As my current water is not particularly carp friendly, I've been exploring its pike potential with a few trips this year.
Over 4 trips a mate and I have had some good fish, pike from 2 to 21lbs, normally a couple each trip, although we did manage a blank between us each day.
The mate in question is the friend who managed to catch the twenty I lost last year, really into his fishing now, and enjoying it.
Our first pike trip produced 3 to me, and Colin saved a blank with the small jack last knockings.
My fish were two around 6lb, and a scrappy 16 with a missing pec.
The next trip, Colin managed another couple of jacks, and again I had 3, topped with a 17. The 17 was a bit of a nightmare, not the fish, but the idiot dog walker who as I was unhooking it, got so close to the rod tip, moved it away from his face, and pulled the treble under my nail, more problems unhooking me than the pike.
Unfortunately we both blanked next trip, but hey ho.
A week later we were back at the venue, after a couple of casts I cast a whole joey mackeral, and within minutes, a finicky take with just a few bleeps and a nodding rod tip, no line pulled out the clip I hit into this beauty at 21lb
The smile is very real, only my second ever pike over 20, worthy of a new PB at 21.
Chuffed