Five on twelfth night




      The first pike fishing expedition of the new year and a good one it was too. Family commitments have almost been honoured, well apart from this coming weekend, but steal the time when you can.
      After dull days, foggy days, frosty days and wet days a few hours were procured after lunch and the drain looked utterly uninviting. No bait fish moving and no predators moving, but if you don't have a line in the water you are not going to catch anything. The bait fish weren't biting so the frozen roach, rudd and sardines were the baits of necessity.
      After five minutes it was pike on and pike gone. Then the first pike, a jack of about three pounds with three more following, culminating in a fish of around ten pounds.
      As the sun was setting there was a huge pull on the frozen roach that was being twitched along the bottom of the drain and it was definitely a fish that did not want to come to the surface. When the pike was landed it weighed 21lb 13ozs.


      Then it puked up the bait and the Avon scales settled on 21lbs 9ozs. A lovely fit Fenland pike with a proper girth on it and boy did it swirl, pull and run. When it was returned the fish just sat under the surface and then with a lash of its tail sprayed me with water. Never mind I can use that to wash off the blood from the bite it gave me on the finger. The final total was five pike landed and one lost and, for good measure, a good old fashioned nip across the finger right through the nail.
      No doubt the pike felt the position of the finger was entirely appropriate too.
      Don't be greedy go home, light the fire and have a beer to celebrate. 2015 has started well.