Then I turned around, walked back and grabbed my new lures.
Only having a few hours left of daylight I had to stay close and decided to christen 2009 with a bash at Oulton Broad, a mile down the road. I wasn’t really expecting much as there was a strong north easterly (21mph apparently) and it was bloody cold. Added to that I was going to start on two new Rapala Super Shad Raps (Christmas ones) in Nordic Perch and Tiger Peacock patterns - both of which I expect to bring me some good fish this year as perch is a natural food source around here and the pike seem to go for stripy lures and the fluorescent lures seem to be a winner too.
Now you may think that Father Christmas had been very thoughtful this year but I had in fact bought them myself, from my wife, from one of the dealers I visited to give some training to in December - he’d got these two alluring lures new win and I had to cement our relationship by having them ;D So if they are so lovely why wasn’t I expecting much? Simply because they dive to a depth of 5-9 feet and the broad averages around 6 - and has weed on the bottom. Also, in the margins where I usually get takes it’s about 3 so I’d need to keep them close to the yak.
Five minutes after leaving home I was at the slipway with my trusty Prowler 15 largely de-rigged and read to launch. It had to be trolling today to get my paddle fitness back up after a fortnight off and I planned on doing around five miles.
I was travelling light - apart from the two Rapalas I had a new Shakespeare Big S in blue mackerel (its first outing after retiring my last, lucky, one) and a Big S / Little S combo that Cambornecaperpilot had given me at the Trout Meet. Those, a knife, some forceps and whatever was in my PFD plus paddle and a pair of rods would be my lot. I had paddle pants in the van so left my drysuit at home but really should have been more sensible and remembered my Chota boots as they were in the conservatory - desert boots soak up the wet and get very cold!
There were a few pikers out on the water and I trolled out from the slip to the mouth of the dyke. I kept hanging up on weed and having to clear the hooks and the wind was blowing me around a lot as soon as I got to the houseboats. It was quite amusing because I also had a small swell kicked up from the wind in this area of around a 9-12 inches and it was a bloody pain because of the direction, slapping against the yak and making a lot of noise. I changed over to the Shakespeares as I could let more line out and they don’t dive so deep.
Nothing. I wandered onto the flats. Still nothing. Down the central gully to the corner and still nothing. Two hotspots from the past failed to pick anything up too and apart from a snag that got my heartbeat up (I was back on the Rapalas again) I was starting to expect a blank. I was heading into the wind all the way down so at least I was burning up some lard at least. I hoped I might pick up something near the jetties from the boatyard or the boats moored at the entrance to the dead end (another producer in the past) but nothing and so I wandered into the dead end for a bit of respite from the wind. The dead end is somewhere that doesn’t produce for me; I’ve seen fish come from there on baits, some good ones too, but I’ve only ever had one on a trolled lure, last winter when Norm came down and we had a paddle when he bought my other Prowler 15 from me. I did a half circuit and stopped paddling ready to bring the lures in for a break.
ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Followed by a hell of a splashing commotion on the surface - presumably my Blue Mackerel Big S (ooooh I love them!!) had been taken as it started to rise to the surface and this fish had hit it from below. Even some passers by a couple of hundred yards away stopped and started at it! I grabbed the rod, stowed my paddle and started to reel it in. The fish kept coming towards me so I was being slacklined a lot but it stayed on and I got it near the yak, the afternoon sun giving it a lovely warm glow.
I lifted the rod to bring it closer
Beautifully hooked across the front of the mouth.
I was waiting for it to make a dive and run for it but it hardly made any attempt to escape - too much lying on the bottom feeding occasionally (there were a few parasites on its flanks and it had a deep belly). So I reached down and chinned it, taking the hooks out at the side of the yak, the fish nice and calm with a lure across the front of its mouth...
Unhooked, I lifted it up to take a photograph - I couldn’t fit it all in held up so had to lay it down across my legs. A beautifully marked and coloured fish of around 6-8lb in weight (summer time I’d have said six but it was pretty fat and heavy). It laid there in a docile state. A quick snap and a kiss on the top of the head (first fish of the year) and I slid it into the water whereupon it finally showed some enthusiasm for things, splashed me with its tail and dived down for the bottom immediately. Lovely!
I trolled back across the broad and then headed up to the mouth of the dyke again. The wind was biting and my boots were soaked - my toes were now really cold and I headed up to the mouth of the dyke and back before calling it a day. I was well chuffed to have started the New Year with my old friend - an Oulton Broad pike.
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