Painting with Mel Lures, Camo Pike

I have to admit with this video I have a vested interest as a good part of the camera work is mine. I filmed it last year in Ireland and it has been sat on my hard drive for a very long time so Maciej (of Mel Lures) who I was filming thought he would edit it together and put it on his channel and to be honest the editing is what makes it. The only problem is I had lost a some off the files, when I say lost maybe deleted would be more accurate , it is not something I remember doing but then remembering yesterday is often a challenge.

Anyway he has done a better job than I would've done (not sure I should tell him that ) and added  a voice-over which explains things very clearly, oh yeah and he went and caught some fish with it. Once again people go wear out his channel with likes and shares and if you have not subscribed to his channel I can only assume you're using a computer in prison.

While I am in the mood for self promotion here is a video I made about Maciej last year as a bonus.

Team Adarix makes, rigs and fishes soft plastic lures

I am not a big fan of Sweden after spending half my weekend inside one of the monsters they created that is Ikea. I was forced to answer questions on which particular piece of glassware was more suited to our household; which is really very difficult when no part of you cares in the slightest. I was not the only one to suffer this fate, I did bump into a Minotaur who was looking for some greek guy while Mrs Minotaur was asking him about soft furnishings.

Anyway, rant over. Despite Sweden's Crimes against humanity on the positive side they do have more than their fair share of lure makers as these soft plastic shad videos show. As my grasp of Swedish only extends to knowing the name of coffee tables I cannot tell you much about the guy or guys behind the vids only to say they look young which may tell you more about me than them.

I invite you to take a moment, maybe put some ABBA on the (whatever device is current) and see how lure making is done.  I have included three videos which are roughly translated as Making soft plastic shads, Rigging and Fishing and they do all three very well.

I know as older people there is a fashion for moaning about what young people do or don’t do, but I have got to be honest and say I should of been doing what these guys are doing when I was their age instead wearing out street corners. Let us send this guy or guys some encouragement on their channel and videos maybe, subscribe, like, share, leave a comment.

Viva la Sweden

Big Irish Pike and Some Little Jacks

I managed to grab another cheap flight to Ireland and get some fishing done with Maciej of Mel lures.

One Million Pike

A pike conservation story from Sweden's Baltic coast

The Lure Maker, Mel Lures

I am not sure how this film got made, it came out of a four day trip to Ireland that involved some filming some fishing and lot of lure talk, enjoy

LAST CAST How To Make Pike Jig Flies

A look at tying basic jig flies for pike.

Pike Pride

Ireland if it was not there a group of fishermen would have to invent it.

Down with Abu

I am suffering from a deep need to fish, I have boot full of tackle, I am less than few miles from the lake and the traffic is not moving. Ahead a helicopter is trying to land and I am guessing it is an air ambulance. When the lights change I cut across behind the stationary traffic and do a U-turn and briefly enjoy the empty lanes before turning on to a small road and heading across the countryside.

Even away from the main road the traffic is backed up through villages not used to dealing Friday evening’s commuters. It is slow going; each junction holds its own torture. When I finally inch my way into the lake car park it is empty, although the line of traffic I had escaped from is moving slow enough to be considered for parking tickets.

It is not long before I am stood in some water and the traffic is forgotten. I am here to fish and work out some filming ideas; two things that I find seldom go well together. I have found a fish but it hasn’t found the hooks, there is always a chance if I set the camera going and recast it will make another appearance. After half a dozen badly aimed casts the pike finally makes contact with some metal and I am in, the only pressure now is to land it for the camera.

When It is back in the water and I have had chance to get myself together and check the camera was actually recording I spot crack in the handle of the rod. The carbon fibre that runs beneath the handle has split; this is not the first problem I have with this rod. Part of the reel seat broke on its first outing, I should of sent it back but I am a tinkerer and I added a brass ring from an old rod and re-whipped the reinforcement at the joint with some Kevlar thread and epoxy That re-whipping is now holding the handle together well enough for me to continue fishing. I could just blame myself for buying cheap fishing tackle but I do not believe spending another hundred pounds will make me a better fisherman or bring home anymore fish.

The reel I am using is also a cheap Chinese import, a copy of an earlier abu bait caster. The reason I bought it was as a spare to and Abu pro-max reel but to be honest the Abu is a piece of crap and I have stayed with the import. The Abu cost over a hundred pounds and I also should of sent it back after a couple of months, it never really performed; too much plastic and too little engineering and quality. I have older Abu boat reels (7000i, seven) which I used to use almost daily boat fishing in the Atlantic, and to be honest these are a tools that just work without any questions, a little rinse after use, some oil some grease and I have friends for life.

The truth is that high prices these days only guarantee that a lot of money has been spent on advertising and sadly Abu seem to heading down that route. Will I buy another Abu Reel, probably but it will have to be old school and pre-owned. The rod handle will be repaired but I do need to build my own rod.

I pick up another three small pike and miss some in equal measure before my camera battery dies and I think about going home on some empty roads.