Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

Information Page

Freshwater Fishing

For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over several years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish. The Freshwater stuff is also up to date now. I keep adding to both. These pages are effectively my diary and the latest will usually be about fishing in the previous day or two. As you see I also add the odd piece from my friends and correspondents if I've not been doing much. The Tactics pages which are chiefly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science are also updated regularly and (I think) worth a read (the earlier ones are mostly tackle and 'how to do it' stuff).

Size doesn't matter!

It was a beautiful afternoon and almost the last day of the coarse fishing season on the rivers so I decided to try a spot of spinning. The water levels are still rock bottom so, in order to avoid constant snagging and to give myself a chance of several species I clipped a shallow diving J9 Rapala onto the trace. Using this lure I can fish effectively just about anywhere except for the odd deep pool. Anyway, ever hopeful, I set off.

Being a weekday there were few anglers about but after trudging some distance without a bite I came across another bloke with two rods on buzzers. It appeared that he was using deadbaits but 'hadn't had a touch'. He said that at first he'd tried a bit of spinning before settling down to his deadbaiting. We nattered for a while and then I moved off downstream to continue my fishing. I hadn't gone more than fifty metres or so when I came to a bit of a bend in the river. I pitched the little plug across to the far bank and began to retrieve. As the lure came up the gravel slope on my side it stopped dead. "Bottom!" I thought and simply held the line tight for a second to assess the situation. Almost at once I felt 'the bottom' move and knew it was a fish.

Several times the fish took line from my reel and it was a couple of minutes before I got a look at it. No monster but a nice pike of perhaps ten or twelve pounds. After a bit odf a tussle I was able to lift the fish onto the grassy bank, remove the hook, take a picture and return it to the water. Excellent! I continued on downstream but apart from a decent perch which unhooked itself and swam off as I reached down to lift it out that was my sport for the afternoon. When I returned the other chap was still biteless as were two other blokes who had set up nearer the car park so I was well pleased with my little lure.

If you have any comments or questions about fish, methods, tactics or 'what have you!' get in touch with me by sending an E-MAIL to - docladle@hotmail.com

Nice pike.