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After
Winks abysmal track record with Pike, it was about
time his seriously bad luck changed for the better.
We had decided to fish a piece of river, that even
though flooded, still held enough slacks so that we
could fish efficiently. We both rigged up with
simple float ledger set ups, this enabling us to
stay totally mobile. We sat back in our first swim,
and it didn't take long for me to receive my first
bite, but unfortunately this fish came adrift on the
strike. Straight away afterwards however, Wink
was in! Upon striking, I knew he had something
larger than his 8lb PB hanging on the other end and
as I slid the net under his fish, I knew he had
beaten it by some margin. The look on his face was one
of excitement and at the same time relief, he had
waited a long time for this fish, and had been
incredibly unlucky up until now. On the scales, a
new PB was given at 15lb 7oz; finally a decent fish
for him. No sooner was it slipped back, he netted an
11lb 8oz just for good measure.
Both on
a high, we decided to make a move and try another
venue. Wink gave our mate Chris Hammond a call to
let him know the news, and it was at this point
Chris let out a very hard earned secret of his. We
met up with Chris and proceeded to follow him to a
location that he promised we would love, and he
didn't disappoint! After a much longer drive than
I'd usually ever make for fishing, we arrived in the
middle of nowhere with no water to be seen. We
gathered our rods and followed Chris along the
banks, both excitably chatting about what we were
about to see. Then it happened, after climbing up a
large hill, we were presented with a huge length of
drain in front of us, it looked like a proper text
book Pike drain; Heaven!
Chris
pointed out a few parts of the water and we began to
leap frog up the drain. After a while, even Chris
was wondering whether it had gone down hill due to
the lack of action, but right on queue, one of Winks
floats slid away! Wink connected with a fish that
put up a fight well on par with any Carp, making
powerful lunges and stripping line off a tightly set
clutch. The fish was soon netted and weighed in as
yet another personal best for Wink, this time 1oz
heavier at 15lb 8oz! What a day! As Wink was
returning our first fish from the new venue, his
other float laid flat. Wink struck but didn't
connect. Then it was my turn. My float slid away and i made the strike, and once again one of us was
playing an extremely powerful fish. This turned out
to be the biggest of the day at 16lb 12oz. We then
packed up as it was nearly dark, but knew we would
be returning very soon! Wink and I couldn't thank
Chris enough, he really had shown us a little piece
of Piking Paradise! Needless to say, New Years eve
night
was very messy! |