Good finish to the season

It has been a while since I have caught a pike (the last time was over a year ago in January 2017) and, as the end of the season approached, I was determined to see if I could get one. Before that, though, I had been continuing to catch some reasonable bream at Neatishead Staithe. This one I had on the 6th March

which is 9.5 inches in length. Then on the 11th March, this nice fish fell to a worm:-

This one I bothered to weigh and it came in at 1lb 4oz for a 13.5inch fish. I reckon this must be a hybrid as it lacks the depth of a proper bream. Notice that it has been damaged at some point just behind the anal fin. From the shape of it, it looks like a bite of a cormorant.

I have been enjoying my time at the staithe and often meet up with people who have become my friends over the last couple of years. This is especially true of Tony and Eddy who come down on a regular basis, usually in search of pike. It was Tony who kindly gave me worms to fish with and to cultivate at home.

On the day before the last day of the season, the 13th March, Tony and I went to Gaye's Staithe in search of pike. Gaye's staithe is further along the Irstead Road from Neatishead and has a bit more open water. I had heard from other fishermen that there were pike to be had there.

We arrived about 2pm and it was a nice sunny afternoon. We were float fishing for pike using live bait that we were able to catch from the margins of the dykes. I had a couple of early runs on some pike but nothing connected. Then about 4pm, things began to happen. I caught this one at 4.10pm which we reckoned was about 7lb:-

Tony then caught a jack which he said wasn't worth looking at and it went promptly back in the water! Then two hours later, just as it was getting dark, I caught a 9 pounder (which we weighed) and this is a personal best. I didn't feel too bad for Tony as I know only a few days before he had caught a 10lb fish and he has numerous others up to 22lb this season. Well done to him!

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2018.

Cold and wet

It was raining most of the day today, a sort of cold persistent drizzle. When it had virtually stopped, I headed out for a couple of hours down to Neatishead staithe but it still felt cold and damp, what they would describe as 'dreich' in Scotland. I thought I would give the end of the staithe a go this time, nearest the car park. It is a bit shallower there, a place where the smaller fish tend congregate.

Float fishing with a size 16 hook and a double red maggot (the same maggots that I have had for several weeks - they have been keeping well in the cold shed) I was getting regular bites and pulling out small roach, one after the another. I was down here on the 7th Feb and caught this nice bream at about 4.30pm:-

This fish is 12 inches in length and is probably a pound in weight or maybe more. I also had this 8 inch roach on the same day:-

I also think that the staithe is a hotspot for Ruffe, as we are always catching them. This was a nice specimen:-

It looks sad with those big eyes. They have quite a pretty bluish iridescence. I also came down here on the 15th February and caught this slightly smaller bream:-

What a pleasant day that was, with plenty of warmish sunshine, a real harbinger of spring. This fish was just 8.5 inches, but a nice fish to catch.

Back to today, I didn't really catch much else to speak of. However, there was a couple that were pike fishing at the mouth of the staithe and after much effort did pull out a 16.5 pounder. What a thickset fish this was!

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2018.

Neatsihead Staithe January 2018

I haven't put anything up here for 8 months and I thought it was high time that I did. I went down to Neatishead Staithe yesterday on a pretty cold (4 or 5C) but sunny January afternoon. I sat at the end of the channel on the right-hand side, near to where it joins Limekiln dyke. The last time I was down here (before Christmas) I had some success at catching a few perch up to about a pound at this location. Thinking that this would be a good spot again, I set to float fishing near the bottom with a pair of red maggots on a size 16 hook. Often, you get the idea pretty much straight away if it is going to be any good and yesterday wasn't one of those days. I started in the middle of Limekiln dyke without the float so much as twitching. Then I tried closer to the quay heading, just under my feet, and began to get the faintest of nibbles. Eventually, I caught one small roach.

Still, it is a nice place to sit with, at least, a bit of sun on my back. I could also hear the peep, peep, peep of a kingfisher flying upstream. Another fisherman came to join me on the opposite bank. He was dead-baiting for pike. Sometimes you think to yourself, 'shall I stick it out,' if the fishing is bad but I recommend, even though it is a pain, that the best thing is to move. So I set up again half way up the staithe and amazingly enough, began to have bites straight away. I then began to pull out a succession of small roach, none of them any size. I was surprised at how pale some of the roach were. Others were probably immature bream.

Another fisherman arrived, and was spinning for perch. He was using a small silvery jelly lure and near the car park end he caught a 1.5 pounder, which is a decent fish. Further along he pulled out another pound fish.

I struggled on in the cold wind (the sun had begun to disappear by this stage) and I was beginning to freeze. In the end I had about 15 roach and one small perch and I wasn't disappointed any way.

All text and pictures copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2018.