After spending a little too long messing with videos I needed
to get out and get some fresh air. So this morning I headed off to the local
pond while the weather was bad enough to deter less fool hardy anglers. Building lures can be great but fishing with
them is in a whole different league. I wasn't expecting much from the pond it had
rained for the whole of the previous day which had raised the water level a little
but surprising not coloured it much beyond its normal noodle soup hue.
There was one carp angler who was packing up his tent after what
looked to have been a heavy night. I clipped on a Phox Minnow and sent it the
short distance across the lake. With the summer weed almost gone the lure
bounced off the bottom on fast retrieves only bringing home the occasional
autumn leaf. I worked along the reeds
and covered both shores at the tail of the water. When the Carp man had gone I moved
to a deeper stretch and took a jack almost on the first cast. The hook was
looped around a gill raker but luckily it had not pierced any flesh and there
was no blood. I slipped the hook out gently and the raker flopped back into position
undamaged. Back in the water the pike bolted and I move along the bank a little.
Five or so minutes later I was in a
again and then as I struggled to find my camera the fight came to an end as the
pike broke the surface and threw the hook. I took a few casts over the same spot hoping
for a replay and surprising I hit into something a little larger once again I
let the line fall slack as I pissed around with my camera and then the pike was gone.
I put the camera away and headed over to a small stand of
reeds on the other side of the lake where I had often seen movement. This
had all the looks of classic pike hold up, a sunken tree trunk, reeds, shoals of juvenile
fish and almost impossible to fish with a lure. I managed a few casts and
something rumbled under the surface on the edge of the reeds. In the excitement
I buried the lure into the submerge tree and after a harsh tug on the line
there it stayed and will probably always stay. I tied on a new trace and
clipped on my larger pine minnow casting it way out beyond the snags, it wobbled
its way up to the reed bed and the rumble came out to meet it. This was a much bigger fish and I kept the
camera safe inside my jacket until I had it on the bank.
I need a go-pro or a cameraman
Jack Pike On A Phox Minnow
