The last Pike of the old year

Charles Rangeley-Wilson and I were going to fish together for Pike today but a mid-morning telephone summit decided that it would be better waiting for the rain and wind to stop when conditions will be milder and propitious.

Lunch eaten, I was cleaning reels and sorting gear when I decided a short visit to the estate lake was a good idea, where there is plenty of shelter under the trees so shucks to the weather or words to that effect! The car is loaded up in the rain and wind and off I go. When I get there I’ve got all three lakes to myself, is that good or bad? There’s no sign of fish moving on any of them but to catch a fish the bait has to be in the water…

Within minutes two float fished dead roach are out there under two bright red fluorescent pike floats, one fishing deep and one fishing shallower. The contrast of the floats with the grey green water is enough to cheer any fisherman up, even with the prospect being that nothing might be caught.

There is something beautifully aesthetic about a pike bung painted in the right colour; yellow is OK, so is orange but red is just the best colour of the lot, cheery and optimistic at the same time. It may be raining and windy but I know there are Pike down there.

Just as dusk is closing in the shallower of the two floats bobs once, twice and sets off for the reeds, the Pike isn’t big but it’s fit and beautifully marked. No more runs or takes as it gets dark but who cares, a lovely fish netted and optimism at a new high for 2013.

Charles we should have gone down to the Old Bedford River, but there’s always next year.