An evening session

Just one of those spur of the moment decisions - last night I went out onto the marsh and fished for eels. Simon, Benno, Luke and I have a, pike fishing, social planned for Saturday; when we're headed off to an inland sea in some, God forsaken, place beyond the Kentish border. How can these two events have anything in common? They're as alike as chalk and cheese - but, being me, I thought it prudent to see if my "Big Pit 70's" were still serviceable? So mounted them on a couple of Dragoncarp "Fusion Expert" 2.5 lbs t/c, 12 footers and headed off into the evening sunshine for a quick session after Anguilla anguilla.  Jim Gibbinson being a guiding light in much of my approach to eel angling - "they're most active in the first two hours after dark!" I stayed until 20.30 hrs and actually caught one. I also got bitten off by a pike. It was, therefore, not a complete waste of effort. What did I learn about the reels? Nothing new, they are, at best, adequate. Those rods, however, are a complete joke; something I should have realized when I purchased three (brand new) for less than £28! They are atrocious, even Runner Beans would feel ashamed of growing up these shambolic poles. I would have to seriously consider whether I will allow Bryn to use them, such is the bizarre taper and resultant action of these items - they really are the worst fishing rods I've ever held. No surprise in reality - you get exactly what you pay for.

Total over-kill? The drain is less than 10m wide, so why use kit that was designed for
120m plus? Because I can - I suppose!

I purchased these rods when the Ramsgate branch of Dragoncarp held it's closing down sale and thought that they would be OK for the kids to use, because it wouldn't matter if they got damaged/broken. What hadn't crossed my mind is the fact that the rods are of such poor design that they might impact on the ability of my grandchildren to learn about the techniques of angling because they'd be hampered by the inadequacies of the equipment. There might be three on E bay, very shortly, I'd happily take a tenner for the lot! (That's ten cans of Tyskie - Polish Lager - in our local corner shop!)

Benno, Luke & me - our pike fishing social in 2014

The pike fishing social will be a whole different ball game. It's very true that we're headed into Sussex for a gathering of the clan, but we're doing so with every intent of giving it our best shot. The bait boats are fully serviced, batteries charged and the fish finders being very latest versions we're able to obtain. Simon loves this aspect of angling technology and has made his own custom templates to enable him to manufacture these fiberglass items completely to our specifications. The use of these bait boats allows us to fish our baits, accurately and safely, in areas way beyond our casting capabilities, hence the requirement for my owning those hideous "Big Pit 70's" reels - loaded with 300m, 50 lbs b.s. of Berkley Whiplash Crystal braid. When we're fishing at these extreme ranges, there is no place for mono, and its' inherent stretch, when attempting to set the hooks at such distances. Benno is on the case for our bait supply and Sye has a few ideas for bait presentations which he's developed since our last Scotland trip. It's a big fish venue, thus we are going to use tactics aimed at these particular pike. It's always been my logic - big baits = big fish! I have had cause to reappraise this stance, just recently, but still feel that the basic facts are big pike are lazy and will take advantage of minimal effort for maximum return. In basic terms - a big dead bait is more likely to be picked up by a big pike than a small one! Obviously there are no rules, but statistics would support the theory, although I can recall plenty of occasions when it is a complete farce and a silly jack has picked up a whole Mackerel which is nearly as long as the pike itself.