Smelly Pike, Nice Pike, Warks Avon

Today was an 'all's well that ends well' kind of day. It did not look that way for most of it. The rods were static for hours on end and it did not matter what bait I tried or flavour I added the Pike were not playing ball. In fact the river looked devoid of life. Around midday I decided to chop up some deadbaits, throw them in and then give the swim a rest while I tried to catch a Chub or two. The result was no different after an hour so back for the Pike I went.
The first cast I was not happy with so I started to retrieve and suddenly it felt heavy like a clump of weed. What I brought in was disgusting! A Pike of about four pounds. I would guess it had been dead since last year and the smell was like nothing I have smelt before and hopefully never will again. I can still smell it now as I type this and I have showered! Might go for another wash. It was bloated and too heavy to lift out so I netted it, I have thrown the net away. I think it is likely that the fish were steering clear of it and that is why I was blanking. I apologise to anyone who is eating while reading this.

I did not fancy weighing it for the challenge! Thankfully I did not have too. Within an hour of landing the lump of rot I had a proper fish on, hooked from the very same spot. After a bit of a song and dance near the snags I had her in the net. A solid looking Pike weighing 17lb 7oz. A slow difficult couple of weeks by the river all forgotten in a moment.