Mixed Fishing & Mixed Emotions
The day got off to a great start on Friday when Lewis latched into a small jack Pike within our first few casts. We were awaiting the arrival of Piking Pirate as he has started to nickname himself …. aka Danny Parkins, although “Piking Pillock” is closer to the mark after his run in with a little green crocodile the day before. During the release of a small jack Danny had been pinned good a proper and spent most of the day bleeding.
So much so he ended up in casualty that night and they found that one of the teeth had in fact reached the bone …. Ouch! All joking aside Danny is an incredibly experienced angler with 20 years of Pike fishing behind him so if he can get it wrong so can anybody. Take extra care when unhooking Pike!
Lewis kicks the day off with the little Jack Pike on fly
After quite a bit of general piss taking it was into the truck and off to fetch Danny’s lure gear before a quick dash up the M5 in search of Perch. Danny had some wicked looking mini Cannibal Shads which he had just taken delivery of and we felt certain that a few stripeys would put in an appearance, with Lewis and I giving it a bash with the fly. Sadly the Perch venue which shall remain nameless is under attack …. we visited a short while ago and had our suspicions. Back then I found a couple of Carp skeletons and one of the lakes which normally hooch’s with juvenile Perch seemed devoid of life. Unfortunately I think our suspicions have now been confirmed …. Otters have moved in and destroyed the venue. We found 5 large Carp bodies, two of which were very fresh. These were fish approaching double figures so one would assume that the smaller Perch had been picked off and so the Carp are next on the menu.
It was very sad to see our second venue has been the victim of uncontrolled predators
Monday morning is no time for politics but why cant this country get things into balance? Personally I love to see Otters in the wild and get pretty cross at those who believe they should be wiped out to allow them to enjoy “their Salmon fishing”, like it was their god given right. However it is no use reintroducing and growing populations of predatory Otters and then not controlling them. Just a few months ago Danny was enjoying incredible sport with the Perch on this venue and now it looks as if they have been wiped out. Head over the Atlantic and this kind of thing would never be allowed to take place …. what ever happened to nature in harmony? Otters are not the only problem, just a few days ago Danny found two set lines on Tiverton canal baited with Lamprey and a phone call to the Environment Agency met with the usual apathetic response.
We were obviously disappointed but our adrenalin started flowing once more when we found some well conditioned Pike in a nearby canal that would have made low doubles. However they were obviously in a spawning frame of mind, laying in shallow water and spooking if we so much as breathed! So it was back in the truck and a drive South to the Tone. Plenty of fly anglers will know this as an excellent Pike venue, but for me it was my first visit as somehow I always seem to drive past on my way to the King Sedgemoor Drain. Situated close to the M5, several supermarkets and a Mac Donalds this was proper urban Pike fishing with an old submerged bicycle adding to experience! The flow was shoving through and the fluff chuckers were under gunned …. in fact both Lewis and I agree we need to experiment a lot more with lines and flies on these river venues. Meanwhile Danny did get a couple of follows on a mixture of Magic Swimmers and grubs …. we should have taken the spare lure set ups. Other than that our only excitement was a walk along the M5 hard shoulder and a few curious looks from commuters heading home from a day at work!
A pleasant walk along the M5 hard shoulder to our next swim!
Our carbon footprint was becoming a little excessive but we needed another Pike and wound up back on Tivvy canal. Our day had been full of laughs as usual, despite the disappointment of the Perch venue and Danny had come close to nailing a couple of fish. Arriving in time to see the sun set we all agreed that spring is in the air and that pretty soon the fish will switch on and sport will liven up. Just recently it has been so up and down although the Piking …. oh go on then …. Pirate did winkle out a half reasonable fish to save the day on you guessed it …. a soft Magic Swimmer.
Last knockings and the Piking Pirate works his Magic Swimmer spell on another Tivvy Pike
Another Exciting Pike Session
Waking up to battering rain and a snorting wind may not seem like the best start to a fishing session, but I guess if you fish in England then you will be used to it! The weather woke me up at 3am yesterday but getting wet did not cross my mind (decent chest waders and a wading jacket solve that problem anyway!) instead I began thinking about the new venue that I would be visiting with Danny Parkins.
After a friend of mine, David Burton, told me of his experiences catching 20lb + Pike on dead baits from a river he usually fishes for Trout I managed to invite myself and Danny along for the day to investigate with our fly and lure rods. There is nothing like fishing a new venue. It has that element of the “unknown” coupled with anticipation that we anglers all crave. The drive up the A303 was filled with fishing talk and before long we were changing into our waders using a bus stop to shelter us from the “pouring rain” (it was a wonder we were not arrested!), but the weather could not dampen our spirits. We were ready for action!
After three fruitless hours of fishing I must admit that I wondered if we were mad. I pounded some mouth watering sections of the river using the fly and then pulled out the Cannibal shads, but all to no avail. A shout went up from Danny after he had been followed by a 20+ fish which got the adrenalin racing for thirty minutes but we just could not get that fish to play ball, despite chucking a whole heap of lures at it (and flies!) from different angles! David and Simon who had very kindly invited us along were not even finding success with their ledgered Lamprey; a top Pike bait. Things were not looking good.
A small jack for Danny with scarring from a Pike attack
But there is always hope and when Danny finally extracted a small Pike on a huge Savage Gear 4 Play lure in Baby Cod at least we were convinced there were Pike in the river. Its strange when fishing a new venue for the first time, you just have to see that first fish to boost the confidence. In all honesty …. I was still not confident. I have caught stacks of Pike on flies but have only just recently started learning about the world of lures and in the clear water the Cannibal Shad I was using just seemed too much. There was a decent flow sure enough, but the water was relatively clear and we were fishing at close range. Was there a more subtle tactic available?
I had elected quite stupidly to only take along an Intermediate line and so I was just not getting down to the fish, while the spindly branches providing the Pike of “Pike Corner” with cover would have made a mess of my leader. Discussing this with Danny I suggested that the Magic Swimmers might be worth a go as this incredibly realistic lure could be weighted so that it would drift in under the snags while a “twitch” here and there may excite the fish. I also voiced another concern. When fly fishing I never use swivels, crimps or clips and I just wondered if perhaps there was another way?
Just recently I have got my hands on some brilliant AF Surflon Micro Supreme Fishing wire in Camo and it is brilliant for making up fly fishing leaders for Pike using an Albright and tying each pattern on with a Rapala Knot. Perhaps this would work well when using the soft plastic Magic Swimmers? Danny was instantly blown away by the suppleness of the AF wire and even I could see how much more direct the link was to the lure. I had remembered an incident in Ireland last year when Henry Gilbey had altered his rig just a tiny amount (dispensing with a JB clip) and it had made all the difference to his catch rate (See that post here) …. would it make a difference when fishing the MS lures?
Dannys 8lb Jack on Sebile MS tied direct to AF Surflon Micro Camo Wire
You bet! Fishing over exactly the same stretch of water on the now infamous “Pike Corner”, so called because David & Simon have landed a number of fish from this area over the last few weeks, Danny suddenly had an unbelievable take. A decent jack of around 8lbs exploded from beneath the branches and properly smashed the lure! A few pictures and back the fish went, it had hit an Electric Rainbow Magic Swimmer which looks just like a small Rainbow Trout. Just a few hours before David has been telling us about the occasional escapee Rainbow Trout they had caught!
The Electric Rainbow Magic Swimmer
If only I had changed to this colour, I may have caught the next fish! Instead I stuck it out with my Bluegill colouration and was seemingly warming the fish up as Danny had another explosive take and was into a low double this time; right from a swim I had just fished!!! Then, as we were landing that fish a shout went up and Simons Lamprey had been snaffled. What a moment for him. After a tense battle a personal best Pike of 21lbs was on the bank.
Danny & Simon with a lure caught low double and a 21lb beast on Lamprey
And that was that! Not another sniff for the rest of the day. So, did the fish just switch on? Why did they ignore my Bluegill but hit Danny’s Electric Rainbow? Had the straight through wire approach made a difference? Would the 21lb fish have taken a lure at the same moment that it picked up a dead bait, especially as both David and Simon had seen a large fish move just minutes before the hook up? These were the questions we asked ourselves over a couple of pints at the local pub while warming up by the fire and continued to discuss on the way home. Of course we can never know the exact answers …. if we did then fishing would not be half so interesting or satisfying.
Eye Opening Fishing
I love the unpredictability of fishing and yesterday was no exception. Heading out with lure fishing guru Danny Parkins our goal was to bag ourselves a Pike, Perch or possibly a Chub. This is of course not the best time of year to be targeting these species with lure tactics, especially after the freezing temperatures but right now I am just keen to get out and learn as much as possible about this method.
I am a completely novice lure angler, but have been cutting my teeth in the company of Danny (see his blog here) who has been kind enough to show me some of his top fishing spots and techniques. Arriving at the venue I was stunned to see a river that would usually call for a set of chest waders and a light dry fly rod. Pike in here? I was rubbing my eyes! Good start … I had to see this!
Pike ... In here?!
Within half an hour of starting Danny rolled a Chub of in excess of 4lb which sucked in and unfortunately spat out his Bluegill Sebile Magic Swimmer. It had been hiding in a seriously snaggy area caused by a entangled mess of spindly branches; cast an everyday lure with exposed hooks into that mess and it would be curtains. But the clever design of the Magic Swimmer is perfect for these situations as the hook remains covered until such time that a fish hits. I watched in awe as Danny repeatedly banged the lure in and amongst all those snags before the fish hit. Granted Danny is a highly experienced exponent of the technique with a cast to match but I had a go in the same swim later on in the session and found that I could be pretty wayward with the cast and still retrieve the lure.
So we were off to a great start but neither of us could have written what was about to happen next! Moving just 30 yards from the Chub swim Danny recommended a cast into a nice deep channel, ensuring the lure landed close to the inside bank and was allowed to fish virtually dead drift. The Magic Swimmers have such an incredible action and I felt confident that any moment it would get snaffled by a Pike. A few casts in angling adrenalin suddenly took over both of us as a double figure fish began tracking the lure …. our split second thought was “PIKE” They must have heard us shout in Tiverton! They definitely heard “SALMON”! Simultaneously we realised this was no toothy critter but a silver tourist resting up before heading back to sea. So we had almost caught a Salmon on a Magic Swimmer! What was going to happen next?
Big Wild Trout - On a lure!
See for yourself above! Swim 3 and Danny shouted that a big Perch had just hit his Magic Swimmer twice. I ran up to check things out while Danny changed over to a 2.5″ Kalin Grub. He explained that the soft Swimmers with encased hooks need to be hit hard and so a soft plastic lure with an exposed hook may do the trick if the fish hit again. Danny was doing the fishing but my heart was racing, in the clear water I knew we would see the fish take if it decided that the Grub was worth investigating. Plain as the day a big Perch silhouette loomed up behind the Kalin and then in a flash something else charged in and grabbed it. Of course we both thought Chub, but no it was this incredible quality Wild Brown Trout. Talk about a buzz, we got a very quick picture and back the fish went … while I made a mental note to return to this venue with my fly gear in season …. imagine that fish on a dry fly! So we had set out after coarse fish and so far the “lure guru” had shown the “fluff chucker” how to catch gamefish! What would be next?
Wild Brown Trout - 2.5" Kalin Grub
A quiet spell. We carried on upstream fishing the Kalin Grubs while Danny explained that he expected the fishing to be slow at the moment but that by the summer we could expect explosive sport on surface patterns. I cant wait! But I still really wanted to see a Pike, I had seen a Perch but I was still really struggling with the concept that we had caught Trout and seen a Salmon on a Devon venue that also holds a stock of predatory fish. Danny knew a spot we may get the fish we were looking for. Danny always knows a spot!
Small but Brilliant!
Its probably the smallest Pike I have ever caught, but I really didn’t mind ! This fish fell to an Orange Cannibal Shad which Danny had suggested, hitting the lure twice previously before crusing in and taking right at my feet. More visual fishing! There are also big fish present, Danny got a seriously strong hit just after I landed this fish and look what a mess it made of his Shad!
Cannibal Shad - Chopped up by a decent Pike
I added another slightly bigger fish to the day which again took the Orange Shad and we had another massive adrenalin rush further downstream when a double figure Pike charged in after Danny’s lure. So, we didn’t land any huge fish but so what! This was just a great experience and during the low season …. just imagine the summer potential. This venue could provide dry fly sport for Trout and Chub one minute and Pike action on a surface lures the next … the mind boggles. And just to completely blow my mind Danny mentioned that “there are lots of Barbel in this venue”. As you can imagine, sleep was difficult last night!
Oh and Danny didnt land a Pike! So the fly guy caught the coarse fish and the lure guy caught the game fish. How about that!
Great fun on light lure gear
We will get the Pike next time …..
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.
Nick Hart - Big Log. Savage Gear Lure - 19.01.11 - Personal Best!
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 …..
