Around 2-ish Nick turned up at mine while I was out hunting for a free-range chicken (been watching telly last week) and was already well into a coffee upon my return. He charmed my wife far quicker than I have ever managed clearly. As the yaks were already loaded up (my brace of Prowler 15’s) a quick donning of wet gear was followed by a trip down to the broad to ensure no mice had chewed their way through the hull.
Unloaded, we launched on the slipway and Nick had his first experience of sitting in a Prowler. It was at this point that he noticed that there was not only water beneath him but also that he couldn’t see bottom:
But he wasn’t daunted and paddled out into a beautiful, sunny midwinter afternoon.
I stuck a couple of rods out with Super Shad Raps – bigger lures for winter where possible as a pike won’t waste winter energy on a mouthful but goes for a bellyful of grub if it presents itself – while Nick got used to paddling. We skirted the margins on the south of the broad with the only hook-up being a post behind the houseboats. Up the top, where the dyke begins that leads into the Waveney, Nick had clearly got the hang of things and was at ease:
But he hadn’t seen one of my famous broadland pike. So we carried on down the other side towards the Wherry Hotel where he had stayed on occasion in the past. I decided that we ought to head into the ‘dead end’ – the bay on the northeast – where I’ve seen good fish come out of but have never had a hook-up and then skirt back up to the launch point and beyond.
The wind was pretty strong on this side of the broad and the direction pretty much drove us into the dead end. There was a fair chop on the water too but the 15’s cut through it with ease. Because the water was high (at least a fathom!), the wind was up and it was cold I had kind of given up on a pike as I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of one in the last few weeks when
zzzzz
Hook-up
I thought it had got off as it didn’t put up a fight at this point – winter pike being more lethargic than the summer ones that leap around and tailwalk. In fact it went stiff as a board for a while.
It came to life alongside though. It didn’t fancy being chinned by an ugly bastard I a stupid hat and started to thrash, turn and generally tried to show me its tail. I was slower than normal in chinning it too as the gill cover closest to me was the one with the lure closest to it and two trebles going into my hand would not have been amusing so I had to turn it to chin it effectively. I soon managed it:
This was where Nick really became a friend! I am unused to the luxury of having someone to record my captures and while straightforward record shots are nice it’s always good to have a pic of oneself with a fish and Nick took to this role with aplomb:
Nice huh?
Look at those teeth – like a tiny wee kitten. How sweet! I showed Nick the teeth and how they go backwards and aren’t really anything to worry about (unless you’re a roach) and he mentioned that I might not want to kiss it. This actually seemed like a very good idea for my first pike of the year and is something I have had to do with sharks in the distant past – sharks should be kissed for good luck you see (unless you are in the water of course) and so I gave it a smacker on the snout and slid it back into the water.
It had fallen to a Redhead and my lucky hat had helped no end. Even if I did look like Jed Clampett.
We paddled off to the Wherry where we tied up and I had a celebratory smoke before we paddled back up the broad (Nick using my Carlisle posh paddle this time to see what the difference was) with my wife’s ex-Prowler 15 heading off into the setting sun.
With it getting dark we landed back at out launch point and had a natter with another friendly local piker with a somewhat larger vessel. A nice chap who mentioned being able to make a brew onboard. Info filed for the future…!
Well, being late in we had to load up hurriedly to get back as I had my parents coming for dinner and Nick wanted to drive back down south with his new baby on the roofbars so it was time to bid farewell to her, happy in the knowledge that it was going to a good home with someone who had a few tips and a couple of miles paddling to help him on his way.
Nick, I wish you all the enjoyment i know that kayak can bring. May it be a safe, fun and lucky boat for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment