Well I'm back home after the first afternoon/evening RMC Pike session. Not sure that there's much I can conclude from the effort, although another "double" to the tally certainly ensured it wasn't a wasted journey. Three baits in the water by noon, meant that I was starting my session at the point in the day when I'm usually getting on my way home. No sign of any of the regular crowd, with the exception of the rambler who's input was catalyst to this venture. I enjoyed my time on the bank, as usual, but wasn't too sure what I was expecting to happen. At 13.40 hrs, my right hand alarm signalled a bite and, after the usual tussle and bankside rituals, I placed a nice Pike, of 14 lbs 11 oz, into the ET Pike Tube prior to getting the camera kit set up.
A fresh bait in the canal, followed by me moving the other two rods to the east of the one that had seen the bite. And that was my lot!! Not another bleep for the remaining three and a half hours. By the time I started to pack up, there was already a coating of frost on the kit and the wet landing net was rigid! Quite obviously, one session isn't going to allow an understanding of the feeding patterns of the Pike in the venue, but I saw enough to want to get back for a few more visits in the hope of learning more?
Fortunately, angling has the wonderful ability to allow me to engage with so many other aspects of the natural world. Birds, today, weren't that different to any other recent outing but, still kept me entertained whilst awaiting an alarm to signal the next take. Light levels were all over the place, yet I still find it a bit of fun to attempt to get token images of the birds on show. I suppose the best thing is that I make no claim to be a digital photographer, thus happy with the second rate offerings I seem to capture. Todays efforts are just that - efforts! Yet good enough for a blogger to convey the RMC vibe.
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| Spot the Med Gull. RMC snow flakes |
The last few seasons before Covid I fished a venue where the pike would switch on almost exactly 2 hours before sunset and feed for an hour before switching off again, we called it Pike Time. I kept a careful note of times and for those few seasons 70-80% of the pike would be banked in that hour window. When I shared the info on Facebook I found lots of people said their venue had a Pike Time hour but it was a different time of day/night. I’m really starting to believe that pike, being such proficient hunters, only need to feed for an hour a day - but not sure why they all hunt at the same time. Anyway, nice pike - I’m watching your challenge with envy!
ReplyDeleteHi Brian,
DeleteA really interesting comment, so many thanks for taking the time to send it. Over the years I have become very aware of Pike's ability to adopt fairly rigid "feeding spells" which have varied between venues. Strangely, very few fisheries ever produced during the afternoons? Obviously, as my angling experiences have developed, so has my appreciation of acting upon snippets from third parties - be they anglers or not? The situation on the stretch of The Royal Military Canal has been much as I expected. Pike feeding during the first few hours after dawn and then it all goes quiet. By using the leapfrogging technique I have managed to cover much more water and, as a result, coax odd fish to take my baits outside of the expected feeding times. My logic is based upon the theory of these bigger, female, Pike being lazy opportunist feeders looking for maximum return from minimal effort. My dead bait presentations are designed to create just such a situation which, thankfully, seems to working at the moment. The current situation, surrounding an afternoon/evening feeding spell is intriguing enough to warrant further investigation. My usual, early morning sessions will not be sacrificed unless I have good reason to adopt a very different mind-set based upon some outrageous discoveries? Good luck with your own efforts - tight lines - Dylan