Will rain boost pike fishing prospects in the Fens?

I wonder if rain's the missing part of the puzzle, as far as the Fens are concerned. I wonder if the downpours forecast for the next couple of days are going to tip the balance in our favour, bringing gin-clear stretches of river alive.

One or two mates have been catching. I've been trying to work out what's so different, on the part of the system they've been fishing, to the bits I've been blanking so spectacularly on. I can't see I'm going to learn much by just jumping on there. The difference is clearly what counts, if I could only work out what the difference is.

The way things panned out last season had a common theme to it, if you knew what was coming out where as Autumn came to the bayou.

Waters covered in azolla cleared. Those who were on them when the lid came off caught pike. You could see the change work its way up the food chain, starting with the fly hatches which happened as the light hit the water.

The rudd went mad, followed by the jacks. Bigger pike moved in. We caught one or two of them. This year it's all different. Clear water, abundant bottom weed. I've probably seen more pike than I caught all of last season already, here and there - but they've defied my efforts.

In a bizarre kind of way, I'm enjoying my fishing far out of proportion to the lack of fish I've caught. This is partly because I've been exploring places my gut instinct tells me will come good sooner or later.

I'll stick my neck on the line and say it's going to change soon.

Time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted

Off to a new bit of river that's a bit of a walk. Nearly an hour's walk, in fact, once I've worked out how to actually get to it. This is what most people call the far bank, as most choose to fish this stretch from the opposite bank, which has a road running along it.

A lot of them then cast all the way across the river to this bank, myself included on my odd forays along the other side. The far bank, which is the near bank to all intents and purposes today, is totally different to the other bank.

It has cattle living on it, for starters. A rough-haired, rag-tag herd that have munched their way not only through the grass, but seem also to have denuded the banks of the fringe of flag rush that grows in great waving regiments elsewhere along both banks.

That means the far bank's bare and open enough to leap frog the rods along it. I have a plumb about to suss the depths as I get set up a couple of miles from the car. Interesting discovery number two - there's a shelf that goes out where it's shallower, instead of the plunge into 20ft of water on the other side.

The wind's tricky and the floats need 2oz leads to keep the baits anchored. Wrong floats too, but I can't be bothered to change to big inline sliders for this afternoon's scouting mission.

A mate texts from another water. He's catching but off soon. I decide to stick it out and leap frog the rods along this stretch instead of moving into his swim.

Even if I don't catch today, I'll get to know part of the river I've been meaning and meaning to try.

This is what my pike fishing's now become - shorter sessions, trying places which might come good later on once we've had some rain and the system colours up a bit.

Time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted, as Dick Walker once said. Or was it the Duke of Wellington.

Blackberry crumble for tea

Long, long walk today - to an area I know hardly ever gets fished.  It would have been paradise found if I'd managed to catch anything.

There ought to be pike here, in the scheme of things. But I try swim after swim, baits on and off the bottom; sea deads and bloods, without so much as a sniff.

What a day it turns into all the same, with azure skies and the gentlest of breezes whispering through the flag rushes.

When I run out of drain, I notice the brambles that riot over the floodbanks are in full fruit.  

Out comes a carrier bag. I reel the baits in and spend half an hour filling it with blackberries. The wife's well-impressed when I tip my booty into a collander.

"Glad to see your hunter gatherer instincts han't diminished over the years," she says, as she admires my haul. My pike catching skills may be taking a bit of a back seat at the moment. But I know where to find the best blackberries in the Fens.

KLAA votes to dissolve club and become company

Last night's EGM voted to transform King's Lynn Angling Association into a limited company. When you look at the background and the case made for the change by chairman Kelvin Allen at the meeting, it's hard to argue with the outcome.

My one reservation is that the 130-year-old club is now on the road to sweeping change, on the say of just 22 of its 850 members.

Opening the meeting, Kelvin said incorporation into a limited company was "a well-trodden path", which many of the country's larger angling clubs had gone down. He said the club had first considered the move in 2003, but it was a step too far at the time.

Kelvin said since then, the position concerning insurance had become increasingly complex, with the club having to inspect platforms to show "due diligence". Yet the trustees of the club could be found liable in the event of anyone suffering an accident and taking the matter to court.

He added passions were running high after a number of incidents on club waters. Recent weeks have seen illegal netters, rowdy encampments and other night-time activities.

Consequently, two trustees have resigned. Without trustees, the club can't operate according to its constitution. That means the only way forward is to transfer the club's assets to a limited company, in which the maximum liability any member would be exposed to would be £1.

No-one disagreed with this. The reservation one or two of us expressed was could we really give the committee a mandate to make the change with just a hand-full of votes.

The meeting had been advertised on the club's website, in the Lynn News and EDP. Maybe that's anglers and apathy for you. When a vote was taken, it was unanimous.

Kelvin said it would be business as usual for KLAA, with the change coming into effect from next season; when people would be joining KLAA Ltd.

A statement posted on the club's website today says:

"The membership gave a firm endorsement of changing the Association founded in 1881 to a new Limited Company at last Wednesdays EGM, (10th Oct 2012).

"Members learnt that risks of from possible litigation procedures had finally become to great for the Trustees to bear and as such had little option but to form a new Company Limited by Guarantee.

"This makes the members the guarantors with a maximum liability of £1 and is the path trodden by many angling clubs in the UK. It was stressed that no change would be seen by members and all existing fishing rights would remain. 

"Work will now start on the transition to the new company which will be launched on the 1st April 2013 and the new fishing season."

Text book drain day ends in a blank

Two more trips and two more blanks. On Tuesday, I chucked out three baits, got a book out and five or six hours passed without me really noticing. The one noteworthy thing which happened was I saw yet another otter.

Today, Colin foolishly decided to hook up for a trip. I say foolishly, because I think he was actually expecting to go with me and catch something. We started on a bit of drain that looked like we might have been in with a shout and leap-frogged the rods the mile to the next bridge, where I'd stashed the transport.

That's two blokes, five rods and a fairly thorough trawl of a mile of drain without a flicker of interest. I know people were catching on the same stretch last season, around this time. I've even caught on there myself, enjoying some good days a few years back. It was mild and overcast, with a nice ripple. Text book day, so where were the pike..?

We had a good catch up, as I haven't seen Colin for a year, maybe two. I showed him a top flounder fishing spot on the way home. A plan was forming as we watched the tide coursing in up the river. Perhaps we'll try some flattie bashing next time we've got a day off and the tides are right. Colin's a chef, which means he's handy to know if you catch a few.

Bizarrely, I do think the pike fishing's going to get better soon. I say this for the benefit of the reader I saw at last night's Lynn AA meeting. And yes, I really have caught just one pike so far. Still, there's always the weekend.

+++Pikers keep things close to their chest - great post on Lumbland here.

All change at King's Lynn AA..?

I've spoken to people on both sides of the fence about the changes proposed at King's Lynn AA in recent weeks, because I like to make my own mind up about things when it comes to anything as important as the future of my fishing.

I've been a member of KLAA ever since I moved to Norfolk, on and off. Wednesday night's meeting is probably going to be one of the most important in the club's recent history.

While it would be wrong for me to tell you how to vote, I'd urge anyone who cares about the future of the club to attend and hear it from the horse's mouth.

The issues are now bigger than any one branch of the sport, whether you're a pike angler or a matchman. The future of some of our prime waters is at stake. We all need a strong club, with a clear mandate from its members, to safeguard our fishing for the future.

More here.

Ale's well but no big zander

I made an interesting discovery this afternoon. It didn't make my spirits soar quite as much as catching a load of pike would have, but it is noteworthy all the same. At the village shop in Denver - as opposed to the Village Shop in my village - I discover someone's launched a new brewery.

I buy a bottle of ale called Sunny Spell, with a big picture of the sun on the bottle. I plan to save this until I get home, but first cast I miss a pull so out it comes, off comes the top - and I say chaps, the stuff's delightful.

The sun's dropped below the clouds scudding across the Fens by the time I've finished it. A red kite soars over the floodbank. I feel a happy, contented bunny when I get another take. This time, the fish drops it before I even pick the rod up.

I've set up two leger rods with big, popped-up baits cast up and down the marginal reed line. The one that went off's on a big whole mackerel. I give it a twitch or two, feel a sharp bump and give it a heave that fails to connect. I reel in and the bait has two pairs of score marks, close together, around its head.

Do no pass Go. Do not catch big zander.

A mate texts with an interesting suggestion for tomorrow as I'm packing the rods away. I might be tempted.

Probably the best rig for legering for pike

Lots of people come to this blog after searching for best rigs for pike. Here's an easy-peasy leger rig for pike fishing on rivers, pits and drains.

First on the line goes a run ring. Then a rubber tulip bead, followed either by a Gemini clip or a Gemini clip swivel attached to the braid by an eight-turn uni knot.

Tie a mono link to the run ring. You need the lead on a link, as opposed to just sliding on the line for a couple of reasons. One, less tangles as it sinks. With a heavy lead fishing straight off the main line, it can tangle with the trace as the rig sinks.

Fishing drains and rivers, you often need to let the rig sink on a slack line so the bait stays tight to the far bank shelf, that sexy bed of Norfolk reed or some other feature.

Two, you can cast a lot further with the lead on the link if the lead's either the same weight as the bait, or - if you want to get max distance - a bit heavier. For max distance, try baits like a six-inch lamprey section rigged head-up.

Make sure your baits lie straight in the freezer, because if you get a bend in one it'll spin on the cast reducing distance or worse-still, causing a tangle if it turns around the main line on the way out.

I generally fix the link slightly shorter than the trace when I'm fishing the bait on the bottom. When I'm popping it up, I use a longer link.

Either way, I use clear 15lbs Amnesia for tying up links. I doubt the pike can see it, but it's a seriously-robust mono. If I think I'll need to change leads, I tie one of the smaller Gemini clips at the end. If not, I just tie the lead on.

Tighten down to it, as you put the rod in the rests to - hopefully - await some action and you're tight to the bait and the run ring. It might look crude, but it's quite sensitive when you think about it.

Some people use leger stems. But when you think about it, the stem doesn't do what it says on the tin once you tighten up to the rig, because the stem lies over.

Basic stuff, compared to some of the rigs you see these days for fishing for carp or other species. I doubt there's a better way of legering for pike.