Ever fished this tidal river for pike..?

As in this tidal river..? Me neither. Yet one or two areas of it definitely hold coarse fish, the upper reaches of the Hundred Foot, as it's known well upstream of the sluices at Denver, for one.

It might not scream pike. Yet if you go far enough upstream to get above the brackish water washed in by the tides, there were zander caught in years gone by.

And there are more fish than you'd probably think, in its tea-coloured water downstream of the sluices, where water surging through the gates has scoured a deeper hole or two.

The EA has captured pike on a camera in a fish pass on one of Fenland's other great tidal rivers, built to give eels and sea trout a short cut through a sluice. So who knows..?

Guru leads are worth a look for pike fishing

These are the leads I was on about. I've been fishing long enough to treat claims about special this, special that with a degree of scepticism, but I quite like these.

The two-thirds of an ounce size I got seem small for that. It says on the blurb that they're made of a special dense material, which I'm guessing is probably lead. In the old days, I'd probably have just given one a good whack with a hammer to see what they're made of, but they're £2.85 for three. 

Instead of using them with one of those fiddly safety clips, I'll probably just fish them off a run ring on my float leger rigs. Coupled with one of the ET floats I tend to use most of the time, I reckon the ounce size would be just right and probably better than most of the other weights I've used over the years.

I know a few companies make leads you can change without breaking your rig down, but having tried most of them they all seem to have their limitations. One variety had a habit of falling off when you were playing a fish. Another entailed messing around with bits of tubing to trap it in place.

Maybe these are the ones if you fish them off a run ring so you can change for a bigger weight if the wind gets up or the flow increases. Other than those zinc bombs which come in a range of weights but don't hold bottom very well because of their shape and lack of density, it's hard to find small weights which do the job.

Click here for more reviews.

Is it time to research Fens pike decline..?

It's great news that the EA is working with the pike angling community on an innovative tagging project on the Norfolk Broads. I just wish they'd do the same in the Fens.

We know that our pike population is changing too. While we all like catching big pike, there are one or two waters where smaller fish seem to have become thin on the ground. The worrying thing is what's going to happen when the bigger pike die off in these places.

We all have our own theories regarding what's happening. Mine is that pike no longer spawn successfully every spring on many of our waters in the Fens. This explains why the pyramid of pike sizes which you'd otherwise expect to see has become disrupted, leaving - in one or two extreme cases - waters with a dearth of small pike.

On run of the mill, bread and butter drains and rivers, you'd expect to catch more pike under 10lbs than over. You wouldn't expect to blank most times you went but catch more twenties than jacks.

Small pike should be more numerous, according to the widely-accepted pyramid theory. Another reason for this is that male pike rarely grow any larger than 10lbs. They are smaller than their female counterparts, because they spawn eye-to-eye with each other, the male's shorter length means its milt fertilises the eggs the female deposits during their nuptials.

On one water I fished, I watched pike spawning before the end of the season on an area of grassy bank which had been flooded to a depth of 18ins or more as the water level rose after heavy rains. Within a week, the levels had receded, leaving the spawn high and dry before it had hatched.

It's no secret our weather's changing fast. After one of the driest winters on record, we're experiencing one of the wettest summers. During those crucial few weeks around spawning time, levels should have remained fairly constant this year, hopefully meaning a strong year class in a season or two's time.

If two extreme cases cited above become waters where you get 10 runs a day but finish the season with just a handful of doubles and the odd battle-scarred twenty, this spring will have been the exception that proves the rule.

Some blame the burgeoning otter population for declining catches. Otters are far more numerous than they've ever been. Up until five years ago, I'd seen just two in more than 20 years of pike fishing.

Three or four years ago, I began seeing them on a water I was fishing regularly.  By the 2009/10 season, there were areas where you saw them every other time you went.

The otters could have been there all the time, of course, perhaps losing some of their caution as they became accustomed to seeing anglers. I say otters, because by the back-end of that season, I'd seen them sufficiently closely to identify at least two individuals, while on one occasion, I saw an adult otter and a kit together.

Otters are a high-risk issue for anglers. While the general public probably doesn't care too much whether the rules are relaxed when it comes to culling cormorants or goosanders, most would probably rather see otters than us on waters if it came to a choice.

Otters eat other fish, besides pike. While commercial fisheries have the option - albeit a costly one - of otter-proofing their stock with fences, this clearly isn't possible in the Fens.

The only way of otter-proofing pike stocks, to a degree, is ensure their spawning success, so there are enough fish to replenish those eaten. In parts of America, where pike are routinely eaten as part of the angling experience, they have an answer which may well be the way we have to go to preserve our own pike.

On some waters, spawning areas are carefully managed to ensure that pike can use them successfully. If the EA can spend tens of thousands on eel passes, or efforts to safeguard the sea trout which run up the Nar and the Wissey, why not look to pinpoint and preserve the pike's spawning areas.

A survey of barbel in the Upper Ouse, conducted using radio-tracking methods,  revealed that the siltation of spawning areas was the reason for their declining numbers. We know that pike are in decline across the Fens. Maybe it's time we threw a little science at the question, to find out why. 

Click here for more on the Broads pike tagging project.

Click here to find out how repeat captures show there are less pike than you think in the Fens.

Crazy weather by the time pike fishing starts

This is one of my favourite newspaper front pages of the last few days. Lightning, hail, gales and even heatwaves, says the strapline.

My guess is that over any period of six months, it's a fairly safe bet we're likely to see all four - not to mention rain, snow and ice. And by the time pike fishing begins in earnest again, it could well be a bit colder than it is now.

Those whose working arrangements have a degree of flexibility - or recurring bouts of mystery illness, requiring spells off work when their local waters are fishing well - fastidiously pore over the forecasts.

Sometimes, I compare notes with co-conspirators. When you out next week..? Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday - or maybe Friday, depending on the weather.

Reckon it'll be best before that cold front gets here on Tuesday, Wednesday while it's still here or Thursday after that's blew through..? Um, I'm not sure I buy their conclusions on how that frontal system's going to develop once it crosses the Azores. I mean, that could easily stall when it hits that trough of low pressure over the Irish Sea and be delayed by a day or two. So you reckon that'll be better Thursday then..?

+++Weather Update... Met Office now saying we've had the wettest June since records began, more stats here.

REVEALED: WWII drama that led to deep hole in drain

 
Why's there a deep hole in the drain. Now there's a story, yew got me going now. My ole Dad told me all about that years ago see, cuz he was one of the old boys what dug that bit of the channel. There was this Lancaster bomber in the war there was what caused it. Now that got all hushed up at the time, that did, so best you don't you go round tellin' everyone mind.

I promise I'll keep mum. It started out, innocently enough, when I wondered why there was a deep hole in a drain, together with semi-circular bulges in the floodbanks on either side. 

I'll let my source resume the story:

"Anyways they bin' off to Germany, these ole chaps on their Lancaster like, bombing Fritz somewhere or other back in 1944 or thereabouts they wuz like they did in them days.

"But when they wuz comin' back in to land at Downham Market they found they still had one bomb left on board, they did. Five-hunnerd pounder. Big ole bomb what h'ent dropped right, or summat.

"Now they wuz runnin' out of fuel, they wuz. So they wuz circlin' round an' round, with this 500lbs bomb still on board, they must'a bin goin' cor blast that's a rum ole dew, what we gunna dew now, that'll go off if we try an' land.

"So one of them ole boys on the plane, he say to the all other fellas on the h'innercom or whatever they had like, cor blast gimme that axe an' I'll sort this out. He say bomb doors open skipper, or summat like that, over the h'innercom thing, like what they had.

"An then, an then he gew back in the bomb bay an' he give it a right ole ding with this axe like what they used ter 'ave on planes in them days and that ole bomb dropped just as they was on their final approach ter what use ter be the runway.

"Ph'wee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ker-frickin' boom, that went. They musta' heard it in King's Lynn. Nearly blew Denver Mill up, that did. Anyways, that's why there's a deep hole in that bit of drain see. Cuz when they come along after the war they just dug an' took the ole channel right through it, they did.

"My Ole Man tole me that. But that's still classified. So don' go puttin' that on the h'innernet..."

Of course not, I say. Your secret's safe with me.

Best Daiwa reel for pike fishing in the Fens..?

Waxing lyrical about the latest Shimano Baitrunners - which were the latest Shimano Baitrunners when I bought them but have now been superseded by another Shimano Baitrunner - I half forgot the reels I use for the other half of my pike fishing in the Fens. By other half, I mean the half that involves legering baits.

I originally got a couple of these old metal Emblems for beach fishing, but they soon ended up on my pike rods. I then found they were going for less than £50 on eBay, so ended up with three or four more.

At first glance, they're a totally no-frills reel. No Baitrunner, or whatever the Daiwa equivalent's called these days. Front drag and a bail arm that closes when it whacks a lump of metal sticking out the front of the reel stem. Hi tech, not..?

One or two things about these reels endears me to them to the point where I'll never use anything else for legering, as long as I can get my hands on them. The bail arm rollers seem to keep working, regardless of how much you abuse them and how often you drop them in the mud. This reel is a relatively clean example of the genre.

I once trod on one, leaving a Daiwa Emblem-shaped hole in the peat when I pulled it out. I once had a swan fly into the line, catapaulting rod and reel into 20ft of river. When it came out, to Muttley-like sniggers from Rob fishing down the bank, it shrugged off the experience.

They have their drawbacks, the main one being they're quite heavy, so you wouldn't want to walk far with four of them in your quiver. But they just seem to go on and on.

I also love the low gear ratio and the huge, chunky handles. As I don't use other reels for legering, I can't comment on how good the line lay is, but they seem to have spools the ideal size for 65lbs Power Pro, which is another major plus point for me.

Click here for a review of the Shimano reels I also use.

A definite for later in the season

Flushed by the success of the sausage roll rig, when it came to solving the mystery of the Village Pond, I decide to strike while the iron's hot and have a bash on another water.

The only similarity is it's not meant to have any pike in either, although I have heard some interesting snippets which suggest otherwise.

It's been blowing a gale for the last couple of days, punctuated by plenty of rain. The idea's to go and try a few swims out to suss out its potential for later in the season. I've also got a new bit of kit I want to try, before I splash out my hard-earned.

It's a fair old walk to the bit I fancy, especially with a dodgy foot. I'm travelling light, with just a couple of rods, net and a few bits and baits in the rucker. But it's still a good 20 minute walk to the first swim. Instead of fishing, I snick a lead on the trace clip and have a plumb around.

Struggling to find more than three feet of water, I move 20 yards or so down the bank and have another go. Slightly deeper, but I don't fancy the rocky banks with a bad ankle, so I hoof it another 20 yards to a grassy bank where I should be able to net a fish without any problems if I do hook one.

It takes a few casts to get the depth right, so the floats sit up as the wind tightens the line. For years, I used swan shots pinched on the trace when float legering deads. Earlier today, I popped in the tackle shop to get a tub and paid £1.80 for nine of them. So I also picked up some of the new Guru leads, which are meant to be shaped so they hold the bottom well. These come in three sizes - an ounce, two-thirds and a third of an ounce.

If these work out on the slightly-modified rig I have in mind, it may be bye bye swan shots. The two-thirds size seemed to anchor a pencil float fairly well in five or six feet of water, attached via a safety clip. After 10 minutes or so, the float on a rod baited with a mackerel bobs and keels over.

I wind down straight away but there's nothing on the end. I begin reeling the bait in, to see if a pike's picked it up or an eel, when there's a bump on the end and the bait's gone in a swirl. That'll do for today, I decide, as the first spots of rain fall. There's definitely pike in here. Roll on Autumn.

Monster pike mystery solved at the Village Pond

It's 5am and no-one's about, which is just as well when you're about to try pike fishing with a sausage roll for bait. But I've done my research and thought long and hard about this, fine tuning my approach down to the last detail. As I creep across the Village Green, I feel the hand of history on my shoulder.

I've sliced up a sausage roll ready to throw it in the Village Pond to see if there's really a pike called Mike in said water, which has developed a taste for pastry products from the Village Shop over the road.

When I scoffed at the last pike in village pond story which hit the Parish Magazine - distributed by the parish council on the last Wednesday of every month, with a foreword from the Vicar - I got it badly wrong.

There really was a pike in the village pond concerned. And someone caught it at over 28lbs. So this time, the gloves are off. I have a steer on where it knocks about. I know it's been devouring sausage rolls like they're going out of fashion, mainly thanks to the Bread Man and the Village Shop Lady.

As I sit back on the Memorial Bench with a double expresso from Starbucks in a can, I feel quietly confident. I have brought three sausage rolls with me, for the benefit of those who may be wondering how the sausage roll method pans out in practical terms.

Those who fish on a tight budget may care to note that it is cheaper to buy sausage rolls in threes from the Village Shop, with a triple pack weighing in at £1.99, as opposed to 99p each for single sausage rolls.

This clearly represents a considerable saving over the course of a season. I also once found a pubic hair in a sausage roll from the Village Shop, back in the days when I bought them one at a time, but have never to date experienced this problem with triple packs of sausage rolls.

Sausage roll one, as in the first sausage roll out of a pack of three, is for baiting up with. Sausage roll two, as in the second sausage roll, has been attached to a trace via a pair of size four Owner ST36 trebles. Sausage roll three, for those who like to keep count of their sausage rolls, is in case this turns into a longer session than envisaged and I require food to see me through, although I may inspect it for stray body hair of the short and curly variety first to be on the safe side.

I have attached a two ounce lead to the trace clip, which you need to sink a sausage roll from the Village Shop. This is owing to the highly bouyant nature of its folds of puff pastry which is made by Marnie, who works at the Village Shop on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday mornings.

I am not sure what Marnie does to the puff pastry which encompasses the sausage rolls they sell in the Village Shop, not to mention whether she was the cause of the pubic hair issue I once had with a sausage roll from said outlet. But they are so bouyant that you could probably get away without a life jacket if you ate one or two before you went out on a boat and stuffed a couple more in your pockets just in case. 

I have also tied a poly ball to the bottom hook, so the sausage roll will sit just under the surface, as I twitch it back. The pike will see this as a silhouette, but should hopefully be able to ascertain that this is a premium sausage roll, made from organic pork with extra sage and onion without added preservatives,  from the Village Shop.

Presentation counts, in my experience. And details like this can sometimes make all the difference.

The chances of anyone I know coming along are fairly remote at this time of the morning. This is fortunate, as I am doing my best to keep the Village Pond off the radar, to spare Mike the inevitable attention that speculation in the weekly angling papers might bring.

I am wrestling with the dilemma of whether or not to go public in the Parish Magazine, with the background to the pictures blurred in Photoshop, when a chunk of sausage roll disappears in a swirl. I reach for the rod. It's game on.

A gentle overhead lob, past the free offerings, and the rig lands in a straight line just shy of the reeds on the far bank. As I twitch the popped-up sausage roll, a bow-wave appears as a long, dark back scythes through the water towards the puffs of silt kicked up by the lead and the bouyant pastry snack on the end, made by Marnie from the Village Shop, from organic pork with added sage and onion - not to mention the occasional public hair.

I can see the headline in the Parish Magazine, which generally comes out around the last Wednesday of every month, with a foreword from the Vicar.

EXCULSIVE - Pike Ace tames monster in Village Pnod

Veronica, the Vicar's wife, does not always use spell-check. At times, this has been the source of some controversy, such as the occasion when the Count of Monte Christo led the bill at a film festival at the Village Hall. But I understand the pressure the modern media often find themselves under and am sure she will do the story justice if I supply her with quotes and pictures.

It may even make the front page, and rival talking points such as the lack of bins for dog mess on the Village Green, or the day the bell ringers smuggled a sheep home on the bus after their annual outing to Fakenham and released it in the Village Pub, where it now works behind the bar.

I see the sausage roll hovering in the margins, as I give it one last twitch. A shape glides into sharp focus from the depths, long and dark, with piggy little eyes. I strike the bait off just in time and the fish devours it as it floats to the surface.

Mike the Pike is no pike after all. It's a sodding great grass carp. As I pack up the rod and net, I see the Bread Man's van coming down the hill, as the lights in the Village Shop go on.