Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

Information Page

16 December 2004.

More pike.

I am not a great 'lure collector'. In fact I only use a very small range of lure types but occasionally I aquire something new to tie on the end of the line as a gift or a swap or even (perish the thought) as a purchase. Just before we went to Ireland in November I was given one of those odd, fish-shaped gadgets that the anglers in the USA seem to love so dearly. The line attaches to a ring about one third of the way back from the lures nose and it has two trebles dangling underneath. It is a sinker with no diving vane and a trial in a local ditch showed that it vibrates like hell as you retrieve. I was intrigued and having decided that it had potential I tried the lure for bass and caught a couple of decent ones. Very good!

Last week I went piking and after flogging away fruitlessly with my favourite spoon I eventually decided to try a change. The new 'vibrator' was in my box so on it went. The lure was much too small for pike in my judgement but it did have a good action and appearence. First cast, as the lure reached a point under the rod tip, there was a swirl and I hooked a two pound pike. I moved to a weir pool and had a few more casts. It was almost time for me to go home when I cast right up under the sill. Wallop - another pike about three times the size of the first. I have now classified the vibrating lure, rightly or wrongly, as a 'small pike' lure along with Mepps, small plugs, Tobys, etc.

This week Ben (he's seven) came to visit for a couple of days. His first words were "When can we go fishing grandad?" That afternoon we went up the river. First we fished for dace but after he had caught a few he was wanting something bigger. I asked if he fancied pike fishing and he needed no second bidding. We walked on down to the pool where I had caught my 26 pounder a few weeks back. Ben's rod was fitted up with braid, a wire trace with a circle hook and half a wine bottle cork for a float. He lobbed it into the pool and waited for a few minutes as it drifted round. It is a large pool and it took some time for the float to work its way into the middle of the eddy but, as it did so there was a huge swirl just by the float. Ben yanked with surprise and the pike missed the bait. I told him to lob it back out and try again. It was five minutes (more like five days for a seven year old believe me) before the float whipped away. Ben leaned back on the rod and the fish was on. It pulled hard so it was some time before the pike 'hove into view'. By now Ben was well away from the bank (trying to avoid being pulled in) so I told him to wind in a bit and come to look at the fish. As he peered over the edge of the bank and saw his quarry his face was a picture. He now played it to a sloping bit of bank where I could lift it out. It was a pound heavier than when I had caught it and still in fine fettle.

There was no way young Ben could pick the fish up so I took a picture of him holding it before we slipped it back. Ben had another fish at the next pool but it was only seven or eight pounds. However, this second fish almost gave him a heart attack as it launched itself into the air when it took the bait. What a session!

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

One up for the vibrator.

A clear view.

Nicely hooked.

Ben hard at it.

Landed.

Saved for last.