Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

Information Page

SEA FISHING

For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over several years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish. The Freshwater stuff is also up to date now. I keep adding to both. These pages are effectively my diary and the latest will usually be about fishing in the previous day or two. As you see I also add the odd piece from my friends and correspondents if I've not been doing much. The Tactics pages which are chiefly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science are also updated regularly and (I think) worth a read (the earlier ones are mostly tackle and 'how to do it' stuff).

Not big pike.

Since I got back from my holiday in the West Indies I've had little chance to fish. The rivers have been high and dirty and I have had so many things to catch up with. Anyway, the other day I knew that I should be catching a few more pike for tagging so I delved into the freezer to see if I had any suitable bait. The only things I could find were two very large, old dace that had clearly been in there for some time. I dug them out and poured warm water into the bag so that they would thaw out and become more flexible.

I donned my cold weather gear - hat scarf, fleece, waterproof etc. - and set off for the river in mid-afternoon. It was (for a change) a bright sunny day and I was unsure about the prospects. After a good half-hour with no sign of a pike I was beginning to wonder whether it was a bad choice. Anyway, I trudged through the mud 'til I came to a deep, slow run with an overhanging tree. In went the bait suspended under the usual cork and I let it slowly drift round giving it a twitch every so often to provide a semblance of life. After a couple of minutes there was a green flash and the cork zipped away. In the deep water I'd no idea how big the pike was but knowing the size of the bait I was hopeful. Wrong again! I tightened the line and could feel immediately that I was not attached to a submarine. In fact the pike put up a fair old tussle and there were bouts of tugging and head shaking (by the fish) before I could get it in the net - nicely hooked in the scissors despite the large bait.

After I'd checked for tags (it turned out to be number 0059) I put the pike back and continued fishing. In the next half hour I had bites from five more fish - all small and all failed to get the bait in their mouths properly (I wasn't prepared to wait five minutes for them to gulp it down. Anyway, Half-a-dozen takes on two baits isn't bad. I'll remember where the fish are for next time (either using a lure or a smaller bait) and it was a bit of fun just seeing them.

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

Got one.

Nice.