Avon Piking

A rare occurrence took place today, the sun came out, accompanied by a slither of blue sky. Albeit brief it was enough to have me scrabbling for the camera to record such a rarity of late. The unusual event took place during a short afternoon Piking session that I treated myself to on the back of a couple of weeks that has seen the new business venture progressing nicely. 

Two rods were deployed, one with a small Roach dead bait along the nearside margin and the other with large sea-baits thrown across river into a fishy looking slack. First off was a smelt that remained untouched for a half hour. I changed it over to a Mackerel tail and within a few minutes I was playing a feisty Jack that fought really well in the strong flow. I eventually won despite much angry head shaking and weighed in an immaculate 6lb 13oz fish. 

I was off and running with my first Pike of the campaign in the not so 'Pikey' conditions. It still feels too autumnal to be chasing these predators but with the alleged global warming being reported this may be as cold as it gets!

Tazzy kept watch for goings on down river while I kicked back and chilled on my easy chair.

The Roach bait remained static all day while the sea baits did the opposite. A couple of missed runs followed until finally I managed to hook the culprit. An even smaller Jack had been playing with the bait (and me!) until finally I managed to nail him. It was only about three pounds so I didn't bother taking weights or pics, just putting him back straight away. It turned out to be the last of the activity for the day apart from my usual messing about with the camera.