The Lure of Pike.

 With all the attention focused on the weather and the battering we were due to receive, I was only really thinking about one thing fishing wise and that was what new features the felled trees would create on my local rivers, a mixture of back eddy's, riffles and fast straights, channelling out fresh new gravel beds where silt used to lay and also creating hold ups where fry can escape the flood waters and all spots where the bigger fish can rest up and intercept food off the creases.

 As for us anglers these new features are always good places to cast a line as they will always attract a range of different species of fish and make them hotspots for anglers like myself to target, but this doesn't always apply to just rivers, lakes are also affected by the weather and for my target on this occasion, trees and bushes in the water or overhanging shrubbery where Pike and and Perch hide are perfect areas to cast to as these species of fish tend to use them as stations where they will lay up and wait to ambush unsuspecting silver fish or in this case one of my lures.

 The weather when I left the warm house was sunny and barely a cloud in the sky, by the time I got to my chosen destination the weather had turned ugly, the rain lashing down and soaking me through to the bone in a matter of two minutes and the unwanted flash of lightning across the sky directly above me, the session didn't start as I had expected but it did however bring plenty of cloud cover, Pike and Perch always seem to feed better when the sun is not out, on went a little diver that works the water to a depth of around 2.5 feet and worked the far bank.

 Five minutes later I had a Perch follow and the cast after a Perch of 7oz or so was caught, about 10 casts after the Perch I got a solid take and my tiny 6ft spinning rod bent double, it was either a monster Perch or a Pike and after a minute or so the latter came up off the bottom and tussled with me for a while, 3 minutes later a nice Esox Lucius laid in the net to revive whilst I sorted out the camera and the weighing.

 A beautifully marked 6lb Pike that fought very well, a perfect Autumn fish albeit not very big but I don't believe they grow big here and they are very young fish, but it holds a good head of Perch and I know they grow over the 3lb barrier, they are my target here but any fish here is good fun as this Pike proved, below is the Pike along with the lure that did the job, and also another two Perch came out on the lure with a few more follows but no more takers and nothing more than 12ozs, I'll be back for some more stripeys come closer to the winter when the water temperature drops.