Finally, the snow melt has started to ease off in the rivers and they are gradually returning to normal levels thanks to the lack of persistent rain and the presence of high pressure just recently. This weather pattern set the alarm bells ringing in my head last week and I desperately needed to get out on the rivers to see if the Pike were in an obliging mood. My fishing itch has not been scratched for a good couple of months and an optimistic forecast from the Met Office saw me straight on the phone to my friend Scott to see if he fancied braving the frosty weather for a dangle.
He was predictably keen and it was agreed that I should head over to his place on Saturday afternoon for a spot of dinner and a beer or two with the plan being to spend all of Sunday out on the river tracking down the Pike.
As the alarm sounded and I woke early on the Sunday, a quick peek out of the window revealed a hard ground frost with ice everywhere. Not perfect conditions, but better than rain, floods and dirty water! Certainly worth a crack! Full winter clothing was undoubtedly the order of the day to keep the cold off.
We made the 25 minute journey up the A3 towards Guildford and the river, the first view of the running water had us both making approving noises as to the levels and colour. It certainly looked good for a fish or 2 and much better than either of us had anticipated. This of course filled us with hope and spurred us on as we made the trek across the waterlogged fields towards our chosen part of Surrey's River Wey.There is a particular spot on the Wey that has been kind to us in the past when the river is not at it's best. With this in mind we chose to head to that area first off to try our luck. It's an arm off the main river where there is plenty of shelter and steady water so in times of flood and high water the prey fish move in here to seek refuge. The pike naturally follow the food and can therefore also be found holding up here in midwinter. We have had pike to mid-double figures from this area in the past so were hopeful there would be some in residence.
We settled down into our spot and readied the rods with a warming winter sun casting a delicate glow upon us. It was great to feel the sun on your skin, I can't remember the last time I felt that - roll on the Spring! The sun soon melted the frost away though and within 10 minutes we had cast our tackle out into a couple of very pikey looking holes and sat back with a coffee enjoying the morning. We fished simple float/ledger tackle with the deadbaits hard on the deck as the fish would undoubtedly be laying up in the silt.
I went about taking a few photos and was wandering up the bank when Scott yelled to me exclaiming that one of the rods was getting an enquiry from a fish already! I ran back and watched the float....sure enough it started bobbing enticingly before sliding from view under the surface. At this point I wound down and lifted into the fish to feel a nice bit of resistance and the first bend in my rod for 2010. It was clearly only a small fish but it gave a good account of itself for it's size and was soon on the bank being admired and unhooked by Scott and myself. I was rather pleased as the conditions and weather seemed to be against us somewhat and to have a fish on the bank in such a short time was a result in my book. It definitely put a smile on our faces.
This fish had taken half a mackerel, so I went to grab another bait when I noticed the float on Scott's rod bobbing away. It was now my turn to yell to Scott this time. He was on the rod sharpish and had a lively little pike running all over the place, it fought hard and with the attitude of a fish twice it's size! The fish was soon on the bank posing with Scott for a couple of trophy shots before being unhooked and returned back to it's watery home.
With 2 fish in such a short space of time and so early into the session we thought perhaps a red-letter day was on the cards. It was all looking good so we quickly rebaited with a smelt and a mackerel before repositioning the rods. Within another 10minutes or so Scott's Rod was off again and he was scrapping with another lively pike.......then the hook pulled and it was game over........thats fishing for you! You can't win 'em all!We tried several more spots and likely looking holes throughout the day but could not buy a bite. All the action came in our first hour and it really was hard going for the remainder of the session. Pike are well known for feeding in short and often hectic spells so perhaps that was it for the day in the morning, either way I'm glad we caught them on the feed when we did. They were not the biggest fish as it goes but when you've been trapped indoors for weeks on end due to horrendous weather then any fish is a good fish. So with both of our 2010 ducks broken and a couple of healthy bends in our rods we returned home rather pleased with ourselves.
Hopefully, the weather and fishing should improve now as the days are starting to stretch out once again, heading towards the spring. Tight Lines and Happy Fishing!
