Dead or alive your comin with me..

Today saw me back on the drains in search of something HEEEEAAAAAVY. Ive noticed lately that a few fish are coming out to the right tactics but in a lifetime of fishing the drain's I've still not had a pike bigger than 16 buff! I know the right tactics and I know the right place's but I'm yet to be both at the right time.I suppose I'ts this that keep's me coming back for more. Anyway today was about the big one so I drew up my strategy and plan of attack. As live baits are outfishing dead's at the moment I first had to catch a few. A deadly technique that I use which has been outfishing pole and feeder fishing is the jigs I use for perch... I shouldnt really be telling everyone as the fish arent too wise yet and it took 6 casts to produce 6 fish..not bad seeing as people fishing on maggot on a 22 hook couldnt muster a bite all day. I could have rooted out more fish but I'm not one to plunder the stocks and thought this was ample. Having caught these I decided to take the long walk approach to an area where people normally dont fish. It seems to be paying off...
2 dead baits where cast out and a live perch.. The piking pirate himself Gord Burton swears that BIG baits catch BIG fish so at the risk of missing out on rooting jacks I set my target high. A whole mackerel and a whole herring where whacked out to the middle and far bank along with the live perch! It was a matter of 15 mins til the live was under and I struck into a small fish which came off instantly. The perch remained unscathed so was recast and this time only took 5 mins for a take...The result was a 3-4 lb fish which had saved me from being jonny blanko... The next livebait was repositioned and resulted in another few takes but only one fish of about 5lb.. Rather than take the static approach I leapfrogged the rods along approx100 yards over 4 or 5 hours which was a good move as takes only came as I moved. They may have happened had I had stayed but you never can tell... Throughout the day the deads where cast to every part of the drain but remained motionless. As dark approached I had one live left having produced 2 fish out of the 6 I started with. This final bait was cast to the middle cut and within ten mins was under(if a little slow). I assumed another jack but leaned into a decent fish and managed to land it no drama's. She looked worthy of the scales so did the honours and it pushed 11lb's 6 oz.. Not a bad days fishing but goes to show that a varied approach is crucial to success or failure!!!!

shudda wudda cudda!!

today was another angling adventure for old jonny and turned into a mini great rod race minus the snaggletooth and sir M. It started out back at a certain bridge where the big perch got away and for some ridiculous reason I thought it might still be lurking under there. Now normally first dip in with a jig results in a fish followed by more and more but today wasnt to be.Half an hour spent on the first 2 bridges produced 1fish around a pound and one slightly smaller...Too big for bait and not big enough to be labelled"the big one". I decided to put some deadbaits out in 3 pools and see if any of those monsters are still alive after the pollution..The water is gin clear and even in 4 foot of water i could see my deadbaits which never fills me with confidence..If i can see the bottom the fish will be able to see me and give the bait a wide berth.. i was right but cast a "producer"spinner bait and caught 3 very small pike and had a decent one follow right to the rod tip...Always gets the heart racing and made me cast another 50 times trying to get the bugger. Im glad these fish arent stupid as it makes it more of a challenge i think. After that I decided that deeper darker water was what was needed so headed down to the match length to say hello to snaggly matt who was just leaning into a double as i past him..Always inspires confidence and if he can do it then why cant I??? It wasnt long before my first livebait was off and I was into a big fish until(BUFF) it came off.By miracle the perch was unscathed but the loss of a big fish was not the best feeling I must admit.A quick rig check and a recast produced another ferocious take and I was doing battle again. This time I won and after a quick pic and weigh in she topped the scales at 10lb10oz. Not a world record but good sport.My2nd and final livebait was positioned on the far bank and within 20 mins was off again>this time an8lb estimated pike but one hell of a scrapper.I feel that livies would have produced all day today but myself and matt just couldnt catch even on 11 metre pole to the far bank..Strange days!!! My rigs where changed and deads cast out to the middle,nearside and stickups.2 hours went by as they lay there motionless til out of knowwhere the middle rod raced off and peeled line off the baitrunner like a runaway truck> within 5 seconds it was had travelled 20 yards and was about to cross my other line so i had to strike....a bit too soon I thought but didnt want a tangle.Yet another big fish it felt and spat the hooks with mackerel slightly shredded.. Oh well I cant win every fight i guess. That was it for me and made my way past captain die hard who was stickin' it out 'til the bitter end.. so the final score 5fish and 2 belters that I might get to meet another day!!!

The one that got away!!!

Every angler has a tale about these little sucker's but yesterdays near miss was a good old slug in the gut and two smacks around the mouth..Now over the years Ive lost numerous HEAVY fish of all species and got on with life as normal pretty soon after the ordeal.Most recently was fishing in france when a 20plus mirror was lost right at the net after my fishy friend butch bisonstretcher tried to knock it off the hook with the landing net! A few colorful words and 3 drinks later things were back to normal. Yesterdays loss was far more wounding and has got me hell bent on a vendetta to find "the one that got away" ..
At this time of year I spend a fair bit of time driving around the drains jiggin' for perch.Now this isnt everyones cup of tea but always throws up surprises.You catch plenty of decent perch,some of which are ideal for live bait, sometimes you get stuck into pike(9lb the biggest I've landed) and I once caught a 4lb bream using this method but yesterday I hooked into a fish that at first I thought was a mid sized jack pike....That was until its great big head came up to the surface and revealed its-self.It was Perch's dad and I estimate about 3.5-4lb.. a short battle ensued until it spat the jig back at me and returned to the water probably never to make the same mistake again.... The search continues..only 2 weeks ago I banked a very large 3 pools perch while livebaiting for pike so I know theres still some lurking down there... watch this space....Panto