Slow Start to Pike Fishing Season

No pike, plenty of swans though!

After a few unproductive hours pike fishing on the River Wye last week I headed to the River Axe on Tuesday in search of my first pike of the season. The stretch of river at Shiplate Farm normally produces a pike or two so I was hopeful of putting a bend in the rod. After a quick chat with Steve I headed to the river and was soon casting out my lamprey baits, these were mounted on size 6 trebles tied to 28lb breaking strain wire and fished on simple running lead rigs to minimise resistance to the pike if one was to pick up the smelly bait. Whilst waiting for the alarm to sound I busied myself by fishing various lures near marginal cover and watching the many swans that inhabit this stretch of the river. A few bleeps on the alarm sounded and I watched the line gently twitch at the rod tip, something was showing an interest! I picked up the rod, counted to ten and hit the bite hard to set the hooks in to the pikes boney mouth only to have a very badly chewed bait come flying back at me, a sure sign that an eel had been the culprit and not my intended target species. Twice in two weeks eels have taken a liking to my pike baits, a similar thing happening last week on the River Wye whilst float fishing a small mackerel. The hours past quickly with no sign of any pike and it wasn't until the end of the day that I saw the only fish of the day, a very small jack of about 2lb snapping at my bait as I retrieved the lamprey rod to pack it up. My second blank in as many trips fishing for pike this season but I will return for another try soon as I know this river has the potential to produce a very big fish! For information on fishing the River Axe at Shiplate Farm or to enquire about the excellent coarse and carp fishing available on the three lakes at this venue call Steve on 07895852162.