We will get the Pike next time …..

Posted by nickhart in Blog | 1 comment

After the depressing week of “Fish Fight” TV rounded off by Ramsays “Shark Bait” (read more here) I needed to go fishing.  So a couple of days back I managed to head out for the first session of the year which is always a good feeling, working as a full time fishing guide the opportunities do not present themselves too often during the season.  But this was going to be a bit of a “different” start because for the first time in over (well over!) 20 years my inaugural session would not be in the company of my fly rods.  In fact I would be travelling with no rods because Danny Parkins was supplying the kit.  Lure fishing kit.

Now if you are a fly angler reading this you may have navigated away (although I sincerely hope not!) thinking that this post wont be for you, but please read on.  You see Danny may be a lure angler but his fishing is about as far removed from traditional heavy rod, nylon line and Rapala tactics as you can get.  Danny is a true exponent of uber light tackle lure fishing.  We were using Savage gear rods, 5 piece and super responsive.  Couple that with a really sexy Sakura reel, Powerbraid and one of Dannys stunning realistic lures (which I noticed were well chewed!) and we have a a highly mobile method of fishing.

Danny was brought to my attention a long time ago by Henry Gilbeys Blog.  You can see the kind of stuff they get up to here ……….. Checked it out?  Looks cool doesn’t it?  Back then we all had a few discussions about meeting up but we never quite got it together.  In a nutshell I think we all realised that lure/fly fishing have many similarities, a few differences and that by fishing in one another’s company we can learn a huge amount.  So Danny and I took off to Exeter canal with the lures, even though I felt a little guilty about leaving my fly rods at home.  I think they must have known because we were hit by a very unexpected frost straight off the back of some mild temperatures and this effectively killed the fishing.

I did get this “specimen log” which blipped the old heart rate for a moment but other than that the only other action was a strong hit to Dannys lure half way through the session.  If I am honest we did not fish very hard because we were mulling over a few ideas (lots of ideas in fact!) which resulted in plenty of chit chat and not so much fishing.

While we were hatching plans Danny was also passing over a huge amount of knowledge.  It was quite simply pouring out of him.  Its what I love about fishing,  just when we reckon we know a few things it all turns on its head and we realise we actually know nothing.  I am without doubt first and foremost a fly angler yet the advice that Danny was passing on, learned through his 20+ years of lure fishing made perfect sense to me.  Already I was starting to look at my Pike exploits with a fly differently and I could also see situations where the lure may have been more effective or dependable.  Wednesday may not have been an ideal example but I guarantee this; I felt a whole lot more confident fishing the lure with the feeling that any moment it was going to get snaffled.  In the cold murky water the fly certainly would not have been ideal.

All in all exciting times ahead.  It started for me back in October when I traveled out to Ireland with Henry Gilbey in search of Bass.  I love that stuff but with several canals within spitting difference plus species including Pike, Chub and Perch to specimen sizes there will be no doubt that I am going to start heading out with a variety of gear closer to home.  Plus there is our stunning coastline!  Its time for some exploring and in the meantime catch up with Danny on his own blog here.  Lure anglers know him pretty well already but something tells me that us fly guys may be getting to know his work in the future to …..