FROST BITES

Hello to all,

I hope the freezing cold weather has not stopped you from getting on the banks this weekend. Again the Exeter canal has a lid on it, as do all the still-waters. If any action was to be found I would have to look for some running water.
I did not have to look far as I only live a stones throw from the beautiful river Exe.
You may have seen from recent posts the river has produced some good fish for me and the gang this winter. And to be honest, I imagine I would have been fishing for pike there even if the ice was not affecting other venues! I do have plans to target some other places in the near future, but for now... Exe marks the spot.

Saturdays outing was a bit shit really; the fish seemed unwilling to feed, or they where not present in the area. Whichever it was, I caught bugger all.
On a positive note my mood was lifted thanks to Everton beating Chelsea 2-nil with good goals from Peanut and Stracula. Oh yeah and what a complete arsehole Louie Suarez is. A reflection on his club really - pure filth!. Anyway, back to the fishing...
I pre-baited a spot with a few mackerel heads and old sardines in the hopes of some Pike being there in the morning when I returned.

The next morning was again very cold, I met up with Moxy who was already on the bank he had already bagged himself a fish just under the 20lb mark ten minutes after setting up (which was encouraging). I set up down stream of him opting to start with half a mackerel headon a simple running ledger arrangement. We sat watching the water for around an hour or so before Moxy's rod was away again. He hit the run early but made no contact with the lucky pike.

My bait had received no attention at all so I decided to change the mackerel  over to a rotten old sardine that I had found hanging in a bramble bush. I know people say the fresher the bait the better but I have had some big pike on baits that are literally on the turn. I injected the carcass with some predator plus to add even more scent and lobbed it out. Again I waited an hour or so then decided to move my bait into another area.

I picked up the rod and started to retrieve my bait. I just caught a glimpse of the sardine wafting around behind the lead when, out of no-where, a large pike began to slowly follow it right into the edge of the bank. At this point my heart stopped beating as I had a mamba of a pike lurking inches away from my feet. I lifted my rod tip up slowly to try and put some life into the bait without scaring her off. She couldn't resist the twitch and smashed the bait with a quick flare of her gills right in front of my eyes! She set the hooks herself and instantly started to take lots of line as she buggered off downstream in the direction of Exmouth. Lots of pressure turned the fish and most of the scrap took place under the rod tip on a tight clutch.
After she  realised the easy option would be to give up, Mox made a proper job of chinning the fish out for me, so thanks mate.

At 21lb 4oz I was so chuffed I could of kissed her. Seeing the fish take the bait was a breathtaking moment that I won't ever forget. After returning the fish I decided to call it a day and go and spend some time with my very fishing-tolerant girlfriend. Moxy on the other hand, had other plans to take his cousin for a spot of pike fishing and try and guide him to a pike or two whilst showing him some vital unhooking and general pike care skills.

From the pictures he sent me it looks like they had a great afternoon on the Culm!

Til next time,

Good luck

DONKEY HUNTERS

Hello to all

Today myself and Ty decided to make another trip down to the generous river Exe.We  met up at 7.30 am, and being greeted with some bitterly cold weather we decided to have a crack for some pike. The temperature was minus 3, so It was unlikely much else would be feeding anyway.

I had picked out a nice selection of good sized mackerel and herring baits courtesy of good ol' Del boy the fish monger. Tactics for the day were kept very simple, employing simple running rigs with the bait fished resting on the bottom. We agreed to fish lottery style and take turns hitting runs. To be honest, we were not really expecting much. Then the alarm started screaming at us! I made it to the rod first as Ty was making us both a cup of tea.

I grabbed the rod and wound down tight. The rod hunched over as I set the hooks, commencing a decent battle with some proper drama on the surface towards the end of the fight! As the fish was lifted from the water we noticed it was only hooked with one solitary treble, right in the middle of the top jaw. The result was a lovely upper double weighing 19lb 12oz. Her head looks very small compared to the body I think? Anyway a great start to the session.

I felt a little bit guilty about the capture as the first run was meant to be Ty's, but he was off the rods so I took it. The fish would have smashed Ty's pb of 16lb 5oz, so it was a small shame, but who knows what the next run would bring?

After a stint of chain tea drinking Ty was called into action with another stinker of a take. It was clear from the bend in the rod that he was attached to another fat lady! Ty played the fish well, taming some wild lunges in the margins. After a solid fight I slipped the net under a donkey of a pike and hauled it up onto the bank.

She ripped the scales round to 22lb 12oz! Just look at the size of her head compared to my fish.
A new pb for Ty and a great looking fish so well done mate! After she had gone back we joked about how I did not have to feel guilty any more.

We also had a fish of around 16lb that went straight back,The river has once again provided us with some terrific sport.Our luck seems to be in so lets hope one of us lands the grande mamma soon.

Til next time

Have fun on the banks

WINTER REWARDS

Hello to all!

Winter has started to show herself in fits and starts, with some sub zero temperatures causing a lot of venues to freeze over completely. Lately, the fishing has been quite testing for me and the boys; Neil and Ty did a few after-dark trips on the Exeter canal, braving the cold weather in the hopes of a giant perch. Sad to say their efforts were rewarded with nout but runny noses and blue fingers. I myself have also suffered some gruelling blanks on both the canal  and  river, but our sheer persistence and obsession payed off, so I have a few nice fish for you to feast your eyes on.

The Perch have been doing a good job of hiding from me. I have fished a couple of venues recently with bugger all to show for it perch-wise, but other species such as carp have made an appearance to brighten up the chillingly cold long slogs in search of old stripey.

Talking of carp, we did a spot of winter river carping on the Exe. I have seen a couple of carp frequenting a spot of the river where I walk the pooch, so it would have been rude not to have given them a bit of bait and get them on the feed. Ty and Neil dropped down to the spot on a rather mild morning to see if they could meet a fish or two. At this point I was in bed, when my phone beeped to alert me I had a message. I lazily rolled over to grub around for my phone. The message was as follows; "just had a pb 21lb 7oz common get ur ass down here!". Needless to say I was in the motor caning it up the road in the manner of someone that had just held up a bank!

I greeted the boys and congratulated young Ty on his first river carp. The boys very kindly shifted up the rods to allow me to drop a bait over the spot. It didn't take long before my rod was away with a one toner on the alarm. This time a smaller, but just as welcome, river common of 13lb 6oz. Ty's fish fell to a large stack of corn whilst mine took a fancy to a garlic and cheese stink nugget from Sonubaits, tipped with a bright yellow pop up.

Neil had his sights on something a bit toothier than the friendly river carp and opted to fish for pike. A bloody good job he did too. It became apparent we also had a few decent crocs in the area. Neil banked a hatrick

of doubles which weighed as follows 13lb 3oz - 18lb 4oz - 19lb 10oz.

Well as you can see we had a great morning on the Exe once again. On a down-side, there have been a few large carp found mauled by what is most probably an otter. A lot of the large fish I have caught from the river have had horrible injuries inflicted on them by something? I know that there is a hell of a lot of controversy regarding the otter debate but I love my fishes too much, so as far as I'm concerned old Tarka can suck my bank stick! As anglers, all we can really do is hope and pray that the bloody things are not as savage as we think they are. But hey that's nature isn't it? The idea of introducing more otters into the country's river systems would be about as good an idea as Steve Gerard signing for Everton. It may look good on the team sheet, but I imagine he would be shot dead within weeks. As would the otters if the problem got much worse. Put yourself in the shoes of a fishery owner who has put his life's work into building up a stock of beautiful fish, for them then to be devastated by an otter.....Not nice! Did you know that Everton beat Man city tutha day?,lol thought I would just drop that one in! Anyway, could this be the work of an otter?

Putting all that otter stuff aside the Exe continues to thrill us with big fish action on a regular basis......What a water. And not forgetting to big up Moxy on the capture of his first 20lb pike! I wonder if that beast Neil caught is 30lb yet? hmmm.We'll have a bloody good go at finding out I can tell you that!

'till next time

Wrap up warm!