Ned Rig Pike

Sunday 21st Feb 2021

I finally managed to get out on the river for a wee dangle. The river has been swollen and coloured for a good while now but with warmer, dryer spells, the levels have dropped and the river is fish-able once more.

There were actually a few on the bank utilising various methods which was pleasant to see.

I headed out in the morning with my bait caster set up for Pike but despite a few follows, I blanked.

I was a bit annoyed to be honest and decided on a change of approach for another outing in the evening. 

Opting for my HTO Rock Rover and Shimano Vanford, I decided to throw a few Cheb rigs in the hope of a Perch or two.

Really not my lucky day, I missed one take and after a quick change to a Ned rig caught one fish on a Korum Squirm, a bloody Pike!

Better than another blank though eh.

2020 - still learning!

 While I usually look forward to an import from the Far East I don’t think any of us could quite imagine how life changing the arrival of COVID 19 from China would or could be!

It seems a bit ridiculous to comment on how it has affected my/our fishing, as it has simply affected every area of all our lives, for the majority of the year and will likely continue to do so for some time yet!

Nevertheless I have been able to get the odd session in this year, it hasn’t been all lure for me though. The beginning of the year I mainly drowned maggots for silvers in some fisheries and occasionally on the river. I have to say it has been pleasant, it’s essentially how I started fishing and a return to the simple things are sometimes refreshing.

Lately however I have returned to my real passion, lure fishing. 

It’s amazing how any discipline can feed into another though, how time on the bank, observing and learning just helps push personal boundaries.

My fishing has obviously changed along with my location; while I miss the clear deeper seas of the west coast, the mountain lakes and cascading rivers and steams, I am starting to really enjoy the lowland rivers of Suffolk and Essex. 

I know I am never likely to catch anything unusual or surprising, never likely to break any records etc, but that isn’t what spurs me on for the most part anyhow. Just being out and observing, trying to outwit wary fish and getting some nourishment outside long working hours and a busy life is enough.

Funnily observing one creature everyone moans about down here has given me the most success of late, that creature being the Otter.

Personally I love seeing them and on my local marks I have observed them quite a few times munching Crayfish. 

Since then I’ve switched somewhat from using cranks and shads to using Cheb rigged Craws. Fishing them super slow I had mainly expected Perch, which I have had a few.

I just had not expected quite the volume of Pike I have encountered using these techniques!

Now like I say, not breaking any records exactly but having a lot of fun and in that regard I’d say some pretty successful angling. 

In fact even in tough conditions where the river has been heavily coloured, this method has allowed me to catch pretty consistently. 

I don’t think my observations are going to win the otters over in the hearts of local anglers anytime soon though. I also now know that many predator anglers use this method and have done for ages, for me however, it was a personal revelation of sorts. 

Not a new concept exactly though, matching the hatch is a fairly used term in angling hey! 

PB Chub.

I have managed to snatch an hour after work this week for some micro plug action and I have been out this morning too which was very enjoyable indeed.

Lately I have been having some real success on the Aquawave Henoji Fighter for both Perch and Chub, though sadly my last one got chomped off by a Pike this morning as I was having fun with a shoal of small Perch. Another lure I have really rated lately is the Taps Biedronka;

The Biedronka is a 1.2g LadyBird type topwater. This lure lands so perfectly on the water it really looks like a bug falling out of a tree and when you impart tiny movements to your rod tip the lure sends out tiny rings across the surface film just like a drowning bug. You can also cast this little beauty upstream and slowly retrieve it, this method creates a lovely delicate surface wake which at times can prove effective indeed! 

I have removed the trebles the lures come with and fitted them with some Quantum Bigeye hooks in #8. I found when using the trebles fish kept diving into weed and managing to catch the free hook points on the treble, thus shaking the lure.

Anyhow, some shots;

I know I'm likely to get stick for the way I'm holding the fish above but it went back fine I promise and I won't do it again!

The Chub above is a PB. I had spotted two fish in a pool last year and decided to go back this morning for a pop and low and behold they were still there and this time hungry for my cool Polish lure! I really don't weigh or measure my fish, its not all that important to me, it was fun and that is important to me.

Heres a few smaller fish that fell to the Aquawave Henoji Fighter;

Another couple of wee lures that have given me some results lately are the Taps Gasieniczka (don't ask me to pronounce that!) and some other random Polish lure I picked up but cannot remember the name check them out;

This one will get single hooks very soon!

I think Gasieniczka means Caterpillar

Well I hope you enjoyed this wee blog post, I'm no pro predator angler, but this type of lure angling is keeping me out of trouble for time being and is quite fun at times.

Tight lines.