Esox elusive.

As my few trips to target pike this year have sadly resulted in not much action and only one pike hooked, that I managed to lose due to not having a net handy, I fancied getting the growing green stripey monkey off of my back. A quick text to see if Jake was free and an hour or so later we hit the road. Arriving at the Forth & Clyde Canal a short drive later we were soon fishing and both decided to test out some Gulp! Alive Swimming Eels that Jake had procured recently.

Like most Gulp! lures these stink but have a fantastic swimming action. Surely the pike wouldn't be able to resist?

We thrashed the basin in front of us and cast around the pontoons and moored boats but no bites were forthcoming. After about an hour or so we both scaled down to smaller lures. The water was slightly murky so I went with a Savage Gear Soft 4Play in Firetiger. As we wandered along the canal a bit further we spotted hundreds of tadpoles in the margins and I then switched to an even smaller lure, a Lake Fork Live Baby Shad in Golden Shiner. This again yielded no results unfortunately. By this point Jake had switched to drops shotting Gulp! Sandworm sections for perch, which normally results in pike being caught but this didn't seem to be having the same effect for a change! Heading all the way back to where we started we were both pretty fed up with the lack of action when Jake finally hooked a fish and after I carried out netting duties a nicely coloured perch was on the bank.

A nice golden hue to this spiky little worm gobbling predator and it had nice bright red fins too.

Encouraged by this we carried on fishing heading in the opposite direction along the canal. I scaled up a bit and went with a 3" Kopyto Shad in Roach like colour. Casting to the pontoons and boats on the far side I slowly worked it back across towards me using a slow steady retrieve keeping it close to the bottom but imparting the odd twitch just to try and hopefully illicit a response form any fish it passed by. Plodding along about a metre at a time I finally felt a couple of sharp little tugs and hooked a fish. It soon broke the surface and I could see it was a small jack. I could also see that it didn't look very well hooked. I didn't apply any real pressure to the fish and called along the canal to Jake who had the net. Unfortunately whilst he came along with it the fish took the opportunity to thrash in front of me and spit the lure out before slowly swimming off. After several of hours of fishing with no action at all I was pretty annoyed to lose a second consecutive pike due to not having a net handy! With only a short time left before we had to leave I went back to my methodical approach, standing on a pontoon and casting to a long section of reeds opposite me and with pretty much my last cast I was rewarded with a second bite at the swimming croc cherry. Being a complete idiot though I suddenly realised that the net was further along the pontoon, a fair bit away from me. I had to quickly decide whether to play the fish along there or chance lifting it up the short distance to my hands. I opted for the later and luckily the fish was well hooked this time and stayed on.

My first pike of 2013. Hard earned to say the least!

We headed home, both quite disappointed with the fishing overall, but at the same time glad to have avoided a blank. I was pleased though to get my first pike of the year and whilst canal jacks are good fun I think perhaps we need to start trying some new stretches to try and locate some bigger specimens to work the Gulp! Alive Swimming Eels past. Maybe a less uniform stretch would be nice with a few more natural holding features. Some lily pads would be great as well because after seeing all the tadpoles I'm keen to try some frog lures soon as well for some surface fun.

Tight lines, Hutch.

Glutton for punishment!

Following on from my previous trip to the Forth & Clyde Canal I had to get back with some bigger lures to try for the pike. On arrival the canal was a lot quieter however there was an increase in boat traffic and this had really stirred the canal up leaving it quite coloured. I went with my heavy spinning gear Major Craft Crostage 9'6" 15-42g rod, Shimano Aernos C3000 reel, 20lb Sunline Momentum 4x4 braid, a 20lb wire trace and on the business end a Savage Gear Soft 4Play rigged on a 7g #2/0 jighead.

I began working the same areas as the day before twitching and jerking the lure along pontoons and drop offs. After two and a half hours of walking and searching I still hadn't had a touch! I had also been swapping colours on the Soft 4Play but to no avail. It was hard to believe I was fishing in the same place as the day before when the fish had been throwing themselves at me like girls at a Bieber concert. I had my LRF gear with me as well but I was really trying to resist the urge to use it as I wanted pike on proper pike equipment! After another half an hour of nothing I noticed a small swirl on the surface between the pontoon I was standing on and the bank, my will went and I reached for the LRF gear.

The "swim" a three foot gap between the pontoon and bank.

I still had the same dropshot rig on from yesterday and I rigged the #8 hook with a 1.5" section of Gulp! Sandworm tail. Using classic LRF harbour tactics I dropped the lure in the gap between the pontoon and the wall and gave it a shake. Wallop! The rod tip lurched over instantly as the fish tried to get under the pontoon, a bit of pressure brought it back out again and it went aerial, tangling itself in the overhanging brambles. I quickly slipped the net under it and extracted it from the undergrowth. Typically enough it was a nice little jack again with a hunger for tiny sections of Gulp! Sandworm! I took a couple of pics then released the fish to continue its worm hunting without me!

Gulp! Sandworm claims yet another pike!

A tricky customer from a tricky spot.

I made my way back to the car still working the Soft 4Play but to no avail. I avoided the blank but I was really surprised that the bigger lure didn't yield any fish and due to the topsy turvy nature of the canal I had almost been expecting lots of perch on the pike gear!

At least the fish are active in the canal again though so I hope it won't be long before I can persuade a pike to take something other than lures intended for perch!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

Wakefield wanderer.

About a week ago I headed down to Wakefield in West Yorkshire to visit my in-laws. Normally when I go down to visit I tend to fill the car with carp gear and go carping. This year though I decided to leave the vast amount of carp gear and just take my lure fishing kit in the hope of fishing some of the canals and still waters. As it was a family based holiday the lure fishing gear gives me the chance to pop out to the canal whenever I get an hour or two free from fatherly duties! After we had arrived and got the kids settled my first port of call was to join Wakefield Angling Club. For £32 a year this gives access to miles of the river Calder, the Calder and Hebble Navigation Canal and to loads of other still water fisheries, a bargain if you ask me!

The first day saw me pop down to the nearest stretch of canal and have a wander about. I was really hoping to find some chub as they are supposedly quite prevalent on the canal. With this in mind I went with a simple dropshot approach 5g weight, #8 Owner offset worm hook rigged with a 2" tail section of natural coloured Gulp! Sandworm. A couple of hours wandering and searching saw me hook up with one of the fattest little perch I have ever caught! It measured 25cm on the lure forum ruler and wasn't far off that in girth. Still it was my first perch this year and a blank saver!

My first Perch of 2013.

Fat as a pig!

Next couple of days saw me visiting the stretch of canal a bit more still searching for chub. I tried various approaches with the lures and had a couple of bites on a Cultiva Ring Kick Tail but didn't manage to hook up. A short while later I was bouncing the gulp sandworm section about near some overhanging trees  when I had a large bite and a heavy fish started shaking its head. As it rose up in the water I could see it was a nice sized pike. It tried to make a run or two but was quickly on the surface ready to come in. It was not a well fish and its sides were all scraped and marked and its tail fins and anal fins had fungal growths on them. It probably weighed about seven pounds but I really didn't want to cause the fish any more stress and after a quick photo on the ruler I slipped it back. Typical of the pike to take the worm when previously I had been over the stretch with pike lures It was a good job it had been hooked in the scissors as I don't think my 8lb fluro leader would have lasted long. My mate Jamie joined me soon after and again we fished up and down the canal with pike lures and perch/chub lures but no fish at all. The only thing that happened was that I managed to leave my lure forum ruler on the bank and when I went back of course someone had taken it, gutted!

An accidental capture, this pike was in terrible condition. I hope it recovers.

Jamie casts towards the overhanging trees searching for pike.

Day four and I had permission to take the day and go and fish one of the lagoons in Horbury. My Wakefield Angling Club members book states there are some big pike in the lagoon and that there were no restrictions on lure fishing, so needing no further encouragement I headed down. I met up with Jamie again who had also got a season book and we checked out the biggest of the lagoons. It looked good, clear water, reed lined bays with a steep drop off into deep water about eight foot out, perfect pike habitat! Jamie and I set about working lures around overhanging trees and along the drop offs. I decided to go big so went with a 7" Slug-Go rigged weedless with a 1g Decoy shot on the hook shank to allow the lure to get deeper faster. After an hour or so wandering and working the lure with no action I decided to break out the LRF gear to see if there were any perch about. I rigged up a dropshot rig with a #8 offset worm hook and 7g weight to which I rigged a tail section of Gulp! Sandworm. It took about half an hour to get some action in the form of a small perch, all be it on a section of earthworm!

Battle scarred, it looks like this perch has suffered a big injury in the past

Now I had established there were perch about I decided to try and cover both the perch and the pike by rigging up a Fungus Roach  9.5cm Savage Gear Soft 4play on a 7g #2/0 jighead. I left Jamie valiantly fishing float tactics and lures and I boldly stated "the fish will be in that corner of the lake where the wind has been blowing" and off I went to test the theory! As I worked my way around the lake I met some other anglers carping. They hadn't managed any carp but had picked up a nice 6lb jack on a spinner. After a brief chat I carried on working my way round to the bay facing the wind.

Eventually I made it to the bay and although I had fished all around the lake to get there I still hadn't had a touch. Standing atop a pile of large boulders I cast out into the wind and allowed the lure to sink deep. Once the lure touched the lake bed I would jig it up with a couple of sharp jerks of the rod and allow it to fall back down. In essence it was a very slow sink and draw retrieve only with extra twitches and jerks thrown in to make the lure flicker like a dying roach. When the lure was about thirty feet in front of me a felt a good bite so I dropped the rod tip and took up the slack line before striking into the fish. When fishing soft lures with single hooks its better not to strike straight away, I find that when you drop the rod tip and give them a bit of slack it encourages them to take the lure properly into their mouths. The pause between the bite and striking is only about one or two seconds but it makes all the difference! Anyway, fish on and the fight began with the fish boring deep with a powerful run. As I was quite high up above the water this made the fight a fairly vertical one and the majority of the time it was just a question of holding the fish in the fighting curve as it repeatedly tried to dive. As the fight progressed I could see it was a nice sized pike and eventually she was in the net! I clambered back over the rocks and found some nice soft wet reeds at the waters edge where I could lay the pike safely for unhooking. It was a nice conditioned fish and weighed 8.5lbs, my biggest pike this year and a great result for my first time on the lagoon. The carp angler I had spoken to earlier made his way over to see what I had caught and very kindly took a couple of photos of me with the pike before I slipped her back.

I like the textures in this photo,if only I could of got it focused better!

The 9.5cm Soft 4Play lure proved irresistible to this pike.

My second pike this year weighing in at 8.5lb.

That about wrapped up the fishing for the day and although we carried on for a couple of hours there was no more action. All in all it was an interesting trip and really great to get to know some new waters and with Jamie also learning the lakes I know that when I go back he will have found a few more places for us to fish. As always I can't wait to do it again!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

Autumnal canal session.

Last Friday Jake and I headed to the Forth and Clyde canal for a spot of predator action. We were planning on a session hunting turbot but conditions didn't look great so we headed inland instead. We arrived and quickly started fishing. Jake was drop shotting whilst I opted to fish a variety of small soft plastics on 3.5-7g jigheads. Jake was keen to try and catch my old friend Tony "Scarfish" Montana the perch and we started in the spot where I've caught him twice before. Fishing was tough however with very little action until we moved along and began fishing from a long pontoon. Jake caught a few small perch fishing down between the pontoon and the edge of the canal and then caught a tiny pike which had both of us in fits of laughter.

This small perch took a Gulp! 1" Minnow.

As did this slightly bigger specimen.

How cute is he?

I meanwhile was still trying larger lures and having little joy apart from a long piece of tough rubber that I managed to bully up from the bottom with my Shimano Speedmaster Dropshot rod.

This rubber plank found my Savage Gear Soft 4 Play irresistible!

We then decided to head in the opposite direction, past where we had started, but again there were no signs of any fish. I scaled down a bit and rigged up a Lake Fork Live Baby Shad and after working my way along a pontoon slowly jigging it just off the bottom I managed a tiny jack myself so avoided a blank.

Blank buster.

Shortly afterwards a kingfisher arrived and flew back and forth across the canal, landing on pontoons and tree branches. I tried to sneak up on it and get a picture but failed miserably. Still it was nice to see one as they are beautiful birds and a it was a little reminder that fishing isn't always about catching fish!

Tight lines, Hutch.

An extraordinary week of fishing. Part 3 : Forth & Clyde Canal predators.

With two salt water sessions under our belts we decided to switch to a couple of freshwater marks on Thursday last week. First up was a trip to the section of the Forth & Clyde Canal that runs past the Falkirk Wheel. It's been very productive every time we've visited so far and this time would prove to be no exception although it did take us slightly longer to find the fish. Heading East along the canal and crossing over to fish from a long pontoon opposite the towpath Jake and Ross were first of the mark with a few small jacks and Jake also catching a perch.

Jake's small jacks were all very cute...

...but still demanded respect!

Jake gets the first perch of the day on a silver Lake Fork Live Baby Shad.

Ross wanted some tiny pike action and soon had one on the bank after an epic battle.

Ross quickly also discovered that Lake Fork Live Baby Shads are a perfect mouthful for small Jacks.

I was slightly further along from the them and after missing a couple of takes I finally connected with one and landed a small jack that took a Savage Gear Soft 4Play in dirty roach.

Greedy little jack almost swallowed the lure whole!

Whilst Jake and Ross continued fishing from the pontoon I headed to a spot back towards our starting point where I caught a nice fish during my last visit and whilst I was fishing there they landed a few more jacks and then Ross got a perch.

An even smaller pike for Ross.

A perch too meant I was now due one.

Hoping for a better fish I began slowly working the area from a pontoon. Casting to the reeds on the far side and slowly bouncing it along the bottom back to me. After a while everything went solid and I knew I had a fish on. It wasn't moving much though and at first I suspected it may be a decent jack that was about to go crazy at any moment but as I slowly wound in and the fish came to the surface I could see it was a nice perch. After a bit of head shaking it was in the net and straight away I thought there was some thing familiar about this fish. The scarring on this perch looked similar to that on one I'd caught about 3 months ago from the same stretch. Later examination of the photos would confirm it was indeed the same one!

Hello again!

I've decided to call it Tony on account of the scars it has. I don't normally kiss blokes but made an exception.

The fish was weighed at 1lb and 4oz making it a new PB. Tony has put on an ounce per month since I last caught him and obviously has a little patch in this section of the canal so I may run into him again in the future perhaps!

A nice way to spend the morning and for the second part of our freshwater day we headed off to Loch Lubnaig. Jake had a score to settle with a member of the salmonoid family and Ross fancied one too. I on the other hand was after more perch and hopefully some big ones from a spot I discovered last time Jake and I were there!

Tight lines, Hutch.

Carlingwalk Loch suprise.

On Wed I had a job doing a removal in Castle Douglas so needless to say I built in a bit of time to visit Carlingwalk Loch! The forecast was for heavy persistent rain across Dumfries and Galloway, however when I arrived at the loch after loading the van it was warm and sunny! I only had an hour to fish which meant I couldn't really work my way round the loch. 

I started fishing close to the van where there was a lot of lily pads and weed beds. I wanted to try one of the Croatian bumble lures as we had got hold of a couple and they are perfect for this type of weedy swim. I went with the popper type and cast it out into the weedy growth. The action on the lure was good and it spat water and walked the dog when i gave it little twitches. It was also surprisingly weedless and meant I could work it through lilly pads and over surface weed beds. No bites were forthcoming though so I swapped over to a Savage Gear Soft 4Play in Fungus Roach. I hopped around reedy bays working the lure through the clear water but to no avail. 

With about 15 mins to go until I had to leave I found myself in a little bay. I had waded out till i was knee deep and suddenly noticed a large shoal of little perch milling about my legs! Not one to miss a opportunity I waded back to get my LRF kit and mounted a small 1" tail section of pink Isome on a 1.8g #10 Decoy Rocket jighead. Determined to beat the blank I waded out again and flicked the Isome out beyond the shoal. As I began to retrieve suddenly everything went solid and the little rod arched over, then bounced wildly as the fish gave a massive head shake and bolted! Line screamed off the reel as the fish stayed deep and tore off out the bay. If this was a perch it was a record breaker, if it was a pike I would have to be very lucky indeed to land it as I had no wire trace on! I gently turned the fish and caught sight of a big mottled tail as it made another run, Pike! Oh dear I thought as the pike made another run stripping line off the reel, this cant end well! Every second of the fight I kept picturing the tiny hook bending straight or the pike biting through the 6lb leader. Every time I got the fish close it would scream off at an incredible speed stripping line and pulling my arm off! Eventually and with disbelief I managed to beach a wonderfully fat 7lb fish! The hook was in its scissors and promptly dropped out as I lifted the fish to admire it!

My biggest pike of 2012 so far.

Recovering in some shallow water.

My Corto/Technium LRF combo had dealt magnificently with the fight and I know it would handle a bigger fish as I had to play this one very lightly indeed. What a turn up as I was honestly just trying to catch a little 3" perch and ended up with a beautiful Carlingwalk Loch pike. The fish recovered well from the fight and after a couple of pics she swam strongly away, although what she was doing preying on tiny worms is beyond me. With that it was time to head back to Edinburgh and finish the job, but I was sure glad to beat the blank on work time with a Carlingwalk Loch suprise!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

All along the towpath.

Jake and I met up yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours up the Union Canal targeting pike with our favourite soft plastic, the deadly 9.5cm Savage Gear Soft 4Play in Dirty Roach. Both of us elected to lob them with ultra light tackle and fish them using the weightless Savage Gear "Ready to fish" rigs. 

The weather was overcast and there was the odd light shower but despite this the water was quite clear so I thought it looked promising and hopefully the pike wouldn't be as lethargic as they had been last time when the sun was shining brightly. We worked our way along the towpath and things were very slow with no signs of any activity at all until we reached a point where we had seen a few pike during our last trip. Jake had a follow but like last time the fish seemed a little lethargic, just following behind the lure then stopping and staring at it without actually striking. Jake had a few more casts to try and tempt it but it eventually swam back under the overhanging branches of the tree it had come out from. I had a couple of casts to the other side of the tree and felt what I thought was a snag but then it started to strip some line. Fish on, but it didn't feel quite right and the fight was strange. Only when the pike came into view did we realise it was foul hooked in the underside of its jaw. I played it carefully to the edge so as not to rip the hooks out and damage the fish and Jake chinned it out for me.

At last!

We fished the area for a bit longer but had no further action so we doubled back and started heading towards the car. Again there was no any sign of any fish for a while. We got about half way back to the car when I hooked a second fish at a spot where I'd hooked and lost a big fish several weeks ago. A very subtle take but the pike was hooked in the corner of the mouth this time and put up a spirited little fight before Jake chinned it out and we unhooked it over on the grass.

Slightly bigger second fish. Same happy bloke.

Savage Gear 4 Play in Dirty Roach destroyed I switched over to the Perch colour and we carried on. A bit further along Jake had a follow from a decent perch so he quickly scaled down and rigged up a Gulp! 1" Minnow on a small jighead and tried to tempt it again but unfortunately had no luck doing so. Time was soon up and we headed back to the car. Quite a contrast to all the action we had during our last session on the canal and a rare blank for Jake.

Tight lines, Hutch.

Edinburgh : Street Piking

On Monday Scott and I found ourselves in the vicinity of the Union Canal due to a job we were doing. With the work over by 11.00 and having had the foresight to bring our tackle, we headed to the canal for a short session. I went with my LRF kit, my 7'9" Graphiteleader Corto Ex rod, Shimano Technium 3000SFC reel spooled with Sunline Super PE 0.6 braid and Scott went with a heavier setup of his 9' Daiwa Powermesh X-Spin rod, Daiwa Exceler X-3000 reel spooled with 20lb Power Pro braid.

When we got to the canal we were surprised to see the water was crystal clear! This is very unusual as the canal is normally a pretty murky place and is constantly stirred up by the barges that travel along it. The clear water and bright sunshine meant we could see all the features we normally fish over such as tangles of mountain bikes, traffic cones, shopping trolleys and the odd lamp post!

We both went with the same lure, a Savage Gear 9.5cm Soft 4Play in Dirty Roach, but with 2 different approaches. Scott rigged his with an AGM 7g #2/0 Ultra Ball jighead and I rigged mine weightless on the Savage Gear "ready to fish " single treble hook rig. We began working our lures along the canal and it was great to see them working in the clear water. The lures are so life like that small roach were following the lure about trying to shoal up with it! It wasn't long before Scott spotted a Jack lazily following his lure across the canal. It stopped following and hung motionless in the middle of the canal, Scott made another cast bringing the lure right past it with a slow twitched retrieve but the pike just turned and looked at it before swimming slowly back to the reeds. Frustrating but exiting to be able to see the pikes reactions to the lure! A few minutes later, while searching the far bank with my lure a jack suddenly fired out from the reeds and seized the lure. He shook his head and instantly spat the lure out then went and sulked in the weeds. I consoled myself with the fact that at least this pike had played ball and continued to fish on.

As we both worked our way down the canal we kept getting follows from pike but they were very lethargic and the bright clear conditions were not helping even though it made it pleasant to fish in! 12 pike follows later and half a mile down the canal a young guy approached me saying he could see a wee jack sitting in a reed bed. He showed me where it was and left me to get on with it. The jack was very small, so I rigged up Berkley gulp 1" minnow on a Ecogear 2.3g #8 Shirasu Fine jighead. I cast over him and brought the lure past him with a twitchy slow retrieve. In a flash he seized it, I set the hook and he tried to dive back into the weed bed but being tiny I just reeled him in! Unfortunately the little pike had other ideas and just as I was about to lift him out launched into a little tail walk and threw the hooks!

Meanwhile Scott had been experimenting with some other lures and had manged to get a couple of jacks to attack but with the same results as me, no hook ups. I decided to stick with the micro lures and see if the small perch we had passed were interested. Scott pointed out yet another tiny jack lurking right in close to the reeds. Needing no encouragement I jigged the little lure in front of his face and he totally nailed it! I quickly lifted him out of the water and held possibly the smallest pike I have ever caught!

This micro pike is my new personal worst!

Oh well at least the blank was off! A few minutes later a wee perch fell for the minnow, my first ever perch from the Union Canal! Brilliant! I have a real soft spot for perch no matter how small.

My first Union Canal perch, perfection in miniature.

Another ten minutes later I had another slightly larger jack on the Gulp! 1" Minnow who gave a spirited little fight on my light gear before he was unhooked, photographed and released.

This jack couldn't resist a Berkley Gulp! 1" Minnow!

As we approached our starting point I changed lures and went back to the soft 4 play to try and tempt the first fish I saw again. I had just cast my lure beneath an over hanging tree on the far bank and given a couple of twitches when an unseen pike shot out at speed and grabbed the lure! This time he was well hooked and tore off heading for the reeds. It was a better fish and put a nice bend in my rod. The reel played its part too, with the smooth drag giving line as he darted for cover. After a couple of runs and some impressive tail walking he was soon landed, photographed and returned.

This pike though small put up a great fight on the LRF gear.

It was a bigger pike about 2.5lb which was enormous fun on my light gear! The pike had torn the Soft 4Play off its mount and it was no where to be seen, so I reached into my back pocket for my little lure box. It wasn't there! I checked my other pockets with that horrible cold realisation that my little treasure trove was no longer in my possession! I quickly ran back along the canal to where I remembered last having it but sadly I couldn't find it. In all likelihood someone had found it and taken it! It was a blow to lose some of my lures and I had a few that I'd owned for years in the box. I doubt whoever found it would appreciate what they had.

Oh well It was still an enjoyable few hours and although someone had made off with some of my lures and Scott had blanked it was still good to experience the clear water action of the canal. It beats working all day that's for sure!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

Union Canal : Pike hunt.

On Tuesday Scott had an encounter with a beast of a pike in the canal and after a brief fight lost her.

He estimated it to be approaching a double and although gutted he took solace in the fact we knew where she was hanging out!

So on Wednesday when we had a couple of hours free we decided to head out to see if she was still about. It was a couple of miles up the canal from where we normally fish and after a bit of crosstown traffic arrived at the stretch.

We were both using heavier gear, I was using my Wright and McGill 9' S-Curve Medium drifter, Shimano Aernos 3000 loaded with 20lb Sunline Momentum 4x4. On the Business end I was torn between using a Popper or a savage gear 4play, in the end I opted for the 4 play in dirty Roach rigged on a 7g 2/0 decoy ball jighead. Scott was using his Abu Garcia Blue Max baitcasting outfit and went with the same lure as me.

We started fishing up the canal and my main retrieve technique is to jig the minnow up with a couple of twitches then let it fall whilst retrieving slowly.

We had travelled about 500 metres up the canal when I was hit by a big fish. I was casting around an overhanging tree on the far bank and as I was lifting the lure to recast everything went solid! There was a brief feeling of pressure then slackness as my lure pinged out of her mouth. Cursing my lack of concentration I recast and brought the lure back towards her lie. Again she seized the lure ,I struck and pulled the lure right out of her mouth!

Doh!

First too slow and now too quick. The next cast saw her come up after the lure, spy me, then shoot off in a big flash of green. From the brief glimpse I saw of her and the feel of her attacks it was a big fish. Possibly approaching a double and maybe the same fish Scott had lost the evening before.

We walked another 1/4 of a mile and I had a couple of fish attack the lure but didn't hook up. It was soon time to turn back just as we got to the van we decided to have a wee fish in the stretch below where we started. The canal narrowed under a bridge and this gave the perfect vantage point to cast along the edge of the reeds. I cast then began the jigged retrieve. The lure had travelled about 6' when it was pounced on by a feisty wee jack. Not big maybe a couple of pounds but very welcome all the same and was our first pike from the canal for a couple of months.

The only fish of the day. Lovely markings.

We fished on for another 10 minutes but then had to call time and head back to the van.

It was an interesting quick session even though Scott blanked and I lost the fish. It was very nice to see some bigger Pike inhabiting the canal and we hope to find out how big soon.

Tight Lines, Schogsky.

Another Forth & Clyde Canal perch hunt ruined by jacks!

Jake and I returned to the Forth & Clyde canal this afternoon to continue our search for perch. After seeing a few chasing my lures during our visit there on Friday afternoon and receiving a bit of local knowledge we decided to try a nice wide stretch just to the west of the small village of Banknock.

Our starting point.

It was quite windy when we arrived but at least it was dry. We both had an LRF setup with us for the perch and a slightly heavier setup (heavier by our standards anyway!) as well to fish larger lures to try and tempt any bigger pike that may be lurking.

We worked our way along the canal and it wasn't long before I had caught a couple of jacks in quick succession and whilst I lost a third Jake joined in the fun landing his first one.

First jack of the session. Feisty little bugger.

Jake joins in the fun with a slightly bigger fish.

Jake had a couple more jacks and then whilst I was slowly working a hard 4" Spro BBZ1 Roach lure I had a larger pike, maybe 4lb, follow my lure in but he turned away at the last moment just when I thought he was going to strike. 

Jake caught two more jacks on a Savage Gear Soft 4Play, bouncing it back along the bottom. The second had a deformed upper jaw. Probably the scars of an attack from a larger pike.

Being a guitarist Jake does the odd power slide with his catch.

Savage Gear Soft 4Play in Dirty Roach on a 7g 2/0 jighead. Pike love them.

Slightly deformed lip and scarring. Goes with being a nasty cannibal!

Shortly afterwards I had another on an Abu Garcia Jointed Tormentor in silver/black. Jake was just admiring the action on the lure when it was smashed quite close in to the reeds by a brutal attack that got the adrenaline pumping a bit. Great fun.

You can't beat seeing the take. Awesome aggression for a small fish.

We headed back along the canal, having a cast or two as we went, adding one more pike to both our tallies.

Jake's final fish and the Gulp! 1" Minnow does the business again.

My last fish took a Lake Fork Live Baby Shad in Golden Shiner.

Jake ending up on 6 and me on 4. No sign of any perch though so back to the drawing board on that front.

Great little session and good to see another section of the canal that's full of pike.

Tight lines, Hutch.