Phil Spinks- January 2019 Pike Fishing

This entry was posted on 16th January, 2019

Happy New Year to everyone; we are now into the second week of January as I sit down to write this blog. It’s very much unlike me to stick to fishing for just one species for any length of time, but I have to admit, I really do have the pike fishing bug, and in recent winters I've found myself enjoying a more laid back style of pike fishing. Although my small aluminium boat is taxed, I’ve not been out in the boat half as much as I normally am. Instead I seem to keep ending up sitting in my new comfy Advanta chair behind drop off style alarms, waiting for the drop off arms to fall.

Fishing large still waters from the bank is a style of pike fishing that I seem to enjoy much more each winter. Maybe I’m getting older and dare I say slightly lazier in my approach? I don’t feel the need to catch numbers of pike, but instead I’m happy to experience a few blanks, knowing that if or when I receive a bite it may well be a bigger fish.



One problem with this style of fishing is I’m fast running out of venues to fish! I’ve discovered that once I’ve managed to catch a few pike from certain pits it’s not long before repeat captures become more and frequent. In addition, and without wanting to sound negative, many of the gravel pits local to me seem to have suffered terribly from cormorants, which then has a knock on effect on the pike stocks, as they have very little food left.

But despite the doom and gloom I have found a few nice pike this winter. One particular session could be described as a red letter day for me. Time off from work is fairly limited working on the retail side of Angling Direct, so not wanting to miss an opportunity I planned a day's pike fishing on Boxing Day. The weather wasn’t great; very cold, bright and very little wind. The plan was to sit behind three dead bait rods, all on alarms, reading a book and drinking my flask of soup; if one of the alarms did burst into life it would be a bonus!



Well, I never did get a chance to read any of the book I took with me on Boxing Day. Obviously the pike didn’t know the weather conditions were all wrong because the drop offs kept falling consistently all day. Pike of 15lb, 15lb 10oz, 16lb 12oz, 17lb 10oz, 18lb 12oz, 20lb 2oz and 20lb 4oz all saw my net. Previous sessions on the same pit had normally produced one or two bites per day for me. Although on an earlier session before Christmas, interestingly in similar conditions, (bright and cold) I managed a 23lb 2oz pike.

I have been back to the pit a couple of times since Boxing Day, but the few fish I have caught have sadly all been repeat captures, so I think it is time to move on.

I have several plans for the end of the season, although I’m not sure if I’ll find the time to try everything I’d like to. The second 20lb pike I caught on Boxing Day was my 49th ever 20lb+ pike, and I would love to see number 50 in my net before the end of the winter. It’s becoming harder each winter for me in regards to finding 20lb pike locally, but you never know what’s around the corner sometimes.