All the gear.....

Date fished Halloween 

7am until 12.30pm 

The weather was looking pretty awful for today and there had been heavy rain since my last outing. I was uncertain if the rivers would even be fishable. I had double and triple checked the river levels on line but I was still not sure if it was a good idea to give them a try seeing as storm Aiden was also due. I  finally decided to stay local, I could then scarper home quickly if conditions turned bad.

Ryton and District Angling Club consists of two lakes. I have only fished one of them,  Tilcon in the spring and early summer this year, catching some nice Bream and Tench. The other lake called Stargate contains many species including larger Carp and Pike. I do enjoy fishing for Pike so this was going to be my target today. 

I would fish fairly light with all my tackle fitting in my Ridge Monkey bucket seat so I could rove about quite easily and more likely avoid the heavy downpours! 

I had a new Pike rod ( Korum cult snapper deadbait) to christen, plenty of dead baits and an array of tools to use if required. I packed my small umbrella in too. I was ready! 

Arriving early I parked the car and went to look at the lake. It's a stone's throw from  Tilcon but I have never even seen Stargate before today. It's a fairly large lake, tree lined but with minimal features. The weed beds are fairly dense but of course that won't deter the Pike. The carp were very active. I saw them breaching and crashing about in the middle of the lake alot. I presume the mild weather helped, they certainly were awake! 

I started with float fished deadbait on one rod and the other one I set up to wobble a dead bait. Thinking I could cover more water this way. There are big, deep areas to target a lurking Pike, so I hoped our paths would cross. 

I caught alot of weed on my first few casts so decided to change both to float fished baits. I was soon set up, both rods in likely looking areas as I sat and watched the floats. Mesmerized by their lack of movement, it was really pleasant. When the wind stopped blowing and the sun made an appearance, it was actually very mild. There was a heron fishing on the bank opposite, I watched for a while and it was blanking too! 

Soon the rain came, coupled with the wind it was time to hunker down under the brolly and think about why we come fishing!? 

Am still thinking why? But I think the answer is, because we can!! 

I was leap frogging around the lake now. Not actually! But moving the left hand rod 10 or 15 metres further to my right every 15 to 20 minutes. It all sounded very scientific, but in essence I was fishing my way back to the car. I tried a good few swims but sadly no Pike were feeding. Every time I moved, I wound the rod in slowly hoping for a Pike to take the bait being reeled in. It seemed they were not after a moving or a static bait.

I was soon at the jetty, which was exactly in front of the car. I cast out and waited patiently for a bite. A few heavier spots of rain came now and I took that as a sign. I packed up and was back in the car before the heavens could open. 

Today was a bit of a "recce with rods" trip. I had been meaning to visit Stargate but would feel naked doing that without tackle. In hindsight conditions were not ideal but it was nice to get out anyway. Hopefully there will be some Pike to show you next time, but for now this is the only snapper that got it's photo taken.