The original plan had been to paddle from the nearby Broad up the connecting dyke onto the river, and up to an old pub that serves superb beer – an all-day 15 mile troll. Sadly this wasn’t to be as I was feeling a bit rough from a bout of short-term flu so instead we stuck to the broad itself and a short excursion up the dyke.
Launching at about 9:30 we paddled around the bottom edge before heading up towards the top end where the dyke leads out to the river. About a quarter of the way up I was reminded of the thrill of a run when my starboard reel began to screech out against the ratchet. This line carried a Shakespeare Big S lure in blue mackerel pattern which has proved time and again to work well on this water.
In came Jack Pike, no doubt annoyed at not having a square meal!
The wind was pretty strong and I drifted into the moorings at the side, crossing my other line and making a right balls-up of things. While the pike was in closer it further complicated matters by getting the lure across his mouth, putting hooks in both sides of his mouth and limiting the room I would have to remove them. Still, I got it sorted out, weighed it in at 4lb 2oz and had a quick photo taken by my mate
All done, I placed it back in the water alongside the yak and held it until it was recovered from its ordeal and swam off under its own steam. First fish of the new season and a nice fight.
Having sorted my tackle out again I carried on trolling for the next 3 hours but apart from catching a lost keepnet (that weighed a ton) off the bottom, an overhanging tree or two, some reeds and a cruiser I had no more runs. Nor did my mate sadly. A cracking mornings yakking though, and great to be back after my favourite fish.
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