Sunday morning pike action !

 I fished the lures all day on Friday, from 10 am until 6 pm , on 4 different lakes, with just one small pike 4 lb ish. to show for all of my efforts,(which was taken by a much bigger fish as I played it in )

In the picture above, you can just about make out the damage done to this fish by another bigger one, the fish was taken from under the throat, you can make out the size of the mouth ,by the whitish scar markings over its gill covers and back where the scales are missing
I was knackered,by the end of the session, it felt like my arm was going to drop off, and I must have walked a few miles as well. I did not fish on Saturday, mainly because I was so worn out.  

Whilst shopping at Tesco (other stores are available), I had a look on the fish counter(being a chef I always do), and spied some sprats, and sardines, I thought that I might give them a go, for a change, as I had seen a few other anglers on the complex fishing dead-baits.
I set up 2 x 8 ft lure rods, 20-60 gm casting weight, one with a float rig for the sardines, and the other one with a twitching trace for the sprats.Both with 30 lb braid on
I do have a couple of pike rods 2.5 lb TC and 3 lb TC, but I think them unnecessary when fishing smaller waters, where I am only putting the baits out a few feet.
If I were to fish at distance,I would use them ,I find that you can have so much more fun, with smaller lighter rods, still matched with a high B.S. braid.
I arrived at the complex at about 9.30, my first port of call was to the inlet on the 6 pit. I cast the float rig, with the sardine on, into the main flow, and then let it drift round behind some trees, until the bait found the ledge where it came to rest. I cast the twiching rod out, and give it a few twitches back . Nothing doing on the twitch, but the float on the other rod has started to move about, and soon goes on a steady run , a quick early strike and I am in ,first cast ! what's going on!
A good tussle, and a pike of about 5-6 lb is on the bank, this fish had a rather nasty swelling on its lip, where it had been cut by a trace or something, I gave it a bathe with some fish care antiseptic, and sent it on its way.
http://www.harrissportsmail.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=17346

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I recast the float rod, and did the drift around behind the tree again, when it was where I wanted it ,I recast the sprat rod , I let it sink for about 5 seconds and then gave it a little twitch, -sink -twitch,-sink -twitch-sink -hello, I cant twitch it- STRIKE ! fish on !

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This one puts up a great scrap, and tail walks all over the shop, they certainly do fight more now, than earlier in the season.This one is slightly bigger than the first, but has a bit of damage to its dorsal fin, so out comes the fish care kit again.Then he is sent off to get bigger.

I have just about sorted the trace out, and in the process of re-baiting with a sprat ,when I see my float dancing about, then go off on a steady run , again an early strike, and fish on !
That's 3 fish in 4 casts, WHAT'S OCCURRING !

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This one goes ballistic, it is one angry Mother, in the water, and on the bank , thankfully there are no signs of any damage to this fish , so no medic needed this time .This one was slightly bigger than the previous one
6-7 lb ish  (forceps in picture are 12" long)
I have another go with the sprat, but nothing doing.

So I move off to the small weedy lake, where I caught a good size fish, a couple of trips back.
I set the float rod out with a sardine, in about 4 ft of water, by a overhanging bush, and work the sprat through the swim , not a sniff on the twitch , after 20 minutes the float goes on a run, and I net a small jack of about 3 lb <0{{{=<
I move to the next swim,I decide to set up the twiching rod, with a float and fish a static sprat , as I need a bit of a rest(I must be going soft or something) I take this opportunity to stand back a bit, and watch some big carp cruising about ,on the far side of the lake . After about 15 minutes, the sprat gets taken by another jack, of about 4 lbish. <0{{{{=<
I up sticks again, and think about walking up to the top lake to give that a go , however I decide that I will return to the 6 pit, and try another spot, as it is on the way back to the car park and I want to get back to watch the Grand Prix.
Ideally, I am thinking that I would like to go back to my original swim at the inlet, there were a couple of other anglers working their way around the lake, I'm thinking that they would have got  there by now. When I get there, their is no one else in sight. Game on!
My last sardine goes on its drift (they know their way now :)  and I put the sprat rod in front of an eddy, at the beginning of the flow into the lake. Roughly about 5 minutes later the sprat gets taken, and I am in again !

 This is the best fish so far, and its scraps like a "good un",  It made a couple of deep powerful runs, that had the clutch on my reel screaming , and then when I got it closer, it went into every snag that was possible.  "made my arm, ache it did ".
This fish was much chunkier than the others at 80 cms long, was probably a near double figure fish  http://www.csgnetwork.com/fishfreshwtcalc.html  <0{{{{{{{{{{=-<
Again there was some damage to the fins of this fish , so the antiseptic came out ,again.

So that's 6 fish, yes SIX fish, in about 3 hours.

I decide to call it a day, as the sun is right up now, and this normally puts the fish down, so back to the car, and back home in time for the Grand Prix, come on Jenson !
(I am glad that I made a bulk purchase on the sprats, and froze a couple of kilo down for future use :)