The end o the line for many roach
It might be short but sure was fat 11.3
Butlers first brace 7 and 11.3
16 buff on the nose!!! yeeeeeeess
8 pound head shot!!
8 pound blank saverSome call me a lousy angler,some say I'm a bum but I just say I'm unlucky! Lately ive had a string of lost fish including an impressive "5 pike in one day" a massive perch and one heck of a barbel.. I was beginning to wonder if the fish gods are going to punish me forever but my persistance finally paid off.
The drains have been a bit shabby of late and the leeds n liverpool has only produced a handful of rooting jacks so a plan be was to be enforced! Upper rivington is on the Southport card and has a decent amount of pike that need taming and I was confident I could handle a mother of a water like this ! My original plan was to meet with Matt,Alan and Butch for a 4 way fish off. When I arrived(late) I found butler speculating over the wrong water much to his disapointment! Matt and Alan had already headed off to the nearest bank but wind direction and an anglers hunch told me to fish the far bank. Also 4 anglers each with 3 rods all in a row would mean too much pressure in one area so me and butch set up camp out of the horrific wind and rain.
Five pike rods and one feeder rod were cast out with an array of baits and differing distances over the 2 swims and then it was up to the fish gods who to bless first.. Lunch time came without a sniff but the coleman was blazing away full tilt so I wasnt complaining. Even blanking in the pouring rain beats an x box or sitting in the house. Alternate re-casts were done every hour and then on the far bank we saw Alan run for the rod and battle with a modest looking fish. Butler the bum predicted a measly 4 lb while I gave it double that.... A quick phone call later revealed a fish of 10 buff dead!! good work Al. meanwhile the dream team sat on silent alarms until my right hand rod screamed off like a runaway truck. I struck into it and it felt good. Surprisingly a wet landing net on my head was something of a good luck charm and netted a fat(but empty) pike of 8lb on the money!! The hooks came off in the net and a few pics were taken and I was off the losers bench but for how long???
Now I'm not one to gloat but I dont mind celebrating any catch so after a few air punches and a recast I noticed the clutch of the same rod wizzing wound again. A gentle strike and I was into another fish only this time it was stripping line at some rate.. I took it very easy as These things dont happen to me everyday and eventually she was mine. There was a close moment though where she almost beached herself mid fight??? I dont like to take long with the weighing and photo ritual so it was kept to a minimum but at 16 pound bang on who couldnt be happy???Both fish came at long range and on a bait change at which point butler asked for the same bait and cast long range!!
The next few hours went by without another sniff and butch had wound in the feeder rod with a 1lb slimey slab still attached.....and no we didnt use it for a livebait although the idea was thrown out there!!The tip rod was switched for a third deadbait and then there was a notable change of wind when everywhere went calm for a while. During this Butlers rod ripped off at a rate of knots. Butler is a carper and hits single beeps so i might have been shouting"leave it leave it" a few time but he hit it anyway and brought in a fish which was fat as a barrel. It looked 9 or 10 despite its shortness but the scales said otherwise. 11lb 3 oz was certainly something to get the camera out for but we were rudely interupted by his other rod and another run. While he struck into it I sacked up the fish and readied the net for fish number 2. Not quite a beast but went 7 pound and butch got his first brace of pike photo...Its times like this you realise how handy it is to have a fishing buddy to help with landing etc.. So what was it that brought the fish? The bait? the range of fishing? or the change in wind direction?? who knows.. We both left happy with 2 fish a piece and I enjoyed a lovely jack n coke on the way home as part of an ongoing bet where the loser gets a round in... So dont call this a comeback!!!
