Leeches on pike..? Pull the udder one

See, look - that's got leeches on it. Them pike aren't moving, they're just sitting on the bottom.

If there's one bit of widely-accepted pike lore I disagree with, it's the old maxim about leeches and what they tell us about what the fish we catch have been up to.

If they're the hallmark of lenghty periods of inactivity, how come you can step in the margins and come out with your clod hoppers covered in 'em..?

Sometimes, we look to nature to reinforce our own, rather shallow view on how it all works above or below the surface.

Them cows up the bank are lying down in the field, for example - so that must be going to rain. As in cows never get tired, have an off day or just fancy a breather.

If a pike festooned with leeches is a torpid fish that's been crashed out in the silt, how come it could be assed to take your bait..? Pull the udder one.