Grinding Out Results.

 

 What a washout this winter is turning out to be. God awful wind, insane amounts of rainfall is making getting out on the bank a chore, thats before a trot or cast is made. 

 Two visits to the R.Itchen and one to the R.Blackwater for Barbel have all been a total blank without more than a half hearted tap on the rod ( most likely a chub ) on the Itchen and one Chub off the R.Blackwater, not inspiring returns on substantial efforts and expense.

A very full and flooded R.Itchen.

 With the Barbel not playing ball I decided to target predators yesterday. With Pike and Perch in mind I packed light to try and find a fish or two using live and dead baits. My faith in the previous always has me keeping dead's in the bag until I've eeked out what I feel is possible and very quickly success was struck in the shape of a 9lb 6oz pike which was nice.

 Not to be content with that I went hunting for more and quickly found another a bit smaller which nailed the bait but unfortunately came off as it shook the treble violently enough that it came free, half an hour later I suffered the same fate with another Pike of similar size to the one I landed so I wasn't too upset about that and by 10am the float dipped and sailed away for the fourth time with what was a better fish.

 Watching the Pike slip out of its lair to stalk and snaffle its prey ( my bait ) is so exhilarating, the heart rate does shoot up and as I watched the gills flare and bait disappear I allowed it a couple seconds before setting the hook, a short but sturdy battle ensued before I slipped the net under this decent fish ( 13lb 4oz ).

 A good fish to build upon I thought. It took over an hour before anymore action was had as things looked to tail off but there was one last piece of action in store and that was in the shape of a good upper double that made no mistake in inhaling my bait as it drifted downstream on the pacy flow, I left it a couple seconds like I always do and the hook was set, a powerful fish looked to put my new Drennan Esox " Piker Bait rod" to the test, frustratingly for me the fight was very short lived as I could see my treble on the edge of it's snout and knew one shake would be enough to loosen its grip and with that, she shook her head and my float came hurtling toward me and the fish with one almighty flick of its tail was gone.

 Luck wasn't really on my side yesterday, yes I had caught two, I'm happy about that but it could and possibly should have been FIVE! Maybe another day I'll cash in on those chips ( preferably for an Itchen double figure Barbel?, just saying ).

 The Perch? They didn't show after three hours of trying at a different locale, but I'll keep trying.