River Ekete 31-05-08

[Wandering_Angler]

Here is a thought for you, when was the last time you went to a premium water on a warm Saturday in early summer with good access by main road and been the only one on the bank for the whole day? That is exactly what happened when my good friend Marius and I ventured to the River Ekete at Radailai.

My mission for the day was to show Marius how to apply English methods using English tackle and get results :) oh and to try and catch a few myself ;) In Lithuania, most anglers (not all) apply a rather curious tactic of fishing a float set high in the water, usually on 10LB line or above, a size 10 hook or bigger with a feeder rod. It is actually almost impossible to buy hooks under size 16 and line less than 4LBs. (I import mine or get them on special order from my very helpful local tackle dealer).

The birds were happily chirping a mixture of tuneful melodies joined by a rather noisy chorus of frogs, the sun was high, the sky an unblemished shade of blue and the air, even at 7.00am, was warm! As a result my mood was good and my confidence high!



On arrival I helped Marius load his new reel complete with match spool with 4LB line (the lightest we could find at short notice), attached it to his new 13 foot carbon match rod, tied a size 16 hook to 2LB nylon, added 3 size 8 dropper shot (the guy in the tackle shop had been trying to sell them for 5 years) all finished off with a Waggler. I quickly demonstrated the art of plumbing the depth to explore the river bed, gave an impromptu lesson on shot patterns and loose feeding, chatted briefly about fishing to hand and targeting what is in front of you rather than trying to break the world distance casting record, then sat back and waited for the tangles.



…and waited, and waited, and waited! The fact is that although Marius claimed that all he had ever learned about fishing had gone out of the window and he was unable to use any of it when employing the new method he was now using, he was an astonishingly fast learner. With the exception of a few moments of help required using a disgorger to unhook a very deeply hooked Rudd, he didn’t really need me there at all.

So with this evident, I decided to throw some tackle together and have a go fishing to a tree, yes you did read that correctly, a tree in the middle of the river. It was a beautiful swim; lily pads lined the margins on both sides and stretched across on my side almost to the tree. Beyond the tree a heavily weeded channel joined the river from the back of an island where, as is normal for this swim, Pike swirled and rushed and generally laughed at my Smelt dead bait that we had offered when first arriving. I swear, at one point, with my bait now offered at only 12 inches depth, a Pike leapt from the water within 6 inches of my bung float, raising one fin in my direction as he did so!



The action was constant, the fish generally small but an ideal stamp for somebody coming to terms with an entirely new way of fishing. As always the Lithuanian countryside kept us entertained with Storks, Eagles, Frogs and the like and a very big thank you to Marius for providing some excellent banter, much more entertaining than fishing alone!



In the end Marius ended up with 90 fish in around 6 hours, he didn’t hit one snag, or have any tangles. To pile still more credit on an excellent pupil, before this session his previous best for the number of fish caught in a day was 10!

When taking the nets out I noticed the floor was littered with the skin casings from crickets and all other manner of creepy crawlies prone to shedding their skin.



I managed 220, Roach, Rudd, Perch, Silver and Common Bream but this session was not about me, it was about two friends enjoying the sunshine and passing on some knowledge. Now to end this story on a high, Marius returned all 90 of his fish and plans to spread the word! It is a small start but from little acorns grows a nation of young anglers with good bank side etiquette and an understanding of conservation :)



On a final note, if you ever do venture to the River Ekete at Radailai and feel as parched as we did after a session filling your net, try the local pub, you can drink beer while watching Carp in the pond that stretches through the beer garden :)

[pingu]

wow great read and top session there well done

dave

[Norfolkboy]

Awesome stuff

[Wandering_Angler]

thanks very much :)

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Really enjoy reading your posts mate - keep them coming

[Wandering_Angler]

Thanks Richard, I will try to keep up the standard :)

[Twiddler]

I can only ditto what Richard said, I enjoy reading about your fishing adventures, keep them coming, very enjoyable reads...and well done to yet another cracking bag of fish

P.S some beautiful pictures too

[Gerardfc]

Great Read and Great Pictures

[Wandering_Angler]

Thanks guys, without the kind words of the people who read these reports there would be no point in writing them so the biggest thanks goes to you guys :)

[Michael1992]

Is there any specimen fish to catch in Lithuania?
I mean, I would happily catch small fish all day, But surely theres some better, Bigger fish in these rivers and lake thats you fish?
Just a quick Question . . .
Another cracking bag by the way :)
Michael!