First Pike of the Year, Finally!

A lean and mean, fighting machine!

Blanking at Cheddar Reservoir on Sunday meant I had some bait left over, so rather than throw it away I grabbed a couple of hours pike fishing yesterday afternoon. With only a short amount of time available to me I needed a good local venue for a decent chance of catching, so I popped down to the River Axe at Shiplate Farm. I was soon casting out the rods, 15lb breaking strain line, 30lb wire trace and size 6 treble hooks, a small mackerel on one and a lamprey section on the other. I didn't have to wait long for a few bleeps on the alarm to alert me to a drop back bite, I picked up the rod, set the hooks hard and a small but very lively jack was soon splashing on the surface. Despite it's size the pike put up an excellent scrap and provided me with a fun few minutes of sport! It was to be the only fish of the afternoon but I went home happy to have finally caught my first pike of this year. For information on Shiplate Farm Fishery visit www.shiplatefisheries.co.uk or call Steve on 07895852162.