8lb pike at Irstead Shoals

I have decided that I am going to turn my attention to a bit more pike fishing now that the boating season is ending. I have been getting a bit fed up with catching tiddlers anyway and I felt like I wanted to have that thrill of catching something a bit bigger. This morning I dug my pike gear out of the shed and dusted it down and put some heavier duty line on a spare spool.

Having seen some guys catching some reasonable pike down at Irstead Shoals this week I thought it was a good place to start. I went down there just after lunch and set up a pike float on my trusty telescopic Shakespeare rod. Initially, I think I was fishing too shallow, so I lengthened the drop to about 3 feet so that the bait would be nearer the bottom where I thought some pike might be lying. I took my small pole rod out with me too and I want to thank the guy who I begged some maggots off because the casters I had weren't doing very well.

Actually, it was a lovely warm afternoon. It must have been 16C or so. The wildlife was good too as there were several kingfishers fishing off the far bank and a small otter was working his way along the bank underneath. I know some fishermen don't like otters but I am not one of them. There are plenty of fish for all.

Anyway, I had success in catching this very nice pike which came to the bank pretty easily and was landed for me by another fisherman:-

It measures 30.5 inches in length and weighed in at 8lb which was very nice. As you can see it has lovely markings on the anal fin and tail. Compare this to the similar sized fish I caught last winter. This one has much more pronounced markings and is more orangey colour. The previous one is more drab olive green in comparison.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2016.