i needed them thermals

[fishypaul]

brrrrr !!! that was chilly,
they said it was going to be cold but that was bl**dy cold,
got at the usual unearthly hour and was on the lakeside by 0430,it was a crisp and still morning without a breath of wind
the lake looked like a sheet of glass,
it looked so good,i was sure a fish or two was going to show itself,
quickly got set up,it was so easy,the moonlight was so bright i barely needed my headlamp
i was fishing and comfortable by 0500 with the stove cooking my breakfast

within 15 minutes i had a thick layer of frost on my brolly and unhooking mat but i was happy
this is what piking is all about and the beautiful sunrise soon after just underlined it.

as usual i had no interest during darkness but at 0630 i had a short stuttering take on a half mackerel which resulted in
a very lively 9 1/2 lb pike the landing of which was made all the more difficult because the net had frozen to the tree i had leant it against,
after a celebratory brew up i settled down to enjoy the morning,it was bright and sunny without a breath of wind .

run number two soon arrived in the shape of a screaming take on my right hand rod baited with a whole herring,this fish gave me some heart stopping moments and fought like a demon,i didn't see it for a few minutes and kept deep,i was more than a little surprised when a low double finally surfaced,i was expecting bigger.
this was weighed in at 11 3/4 lb and was in A1 condition as you can see.

all went quiet after that,there are definate feeding patterns developing here,and they are different from last year,you get a first light spell and then quiet until midday when they feed again with another late afternoon
( the afternoon one didn't happen today )

the quiet spell was broken at 1130 by a drop back on my middle rod with a half herring on,this gave a good account of itself and turned the scales at 10lb 4oz. 2 doubles and only lunchtime,things were looking good
an hour later i had a vicious take on my left hand rod which had been ignored all morning,this was baited with a dead roach and a fish of about 7lb - ish was soon returned,after re baiting this rod it had only been in the water about a minute when it shot off again,this time it was a pike of about 4lb ,this needed extensive dentistry done as it was trailing 2 sets of wire in its mouth,,but it didn't take long and it swam off strongly.

that was one o'clock,my mate bill got in on the act soon after with the fish of the day going 19 3/4 lb,a long lean fish that in winter condition would probably have gone 25,i will get him in february !!

packed up a little early to avoid the rush hour and to get home in daylight.a very nice day indeed

[Norfolkboy]

Nice one Paul, great report and pics (love the sunrise)

Well done to your mate on his near 20 too

[Rob M]

Well done, I'm well chuffed for you mate! Lovely sunrise pic. I'm in admiration for you getting up so early, but it was rewarded!

Rob

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Cracking Pike session mate

[pingu]

wow paul great report

dead chuffed for ya

that 19lb will be yours once fattened uploo

[baitmaster]

sound a bit of a hectic day paulwell done great sunrise over the lake well done

tightlines
kevin

[mithrandir]

Sounds like a great day out, shows dedication to brave the frost. Nice looking fish and some cracking pictures.

Mike

[Twiddler]

Cracking report/pics Paul.....handsome looking pike there........respect for sticking it out in the frost, shows dedication pays off

I just luuuurrrv the sunrise pic.....must be well worth putting it up for pic of the months

[Greenheart]

Fantastic report & pics Paul, & some nice fish too. Agree with Twiddler that sunrise pics definately a candidate for pic of the month mate. Well done.

[BaggieRich]

Well done mate... Fantastic session. Agree with the others as well, nice sunrise there mate.

So what time did the alarm go off if you were at the lake for 04:30???! It must have REALLY been stupid O'Clock.