You sometimes get that feeling in your water that the day is going to be good... not often as we would like BUT I just had to leave work early today.


1600 hrs and I was away from the desk and by 1700 hrs almost at the lake... My hollow tie was deployed in several marks but all failed to attract... BUT I knew I was in the wrong place! As the sun started to dip I decided to go to a mark where I'd lost a reasonable pike previously and decided to play hardball... I knew that I'd scored in this mark with dark flies... black or olive and decided to use one of my pal, Simon Graham's ties. Simon has become a great pal over the ether and we occasionally phone each other to chew the fat...

I have digressed the tube fly... very wet at the moment is an olive raccoon tail, gold flash and brown raccoon head with a gold conehead... I armed it with a Sakuma Manta 2/0...

I cast into a mark where I'd had a loss earlier this year casting beyond the lilies and bringing the fly back on both sides of the V... Nothing was doing. However there is another slot in the lilies 6ft away but a difficult cast... more a back cast between the shrubbery and cast to the open water but then cast it onto the corner of the small lily pads... hopping it over the top of them and then dropping it into the water. Second cast and as it just dropped into the water a bait fish went vertical and with a boil of the water I was in...

Boy did this fish run for open water... a strong fish that I was keen to subdue quickly and get back in quickly... My newly built rod, the self built Harrison Lohric 9' 9# was perfection itself and at no point did I feel out of control...

So between my pal Simon Graham and my friends Steve Harrison and Mike Helliwell at Harrison Advanced Rods I banked a personal best at 16lb... (may not be big by some standards BUT I've worked this lake hard in all weathers to winkle this fish out!)

The photos are from the phone again... and thanks to the lad who took the photos (don't know who he was but earlier he'd asked if he could watch me as he'd a) never seen anyone fly fish for pike and b) he'd never seen a pike)!

Its either bitten you or it is bleeding badly as plenty blood about!
What was it?

Is that a touch of "Raker rash" there on your left hand Offshore?.
Nice fish.

Sean

Nice fish, congratulations !

Nigel

The right had raker rash and the tip of my left index finger had been opened by a tooth (bled like a pig)!! LOL so the blood was all mine... I 'd got her in reasonably quickly and she was still a bit green in the net... lively lass!

Bleeding like a stuck pig and She ripped your jeans too.
That pike fishing is a dangerous game
ATB
Graham

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It is in truth not glory,nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting,but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with his life.(Declaration of Arbroath, 1320)

Good stuff
Nice fish anyway
Whats raker rash?

Well done David.
I bet the new build rod worked well.
BTW when we fish next together i will show you the new puncture proof glove i have been using for handling pike.

T

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Raker rash is what you get from the gill rakers (very sharp) if you don't wear gloves.

Well done that man - lovely fish!

Thanks guys... Simon's fly... that did the biz...