the happy leapfrogger

[fishypaul]

after a rather difficult period of late i decided to wander off the beaten track and fish parts of the lake that are not fished so often,
i had the usual lunatic start to the day by getting up at 0330 and was fishing within the hour,
the lake was silent and totally still and it was bitter the thermometer in the car said minus 4 ,the puddles on the track were frozen and everything was covered in frost.
i made my way up a long thin peninsula which offers fishing on both sides,it can be a bit exposed at times but well worth the effort as there are numerous swims all the way up with deep water and pikey looking swims everywhere.
i planned to start at the very end and slowly leap frog my way down covering as much water as possible.
nothing happened during darkness ( as usual ) and a brilliant sunrise soon warmed things up giving me a wonderful view of most of the lake

to the left

in front

to the right

behind me
as you can see i had plenty of water to work on
the first bit of action came at 0745 when i had a violent take on a spinnerbait this was a jack of about 5lb,it was a bit too cold for lure fishing though,it was hands in the pockets weather

at 0915 my middle rod which was baited with a sardine gave a rapid drop back and i was soon into a very strong fish that stayed deep and didn't want to come in at all , after 5 minutes or so i managed to chin out a handsome looking fish which turned the scales at 18lb 3oz,a nice start to the day

there soon follwed another jack on a half herring and then a very nice fish of 12lb 10 oz on a wobbled smelt
fish were coming up regularly now and i had another couple of fish during the afternoon,one of about 5lb and the other about 8
all the fish came from different swims and by the time i ran out of steam ( and daylight ) i had leapfrogged about 500 yards down the bank for the reward of 7 fish
it was a very good day but very tiring,constantly changing swims and moving your gear can be a pain but was worth it in the end

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Wonderful read mate and 7 fish

And to have a pike like this is tops

[baitmaster]

top angling paul i know you,ve been finding it hard of and what a good reward for your effort especially the 18lber

nice views of the lake

tightlines
kevin

[Rob M]

Nice report and pictures mate. It's always worth it when you land a fish like that! Well done mate.

Rob

[perch_king]

nice report mate and nice looking pike there and some nice view of the lake well done

[Norfolkboy]

Sounds a great day Paul, well done.

[Ben]

good work dude
how much long in have we got unitl closed season now?

[fishypaul]

Originally Posted by Ben

good work dude
how much long in have we got unitl closed season now?

bout 4 weeks mate

[BaggieRich]

You know what I'm going to say about the start time Paul, so I won't even say it. Well, okay, maybe just a little "your mad" and leave it at that!

Cracking session mate, with an absolutely belting pike thrown in as well. Fully deserved after the work and hours you've put in. I'm really gonna have to tag along with Ping on one of these sessions soon. It looks like great sport.

Nice one mate.

[pingu]

well done paul, well chuffed for you

got to be so glad to have stopped those gruelers

thats a fat old girl as well