anybody catching

well done nice clean fish

This was the biggest of nine pike I caugth last weekend in Scotland at just under 20lb.

A cracking fish mate

Nice one mate well done

well done mate

went out today and managed a couple. i jack and 1 around 7lb, also had an eel around 1 1/2lb

Cracking fish! Well done

Had a session earlier I had a few jacks but my mate snagged this 18lb 4oz

well done to those who are catching some nice looking fish showing

Some very good pike showing, looking forward to getting out myself

Steve french with his mates pike of about 20lb and one Steve had which is a long lean looking pike
Well done lads





Steve will add a bit more to this when he has time

Adie

Cheers Adi, my mate came to visit from Darlington, he is a keen angler but has never targeted Pike, I took him to a lake near home, the deal was that no matter which rod had the first run he would have it, well my rod soon had a run and he struck into the fish and ten minutes later, I was landing the fish in the first photo above, needless to say he was well chuffed, we had two more runs, he had a small jack and I landed the longest fish i have ever caught, it fought like a demon, tail walked twice, unbelievable, all in all agreat session and one more converted to Piking

I've been exploring more of the my local river this autumn, marking up OS maps for stretches i can fish etc. After chatting with a mate last night, i decided on a stretch that i'd not fished before for this morning. The initial aim was to do some trotting for anything that came along, but i was also going to try this new stretch for pike as well. Although pacey, i was reliably informed that there were some deeper holes that may hold a pike or two.

I got there and the river was near normal level but very coloured still, shame. After flogging away at the float for two hours or so, all i'd caught was a dace, so i changed my plan of attack. In came the float rod, and I set a pike rod up cast to an undercut bank. First bait was float fished Pollan, a bait i've not tried much. After 5 mins or so, the float moved to one side, bobbed and then dissapeared. I hit into it, and realised it was nothing special....a 3 1/2lb chub that had spent a while chewing the head of the pollan before getting hooked (not the first time this has happened to me!).

Next cast to the same place i put out a small smelt, my favourite river bait of mine. After 30 mins or so, the float bobbed, and disappeared again. This time, my strike was met by absolutely solid resistance. You know the difference straight away between a jack and a big girl with practice and this just didnt move. After 30 seconds or so it decided enough was enough and absolutely tore off, completely unstoppable, straight into the flow. It took me 5 mins to recover this run, but it tore off again. The fight lasted a good 10 mins before i got it into a netting position, and thats when i realised i was struggling with my 42 inch landing net. I thought i had it, but the pike had other ideas and went for another run. Eventually i was able to get the pike upstream of my net, and the let it sail down into the waiting net. I lifted it out and knew she was a 20. The scales were wavering around 26lb, and the sling was wavering about 1lb. I could have called it 25lb, but i'll be honest and say 24lb 15oz, a river dream come true.

Sorry about the dodgy self takes...

Jimlad'
Superb bit of fishing, the fish is in excellent condition too, many congrats!
A couple of questions. You mentioned that the stretch was pacey' and very coloured just how fast if its possible to explain and what degree of visibiltiy in the water?
Were you float ledgering? if so how many oz. weight did you need to keep the rig in place.
Sorry for all the questions its just that I have some local water here which sounds similiar to yours but I'm not sure what way to approach fishing it.

Now then mate, thanks for that. I fish all along this river, The Tees, one of the best piking rivers in the country in my opinion (i hope it's ok to state river - with many many miles of fishing to go at, this shouldnt specify any location - its certainly no secret that the tees holds fish to 30lb and beyond!). I was float fishing, inline, with a fox egg sinker of about 3/4 oz. There had been a lot of rain a couple of days ago, whilst the levels were back down to normal, the colour was still there. I find location a lot easier when there is plenty of flow, because i find the pike like to keep out the flow. So i simply look for the slacks or any deeper holes. If this coincides with an overhanging tree of undercut bank, all the better. 9 out of 10 pike are caught with a rod length of the bank as well!

Just looking at the fish again then, it is a cracker actually! Beats my previous best by 2.5lb as well.

Some absoulty cracking fish lads! Well done Love that 25! Jealous Im struggling, not a single pike this pike season yet, had a 4lb chub on a smelt! lol

Cracking pike Jim
Well done mate
Adie

Sue and I have got back from blanking on a swollen chocolate coloured river,thinking what a waste of time.Then we see pics.of these stunning pike and we cant wait to get out there again.Well done lads.

very nice fish guys

cracking fish guy

Great fish Jim, very well done

stunning looking fish well in jimlad

Well done jimlad, a beauty of a fish and a nice wee write up.

Wish it was me.