Esox Lucius (the mini Pike hunt!)

Being a self employed landscape gardener is a dream job for me, I love it, however the only problem is I’m at my busiest in the wamrer months when the fishing is best! Living in England though means rain is never far away so sometimes I’m rained off work, this is a good thing though as I can go kayak fishing!

So yesterday the heavens opened and it rained most of the day so only one thing for it, load up the kayak and go in search of some Pike!

I fished a gravel pit 40 miles north of my home town, only 60 arces in size but crystal clear water and plenty of features. I’ve fished the lake before but struggled to find any Pike so wasn’t sure what to expect on a cold miserable day.

Even though I’m here for Pike I can’t help but try for Perch, one of my favourite fish so a 7g jighead/grub comes out to play first. Within a few casts I’m into a fish, a small Pike of about 4lb which puts up a great fight on the ultralight Perch rod!
Pleased I found at least one Pike I keep moving along a shallow weedy area but nothing else was about apart from one or two Carp splashing around. I move to the edge of the shallow ground where it drops off from 4ft to 20ft deep, must be some Pike here as it’s a lovely feature.

Within no time at all I’m into another Pike on the ultralight rod, again only small at 4-5lb but always great sport on the light gear! Unhook and gently slip it back, 5mins later another 4lb Pike takes a fancy to the 2″ grub giving another spirited fight. I’m enjoying this!

Whilst I’m casting around with lures I also have a float fished deadbait out to one side just in case a big Pike is nearby and to lazy to chase lures. Unfortunately the big Pike were to lazy to chase lures but also to lazy to eat my deadbait! So I decide to reel it in only for a Pike to hit it on the way back in! A little bit bigger at 5lb so no monster but I’m not after a record breaker, just happy to be fishing 🙂

I wangle out another Pike on the 2″ grub then decide to move on. The lake is also used by scuba divers so there are some nice purposely placed features dotted around the lake for them to investigate such as a sunken boat, car, etc. If there are no divers using the lake I’ll have a look around these features as they hold fish. A quick paddle around and I think I’ve found what looks a bit like a car on the fishfinder so I cast the deadbait Roach over the top of it, within 2mins the float has gone and a Pike of around 6lb+ is on the end of the line.

That 6lb Pike marked the last of the day’s fish, despite the rain and relatively small fish I had a great day.

A rainy day on the kayak is better than a sunny day at work! 🙂