A few hours with JP

[headless]

JP posted a tread about Spinning out from Swaffam, I contacted JP and arranged to meet Saturday morning for a go at the river Ouse Pike and Zander at Ely

With all the rain over the last week I did warn JP that the river may be in flood making fishing difficult, I arrived at the Ouse around 10ish, the river was high and pushing through with loads of debris but it had a good colour, the sun was out, the conditions were far from ideal

I had a missed run before JP arrived, JP arrived around 12ish, after a cuppa we concentrated on trying to catch a Zander

Within an hour I caught a Pike approx 6-7lb shortly follwed by JP catching a Pike of around 4-5lb, both on dead baits, we had a few knocks over the next couple of hours, I then had a very subtle bite which I struck at and connected with a Zander just under 7.5lb, it was the first Zander JP had seen,

We fished on for another hour hoping that Jp could hit into one of the Ouse Zeds but it was not to be, with JP's 5hr journey home we had to give up at 5ish

Below are a couple of pictures of the area JP fished and the Zander I caught

Its a shame JP did not connect with his first Zed but considering the water conditions I think we both done well









Sorry about the picture quality, I left my camera at home, these were taken on my Blackberry and it was late in the day

Darrell

[JustMark]

Nice report. And the pics aren't that bad.

Well done to both of you, and especially to JP for a 10 hour round trip. That's dedication.

[headless]

JP was in the Norfolk area for a family occasion, but still a long journey home in the dark

well done mate

Darrell

[BaggieRich]

Well done to both of you. Nice Zed

[ben lee]

Well done guys.
Pics look great on my mobile.

[pingu]

nice one , lovely looking place

dave

[fullcreel]

Here's a pic of Headless, battling his Zander. Lovely light.

[Simon N]

Well Done Guys, Great Zed Even With The Difficult Conditions, Great Result

[Jolly Piscator]

Well, after failing to connect with or even see a zander at the forum meet in Gloucester I found I had to venture deep into Zed territory for family reasons , should I take a rod with ? what would you do ?
I did however want to keep it minimal and leave plenty of room in the car for picking up sisters, so just took the spinning rod & a few lures.
Darrell had picked up on my thread and invited me to join him on the Great Ouse.
After my commitments had been fulfilled manage to get to the bank just out from Ely before noon.
I spent about the first 45 mins spinning but conditions weren't ideal and all I'd managed to catch was a pair of discarded boxer shorts After Darrell landed a nice pike on a trout deadbait it was time for another cup of tea and a rethink. Off came the lure on went a dead bait rig Darrell kindly gave me armed with a nice slice of trout. Then the waiting began.
I can definitely recommend fishing with Headless, as well as being good company he always seems to travel with a small kitchen and a hot bacon butty was very welcome on a bright but chilly day.
At about 3 pm we joked that Richard always says that's when the fish feed , well he's on to something , within minutes I had a slow run and managed to land my first Ouse pike not a whopper at 4 or 5 lbs but I was chuffed none the less. (sorry no pic of that one)
It all went quiet for the next hour till Darrell struck into his Zander and with much head shaking it came to the net, a formidable specimen and the first one I've seen. I stuck around for another hour in the fading light hoping another one would show but it wasn't to be and with a long drive ahead of me I reluctantly packed up just after five.
I didn't get my hoped for zander but it had been a very enjoyable day in a lovely spot , many thanks Darrell for all the cups of tea & introducing me to the Ouse Hope I can find a reason to get back there one day.