a new rig and testing the line I lobbed another bait to the same area, sat back and put the kettle on. Twenty minutes later the float travels slowly away and is pulled down by an unseen power as the baitrunner clicks. After a grand scrap we slip the net under a seventeen pound pike and as I open its mouth to remove the hooks am amazed and hugely relieved see my lost trace with a single hook in the scissors. Now its not all about numbers but we ended two great days with a total of nine fish from 13 to 21lb. I removed another trace from a fish ( why do some anglers fish short traces and ten pound line when one roll from a big pike can wrap the line against the fish’s teeth and leave the trace in the fish?) and all went back undamaged. I like that. Roll on the next visit.

Ben Haynes eighteen pounder

Another reason to like Autumn fishing

Another twenty pounder