Its a Start!

I wouldn't say that we were off to a flying start, but, we're both off the mark with this winters campaign on the first outing.

We arrived early at the Ringstead complex to find conditions quite favourable. The rain that had been forecast earlier in the week for all day wasn't now due until 3 o'clock this afternoon and, other than a moderate SW breeze, the weather was perfect.

The river was running a little higher and faster than usual, if we were fishing anywhere else that might have presented us with a problem, but, there is always the lock-cut at Ringstead. Regardless of what the main river and back brook are doing, this always maintains the same pace. With this in mind, we headed there. A simple roving approach, with float-fished deadbaits, was the order of the day. Nothing complicated required, fish in pikey looking areas and hope that they were hungry!

The lock-cut didn't let us down and it wasn't long before my float started doing the lambada. A group of ramblers were there to witness the net being slipped under a fantastically marked jack pike of about 5lb took on a herring. Not a monster, but we were off to a good start.
We left the swim to settle and went for a bit of a wonder. It was now time to concentrate on catching Mick his first pike! We tried every other water on the complex, the river, brook and the 2 lakes, giving each swim a good twenty minutes before reeling in and moving on. Might not seem very long, but in my experience, if they are there you tend to get them within that time. This seems to especially true on rivers.
A couple of hours passed and we hadn't had a sniff. Other people on the complex were struggling too, only one other jack coming out from one of the lakes. We decided that a cup of tea and a spot of lunch was in order.
Back to the lock-cut we went to set up temporary camp. As the kettle boiled, Micks float finally started to dip, bob and then vanish from site. Narrowly missing the kettle, i jumped to my feet (just how many years to you have to fish for before you develop a little composure in these situations!) to grab the net. Micks first ever Pike lay there in the net. Again not a monster, but
he was more than pleased with this 7 or 8lber. This one fell to a roach deadbait.
On a serious note here, I'm holding the fish for photo because Mick did not want to cause the fish any harm as he is, at the moment, not as confident as he'd like to be with them. If you are not sure what to do you should ask someone to help. This is why fishing with a mate is such a good idea. Pike safety has to come first.
Eventually the rain that had been promised finally caught up with us, as did the news that somebody had finally caught a double from one of the lakes. Reluctantly we headed back to the car to take stock of what had been a good day. There are some places where you know you are going to catch pike. The lock-cut at Ringstead is one of them.

Catch or blank, a day spent fishing, is a day well spent!