Pikelines Issue 122

pacgb.
com
ISSUE 122 Winter 2008
Piking2008Report . WinADayWithDave Kelbrick . TalkingTactics:Drains Features AccidentsHappenDarrenWard ThreeTimesALadyAlixHepworth PikingOverChristmasDavidWillis
UnderTheSkinMickGleeson Unlucky13JasonWoods PresidentsShieldEricEdwards
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PACMissionStatement...
The Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain will work to establish an environment in which pike are valued; both as a sporting fish and necessary part of the management and ecology of fresh waters.
CoverStory
Care&Protect
Special Events Mark Skinner 33 Chestnut Drive, Polegate, East Sussex BN26 5AN. Tel: 077177 754993 email: events@pacgb.co.uk PAC Products Mike Hastings 9 Barking Road, Needham Market, Suffolk IP6 8EN. Tel: 07729 745293 email: pacprodman@btinternet.com Webmaster Dave Lumb email: webmaster@pacgb.co.uk PL Editor/Features Neville Fickling c/oTheTackleShop, Bridge Road, Gainsborough,N.Lincs.DN211JS. Tel: 01427 613002 email: thetackleshop@btconnect.com PL Production/Design Steve Ormrod MyrtleVilla, 68 Bury Road, Radcliffe, Manchester M26 2UU. email:predhunter.o@virgin.net MartynPage, MalcolmBannister, DerekUnsworth, GeoffParkinson, JamesHolgate, PeteHaywood, PhilKirk, MartinPhillips, GeorgeHiggins, JohnRoberts, ChrisLeibbrandt, JohnSynnuck, JohnMilford, LeeKemp, PeterClimo,HowardYendle, CarlGarratt, PaulJennings, Alan Palmer, AlastairSmith, WilmaMcDermid, WilliamColquhoun, DavidBatten, NeilShortland, MarkLeathwood, VickyLeathwood, Steve Ormrod, Tracey Foster, Dave Foster, IanMaguire, Neville Fickling, Ray Farrell, ColinGoodge, BillWinship, Rob Murray, Chas White, Mike Bell, Adrian Brayshaw, Peter Robinson, Mark Ackerley, John Hodgson, MickCulpan and JohnWatson.
Dougie Loughridge returns a big Esox with all the care she deserves. Protect your pike by taking action against pike culls and mistreatment; support the one club that truely cares and conserves.
. . . . . Chairman Colin Goodge . . email: chairman@pacgb.co.uk . . . . President Phil Wakeford . . 17 Ramsbury Drive, Earley, Reading, . . Berks RG6 7RT. . . email: president@pacgb.co.uk . . . . General Secretary Mark Barrett . . email: secretary@pacgb.co.uk . . . . Treasurer John Synnuck . . Avalon, 24F Red Lodge Road, Bexley . . Kent DA5 2JW. . . email: treasurer@pacgb.co.uk . . . . Membership Secretary John Cahill . 312 Hobs Moat Road, Solihull, W.Midlands . . . B92 8JX. Tel:05601 313753 (7-9pm) . . email: memberships@pacgb.co.uk . . . . Communications Officer Chris Bishop . . Tel: 07775 576968 . . email: press@pacgb.co.uk . . . . Promotions & Advertising Mike Kelly . . Tel:01892 513909 07909 854347 . . email: m2mlk@btinternet.com
PAC Committee Contact Details...
PAC Honorary Life Members:
Senior Fellows:
Fred Buller, Dr.BrunoBroughton, Dr.JohnTate , DavidLumb, Graham Stead and Peter S.Green.
PAC Advisory Panel Doctor Bruno Broughton, Professor Barrie Rickards, Doctor JohnTate, Bill Chillingworth and Dave Lumb.
Founding Fellows:
Prof.BarrieRickards, HughReynolds and BillChillingworth.
electronic text files on floppy disc or CD along with a hard-copy. If contributions can be made entirely via email this would be appreciated. Hand-written text must be LEGIBLE. Please include contact details and caption any images sent. Images: electronic files from a digital camera are preferred for quality of reproduction. Please send the largest file size possible: 1MB minimum in JPEG or TIF format. Images may also be submitted as prints (10 x 8 preferred) or 35mm slides, but these must be sharp. If you wish material to be returned please include a protective stamped, addressed envelope. Please send contributions to Neville Fickling, (at the address details above) email text/digital images wherever possible or via the post. We advise sending important material via recorded delivery. PAC reserves the right not to publish material deemed as contradictory to PAC values. 4 For the latest news visit: pacnews.blogspot.com
PikelinesContributions: We welcome contributions to Pikelines from all PAC members. Articles, letters, news etc. should ideally be provided as
Inside
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Winter 2008
First Words
06 Secretarys Statement MarkBarrett 06 Presidents Address PhilWakeford
FeatureArticles
14 ThreeTimesALady AlixHepworth 18 PikingOverChristmas DavidWillis 24 AccidentsHappenDarrenWard 30 Under The Skin MickGleeson 40 Unlucky13JasonWoods 54 TalkingTactics:Drains-GrahamSlater
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Regulars
08 News Feed All The Goss,Issues andViews 28 YourLettersYourPikelinesVoice 33 JacksJuniorPikePage JackDinnewell 36 Members Pictures ZootaLuresCompetition 38 Official PAC Products XmasPresentIdeas 48 RegionTalk Whats Happening Locally? 58 RealReviewsTried and Tested! 64 Presidents Shield Award EricEdwards 67 Specialist AnglersAlliance BulletinUpdate 68 Regional Contacts Nationwide Details
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Specials
07 ExclusiveMembershipsCompetition08/09 20 Piking2008Report ColinGoodge 34 PACObituaries 35 NewPACEventsThisQuartersBookingDetails 46 OaklandsLakePACTeach-In MarkGreen 62 ContinuousImprovers JonNeafcy Enjoy Your Pikelines...
Note: Views and opinions expressed herein are those of persons named and is not wholly representative of PAC policy, conduct or values. Please note: by submitting material for use in Pikelines, authors give their permission for possible further use as PAC promotional material.
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PACTroubleshooters:WeHaveThePower... If you see or hear of anything anti-pike/
pike anglers, or indeed anti-angling, eg. press reports or intended club pike-culls, then gather as much detail and evidence as possible (paper clippings, dates, author name and address or club Secretary contact if a cull or abuse) and immediately contact your local LO/RO (details on page 68-69) who will deal with the matter first hand or will seek assistance from the Committee. In addition to PACs current officials, a number of past officials continue to support PAC in the role of Troubleshooters, as and when the need arises.
Visit the exclusive PAC forum: websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/pacgb
AnglingWorld
RespectsPAC
in fact the lucky few will have already been on the first Menteith event, Rutland has already taken place, and there are more to come. We have tried to get the PAC
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They have been so impressed by the model that the PAC works by that they have pretty much taken it aboard, lock, stock and barrel to try to emulate the
SecretarysStatement
I write this with the convention just a few days old and what an event it turned out to be. Unfortunately I never had the time to watch any of the speakers, but from the feedback both in person and on the internet, they seem to have done the club proud.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I think that its fair to say that the issues . . that appeared from the first event at . . Stoneleigh were addressed too, and as . . of yet, there seems to have been no real . . negatives come out of the event, which, . lets face it, with a room full of pike anglers . . . has got to be something of a first! . . . As this magazine drops onto your doormat . . the clubs events year will be in full swing, .
. . . . . . . . . Its funny though, that going back once . more to the convention, I realised at some . . . point in the day that this was going to be . . the last one in the capacity of General . Secretary that I attended. Funny because . . . in that time I believe the PAC has taken . . some major steps forward, and I think . most importantly has gained an awful lot of . . . respect amongst the angling world as a . . whole. As an example, the day after the . . convention I travelled to Wallington to . . advise the English Carp Heritage . . Organisation (ECHO) on setting up a . . regional structure of their own.
events spread as best we can around the country, but we are always open to new suggestions.
success that the PAC regional structure has, and continues to be. This leads me nicely into talking about our regions. There have never been so many regions as there are currently within the PAC, but they need your support to continue. Fair enough a meeting in your local pub may not always be your cup of tea, but without those meetings the committee couldnt function as well as it does, as our RO and LOs are the eyes and ears of the committee, as they are both first point of call, and sounding boards for local problems. Quite simply without them we would be lost, as no one knows the local area like a local angler. Please give them your full support.
MarkBarrett
than be the next in line to land the solitary big fish from my local pit thats already been out umpteen times this season. Along with these thoughts of
EnjoyYour
PikeFishing
an overwhelming desire to catch the most twenty pounders ever, then your motivation will be putting the next twenty in the net perhaps with scant regard to how or
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PresidentsAddress
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Each of them was of the highest standard . . . and covered a different aspect of pike . fishing with the presenters styles differing . . . greatly. One of the speakers in particular . made me think about my own pike fishing . . . and the season ahead. . . . . I accept that like many of our members I . am getting old and crotchety and this may . . be the reason for not being so up and at . . em as I was for many years up until quite . . . recently. We all know that if you dont go . fishing then you wont catch anything so it . . . largely comes down to motivation. If, like . the elite of our number, you are driven by .
The weekend before writing this, I attended our Annual Convention at Stoneleigh together with 400 or so other pikers. I enjoyed my weekend and also had the pleasure of attending all four of the days talks.
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. . . . . . . . Pike fishing in the UK is a popular pursuit . . . and it is hard for many of us to find good . . sport with decent sized fish in conducive . . surroundings. Sure I will take another . . twenty or thirty pounder from anywhere . after all beggars cant be choosers as the . . saying goes but given the choice Id rather . . catch a new fish from a picturesque water .
where it was caught. P.A. Hogberg has also caught a lot of fish except like most continentals he measures his fish (as opposed to weighing them) and it is generally accepted that a metre long pike is equivalent to a twenty, and PA has had them to 1m 30 cm. He made the point that at this stage in his career its not so much the length or weight of a fish that gives him the most pleasure than the look of the fish and the place and circumstances of its capture that make it stand out in his memory.
coming to terms with our targets and goals we all need to remind ourselves to keep things in perspective, a sense of proportion about our fishing. Its not a race or should not be, it is about enjoyment. Nobody forces us to go out in lousy weather conditions to probably blank but for some strange reason we still do it. Funny old game Pete. Now wheres that brolly?
PhilWakeford
For the latest news visit: pacnews.blogspot.com
Exclusive New Memberships Promotion 08/09
BecomeANewPACMember
ToWinADaysPikingWithDaveKelbrick
Fancy learning new skills with one of the countrys best lure anglers? Well heres your chance...
We are delighted to announce that Dave Kelbrick has agreed to support us in our ongoing membership recruitment campaign in 2009.
Thats the prize in a brand new PAC membership promotion announced by membership secretary John Cahill thats easy to enter, both members and non-members of the club can take part. Dave is an accomplished lure angler with an enviable list of big lure-caught pike. Membership Secretary John Cahill said: Im delighted Dave has agreed to support us with this great prize, having fished with Dave, I know the winner will not only learn a lot but also have a fun day out.
Whether the winner is a die-hard bait angler or lure fanatic, it represents a fantastic day out. All you have to do is either join the club or recruit a new member to be entered into the draw to win a day for you and a friend with Dave.
The Executive Committee or their related family members are not eligible to participate in this promotion. Applications for entry are for NEW members to the club (not 2008/2009 renewals). Entries will only be permitted from date of the promotions announcement being 27.09.08. Applications are eligible in any format BUT must have the words Dave Kelbrick Comp written on the application. Paypal entries require a separate email to: memberships@pacgb.co.uk requesting entry into the draw. Prize draw entries will be confirmed to the new member by John Cahill, Membership Secretary (please allow 28 days for confirmation). One entry to the draw per application received. In the event of a disputed entry the Chairmans decision is final. If an existing member recruits a new member they need to ensure their own membership number is detailed on the application/email together with the words Dave Kelbrick Comp. Confirmation into the draw will go to the new member only. The existing and new member will be entered into the draw as a pair to fish the day if successful. ie: a total of two anglers. Existing members can recruit as many new members as they wish and each will receive a separate entry into the draw. Likewise, new members can gain another entry by going out and recruiting a friend. Existing members upgrading to family membership for the extra cost of 5 can introduce up to 3 new family members and gain 3 entries into the draw. Entries must be received by the 1st of May 2009. The Draw will take place at the Clubs AGM in May 2009 (date and venue to be advised). Timing and venue of the Day with Dave Kelbrick will be at Dave's discretion. A maximum of 2 anglers will be able to attend.
Please read the rules below...
So get recruiting and Good Luck!

Renew/Join online now: http://www.pacgb.co.uk/aboutpac/joining.html 7
Winter2008StandfirstNewsSummary
Following on from the report about the River Wissey fish thefts last quarter, justice has prevailed with a shot across the bows to those who think they can help themselves to our precious fish stocks. There is also more good news for the Broads with sea defences getting much needed rebuilds in risk areas. Our regions continue to grow and there have been no less than 4 seeing rejuvenation too thanks to members taking up the reigns. Elsewhere, we have added 2 new events to add to the growing list and choice around the UK. Greeny and Chas have also laid down the gauntlets for another War of the Roses too. The only disappointment has been our initial events of the season which have fished poorly this year, lets hope we get some better results with the others. Weve also been fostering strong links with the PAAS with Joe and Franny taking up our offer of a stand at the Convention and great efforts made by Jon Neafcy.
NewsFeed
HOTNewsFromTheCommunicationsDesk
Pikelines 123 deadline for submissions: Dec. 26th 2008. As previously reported, the two migrant workers caught netting fish and barbecuing them on the bank in the close season have been ordered to forfeit boats and equipment worth thousands of pounds in a landmark court ruling. Recently, the Environment Agencys national head of enforcement said the case sent out a clear message that stealing fish from Britains rivers would not be tolerated and pledged it would take strong action to bring offenders to justice. The Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain said: Were pleased this test case has come to court and magistrates have sent out a strong message that they will not tolerate the wholesale removal of specimen fish from our rivers for food. Gunars Kaspers, 39, and Oleg Stepin, 43, had admitted fishing in the close season, fishing without rod licences and the theft of perch, tench and eels from Norfolks River Wissey at an earlier hearing. Stepin also admitted using a gill net and an unlicensed boat, on a remote stretch of the Fenland river. As they entered the dock at Kings Lynn magistrates court today Joe Ghiradelo, prosecuting, said: Mr Stepin and Mr Kaspers were found by officers on May 24 this year. They were seen on the River Wissey between Hilgay and West Dereham. They were seen to be engaged in angling, there were two other people with them and all four were arrested. One of those arrested did not face charges, the court was told. Another man who jumped bail is now wanted by police and believed to have fled the country. Mr Ghiradelo said anyone who fished in England and Wales had to be in possession of an Environment Agency Rod Licence and there was a close season
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LandmarkRulingForRiverWisseyFishTheftsCase
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between March 15 and June 15, when no fishing was allowed on rivers. He said by-laws required anglers to return fish alive. The court heard there were signs at access points along the River Wissey explaining this rule. When police attended they found rods set up and evidence that the persons involved intended to stay there for some period of time, said Mr Ghiradelo. Fish were found in the water with a wire through their mouths, perch and tench. There were efforts to return them but most did not survive.
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Tench to 7lbs were among fish found by police retained on a clothes line tethered to the bank. Mr Ghiradelo said when officers arrived at the river, they saw a net being placed from a boat. As they approached, officers saw two people in a dinghy and believe they saw a net being cast from the dinghy, he told the court; That net was a gill net, it was not only unlicensed. but you wouldnt get a license for something like that; it was 60m long and 2m deep.
RA20SolihullBecomesTheShakespeareRegion
Good day all, I had been thinking for a while about changing the name of RA20, Solihull and Warwickshire. The reason being that Solihull is too exclusive and doesnt really reflect the geographic location of our members. Previously, all members were from Solihull but this has changed over the years and now our regular members come from all over the Birmingham area, and a few travel further to join our bank side meetings. So we began the search for a new name. It was Richard, one of our new members that told me about Shakespeare being a keen angler, this was perfect and gave me the idea for the new name. As virtually all our members have one thing in common and that is that we all fish the Warwickshire Avon otherwise known as Shakespeares Avon and so this set the wheels in motion. I sent the idea to all the local members and got a resounding YES to the question asked and so from this point forward the artist previously know as Solihull and Warwickshire region will be known as The Shakespeare Region of the Pike Anglers Club. Keep an eye on the Blog for details of our forthcoming meetings: pac20shakespeare.blogspot.com/ Finest regards, Steve Bown.
Finding such a large gill net convinced investigators that the men arrested were trying to catch more fish than they could eat during a camping trip, the court was told. Theres a concern this was more than for their own use, but might have been to take the fish and sell them on for commercial use, said Mr Ghiradelo, before he reminded the magistrates that they had powers to make an order for the forfeiture of boats and equipment seized in the swoop.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pictures shown in court featured the mens . . . makeshift camp on the banks of the . . Wissey. They also showed eels, bream . . and pike being barbecued, while tench to . . 7lbs were being kept alive on a stringer . made from a washing line, which had been . . threaded through their gills. Mr Stepin and . . Mr Kaspers are both from Eastern Europe . . . where it is customary to catch fish and . . deal with them in this way, said Mr . . Ghiradelo. But there has been publicity . . about this sort of thing in the angling . . community, killing so many fish can have . . a serious affect on the fish and the . . environment.
Tim Bartlam, defending, said Kaspers and Stepin were fishing on the Wissey with friends, as they had done on previous occasions. He said: This was not a commercial enterprise and I ask you to bear that in mind. They have no previous convictions, they have been in this country for a number of years and theyre hard working. He said Kaspers worked for Ross Foods, while Stepin ran a shop selling Eastern European food. Speaking through an interpreter, both men gave addresses in Aberdeen. Sentencing the men, chair of the bench Charlotte Paton said: Mr Stepin you were charged with five offences to which you have pled guilty and Mr Kaspers you have pled guilty to three offences. We have taken into account, particularly in the theft offence, that neither of you has been charged with theft previously and you are both of good character. Stepin was ordered to pay costs of 60 and to surrender his boat, outboard motor and petrol pump, said in court to be worth around 4000. Kaspars was also ordered to pay costs of 60 and to surrender his
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dinghy, worth up to 1000. After the hearing Neil Sampson, national fisheries enforcement officer for the Environment Agency, said: Although we were disappointed that these men were not given a more severe sentence, the forfeiture of their boats will leave a large hole in both their pockets. The result sends out a clear message that illegal fishing practices will not be tolerated, the Environment Agency will take strong action to ensure offenders are brought to face justice. It also highlights the importance of vigilance from the public and how by working together with the Norfolk Constabulary, we were able to bring this case to court. Illegal fishing can not only cause environmental damage, but fishing without a valid rod licence disadvantages those anglers who have paid their contribution towards helping maintain fisheries work that benefits all anglers in England and Wales. Det. Con. Ian Young, of Downham Market CID, said: Following the tip off, our officers attending the scene found fish on a barbeque and several live fish threaded on a washing line and kept alive in the river. The live fish, including several tench between four and seven pounds and a two and a half pound perch, all had scale damage. The perch died on its release. Police officers seized several items including a boat with an outboard motor, a small dinghy and fishing equipment. All four men were arrested. Of the two other men arrested, one was released without charge. The other man failed to re-appear and is now wanted by the police. It is believed that he has left the country. During the course of our investigation it became clear that the four men were an organised group who had travelled from Scotland to a remote part of Norfolk with the intention of stealing a large quantity of fish.
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NewsFeed2
Email Chris Bishop fast at: press@pacgb.co.uk PL123 deadline for submissions: Dec. 26th 2008.
GotAnyHotNewsToReport?
BroadsUpdate:SeaDefencesToGetMuchNeededRebuild
Tens of thousands of tonnes of sea defence rock will be shipped to Norfolk's coast by barge in the run up to Christmas, while a sister operation pumps huge quantities of sand from the seabed to build up the beaches. The multi-million pound project will beef up and repair both the soft and hard defences around Waxham, Horsey, Winterton, Sea Palling and Eccles as contractors Team Van Oord carry out the work on behalf of the Environment Agency. Although the news of strengthened defences has been welcomed, the detail of the wider management of such projects has been criticised by campaigners, as has the location from where the sand is being dredged. The project will see 280,000 cubic metres of sand used to recharge the beaches at Sea Palling and Waxham, while 30,000 tonnes of rock will be brought to Eccles and Horsey. The sand will be dredged from the seabed approximately 10 miles offshore between Yarmouth and Lowestoft and piped ashore. The recharging project was launched in the mid 1990s as part of a wider scheme which saw nine granite offshore reefs built
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at Sea Palling and Waxham to protect the Broads, resulting in altered patterns of longshore drift and the starvation of sand supplies to beaches to the south of the reefs. The recharging was controversially shelved in 2005 after DEFRA withdrew Environment Agency funding. That funding has now been made available again. Rock will be used to build ten groynes between Horsey Ness and Winterton Ness Gap to replace failed timber or rock groynes. Surplus rock buried under the beach will also be excavated for reuse, while a 275 metre stretch of rock revetment at Eccles will be reconstructed. Malcolm Kerby of the Happisburgh based Coastal Concern Action Group, said the beach recharging was happening at a stage when it was utterly urgent, but he said the decision to dredge so close to the coast was madness. The Dutch are the worlds masters in this and they have a simple rule dont dredge within 15 miles of the coast or you risk increasing erosion rates. Are we barking mad? Its too close. Mr Kerby was also critical of the project not taking into account Happisburgh, especially the area called Low Light, which has long
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been considered a key back door to the Broads. Any defences for this bit of coast are a good thing, of course they are, he said. But the one place that's most vulnerable, the Achilles heel if you like, is at Low Light, where no money has been spent for half a century, and you have yet another example of totally bonkers coastal mismanagement by the government.If you wrote down what the government have been doing with our coast, you would be accused of making it up; no one would believe you. An Environment Agency spokesman said last night: It is more environmentally friendly to bring the rock in by sea rather than by road or train. Delivery dates for the rock will begin in early October.
MembershipsNews&Updates
Membership numbers reach a new peak. Following a successful convention and a busy week at membership towers, the club is only 6 days after year end and already seeing numbers surge. John Cahill and Peter Green both report that the level of renewals are unprecedented and the fact that 45 new members have joined the club in the last 7 days is very encouraging. Membership processing will be upstraight soon, so any late renewal members or new applicants should receive a quick turnaround.
Standing Order Scheme Members. Further to our announcement in Autumns Pikelines advising that the standing order scheme had been cancelled we continue to receive a number of standing order payments. These have been processed where we can identify the payment. If you have paid and do not receive advice from the membership secretary, please send an email to: memberships@pacgb.co.uk stating the amount you sent and the date it left your bank. Win a Day with Mick Brown winner. We are pleased to advise that Mr Brian Green from Hampshire was the lucky winner of the Mick Brown Competition drawn at the Convention. John Cahill Membership Secretary will now be in touch with Brian to organise the day with Mick. The PAC Committee would like to thank Mick Brown for his ongoing support of the club and hope Brian will enjoy a fantastic day.
WorldRecordPike...YouDecide!
Gentlemen, I am enclosing a picture of what is surely the largest Pike ever caught, never mind seen. This Pike must have been around 80+lbs if not more. Regards, Duncan Monro, Bulgaria. Hmmm, I dont think we will be loosing any sleep!
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PAC-PAASFosteringNewLinks
JonWowsThemAtTheConvention
Being a bit of a piking fanatic I am a member of both the PAC and PAAS. As a child I visited Scotland many times when my dad worked there, which gave me a passion for the place. In my teens as a PAC member I watched slideshows on the mighty Lomond by the likes of John Watson and Neil Wheater. This fuelled my enthusiasm for fishing in Scotland. In my adult years I have found myself north of the border with work on many occasions and fishing some of the mighty Lochs. I have fished on several events with the PAAS, have thoroughly enjoyed them all and made some good mates north of the border. I was asked by Steve Tapley General Secretary for the PAAS to be guest speaker at the PAAS Annual Conference in Stirling in May 2008, Steve offered to throw in some fishing as well. I was interested in the convention from what Id heard of from previous years. Im always up for a fishing trip north of the border, so I eagerly accepted Steves kind offer. The convention was superb, I listened with interest to James Trollscott Kinears experiences of trolling the Scottish lochs as well as having a good chat to many of the PAAS members who were present. The subject on my talk was the milestones in pike-fishing as some food for though. It went down very well and I didnt need a translator as those present could understand my dulcet Wigan tones! We had a bit of a set back on the fishing when my car broke down, but thats another story. On occasions, politics, back-biting, red tape and cloak and dagger cloud fishing, I tend not to get involved. However, its events like this, when pikers come together, that make it nice to be involved in the sports camaraderie. Let us all remember that we anglers are all on the same side regardless of what club we belong to or what species of fish we fish for. My thanks to Steve and his family for their hospitality I had a great time and I look forward to fishing with the PAAS lads again in November on Menteith. Jon Neafcy.
Quays;TheSecondSeasonPACEventReport
As you can see from the title of this events report, this is our second season on the Quays gravel pit and our 3rd event. Though attendances have been low on both previous events it still produced 11 doubles to 18lb+ to those that fished our last event in February. Hopes were therefore high for the 8 members who turned this time. The event coincided with the first frost of the year and then cloudy windy conditions did little to dampen members enthusiasm. Once everyone had booked in, members then walked off to find themselves a swim for the day. Because of the size of the pit there is plenty of room for everyone and anyone to move around during the day. On my first walk around I found Bill Beard tucked away in a swim that has produced some good fish on previous trips and hopefully the swim would produce again today. Next around was John Goodyer who has been a regular on this event and was fishing an area I had fished on a previous event. Hopefully John would do better than I did in it as I blanked. Next I came to Jon Cook, joint RO for Region70 who was fishing with his partner for the day Neil Vine. Jon has kindly taken Neil under his wing and is teaching him the ins and outs of pike fishing and Neil is slowly but surely turning into a competent pike fisherman with Jons help. Next person I came to was Richard Nunn who had found himself a nice reedy bay and had already put two rods out. This bay is quite shallow and the only problem was the wash coming from the water ski boat that was now active and moving up and down the pit. Keith Seymour was just along from Richard and was once again in a swim he caught his 18 pounder from, plus some other smaller pike. Although this time Keith reported that it was weedier than usual. Simon Williams from London was also fishing a big bay and had already got his bait-catching gear out, hoping to catch some livebaits for the day. I was fishing with Gary Hodd and we carried on looking for a swim to fish for the day. We settled for a swim that afforded a view of the whole pit and was not far away from the car park! All too soon the time drifted away and by mid afternoon there were no reports of any fish being caught. From my vantage point I could see Jon and Neil slowly working along the bank searching different swims, but to no avail. All too soon the time edged near to 4 oclock, which was the time I personally had to be away, but members who wanted to stay on, were welcome to. Most members opted to fish until around 6pm. Jon Cook who had fished on kindly rang to give me an update on what was caught which was a solitary fish of around 7lb 2oz, caught by John Goodyer. One fish caught on the day is not a great return and not what we hoped for on the day, but it goes to show how different weather conditions and times of the year can make a difference. Hopefully, by the time our event in November comes round the pike of Quays will have woken up and members will not only enjoy meeting up and having a good day out, they will also catch a few fish too. Mark Skinner.
PACNewsSnippets Insurance Update: Further to the announcement in Pikelines 121 and feedback at the clubs mini-AMM
we are continuing with our review of the insurance cover we now have in place. A further update will follow in Pikelines 123. AMM Date/Venue 2009: May 9th 2009. Holiday Inn, Bostocks Lane, Sandiacre, Nottingham NJ10 5NJ.
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NewsFeed3
Email Chris Bishop fast at: press@pacgb.co.uk PL123 deadline for submissions: Dec. 26th 2008.
GotAnyHotNewsToReport?
EvenMorePACRegions
AreBeingRejuvenated
PAC is delighted to report that the rejuvenation bug has hit the PAC regions once more with four being restarted recently. Heres some details for each.
Norwich RA33. Hi chaps the region is up and running and a big thank you to all who attended and any well wishers.The guys have told me what they want from a meeting and i am working on a list of speakers etc. This will be announced shortly. You can reach me on jcurrie@ymail.com or on: 07776 221959. I am a lot happier on the phone than on computers so bear with me. RO. John Currie. Selby RA40. Mark Green has stood in to regenerate the Selby Region as some of the local PAC members cannot get to the Doncaster or Wakefield Regional meetings. Mark is currently trying to establish a better monthly meeting place in Selby town centre. He gives his first ROs report on the Region Talk pages. Leeds & Bradford RA66/44. Just to inform you that RA66/44 has been restarted by myself; Andy Brown, my details are on page 68 of this issue of Pikelines for those interested in attending meetings. West Sussex RA11. Dave Wilkins and Jeff Smith are resurrecting the old west Sussex region.Dave and Jeff will be publishing details in the near future, for those who want to contact them, please email at: Davewwilkins@yahoo.co.uk or completeangler@sky.com The committee would like to extend its thanks to John, Mark, Andy, Dave and Jeff for their efforts in giving the members local regions to attend once more.
TwoNewPrivilegedAccessPACEventsFor2009 .... SoLongToTheRealQuint

. . . . . . . . Chertsey Gravel Pit, Surrey. This mature pit is connected to Thorpe Park Ski lake via a . . river and has not been pike fished for 2 seasons. For this event, PAC members will be . the first anglers to fish it after it is re-opened so there may well be a few surprises in store! . . . . . Warping Drain, N. Lincolnshire. Martin Ferraby . . of Scunthorpe Police Angling Club has kindly . . offered PAC access to fish 2 miles of their . . club-run stretch of the drain. This offers members . . something different to the usual pits, lakes and . . reservoir fishing. Applicants will have the option . . to either static fish, or utilise more mobile . . methods and tactics. Visit: scunthorpepolice . . angling.co.uk/club%20waters.htm . . . . Scroll down their club waters page to read about the venue. See page 35 for application . . details, slips are also included in this issue. Full details, rules etc will be provided to . . successful applicants. . . . . . . . . Im hoping to compile a book about the Lake of Menteith, in particular an account . . of pike over 25lbs that have been caught since the fishery opened its doors to PAC . . and PAAS. The project has been approved by the fishery and the intention is to split any . . book proceeds between the fishery and both clubs. Im appealing to members to provide . . info about their catches and experiences at this very special venue. I will need: date of . . capture, weight, method used, brief account of capture (up to 350 words), and a good . quality photograph. No payment will be given, but I hope that being part of a good read will . . . be reward enough! Please spread the word to any of your pike fishing friends who are . members too. Contact me, Dick Culpin at: 2 Queens Close, Stansted, Essex, CM24 8EJ. . . . email: culpins4@tiscali.co.uk Tel: 01279 813588 after 7.00pm or on: 07967 629226. . . All correspondence will be acknowledged and photographs returned with the greatest of . . care. I look forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance for your help. . . Tight lines, Dick Culpin.
PAC is pleased to announce that two more privileged access events have been added to the ever-growing list. To answer the request for more bank-fishing days we have responded with the following...
A real-life shark hunter who inspired Jaws has sung Spanish Ladies for the last time. Frank Mundus, who died of a heart attack at the age of 82 last week, inspired Peter Benchleys character Quint, with his capture of a 4,500lb great white shark in 1964. Quint, played by Robert Shaw in the 1975 big screen blockbuster, in turn inspired a novel about a Lake District beauty spot plagued not by a shark but a giant pike. At one point filming was set to commence on The Pike, with a 12ft mechanised Esox set to star alongside Joan Collins, but the project never made it onto the silver screen. Of course, mythical tales about giant pike pre-date Frank Munduss exploits by centuries with occasional ill-founded stories about attacks on pets, livestock or even waterskiers. In the meantime we shall bid Frank a fond farewell and hope that Chief Brodys words ring true: Quint, were gonna need a bigger boat!
TheHistoryOfMenteithAnAppealForMaterial
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GetSetForAnotherNorthernBattle
WarOfTheRoses2;DamFlask
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears Oh sorry, wrong script; apologies to Mr Shakespeare! Calling all adopted Yorkshiremen from the North of England and ye Lancastrians and Cheshiremen. Sir Peter Green once again calls on all true gentlemen (or others) to take up their fishing rods for the next battle in this series. This will take place at Dam Flask reservoir, near Sheffield on Sunday 23rd November 2008 commencing at 8.00am til 4.00pm. Tickets will be available from Sir Peter, to be purchased in advance at 10 for 2 rods. Places are limited to 75 so it is first come, first served Please apply by post as soon as possible: 17 Lincoln Street, Wakefield WF2 0EB. Tel: 01924 782705. Cheque payable to Peter Green along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Maps of the venue along with sponsorship forms will be sent out by return. All money gathered will once again be given to the MacMillan Nurses Cancer Care charity at a future event. A full casualty report will follow in a future edition of Pikelines. Peter asks that all anglers gather as much sponsorship as possible so that we can give a huge amount to this absolutely fantastic and well-deserving service. Last time we raised over 1800, lets make that look like small beer this time! If people prefer they can contact me (his serf) for tickets etc. in advance on: 01642 765332. We hope to see as many as possible of you there! Chas White.
RutlandReservoirPACEventReport
Two scraper 20s and a sprinkling of smaller pike were caught on the PACs first event of the season; a days lure fishing on Rutland Reservoir. While the weather did not stage a repeat of last years gale force conditions, many found the 2,500 acre man-made lake a daunting prospect. Of note were the fact several boats targetted zander using vertical jigging tactics in some of the deeper areas, with some being rewarded with a number of schoolies to 6lbs, showing potential for a different approach. Little is known about how the species adapts to tout reservoirs, but Rutland is believed to have contained zander for around a decade, with a best fish of 11lbs being recorded this time. Anglian Water has now published its predator dates for this season: Autumn boat fishing for pike with lures and sea deadbaits over 18cm (excludes lamprey) motor boat hire from 08.30am until dusk. Prices: 44 for two anglers at all fisheries during November 08. Pitsford: until Nov. 23rd. Tel: 01604 781350. Rutland: until Nov. 16th. Tel: 01780 686441. Grafham: until Nov. 30th. Tel: 01480 810531. Ravensthorpe: until Nov. 23rd. Tel: 01604 770875.
Alex Prouse with his 21.04 taken on one of his Wobbly Bob lures. He also caught a 21.04 to a Bob last year. An Emerging pattern?
BrandNewPACRegionForNorthernIreland(South)
PAC is pleased to announce the formation of another very active Region in Northern Ireland: Region 111 Northern Ireland South. Its headed up by Robbie Marsh as RO, Neil Todd: Secretary. Gerry Linden: Events Organiser. Donny Uprichard: Treasurer and Matt Dean: Press Officer. Robbies first region report is on page 52 and has a full agenda of meetings and events that are taking place. The PAC committee send their best wishes to Robbie and his region.
InquiryAsFishAreFoundDeadAtGrobyBeautySpot
More than 30 fish have been found dead in the water at a beauty spot in the Midlands. The Environment Agency has launched an investigation into what is causing carp and pike to die at Groby Pool. Experts found at least 30 dead fish on Monday, but say there could be many more yet to be discovered, and others may already have been eaten by wildlife. Residents and walkers who visited the nature reserve complained of a stench on Saturday. The authorities were called on Monday as dead fish washed up on the banks and were found floating in the lake. The Environment Agency said there is a lack of oxygen in the water, which could have been caused by pollutants such as chemicals, high levels of silt, rotting plant life or even warm weather. They have taken water samples and are still investigating the cause but are confident other wildlife will not be affected. Severn Trent has been at the site checking for any leaks in its sewage pipes, but it has so far found no problems.
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FEATUREARTICLE
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ow this pikey tale starts on Christmas Eve 2004. That was back in the day when forays onto the bank at that time of year were allowed. Due to a certain little bundle of joy who is now two years old and goes by the name of Maisie, that particular avenue of pleasure has now been closed off! I was fishing my syndicate water at the time, one of my fellow syndicate members had done the night on the first peg just up from the beach. Not a great deal had come out, just a few jacks to the usual array of deadbaits. However. I will say at this stage that the pike on this water did feed well into the night, so much so that the majority of sessions were overnighters, if not longer. I dont know why more people dont pike fish overnight, as even if you lack action during the night, at least you are there ready with baited rigs at dawn and dusk; the witching hours. The first session I want to make light of was actually only a day session on Christmas Eve... for obvious reasons! I settled myself in a swim known as the ski- ramp, mainly because of the close proximity to where my mate was fishing rather than anything else. I set my usual free-running leger rigs up adding block-end feeders with enlarged holes. Minced up mackerel and herring were delicately filled into the feeders, coupled with 20 inch wire traces with varying deadbaits hooked up. All baits were fished hard on the bottom as we were all fishing for a known big fish that seemed to readily mop up anything nailed to the deck.
Popped-up and suspended deadbaits on free running paternoster rigs were offered, but they were only ever accepted by the population of jacks in the water. My addition of smelly feeders was an obvious advantage whilst fishing during the hours of darkness, but as this session was only to be a day one it didnt really matter. By about mid-day during the festive period Id had a couple of jacks, one of which was on a dead roach. I wandered down the bank on the scrounge for another, once Id impaled it on my size 8 trebles it was duly launched quite a way out into the ski-pit thats over 50ft at its deepest part. No sooner had the whole set up hit the deck and the line clipped in the indicator, when the rod tip started nodding frantically... carp style. It carried on for quite a few seconds before the line eventually pulled out of the clip. Tightening down and pulling into this fish was like no other I had ever experienced. The particular rod that was attracting attention had mono on the reel, so felt different to the non-stretch properties of my usual Power Pro braid. This pike pulled back so hard and ferociously that it almost felt like I was using braid. I was standing out on a wooden platform playing this monstrously aggressive pike; the fish kited left and right whilst also boring deep, kicking up sheets of tench-like bubbles making my knees shake uncontrollably! It still wasnt done yet, (and who said pike dont fight in the winter) she decided to bury herself in the reeds, firstly to my left and then to my right. The pressure by now on my entire body was just immense and wasnt helped by my mate saying: You know what youve got there, youve got the bigun. Eventually she popped up just
Three times A Lady!

Alix Hepworth
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A second encounter.
out of netting range, before deciding to go on a second rampage that was just as ferocious as the first. Finally, she waved the proverbial white flag and allowed me to guide her into the waiting net. The feeling of utter jubilation was overwhelming to say the least, as I knew this fish was well over the 20lb barrier. My previous PB was 19.12. Hoisted aloft on the wheel of fortune, she pulled the needle round to 26.05, bless her. Tubed up safe in the margins in readiness for some trophy shots, I was like a man possessed on the phone telling anyone and everyone. What seemed like a few minutes, but was more realistically an hour, my right-hand rod was away. Another very powerful fish this time played on braid was hauled ashore and my first thoughts were of a brace of twenties. Unfortunately it was not to be, but still a mint fish and at a respectful weight of just under 18lbs. All that lot was one Christmas present I wasnt expecting, but very welcome all the same.
My second meeting with this fantastic female was a couple of months later, on a Friday evening in February whilst doing an overnight session with another syndicate member. I was fishing a different spot to our first meeting further up the same bank, the name of the particular peg eludes me, but hey-ho. I settled in for the night with my ever faithful block-end feeders distributed about the swim as only I knew how. Johnny Mac and I were chewing the fat (pike wise) whilst waiting for the bailiff to come and pick up the pictures of this beautiful creature at 26.05 to go into Angling Times (he had a connection with someone at the publication.) The bailiff turned up with his ever-present dog and sat chatting for a while in the entrance to the bivvy. Publicising captures of any sort from this water was only allowed under strict supervision from the bailiff team. (The water is in fact a SSSI). Whilst waxing lyrical about how well built and beautifully marked this fish was, not to mention having a head like a wolf, youve guessed it, I got a take on the half mackerel rod.
Donning the waders as quickly as possible wasnt easy bearing in mind the bailiff was right beside me. So staggering into the icycold margins in the depths of the night to play a fish wasnt filling me with confidence either. (I never like having an audience). I hadnt really got any choice bearing in mind my spool was steadily being emptied of braid; I quickly made contact with my adversary and applied steady pressure getting the fish up to the surface pretty quickly. Now I can honestly say with hand on heart that whatever was on the other end pulling back, didnt feel anywhere near significant weight wise. Hard as it may sound to believe, all I could think of whilst drawing the fish towards the waiting net was JACK, JACK, JACK. It plipped and plopped from side to side on the surface not creating much disturbance before finally being bundled into the net like a dog on a lead. Now what I forgot to mention whilst all this was going on, (which didnt last very long) was that the bailiff and Johnny Mac were making oohing and aahing noises in between saying to each other that they both thought it was a good un. It wasnt until the fish was safely netted and I turned it on its side in the water that I realised that it wasnt a Jack! It was in fact her again! Once again on the wheel of fortune she pulled the needle round to an impressive 29.04 and another PB. Under normal circumstances I never photograph the same fish again but if Im honest the photos of her first time round werent the best, due to low light levels. Congratulations were offered from Rich the bailiff and Johnny Mac. The usual phone calls were made and we decided between us that if the pictures were better second time round at the higher weight, we would utilise those for the Angling Times. As it turned out the pictures were superb as you can see and I also got a picture in Nige Williamss column in Anglers Mail to boot. As you can imagine, bagging
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Three times a lady.
another PB just shy of 30lb I was elated and never thought for a minute that our paths would cross again.
It was actually during my last session of the season that we met for the third and final time, albeit I thought or hoped she was in fact a different fish. It wasnt to be and unfortunately if you can say that about such an impressive creature she didnt break the magical 30lb barrier for me. Our final meeting was a month later, during another two day session and a very cold one at that. This time round my mate and I were in a peg known as the Birches which was on the opposite side of the lake to where Id caught her the two previous times. Once again, takes were hard to come by even with two of us and our full quota of rods out. Eventually about 10.00pm I had a take and pulled into a heavy fish which I instantly knew the identity of. I said to my mate Guy, whose bivvy was right next to mine; grab the net, I know exactly which fish this is. As I said this to him, good as gold he stumbled out of his bivvy a little bleary eyed and grabbed the net. The only problem was that it was so cold the net was frozen solid to the unhooking mat. By the time he had peeled the two apart Id got her more or less ready for netting. Third time round the fight was a cross between the ferocity of the first and the serenity of the second. Eventually, in the gloom of a cold March night she was, for the final time hauled into the net. Like I said earlier, between the two of us we thought at
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first it was a different fish, but realised our mistake on first light when photographing her for the last time. This beautys anal fin had a distinctive mark, but only on one side, we had stupidly admired her from the opposite side! Two other members, Johnny Mac and Johnny Baker, (who now resides in Florida and has toothy critters of a different kind to deal with, namely gators!) came up to the birches to see the fat lady returned to the depths for the final time. As I slid her back and she kicked away from my hands strongly I somehow knew I wouldnt see her again. We pulled off the water the following season, not wanting to put the fat lady through any more stress and strain, moving on to pastures new. Eventually, after more captures by other pike anglers, she did eventually go over the 30lb mark. Unfortunately, she washed up dead on the beach a year later. Sadly, all that remained was a rotting carcass. That fish brought three out of the five syndicate members new PBs and a tremendous amount of pleasure. As I write this piece I still keep in touch with Boggy and Rich the two bailiffs and have fished the magical water since, doing the odd overnighter in some serious weather. Out of respect for the fat lady who covered hundreds of yards during that season in search of our deadbaits, I feel that writing this article is the least I can do for such a special old girl. RIP you beautiful creature, your memory will last a lifetime. Alix Hepworth
What a beast, with a head like a wolf and yes she was that heavily marked.
Background pic: with two traps set, only a fisherman could experience scenes like this, its part of what makes us go.
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FEATUREARTICLE
PikingOver Christmas
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David Willis
Yes I know Im a sad person, my lady friend said the turkey dinner would be ready at 2.00pm so there I am off fishing on a cold frosty morning that just so happened to be Christmas day!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . To be fair Im not a great lover of turkey, . it being a bit too dry for me. Why I bought . . the thing I have no idea and as for Brussel . . . sprouts. So there wasnt much of an . incentive to offer any promises to be back . . at 2.00pm on the dot. What I did say was . . . Alright, if Im not back in time you have . . yours and Ill make something later. . . This as you can imagine went down like . . a ton of bricks. . . . To make the peace, I grabbed a mince pie . . . from a tray of about twenty she had . . diligently made the day before and . mumbled thats delicious before legging . . it out of the back door before another word . . . could be said.
I got the car quickly out of the garage having packed by rods and gear the night before and headed for my favourite spot a few miles up the road. To get to the loch I park in a lay by, walk a mile through woods and bracken, cross two streams, climb an embankment, along a railway line then over a fence. Usually having reached the railway line I have to get a move on in case a train comes. I do have a timetable, but unfortunately the trains do not always keep to it! By then Im knackered before I even start fishing (Im getting on a bit). Today of course no trains were running so I took my time and arrived at the loch with some breath left. I had great expectations until I saw the water level had dropped by at least six feet from the day before and the weed was showing above the surface of the water. Not a good sign!
Train dodging.
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Prime condition.
Yesterday I had caught a 9lb pike at 9.15am and had not had another touch until 3.10pm when a 6.08 had come to the net. Both had taken deadbait, in one case a slice of game fish! The other falling for a herring float-fished in seven feet of water using a single barbless treble. Both had acted as if they were twenty pounders, making bow waves and charging through the weeds making them seem a lot heavier than they actually were. Both were in prime condition, the first being lip hooked while the second had somehow managed to swallow the hook before I struck, the float having hardly moved. Thats the trouble with some pike takes; theyll give no indication and simply swallow the bait on the spot. Luckily, I have found a very good tool for such fish, a pair of long nosed pliers with the ends turned up. These are ideal for turning the hook in order to allow it to pop out. At around 7 they are a real bargain.
A 14 pounder caught from the Christmas water, laid on soft heather and grass.
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Was it worth the effort?
Having to scrape the ice off the windscreen and having cold spuds and stuffing when I got home (It was lovely when it was put out hours ago came the voice). Well, as I caught nothing I suppose not, but had I not gone I would have been at home thinking I may have missed out on a double figure pike. Also a day at the waterside is never really a wasted day. In fact, I fished all over Christmas without a thing, the river entering the loch even froze! A few days later it was mild as anything. The next trip was to be Hogmanay with my friend John. He caught a 16 pounder on Hogmanay 2003 with a split in its tail and caught the same fish exactly a year later at 17.08. We are hoping it will get caught again this year and perhaps she will weigh 20lbs. Will it come out on the same day a year later again? I will be there to find out. David Willis.
A rare picture of me, all my trout and pike pictures are taken laid on the ground.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . However, my friends tell me the list of . . other gear includes; bite alarms, pods, a . bivvy, a larger landing net, oils for injecting . . . baits and an unhooking mat, it wears me . . out thinking about them! None of which . . I have appeared to need in 60 years of . . fishing! Im 72 years old at the moment . . and have managed pretty well with just . . rods, reels and hooks. Just a single hook . . in the back of a sprat caught me no less . . than five 20 pound plus pike in a week . . when I used to live in Kent. . . . . All were lip hooked, unhooked on the . . grass and after a quick picture . . returned no worse for the experience. . . . . My switch from singles to one treble has . . been forced on me because I can no . . longer get fresh sprats up here, having . . now to use bigger baits such as herring, . . trout and sardine.
My friend John McDonald with a 13-08 from the Christmas location.
Do we need so much gear?
Going back to Christmas day, I set up with a couple of old 12 foot Browning carp rods which Ive had for 20 years. Reels were Shimano baitrunners of a similar age. Yes I know there are now better pike rods and reels on the market, but so far these have never let me down. Despite this, I have started to update my tackle with newer rods, big pit reels and braid.
Back to Christmas day again; conditions did not look good, the loch was flat calm and there was ice in the margins. Add to this the low water and the weed I might have gone home if it hadnt been for the prospect of sitting in front of the TV. I set up the rods with salmon strips fished just off the bottom casting as far as I could to deeper water. I put the rods in forked twigs I had broken from a dead birch tree and attached a sea bell on each rod which rattled in the slightest breeze. I then sat down on a rock. This wasnt a good idea and I soon ended up with a frozen rear! So I walked up and down which at least kept me warm and I could still see the two bubble floats. The bells were at the moment superfluous though they did add to the general Christmas scene! After walking up and down, between sitting on the cold rock for hours without even a touch and with the temperature dropping, resulting in a sore nose, finally at 3.30pm I saw some sense and reluctantly packed up.
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Frozen to the rocks!
Piking2008ConventionReport
Stoneleigh Warwickshire
. . . . . . . . . First up was our very own Pike Angler of . . the year Graham Slater, his talk was a . very in-depth look at his pike angling years, . . . starting off with his very early years of . . chasing pike, carrying us through to his . . most recent phenomenal success last . . season of 129 doubles, twenty 20s and . . three 30s. . . . . Michel Huigevoort, from Holland, . was next up to help give us that little bit of . . an international flavour. His exploits on the . . . huge Mass river held the audience quiet . . with interest, his close encounters with . . huge cargo vessels, and the capture of . . large pike up to 51 inches long. . It was interesting to hear that he preferred . . . hand landing all his fish rather than the . usual landing net method. He also gave a . . . very interesting insight into the latest . . technology introduced by Humminbird . . fish finders. . . . . Top lure angler Derek Macdonald then . gave one of his rare lectures regarding the . . secrets of his lure success. Derek used a . . glass fish tank to demonstrate just how his . . . modifications to his lures affected their . action. Pictures were projected on the big . . . screen with the aid of a video camera. . . . By doing this, it gave Derek just that edge . . . over his competitors, producing pike up . . to that rare size of a forty pounder. . . Derek ended with a two second fast . . flowing sequence of some of his big pike . . pictures to music. . . . . To complete the day for spectacular . . speakers was another of our continental . . predator experts PA Hogberg. Even his . . journey to the convention was by no . means easy, first landing at London airport . . . at 6.15pm on the Friday, meant he then . . took various means of transport to reach . . us at the hotel later that evening. I must . . admit, this made me slightly worried . . regarding his arrival, but like all good . things all was well in the end and he was . . . well worth the waiting and the worry! . . . The audience seemed spell bound by his . . . techniques, and the vast areas of water . . interlocked by a network of islands that . . just seemed to be right on his doorstep. . PA gave quite an in-depth look at his rigs . . . and methods, throwing in a little bit of . . humour, which was greatly appreciated . . by the audience.
The attendance was almost on par with last years and a big thanks goes out to our four great speakers for great talks. Earlier in the day Mick Brown drew the winner of the membership recruitment drive competition, the lucky winner is Brian Green who now has the chance to fish with Mick for the day, Im quite sure Brian will enjoy himself. The day ended in the theatre with Nevs panel and also an auction of the No.1 PAC30 leather-bound, and PAC30 hardback book, the auctioneer for the day was our General secretary Mark Barrett. Mark encouraged some brisk bidding on both counts helping put a good sum in the clubs coffers. We also had the very popular mega-raffle with prizes donated by our very generous trade stands which the PAC would like to say a special thanks to. Whilst on the subject of thanks I would like to thank Rob Shallcroft for supplying all the programmes and posters, Mike Skipper for all the name badges, and not forgetting all the other helpers on the day; without you my friends, events like this just could not happen. Also a big thanks to all the committee for all their hard work leading up to and on the day. Days like this are a credit to you all and thanks for being part of my team. Last but not least a big thank you to all who attended and supported the club. Roll on next years convention! Colin Goodge. *Theres not a lot of alternatives Colin! NJF
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . We are not a committee that enjoys defeat . . . or to be outdone, so we therefore did our . homework and put together speakers and . . trades stands that would give last years a . . . close run. I personally feel we achieved . just that. I also feel it certainly confirms that . . . without a doubt our convention is the top . . annual predator show in the country.* . . . . The wide variety of trade stands provided . plenty of coverage for the needs of todays . . . keen predator anglers; and an added . . bonus was founder member of PAC . . Professor Barrie Rickards being on hand . along with other top anglers to give advice . . where required. We even covered pike fly . . fishing, in the form of one of the countries . . . top fly fishing instructors Mark Bailey. . . Not only did he demonstrate the art of fly . tying, but also gave an outdoor fly casting . . . demonstration, which proved to be . . immensely popular. Mark covered the . whole area from rods lines right through to . . . double haul casting, and those that . . watched walked away very impressed. . . . . I must admit, last year we were over. . whelmed by the attendance and were . . caught out regarding theatre capacity, . . so this year we booked a larger theatre . . with a 400 seating capacity. This seemed . . to be appreciated by all, the theatre was . almost full to capacity for all our speakers . . . and our MC for the day PAC President . . Phil Wakeford had his work cut out.
After last years thirtieth anniversary convention success, we listened to the members and our helpers feedback and acted upon it, and going by this years many comments we believe that we improved this years event in many ways.
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Convention 2008 gallery:

Above left: alls fair as Mick helps Colin to make the Menteith draw on stage before an expectant crowd! 1. Phil Thanks Pike Angler of the Year 2008 Graham Slater for his talk. 2. Mark awards Joint RO of the Year Stewart McMath with his commemorative print. 3. Phil awards Presidents Shield 07/08 winner Steve Rodwell with his commemorative print. 4. All our speakers gathered on stage to take questions from the audience. 5. Presided over by Neville; today I will mainly be a deckchair Fickling and friend. 6. Business is brisk in the hall, ET finds time to satisfy the signature hunters. 7. Browny wanted a quiet drink at the bar, no chance with Thee 88s in tha house! 8. Later on; a reunion with Watto at the local indian restaurant. Pictures: kindly supplied by Andrew Stagg and Dicky Fisk... and Thee 88s of Vasey!
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The sheer volume of water entering the rear of the boat caused her to capsize in only 2 minutes. Below: Darren in a more triumphant mood! Boat piking is great, but there are real risks to be aware of whilst afloat.
24
PACEXCLUSIVE
OverConfidenceCouldKill
Pikelines catches up with reflective member Darren Ward
Accidents Happen!
AVeryHarrowingEpisode ...
Pike fishing using boats is now very popular and more and more pikers are utilising boats in pursuit of their quarry. After a very harrowing episode involving myself and a friend, I thought an article sharing the experience and the lessons learned from it may be of some benefit to all pikers; experienced or new to the rigours of going afloat. Firstly, I would like to say we have been using boats of many shapes and sizes for over a decade now so are by no means new to piking afloat. I feel this can be the root problem with many pikers as the longer you have been doing it, many things can and will be taken for granted. During the course of a season, John, my regular fishing partner and I, fish every weekend with the odd mid-week trip thrown in on a variety of venues. Most of our time is predominantly spent in the Lake District. On this particular trip I had managed to get to the venue about dinner time on the Friday. John, who for a number of reasons, hadnt been doing much fishing in the previous weeks was meeting up with me Saturday morning.
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The morning had started of flat calm, then . . after an hour or so the wind started to pick . . . up, then it went mad; howling winds and . . big white rollers. There was nothing new . . here having endured big blow-ups many . times before. Right, what were we going to . . do, the spot wasnt producing and we were . . probably on the windiest spot on the lake. . . . We could stay put and ride it out, but we . were not catching. We decided on a move . . . in order to head for calmer water and . hopefully land on a few pike. Hindsight, as . . they say is a wonderful thing. Moving was . . the wrong decision and to rub a bit of salt . . . into the wounds, just as John started to
This was going to be his first outing for a while, and one he will never forget! Id had a few fish on the Friday and all was looking well for the Saturday. John arrived in the morning and loaded his gear into my boat. We had a bit of craic with Gordie, and got on our way. The first stop was to a spot that I had being doing well on in the mornings, we anchored the boat, got the rods out then I made us a brew. This spot had been productive right from the off on previous trips but today nothing was happening. We decided to give it an hour then wed have a mooch.
bring in his last rod a pike grabbed the bait but dropped it. Should we stay? We decided to nip back later. Up came the back anchor... then the problems started, we could not get the front anchor up. We have had them stuck before but with a bit of heave-ho and boat manouvering it has never been a problem.
OnlyTwoMinutesToCapsize
HowlingWindsAndBigRollers
The strong winds were making things extremely difficult, the engine was started and the boat was steered towards the front anchor, which was a task in itself. Eventually the anchor rope came in contact with the prop. and the engine cut out, now the boat was the wrong way round in a big swell and taking on water. Another decision, (oh for the power of hindsight) either cut the rope and get out of here or try and free the rope from the prop and carry on fishing. We foolishly opted to try and get the rope from around the prop. Two minutes later and the boat had taken on too much water, causing it to capsize. This threw John outside the boat and trapped me underneath. I saw the boat go, and the one thing I remember thinking to myself at that moment was, hell, neither of us is wearing a life jacket!
25
Accidents Happen!
John managed to pull himself around the boat to the front and was holding onto the hitching eye, shouting for help and shouting to me enquiring if I was ok. I was trapped in the cuddy, shouting to John. Due to the fact that the boat was still caught up with the anchor and coupled with the strong wind, the boats natural position whilst being capsized (basically nose pointing upwards) was being compromised. This made the boat more horizontal, which meant the air pocket in the cuddy was a lot smaller than it should have been. I literally had just my head out of water and anything that entered the space, bags and tackle etc was battered . The longer it goes on, the more negative out of the way. . . you are becoming and you realise you . . might not be seeing your children again. . Luckily, John had attracted the attention of . I was very cold and started to struggle. . . I thought about trying to swim for it but as a passing yacht, on board were three . chaps from Stoke and their actions saved . soon as my head went underwater I lost . . my breath. Stupidly, I just imagined myself our lives. They fired off flares, alerted the . . swimming under the boat and bobbing up coastguard and the lake wardens. They . threw John a life line and manoeuvred him . to the surface, when in reality I would have . . sunk to the bottom. to the back of the yacht.
John with a lovely Lakeland lass.
AYachtCrewSavedOurLives
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pinned me down to the floor, I was shaking uncontrollably; a mixture of the cold and adrenaline. They then raced me back to the wardens office and to a waiting ambulance. All I kept asking was wheres John? The wardens kept telling me John was fine, but I wouldnt believe it until I had seen him.
TheAmbulanceChapCheckedMeOver AndAdvisedMeToGoToHospital,IWasnt GoingAnywhereUntilIdSeenJohn.

It took all three of them to lift him out of the lake, they struggled mainly because of the weight of his water-laden clothing (as you know us pikers wrap up well!). John had also hired the help of a weight loss guru which had in a roundabout sort of way helped the lads from Stoke get him out! There would have been no chance if the accident had been 12 months earlier. (sorry pal, only joking). Meanwhile, Im still trapped under the boat and oblivious to whats going on outside apart from the odd incoherent shouts. The thoughts going through your mind are not nice.
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Now it was the turn of the lake wardens to rescue me, it seemed to go on for an age with lots of noise, bangs and shouts. All terrifying. I did not know what was going on while the wardens thought I was a goner. On seeing my hands through the hatch they went all out. I do not know how they did it, but they got the front of the boat more vertical which then meant getting through the hatch was a means of escape. Eventually they got me, pulled me out of the hatch and into the rescue boat. Whilst in the boat, one of the wardens
TheLakeWardensWereBrilliant
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When they got me to the wardens office I was stripped off had a hot shower and a brew. The ambulance chap checked me over and advised me to go to hospital, I wasnt going anywhere until Id seen John. He was indeed fine after the ordeal and had been salvaging what he could from around the boat. Seeing him back at the wardens office alive and well was, and I am not ashamed to admit, very emotional! I was so glad he was there. He cracked a couple of jokes, David Blane was one, and that the contents of his underwear were normally a bit bigger.
Joking aside, we realised how lucky we were and how different it all could have been. The Wardens were brilliant, absolutely superb. We remained with them for a good few hours and when the wind died down they recovered the boat. I know John shares my sentiments here. We cannot thank the Wardens and the lads from Stoke enough.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What lessons have we learned? Obviously . . the first and most important one is always . . to wear a lifejacket. This is something that over time we just stopped doing, the main reasons being that boats we use nowadays make you feel safe. I cannot really explain the reasons behind us not wearing lifejackets but plenty of people dont. If God forbid anything like this happens to you, believe me youll be glad you are wearing a lifejacket. If you are not, youll realise just how vulnerable and helpless you really are.
After the advice we have received, I feel these jackets offer us the best protection. If you do buy one or re-arm your current one, just make sure you wear it! We bought ours from crewsafe.co.uk a good site to browse. Whilst on the Crewsafe website I came across a fully waterproof mobile phone case. The case is supplied with a lanyard so you can wear it around your neck.
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John always keeps his closed and even full of stuff it floated. The one I use is a Wychwood game bag and John has a Shimano one.
SomeGear-SavingTips
For your camera, get a rubber-sealed Tupperwear box, they sell these at the supermarket and are fully waterproof. One last thing, put some pipe lagging on your rods; if they go overboard the lagging will make them float. After getting over the initial shock of an accident like this you inevitably start to count the cost. I lost a lot of gear as did John. The items lost come under your personal belongings policy, make sure you have adequate cover. John did, but unfortunately for me I didnt and only managed to recoup about a third of the money required to replace my gear. Check your policy and make a phone call if you need to. If you know you are covered you will at least have peace of mind. It has been a few months now since the accident and I hope people take on board the things I have mentioned in this article. Im so glad Im here to put this experience into print. Before I go I would just like to thank a few people who have helped in one way or another; John... top man, Fat Harry, Rodders, cheers mate, Eddie Turner for the kind offer and Dave Lumb for sorting me out a couple of Loch Tamers quickly for a planned trip and for the discount (smiley). Safe piking. Darren Ward.
CheckYourLifejacket!
The jackets themselves need a mention. Do not rely on old jackets you have had for years. John took his to a shop to test it and then re-arm it. The shop owner advised him to throw it in the bin! Think about it, if ever the jacket is needed to save your life, you need to be sure it will do its job. If you are happy with the type and model of lifejacket you possess, do yourself a favour and get it tested and re-armed every season.
. Obviously, it will come into its own if you . . do find yourself in the water and need to . call the emergency services and its also handy for making and receiving calls when raining. I think these cases are a brilliant idea and well worth getting. If you browse the site just go in to the drybags and holdalls section.
For the sake of twenty quid it is something I will be doing every year. John did a lot of ringing around after the accident, determined to get the right lifejacket. The Crewsaver Crewfit 150n automatic hammar is the one we have gone for, it will self-inflate once submerged in water over 10cms and will not go off on its own when wet or if it gets splashed on. Also, it can be self-inflated using a pull chord.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The boat you are fishing from needs to be . . . suited to the types of waters you are . . fishing, do not venture out onto these big . . waters in an inadequate boat. Also dont . . tinker with boats buoyancy; it is there for . . obvious reasons! . . . . Another worthwhile investment is a game . . bag, we use these to carry most of our . . fishing gear; floats, terminal tackle, rig . bits, scales, sling, unhooking gear, drogue, . . . camera, rod holders etc. The beauty of . these bags is that they float, unfortunately . . . I left mine un-zipped so lost most of its . . contents.
Thanks,AndImGladToBeHere!
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YourLetters
UptracesAppeal
I thought the article by Brian Wootton on helping beginners to piking in the last issue of Pikelines was excellent. I wonder if I could add a postscript, a kind of appeal? In the article he rightly emphasises the need for an uptrace whilst livebaiting. I also believe it is necessary whilst deadbaiting. Think about it a bit. A beginner, especially might make a slightly jerky cast and the deadbait could easily flip back even before it hits the water. You may not notice this, especially in the dark. Once the bait has hit the water it can hit a log or a rock on the way to the bottom.
Thanks for writing in this quarter. Have your thoughts and views published here. Send all letters to Neville Fickling at: thetackleshop@btconnect.com PL123 deadline for submissions: Dec. 26th 2008.
YourPikelines:YourVoice
. socket at an alarming degree. My guess . . would be that it has been caused by a . . tumour beneath the eye? .
. I had to laugh at Colin Goodge, at times as . . he appeared to be running around like the . . proverbial blue arsed fly, a big thanks to . him as well. I know the target of 3,000 members has yet to be achieved but this is something that I am sure will happen and is certainly not for the want of trying on the part of many people. All the guys have worked very hard on our behalf, I wish them all well. The new team have a hard act to follow but I have no doubt they will rise to the occasion. Yours in dangling!
Dick.
Or, a pike could pick up the bait and drop it again, on the reel line before having another go at it. It does not harm at all to use an uptrace whilst deadbaiting, only good. I usually have a safety clip on the uptrace to allow me to use a semi-fixed lead close to the bait trace (I rarely use a running trace above the full trace because . The pike weighed 8lb and was very thin, it really isnt necessary to do so). . . no doubt it had trouble feeding properly . . and, apart from this , the fish was in perfect Barrie Rickards. . . condition. Prior to this disease it was . Editors addition: Sadly, since publication . almost certainly a double. I know that this . . pike was caught at least 4 or 5 times last of his article Brian recently passed away, . our thanks for his contribution to the club. . year and we eventually gave it the unflat. . tering name of popeye. This year the fish A family obituary is on page 34. NJF. . . has not been seen and I figure that it must . . have succumbed to its illness. . . . . By publishing these pictures Pikelines may Following on from David McLachlans . . well get inundated with pictures of weird Blindness in pike article in issue 115 and . . looking pike and we might have to start a subsequently, Phil Wakefords letter in . . new Frankenfish gallery? issue 117 in which he stated that he has . caught, or seen caught many pike with eye . . . Darren Carter. defects and /or abnormalities. The most . . common of which is indeed pike develop. ing a white film over the eye. Sometimes I . . . have seen this film covering just a portion . . I would like to take this opportunity to thank of the eye, while other pike have had the . . all members of the current committee for entire eye covered over. . . all the hard work they have done during . . their time in office. I think we all fall into the I am yet to catch a pike that has had this . . trap of expecting everything to be just so, disease in both eyes at the same time; . . including getting Pikelines through the a totally blind pike, but know other writers . who have done so. The poor old pike does . door, having a convention with great . seem to suffer from more infections of one . speakers, getting the chance to fish . . fantastic places and having a voice within type or another when compared to other . . angling. Without the dedication and hard fish species. Diseases such as red sore . . work of the team none of this would and tumours which can appear anywhere . . happen. I have to say I thought that having on the pikes body, but particularly around . . a few moments silence in memory of the head and back areas are not uncom. mon occurences. The picture below shows . members no longer with us was particularly . . poignant and I have to thank Phil Wakeford a gravel pit pike I caught in 2007 which . . for remembering those special people. clearly has an eye protruding from the
MoreThanksToPAC
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Hello, Im a new member of PAC and in my first year I have had great success piking with help from the magazine. I have fished new waters with great results. Im 25 and my best mate and fishing partner Wayne Paget who is 23 have been piking together for a number of years. This year I decided to join PAC as I felt I needed to honour the pike by joining the club. We had the fantastic Pikelines magazine come through the post and with a couple of the articles read we were armed with the extra knowledge of where to fish. I have enclosed some of our pictures from last season.
MoreOnPikeBlindness
ThanksFromDickCulpin
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All the fish shown were caught from the drains. We had over 150 pike raging from 4lbs to a massive 24lbs they came by exploring the Cambridgeshire drains between 10.9.07 to 17.02.08.
. . . . . . . . . . . . We have mainly used livebaits caught from . . . the water on a paternoster rig, with two . rods apiece. Leapfrogging each other down . . . the drains, we noticed a familiar pattern . . to the whereabouts of the predators . (hotspots is something I didnt know about) . . . with a total 21 pike coming from one . . small stretch. . . . . Anyway, Wayne and I will be pleased to . . renew our memberships with excitement . . and gratitude and we both wonder why . . we werent members a long time before. . . Thank you and tight lines. . . . . Matthew Collins. . . . . Editors comment: What a nice letter; . . it shows that people do appreciate PAC, . . its just that few put pen to paper! NJF.
. . . I started pike fishing back in November . . after a long time spent away from the . . water due to the usual things; football, . . work and buying a home. I was due to . work a week of nights near my local water . . which I had not fished for years. So on the . . . Monday I fished out my piking gear, . . brushed off the resident spiders and set . . off down to the water. . . . . On arrival at the water I was faced with . one of fishings biggest decisions, where to . . . fish and what tactics to use. The only . . knowledge I had of the water was that I . . had over heard some match anglers call . . one bank the match straight, so I thought food fish equals pike. With this decision made I set up to fish, two rods out with deadbaits on them. After about three hours the bailiff came round a lovely man called David Holmes (RA84) he asked me if I had caught anything. Unfortunately, the answer was no. I made him a cup of coffee and we had a chat. He pointed out an area in the water about 50 yards out, he said that this area had always produced good pike for him. What a great man to share his secrets with me on the strength of just one meeting. We chatted some more and then the alarm sounded, I struck and thought I was struck on the bottom, but then the fish took off. I had never felt anything like this as my carp PB is 14lb. After about ten minutes we had the lovely girl on the bank at 19.02.
ADedicationFromMartin
the great Bill Winship when he came to do a talk on river piking at our local meeting. What a great guy Bill is for coming down all that way to show us his love for pike, all he accepted was the cost of his petrol and some free grub. I would therefore like to dedicate this letter to David Holmes for being such an inspiring man in pike fishing in our local region and to myself. Also thanks again to Bill Winship for a great talk. The picture below is of the lovely 19.02 lady, the other; my award presentation for RA84 best newcomer, David is on the left of me. What an honour that was; my first award for fishing achievement. Tight lines everybody. M.Pursglove.
though its bones make for challenging chewing.
Pike is edible, even glorified by some palates,
Sara Bensinger of The New York Times.
QuoteOf TheQuarter
This confirmed my love for pike. I visited the water all winter and caught most times chatting more and more with David. This experience with David Holmes led me to join Amber Valley RA84 and subscribe to PAC. I have made some great friends through pike fishing these last few months, one of the most inspiring would have to be
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UnderTheSkin
. . . . old believe it or not (my nickname at work . . . is old face) and Ive been pike fishing . . for 20 years. . . . . Q: Where do you live and what do you . do for a living? Born in Cambridge, but I . . . now reside in County Durham. I have . been a postman since leaving school but . . . have also just taken up the opportunity . . recently to work on a casual basis for a . . tackle company. . . . . Q: Type of transport? A boring Ford . Focus, not the ideal fishing chariot but a . . family car as my wife likes to describe it. . . Im hoping to change it in the near future . . . to something more suitable for fishing. . . . Q: Where do you fish for pike? At pres- . . . ent Im into river fishing as it makes for . . more interesting piking and is so . unpredictable, you just never know whats . . going to turn up on each session. Rivers . . . are not the only places I fish. As you . know Nev I organised the pike fishing on . . . two trout waters for several years, but . . these are closed at present to give the . . pike a rest and to improve the fishing. . . . . Q: Likes about pike fishing? The huge . . diversity of it, one day I could be on a . river, the next on a gravel pit, small pond .
ThisQuarter NevilleTalksToMickGleeson
Q: Hi Mick, How old are you and how long have you pike fished? Im 39 years
or reservoir, having to adapt at the last minute to a different type of venue and or method keeps me on my toes and always thinking about my fishing. When things ever start to become predictable or boring Ill give it up. Also, the many methods that can be used to catch pike, I just wish I was more confident with lure fishing. tells a few white lies about where theyre fishing I dont have a problem with that, but its the people who lie about what they catch and the size of their fish.
A perfect river 21.00 to Mick.
Q: Dislikes about pike fishing? Liars, now everyone
Careless pike killers, and finally, angling clubs that impose stupid rules on our pike fishing.
This gets my back up, they soon get found out and are only kidding themselves. Also, people who dismiss livebaiting as unnecessary without ever trying it.
RiverGlee
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Mick has really been enjoying catching big river pike like this twenty.
Carefully returning a big twenty to her river home.
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Proudly cradling a river 27.00.
More recently, Mark Ackerley who I would say is one of the best pike anglers and angling writers (when he occasionally puts pen to paper) who Ive had the pleasure to fish with.
Q: Pike fishing influences? In the beginning I suppose my brother Steve and Bob Meadows; they caught some big fish in the late 80s that really got me into pike fishing. Then later, meeting Richard and Hugh Reynolds two very good anglers.
Dislikes...
Careless pike killers,

and finally, angling clubs that
Q: If you won 10 million on the lottery, what would you do with it? Id probably
look after my family first and foremost. I would then buy a large fishery of my own, a property in Ireland and one somewhere hot for the summertime when Im not fishing. Oh... and a better car!
impose
Stupid rules on
Q: Ambition in life? That would be to
receive free bait from you Nev, only kidding, I suppose it would be continued good health for myself and family. To retire at 50 and be able to fish when I want and on my own terms. leader wire in 45lb breaking strain, coated in a red nylon; superb for uptraces.
Q: Other fishy interests? Grayling fishing I just wish they grew to double figures. Q: Favourite fishing book? There are
our pike fishing!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I dont get the chance for fishing holidays, so a long weekend or the odd week in Cambridge fishing with my brother and Richard Reynolds is very enjoyable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q: Favourite non-fishing holiday . location? For the last ten years my family . . and I have spent three weeks a year at a . . . small resort on the Spanish island of . . Menorca, its quiet, ideal for the family . . and very hot. . . . . Q: Pike-fishing ambition? To catch a . . thirty pound pike, preferably from a . river, but I wouldnt turn my nose up at a . . . thirty form another type of venue!
two that come to mind; your book Nev In pursuit of predatory fish I dont think youve ever bettered it (Im still looking for a copy if anyone wants to sell one) and ETs Mega pike.
Q: Favourite fishing holiday location?
Q: Other sporting interests? Supporting the football team where I was born; Cambridge United. My nephew plays for them at the moment so I can blame him when they lose!
really like; The League of Gentlemans Apocalypse and The Shawshank Redemption.
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Q: Non-fishing interests? Military history.
Q: Last piece of fishing tackle you bought? American Surflon bleeding
Q: Favourite film? There are two that I
Q: Favourite cheese? Red Leicester.
NJF: Many thanks for letting us in on your

world of fishing Mick.
JacksJuniorPikePage
By the time you are reading this no doubt most of you will be well into your winter pike season. As I write this it is the last week in September. Personally I only fish for pike from October to March; however, preparation for my winter pike season starts many weeks before. What do I mean in terms of preparation? Well hopefully I will explain to the younger readers of Pikelines a few tips to improve your season, and points on pike welfare that must be observed. Tackle. Let me start with line, whether you use braid or mono you really need to check this for damage. Mono lines, although perhaps more abrasive-resistant than braid, should really be checked for any small nicks. These will normally be in the last 20-30 meters or so of line where it has been on the bottom the most. If you find any, cut off the damaged section. If you seem to have a lot of nicks or damage to line further into the spool you really should consider replacing the whole spool with new line. Good quality mono such as Daiwa Sensor is pretty cheap and as long as you take care of it a 300 yard spool should last a while. Remember, mono will deteriate in sunlight so always keep it somewhere dark and cool such as the garage or the shed. With mono please remember never to use anything less than 15lb breaking strain. A lower breaking strain is simply asking for trouble so why take the risk. There is hardly a difference in price between 8lb and 15lb line. Remember, if you think lesser diameter line will be less obvious for the pike to see and will catch you more fish then you are totally WRONG. Lower breaking strain line will lose you fish simply because it is not up to the job, so please dont use it. A baited trace left either in the water or in a pike is almost certainly a death sentence. So what of braid? To be perfectly honest this is my favoured type of line and suits my style of fishing well. Whilst not cheap, if you look after it well braid will last. Braid is perhaps more prone to damage than mono, especially over rough ground and I would suggest if you fish over rocky terrain you should check your braid after every trip. Again as with mono you must replace or take out any damaged line. What I tend to do after one season is get the spare spool for the reel, take off the one currently on the reel, place the
Preparation, preparation and more preparation!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
spare spool on the reel and wind the braid from the filled spool onto the empty one. This puts all the braid which has not perhaps ever seen water to the front of the new spool. By doing this you are almost getting a brand new spool of line. If you use braid please make sure you use one with a good track record. Power Pro and Berkeley Whiplash are both worth a look. As a guide, I use 40lb for bait fishing and up to 80lb for lure fishing, (pocket money is not that good that I can afford to lose a 15 lure). Rods. No doubt, like me, most of you will use the same rods for pike fishing as you do for perhaps carp, so any flaws will hopefully have been picked up. It is still worth checking rod rings for any nicks, especially if you have just replaced line on your reels. Any nicks in the rod rings will damage your line. Terminal tackle. I always like to start totally from fresh for the new season. If youre thinking of simply clipping on last years trace then you should pay special attention to any signs of rust to hooks and swivels. Hooks will probably be blunted and will need sharpening, but most important are swivels. It surprised me when checking some used ones just what problems they can cause. Any rust will cause weakness to the swivel resulting in breakage if you snag up, leaving a baited trace in the water. You should also check for any nicks or rough edges in the eye of the swivel; any of these will damage your line which again will result in parting with your trace. Remember rust equals weakness so avoid it. Put simply, by the time you have filed and cleaned hooks, sorted swivels out you could have made a couple of new traces up! I must admit, I really enjoy making my traces up, it gives great satisfaction when you catch pike on something you have made yourself. Rigs. keep it simple, and if in doubt get an experienced piker to check them out. Bait. For those of you who bait fish, getting it sorted well in hand is really important. Most supermarkets supply fresh sea baits at a good price and for the sake of a couple of quid each week you can really start to build your freezer up if you start in plenty of time. If money is tight simply ring around supermarkets or fishmongers and ask if you can have any fish they do not sell by the sell-by date (its surprising what
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
you can get). I love to experiment with baits. Before you freeze them up why not try adding flavours and colours to them? As they freeze-up they will soak any colours and flavourings into them. Who knows, it may help to give you that edge? If you buy your bait from a tackle shop they will normally come frozen and vacuum-packed so you can just pop them straight in the freezer. If you buy baits from the supermarket or take from a vacuum pack to add flavourings or colours, always make sure you wrap them back up in cling film and put plenty on to avoid freezer burn. If you wrap them individually you can also just take what you think you will need for a session, this saves on wasting bait that thaws out. My favourite bait is the lamprey it just leaks attraction to the pike, although dad wont tell me where he gets his lamprey from... something to do with uprooted trees in the river! Location. Its always good to discover new waters and have some plans for the coming winter. I am lucky in the fact that where I live I am pretty close to some waters that have reasonable pike fishing. But dont despair if you dont think you have waters near by. Why not try and get hold of an ordnance survey map of your area, you may be surprised at what you find. Look at it very carefully and I bet you will find waters on it you never new existed. Simply walking around places either at first or last light in the summer will sometimes give you an indication of pike presence by the sound of them striking at baitfish. Another point to note is look carefully at the water in the summer, even draw a rough sketch and put notes in where perhaps lily pads are and weed beds etc. These are places that pike will no doubt haunt in the winter months ready to ambush prey fish. Dont be afraid to try places that perhaps you have not tried before. Apart from commercial carp ponds, most waters, certainly rivers, drains and canals will contain a head of pike, so give them a go. I hope these points will help you to enjoy your season and I hope you catch the pike of your dreams. I would like to thank the PAC committee for putting on yet another fantastic convention, it was a wonderful day with some top speakers and to cap it all I got a drawn out for the Menteith event in March. I will be back for revenge! Watch this space. Tight lines to you all. Jack Dinnewell.
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NEW: Chertsey Gravel Pit, Surrey Bank-fishing Sat 28th. Feb. 2009 20 members only.
15 per person. 2 Rods. Deadbaits and lures ONLY, NO livebaiting. First-come first-served basis. Please include an A5 SAE with your application. All rules and details will be sent out with tickets.
NEW: Warping Drain, N. Lincs. Bank-fishing Sat. 7th Feb. 2009

20 members only. 10 per person. 2 Rods. Deadbaits and lures ONLY, NO livebaiting. First-come first-served basis. Please include an A5 SAE with your application. All rules and details will be sent out with tickets.
Hykeham Gravel Pit, Lincs. Bank-fishing Sat. 14th and Sun. 15th Feb. 2009
200 acre gravel pit. 13 per person per day. 3 Rods. All methods allowed. First-come first-served basis. Please include an A5 SAE with your application. All rules and details will be sent out with tickets.
Ecton Lakes, Northants. (Jigsaw lake only) Bank-fishing Quays Gravel Pit, Surrey
www.ecton.t83.net
Limited places. Sat. 21st Feb. and Sat. 14th March 2009 18 per person per day. 3 Rods. All methods, livebaiting allowed if caught on site. First-come first-served basis. Please include an A5 SAE with your application. All rules and details will be sent out with tickets.
Bank-fishing Sat. 21st and Sun. 22nd March 2009 20 members only per day. 18 per person per day. 3 Rods. All methods, livebaiting allowed if caught on site. First-come firstserved basis. Please include an A5 SAE with your application. All rules and details will be sent out with tickets.
CalendarOfSpecial
More special PAC events to follow... watch this space.
Events2009
PLEASE NOTE: To apply please complete applications slips in this issue of Pikelines. Event packs sent out will include rules and information sheets. Please include an A5 or large envelope with application slips and ensure your membership will be concurrent for the day of the event. Members applying do so in the knowledge that they accept to fish within the rules set out for that event. Members applying for more than one event must please include a separate cheque for each event. Thanks, Mark Skinner. Keep up to date on the latest events: pacgb.co.uk/events
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MembersPictures
Every issue, choosing the winner of the Zoota Lures/Pikelines Gallery competition is made harder by the sheer quality of all the entries submitted. It was no different for issue 121, but I am pleased to announce that the winner is Andy Starsmore for his lovely picture of a rainbow over the river Bure. Well done to him! Alex Prouse.
YourPikelines:Your Gallery
See your catch here, send digital pictures to Steve Ormrod at: predhunter.o@virgin.net
20-catching machine Ross Greaves with a bonny Scottish beauty.
Yorkshire member John Meakin with a new PB at 21.10. John says its been 11 long years since he last had a fish over the magical mark.
No stranger to big pike is Rob Christen; looking pleased with a new drain 28.10.
PAC stalwart Dave West with a gale-force caught big girl from Co. Galway.
36
See more member pictures at: pacgb.co.uk/gallery/index.htm
In the right place, at the right time after a hard day on the Bure explained Peter McGillivray. His reward; a new PB at 26.04. Our man in the Highlands; Micky Jones with a new PB of 22.08.
Another PB at 24.04 to a very happy Wullie McCauley. Left: Youve probably seen this grin before! Steve Spoor with his new PB of 24.06.
Below: Jim Tyree sent in this great capture of Dave Middo Middleton. Dave is layed up at the moment due to a bad accident and will miss his winter piking, hope you get well soon Dave.
37
PAC Badges a. Round colour car sticker

Order Code: CS. 1.50
b.
Three-inch dia. Full-colour cloth Order Code: CB. 3.50
OfficialPACX
ToOrder:CompleteAndPostTheProductsFormIncludedInThisIssue
Queries... email Mike Hastings at: pacprodman@btinternet.com Colours: Green, Blue Order Code: BC One Size: 9.00
PAC Enamel Badges c. One-inch dia. Full-colour enamelled

metal. Order Code: EB. 3.00
Baseball Cap (one size)
d.
One-inch dia. 30th Anniversary. Full-colour enamelled metal. Order Code: EB30. 3.50
a.
e. Stainless Thermal Mug

Order Code: TM. 5.50
Colour: Green Order Code: WH One Size: 8.00
Wooly hat (one size)
f. 6 Boat Sticker
Large full-colour PAC logo. Order Code: BS6. 3.00
g. PAC Mouse Mat
Order Code: MM. 2.50
b.
h.
Pikelines A4+ Binders

Holds 12 copies (not shown) Order Code: PB. 6.00
h. Roving Vest
Order Code: RV Adult Sizes only: M,L,XL,XXL. 25.00
c. d.
i. Sweatshirt* Order Code: SS

Child: 16.50. Adult: 19.00
j. Polo Shirt* Order Code: PS

Child: 15.50. Adult: 17.00
k. Camo Shirts
Hardwood green camo. Short sleeve:Order Code:CSS.21.00 Long sleeve:Order Code:CLS.25.00 Adult Sizes only: M,L,XL,XXL.
No personalisation available on these items.
i. j. e.
Name and other details can be detailed under the logo on shirts and fleeces (see sample left). Per Item: First line: 1.50 extra. Per next line: 50p extra.
l. Personalised Embroidery f. l.
All clothing is supplied with an embroidered PAC logo as shown. Sizes are approx. and for guidance only. *T-Shirt, Polo Shirt and Sweatshirt in Green only. Sizes available/sizing Guide: Child: 5/6, 7/8, 9/11, 12/13 Adult: Small: (36 chest) Medium: (38-40 chest) Large: (42 chest) Extra Large: (44-46 chest) Extra-Extra Large: (48 chest) (unless otherwise specified)
g. k.
38
Note: All items shown are for illustration purposes only and are not to scale. Errors and Omissions Excepted.
masPresents
Please Order By Dec 1st 08 To Guarantee Xmas Delivery
Hoody
Did you know you can order online at PACs products webshop: pacgb.com Order Code: HS Child: 20.00. Adult: 23.50 Colours: Child: Red, Grey, Navy Adult: Green only
Xmas is here again!

Horrified by the thought of what you might get?
PAC can help!
T-Shirt*
Order Code: TS Child: 9.50 Adult: 10.50
Order Code: FZF Child: 24.00 Adult: 28.00
Full-Zip Fleece
Half-Zip Fleece
Order Code: HZF Child: 23.00 Adult: 27.00
(Not shown)
Both fleece styles available in Green, Grey, Blue and Red.
PAC30 is an exciting book, published to celebrate last years 30th anniversary. The book is of the utmost quality and includes 30 piking stories by some of the countrys leading pike anglers.
An ideal gift for the piker in your life.
Hardback: 25 plus 5 P&P.

Leatherbounds:
185 plus 5 recorded delivery.

Available from: pacshop.co.uk Or, send a cheque payable to: The Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain, to Mark Barrett, PAC Secretary, 32 Berristead Close, Wilburton, Ely, Cambs. CB6 3RS. Please order before 1st December to guarantee pre-Christmas delivery.
39
High quality long-sleeved in Khaki with embroidered gold PAC logo. Order Code: SAF. 25.00 Note: special order only, there is a waiting time of 3 weeks for delivery prior to order.
Safari Shirt
FEATUREARTICLE
UNLUCKY Thirteen?
T
he longer I fish for pike, the more I realise that I will never know all of the answers. In all probability, this is because our voracious quarry is unaware of the questions in the first place. Unaware and completely disinterested?
JasonWoods
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Which is why no matter how much we try . . to coax it into visiting our world, we enjoy . . (?) many a blank session. The pike is just . . not interested. We can place the equivalent . . . of an Esox gourmet meal laced with the . flavours of pike dreamland inches from her . . face. We can flash the latest, all singing, all . . . dancing, multi-coloured rubber, metal or . . wooden lure, with vibrating abilities that . . would not be out of place in a sex shop, . (or so Im told!) within a whisker of those . . . teeth, and still she sits... or nonchalantly . . follows. . . . Then as happened during a session back in . . November 2007, the other half of the split . . personality decides to dominate and logic .
Unaware, because I believe a pike lives its life in a very, very simple way with only two moods. Albeit, the moods of a complete psychopath! Sorry if there are any reading this! I have always thought that the pike has the complete split personality. For much of her life she lies, or ambles with brain in neutral. No questions are worthy of neither asking nor answering.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nothing! Not a sniff, not a follow, all was . . quiet and my swim looked empty, and for . . . nearly three hours. . . . . I have never been confident with fishing . deadbaits beneath a float, especially in mid . . water. I know it works for others, but I like . . . to be confident in what works for me. . Livebaits yes, but obviously the opportuni- . . ty to fish this way is becoming ever more . . . restricted. I guess we all have our proven . . comfort zones. However, needs must and
disappears beneath the surface. I was fishing an ACA qualifier on a large pit in Berkshire, the weather had turned mild after a short cold snap and the water was gin clear. I was alternating between two free-lined sea deads, (the conditions were calm which made it possible for me to watch the line entering the water as well as the bobbins), and then leaving one bait out and fishing lures around it. The baits were half a mackerel and herring, both fresh and full of oil. The lures were my favourite spinnerbaits and rubber jigs. I was confident!..
the lake bed was barren of interest. So I set up a float rod, waggler-style with a swan shot on the trace and attached a fresh sprat. My thinking, at this point, was that at least it would add a little variety watching a float do nothing, as opposed to a bobbin! I fished 4 feet deep in 10 foot of water so that if the wind picked up there would be some natural drift. Basically, I just tried to make the bait as obvious as possible. As you do, I turned and poured a cup of coffee and settled back to watch the float... which suddenly wasnt there! I looked straight to the reel to see if line was being pulled off... It wasnt. Still no sign of the float, so I wound down and struck. Yes! It was on. It felt like a good fish and when she swirled and showed her belly this was confirmed. I gained control, flicked to backwind, which is how I love to play all fish and she opened her mouth and let go. Two unprintable words quietly came out of my mouth! So I wound in experiencing that feeling in the pit of my stomach that only a lost fish can produce. So close, almost close enough to touch and yet so far.
40
I have never been confident with fishing deadbaits beneath a float, especially in midwater. I know it works for others, but I like to be confident in what works for me!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I wound down and again struck firmly, . again, she was on! She swirled again. and . . flashed her belly. But this time she kept her . . . mouth closed, perhaps she wasnt a she? . . Sorry girls! Anyway, I had to backwind . several times to placate her, and she fought .
Very half-heartedly and really, just going through the motions, I rebaited with another sprat and chucked it back out in the same spot. I drained my now cold cup of coffee and poured another still cursing my bad luck. Instantly my eyes moved from left to right; the float had vanished again, and yet still no line left the spool. Surely not? Does lightning strike twice?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exactly 13lb... Weighed, witnessed and . quickly released, she swam off in a temper. . . More than likely she was still rather hungry . . . and I half expected her to come back for . another sprat. I really did! I do believe that . . . there may have been other pike in my
hard and determined while I fought nervously and tentatively. Soon enough, the moment came when I guided her over the rim of the net, gathered the mesh and lifted. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. By no means huge, but a double figure pike (until they decide to eat and be almost pumped full of obscene hi-pro boilies) will always be a big fish. Full stop.
swim, but they were not interested, simple as that. She however, was full of rage. Obsessed with a kill, to the point where a dead sprat suspended totally un-naturally, the right way up, looked like a plausible meal, twice in a matter of minutes. The fact that this feebly small dead fish could pull back against her attack and prick her mouth appeared not to bother her in the slightest. She was hungry, she was angry and she was going to eat! Unlucky 13? Not for me it wasnt! Jason Woods.
41
E.T. Predator Tackle www.etpredatortackle.co.uk

See the full range on the website at
E.T. MULTIPLIER LURE SERIES RODS E.T. FISH CARE
7' casting weight 14 - 42gm 79.99 E.T. STINGER Middle to tip action, two piece high modulus carbon lure rod. Lightweight trigger grip reel seat, aluminium oxide rings. The Stinger is designed for spoons, spinnerbaits, small to medium sized soft plastics and crankbaits. E.T. DARTER 6' 6" casting weight 21 - 84gm 79.99 Middle to tip action, two piece high modulus carbon lure rod. Lightweight trigger grip reel seat, aluminium oxide rings. The Darter is designed for medium sized jerkbaits, large sized soft plastics and crankbaits. 6' 6" casting weight 28 - 140gm 79.99 E.T. GATOR Middle to tip action, two piece high modulus carbon lure rod. Lightweight trigger grip reel seat, aluminium oxide rings. The Gator is designed specifically for jerkbaits and large soft plastics.
Price: 49.99 E.T. CONTINENTAL CATFISH SLING 7' x 2' 4" Heavy duty catfish sling long enough to handle the largest continental catfish. Reinforced webbing weigh straps and handles at either end, help lift/drag fish from the water, when straps and handles are fitted over the scales hook, fish cannot slip out. Constructed from heavy duty PVC. 5'6" x 2'4" 30.99 E.T. UK CATFISH SLING Heavy duty catfish sling long enough to handle the largest UK catfish. Reinforced webbing weigh straps and handles. Constructed in heavy duty PVC. E.T. JUMBO PIKE WEIGH SLING Size 44" x 24" The original crescent shaped sling designed for big pike. 17.50
E.T. FIXED SPOOL SERIES RODS
E.T. JUMBO PIKE UNHOOKING MAT Size 49" x 23" x 1.5" 33.99 Extra long and thick unhooking mat. Heavy duty PVC cover, calming flap. Designed for 'big pike'. 37.99 E.T. UK CATFISH UNHOOKING MAT Size 55" x 23" x 1.5" Extra long and thick unhooking mat. Heavy duty PVC cover, calming flap. Designed for UK cats. 6' 6" casting weight 10 - 30gm 59.99 E.T. FLIPPER Fantastic high modulus fixed spool spin & jigging rod. Featuring new ergonomic reel seat, lightweight, extremely tough, braid friendly titanium rings and the new 'Cracked Ice' finish. Suitable for jigs, small/med plugs, spoons and spinners. E.T. THRILLER 8' casting weight 15 - 40gm 69.99 Fantastic high modulus fixed spool spin & jigging rod. Featuring new ergonomic reel seat, lightweight, extremely tough, braid friendly titanium rings and the new 'Cracked Ice' finish. Suitable for small/med plugs, spoons and spinners. E.T. TORMENTOR 9' casting weight 20 - 60gm 74.99 Fantastic high modulus fixed spool spinning rod. Featuring new ergonomic reel seat, lightweight, extremely tough, braid friendly titanium rings and the new 'Cracked Ice' finish. Suitable for med/large plugs, spoons and spinners. E.T. MAULER 9' casting weight 60 - 100gm 79.99 Fantastic high modulus fixed spool spinning rod. Featuring new ergonomic reel seat, lightweight, extremely tough, braid friendly titanium rings and the new 'Cracked Ice' finish. Suitable for large plugs, spoons & soft plastics. E.T. PIKE TUBE 17.99 Long tube constructed from 'air-flo' sacking material, zipped top access & draw cord ends. E.T. BAIT TUBE Mini keep net with draw cord top, constructed from 'air-flo' sacking material. 11.99
E.T. PIKE OILS

E.T. OILS 8.50 Return of the original range of flavours, plus 2 extra. Field tested with outstanding success, confirming these are still "the best by test" pike oils on the market. Freshwater eel, Kipper, Lamprey, Oily Sardine, Sandeel, Smelt. New flavours: Mackerel or Salmon. E.T. WINTER JUICE 9.50 Water soluble even in coldest water without the need for emulsifier. Perfect for cold water conditions experienced from January to March. Freshwater eel, Oily Sardine or Smelt. E.T. JUMBO SYRINGE 2.99
E.T. PIKE RODS
E.T. TRACEMAKING COMPONENTS

E.T. PITMASTER LR 12 3.0 lb T/C 119.99 12 3.5 lb T/C 119.99 E.T. PITMASTER LR E.T. BOATMAN 10 6 3.0 lb T/C 89.99 E.T. Pitmaster Long Range and E.T. Boatman - A new series of high performance pike rods produced in a powerful middle-to-tip action high modulus carbon with 'Cracked Ice' finish. All rods feature a lightweight reel seat, lightweight braid friendly titanium rings. 35lb x10m 7.50, 50lb x 10m 7.50, 95lb x 10m 9.50 E.T. 49 STRAND WIRE Traces made from 49 strand will out last those made from standard 7 strand as its so difficult to kink! Get more pick ups when deadbaiting withj this extremely limp 49 strand wire, perfect form wobbling and spinning traces too. Can be knotted or crimped. 30lb x 20m E.T. 7 STRAND WIRE Very good quality 7 strand pike wire "used by the experts". Can be twisted or crimped. All sizes 25pk E.T. CRIMPS 0.8mm (10-30lb), 1.0mm (30-50lb), 1.2mm (50-100lb) E.T. DOUBLE CRIMPS All sizes 50pk 0.8mm (10-30lb), 1.0mm (30-50lb), 1.3m (50-100lb) E.T. TWIDDLIN' STICK Neat tool used for the 'twist method' of making traces. E.T. ULTIMATE PITMASTER 99.99 The original version of this classic rod is prized by many of today's leading pike anglers. We have improved on the original by upgrading the blank to woven high modulus carbon and fitting "braid friendly" aluminium oxide rings otherwise it's the same sweet action as before! FREE E.T. Ultimate backbiter (worth 29.99) with every E.T. Ultimate Pitmaster purchased!!! E.T.' KING SHARP' TREBLES Sizes 4,6 & 8. 10pk Long point, shallow barb, 'King Sharp', black nickel finish. 4.99 1.50 2.99 2.99 4.99
E.T. TOOLS
E.T. CRIMPING PLIERS Use these precision crimping pliers for creating neat, strong joints. E.T. SIDE CUTTERS These stainless steel hook cutters will cut easily through thick gauge hooks. E.T. NEEDLE NOSE PLIERS Use these stainless steel pliers to remove large lure hooks. 7.99
9.99
29.99 Totally reliable 'reed switch technology' "works whatever the weather", extremely loud sounder, drop back or drop off activates alarm, simple adjustable line clip suitable for braid or mono.
E.T. 'Ultimate' Backbiter
9.99
E.T. MULTI PLIERS 7.99 Ideal for trace making, lure maintenance and hook removal.
Buy your E.T. tackle from the following dealers:

BEDFORDSHIRE Leslies of Luton 89-93 Park Street, Luton CAMBRIDGESHIRE Sheltons 67 South Street, Peterborough DORSET Davis tackle 75 Bargates, Christchurch ESSEX K.D.Radcliffe 150 High Street, Colchester HERTFORDSHIRE Johnson Ross 2 Amwell Street, Hoddesdon KENT Anglers Base 309 Beckenham Road, Beckenham Friendly Fisherman 25 Camden Road, Tunbridge Wells Danson Angling 159, Blendon Road, Bexley Tackle Box Watling Street, Dartford, Kent LANCASHIRE Ted Carter 85-88 Church Street, Preston Ossy Tackle Box Oak Street, Oswaldtwistle, Accrington 01582 453542 01733 565287 01202 485169 01206-572758 01992 462044 0208 676 8000 01892 528677 0208 2989090 01322 292400 01772 253476 01254 390431 LINCOLNSHIRE Tackle Shop Bridge Road, Gainsborough NORFOLK Anglers Corner 22-24 Windsor Road, Kings Lynn Angling Direct 277, Aylsham Road, Norwich SURREY Apollo Angling Unit 1, Bourne Valley Garden Centre, Addlestone Guildford Angling 93-94 Haydon Place, Guildford YORKSHIRE Beverley Angling Centre 8 Maple Drive, Beverley York Carp Centre 2 Oak Street, Poppleton Road, York SCOTLAND Craftye Fisherman 13 Montagu Terrace, Edinburgh NORTHERN IRELAND Tight Lines 198-200 Albertbridge Road, Belfast 01427 613002 01553 775852 01603 400757 01932 340000 01483 506333 01482 869948 01904 788856 0131 5511224 02890 457357
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND Anglers World Specialist Tackle Balmoral Business Park, Naven, Co Meath 00353 46907 1866
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GREYS PRODIGY PIKE RODS

UNCONDITIONAL LIFETIME WARRANTY AGAINST BREAKAGE! NEW LOW PRICES... Prodigy Drifter 126, 314lb, 2pc.... Was 109.99. Now 84.99 Prodigy Deadbait 12, 3lb, 2pc....... Was 99.99. Now 74.99 Prodigy Jerkbait 6, 50-150g, 2pc.. Was 59.99. Now 44.99 Prodigy Jerkbait 66, 50-150g, 2pc. Was 59.99. Now 44.99 Prodigy Jerkbait 7, 30-100g, 2pc... Was 59.99. Now 44.99 Prodigy Spin 86, 20-60g, 2pc....... Was 79.99. Now 59.99 Prodigy Boat 106, 2pc................... Was 89.99. Now 69.99
EAGLE FISHFINDERS
NEW LOW PRICES - FREE POSTAGE WITH ALL EAGLE FISHFINDERS 110-37 Cuda 168............................................NOW ONLY 89.95 110-80 Cuda 168 Portable ..........................NOW ONLY 134.95 110-79 Cuda 242 .........................................NOW ONLY 109.95 110-87 Cuda 242 Portable ..........................NOW ONLY 149.95 110-69 FishEasy 245....................................NOW ONLY 139.95 110-681 FishEasy 245 Portable...................NOW ONLY 179.95 110-302 Trifinder 2 .......................................NOW ONLY 240.00
LOZ HARROP LURES

Probably the Best Handmade Jerkbaits on the Market!! Various Colours. Models as below: XL Darter .........................................................................16.99 Large, Middle, Small, Darter...........................................15.95 Titchy Darter ...................................................................14.00 Hedgehogs.....................................................................15.00 All Hogs...........................................................................15.00 Large, Small, Jackal .......................................................22.50 Baby Jackal ....................................................................18.00 Titchy Jim........................................................................13.50 Big Jim ............................................................................13.50 Bull...................................................................................14.50 Time Bomb .....................................................................15.00
POWER-PRO BRAID
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Selby RO Mark Green reports on a successful days teaching and encouragement towards pike fishing.
OaklandLakePACTeach-InDay
During the Summer months whilst fishing for catfish and carp at Oakland Waters, North Yorkshire, I became good friends with the owners Steve and Claire Firth I was really impressed with their attitude towards pike inhabiting their specimen lake. Steve and Claire had purchased the lake in the year 2000 just after the river Aire burst its banks and flooded into Oakland. The Aire holds a good head of pike and it was unclear how many pike ended up in the lake from the river. A carp syndicate was in place at the time so Steve let the syndicate continue. The carp anglers on the lake complained about pike attacking their marker floats and spod rockets and asked Steve to remove the pike. At that time Steve was trying to look after his syndicate as this was his living, acted on the requests and promptly netted the lake and removed as many pike has he could. Pike up to 16lbs were taken out and transferred to another water under a section 30. The following year the carp syndicate ended due to a fall out within the group. Coincidentally a new Environment Agency Bailiff was appointed to cover the area that Oakland came under. The bailiff in question is called Phil Smith and Phil has been a keen pike angler for more than 40 years. Phil had also explained and advised Steve about the importance of pike in a water and the role that a pike plays. Steve was interested in learning all about pike and pike fishing. Phil offered to take him pike fishing with him and that was it, Steve was hooked on pike fishing after a few trips. Steve asked Phils advice about where he could get hold of some pike to put in Oakland. Phil made some telephone calls and found out that the owner of a nearby match lake wanted pike removing free of charge. Phil sorted all the relevant paperwork out for the netting and the transferring of the pike and three weeks later 14 pike from 4lbs to 17lbs were safely netted out and put in their new home at Oakland. The following March Steve observed the pike in spawning mode and then a couple of months later he noticed a number of three inch pike in the margins. Up until I started fishing Oakland in May this year for catfish and carp the pike had never been fished for. During an early conversation with Steve I asked him if I could arrange a pike teach-in day on his lake for the carp and catfish anglers who had
46
Andy Naylor demonstrates handling and unhooking pike to the attendees.
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . After a few phone calls to a few Wakefield . . Region members and our good friends the . . . Teeside/Darlington region members who . . have helped us out on previous teach-in . . days a date was set for Sunday Sept. 7th . between 10.00am and 4.00pm. Wakefield . . . RO and PAC stalwart Peter Green . . (otherwise known as Dad to me) was . . volunteered to take the helm and be . teacher for the day as he has done such a . . . good job with pike teach ins in the past. . . . . I had asked for a few helpers to start . fishing from 7.00am on the day in the hope . . . that a few pike would be caught before . . people started to arrive at 10.00 am. . . I was not let down by the Wakefield and . Darlington regions members. Andy Naylor . . . delivered the goods with a low double of . . about 10lbs just as people started to . . arrive. A crowd then gathered while Andy . . was bringing the pike to the net so the . netting and unhooking lesson had already . . . been demonstrated by Andy. . . . Teeside region member Darron Nixon then . . demonstrated the use of deadbait oils and . . . flavourings as well as the deadbaits used . for pike fishing and the importance and the . . role a pike plays in water. Darron puts his . . . views on pike fishing and his experience . across very well to people and attracted a .
approached me and asked me about pike and how best to fish for them (that will teach me not to wear clothing with the PAC logo on whilst fishing for other species of fish!). Steve was delighted to say the least as he was thinking about opening the lake to pike anglers.
lot of questions and comments from the spectators (well done Darron first class job). Peter Green then gave excellent demonstrations on various rigs, traces and rods and reels used to cover all aspects of a pike anglers armoury. As usual Peter entertained the spectators all day with his banter and enthusiasm of pike. Teeside member Shane Patterson then gave a demonstration on sink and draw and managed to land a 6-foot length of streamer weed much to the spectators amusement! Craig Patterson then gave a demonstration on effective bite indication and the difference between front and rear-mounted alarms and the importance of a dropback indicator. I then gave a demonstration on how to make different traces. I felt this was an important demo because local tackle shops in our area sell what we consider to be unacceptable ready-made traces. Steve then kindly supplied everyone with a free lunch. After lunch we took questions and answers and the spectators then had the opportunity to have a walk round the lake to chat to the members and see their set-ups and techniques. We must have done a good teach-in because at the first Wakefield meeting five of the spectators attended and joined the PAC on the night. There was I trying to gain a few members for my Selby meetings, when my dad Peter Green poached them off me to join his region! Mark Green.
Darron Nixon shows how to catch pike with his hands, or is he begging for money to pay for his day ticket?
Peter Green always pulls in a crowd.
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RegionTalk
NewsAndViewsFromYourLocalUKPACRegion
. . . Send your reports to Neville Fickling at: thetackleshop@btconnect.com . . PL123 deadline for submissions: Dec. 26th 2008. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thanks to our fishery officer (Shane) and . RA9Cheshire . . . his vast knowledge of venues as well as . . . . some Chinese whispers, the trips could . . . . prove to be our most productive to date. . . . . . It has been a busy few months getting . . . We have already had our first club trip . to grips with the RO role since April. . . I have now managed to secure speakers . down at Fairburn where almost all caught . . . . (I blanked!), two caught their first ever pike, . for our meetings next season at . . . The Whipping Stocks, Over Peover, near . so well done Christian Carswell (junior . . . member) for his 7.14 fish and Paul Currie . Knutsford WA16 9EX. . . . for first catching a 5 pounder, only to follow . . . . Many thanks to those of you who respond- . it up with a beautiful specimen of 14.06. . . ed to my plea on the Pike and Predator forum. Up to date details are as follows: Mon. 8th December: Mad Mick Bowen with; Something silly, the life and times of an average Joe Angler. Mon. 12th January: Happy New Year Speaker to be confirmed. Mon. 9th February: Graham Slater, one of the original members of PAC who has been pike fishing over 30 years. . . Mon. 9th March: Pete Haywood, another . New member Vince Maddock also caught . . . pike angler with many years experience. . a 9 pounder on the day. Jungle Jim Taylor . . . . Mon. 13th April: Cheshire Branch AGM. . aka spawny, had the best days fishing . . . catching 5 fish of which two were doubles. . . . . Well done all lets see if we can get some . Many thanks to Phil Gould who stepped . . . more PBs on the next trip. We recently . down as RO in April. A change of job . . . helped out the newly reformed Selby . means he will now be staying closer to . . . home in the week, meaning it will be too far . Region of the PAC to teach carpers on . . . for him to attend our meetings in Cheshire . how to fish safely for pike at Oakland . . . Waters. Shane, Jim.T, Darron, Chas and I . As you read this we will have had our first . . . attended to do various demonstrations . couple of meetings and attended the . . . throughout the day from 10am to 5pm. The . Annual PAC Convention, I should have . . . event was a good success and led to new . more to report in the next issue. . . . PAC members both nationally, and for . Until then, tight lines everyone. . . . Selby, Aire Valley and Wakefield regions of . . . . the PAC. We have now handed over . Andy Bates. . . . Fairburn to the newly-formed Aire Valley . . . . PAC, so good luck to the new committee . . . . and keep up the good work. I know we are . RA21/89Darlington/ . . . in safe hands. . Teesside/Durham . . . . . . . A quick congratulations to Mick Gleeson . . . . who performed his first regional talk for . . . Its the start of the new pike season and . Wakefield PAC, from the reports I have had . . . our region has many things planned for . it went down extremely well and I will just . . . . the coming year. We have a full itinery of . add... when are you going to do one for . . . us? (Mick performing to the Wakefield . club trips organised with a couple of . . . massive hes the one with hair!). . weekenders thrown in.
WhatsHappeningAtYourPACRegion?
We have the following Guest speakers booked for the forthcoming season: Steve Rodwell: Tues. 3rd Feb. Graham Slater: Tues. 3rd March. All to be held at Coxhoe Workmans Club at 7.30pm. I am writing this the day before I leave for the convention, so I am off to pack my suitcase and prepare my liver for some abuse! I will report on how Piking 2008 was in the next edition of Pikelines. Cheers, Craig Patterson. (theres still only one Keano!)
RA26Nottinghamshire
A rather belated report. The 2007/08 meetings were held at The Test Match Hotel Gordon Square West Bridgford Nottingham. Our October speaker was Graham Slater who entertained us in the true Slater style, an excellent slide show of Grahams piking seasons. I have known Graham for many a year and his enthusiasm and sense of humour come out in his talks. For November we had our own Phil Kirk who has developed a new slideshow to complement his initial one on the river Trent and very good it is to. Mark Barrett came across for our January meeting and gave an excellent presentation. Again Marks enthusiasm for all the species he targets is evident and he is an excellent ambassador for the PAC. Our final speaker in February was the one and only Gary Knowles. Gary is an allrounder and his presentation reflected this whether he is targeting rudd on a small river or after the toothy predators on the variety of pike waters he fishes. Our thanks to all our speakers who gave up there time to come and talk to us. Phil Kirk and I have been running region 26 for over 25 years and we think it is time to hand over. We have found, certainly over the last few years, that putting bums on seats is becoming a problem. Despite sending out over one hundred mail shots to PAC members in our post code area, arranging a venue and organising an excellent line up of speakers and advertising, numbers have dwindled to an extent that it is not fair on the speaker or economical on the region. I think the reasons vary from apathy, the weather, or if there is a football match on the telly, of course, a large proportion of members are happy to be PAC members but dont like to be organised. Another dis-advantage of running for a quarter of a century plus is that we have been entertained by most of the best speakers around.
48
For more regional news visit: pacgb.co.uk/regions/regionnews.html
Phil and I would like to thank the regular band of members who have always supported us and if anybody with a flair for organisation would like to take on the region give us a ring. I will be continuing in my role as E. Midlands LO. Regards, Pete Haywood.
nice doubles. Ive had 34 doubles, 4 over twenty since 1st March, I cant complain. I hope to see all of the lads back again at the meetings and hopefully picking up a few new members along the way. Tight lines one and all, Jon Neafcy.
RA31SouthLancashire
. . . . . . . Greetings pikers and I hope that you . . are looking forward to the start of the . 2008-09 piking season as I am. We have . . . had a few events for the lads over the . summer to keep up interest, these have . . been for other predatory species documented in the previous issue of Pikelines.
We have launched a range of region clothing and have certainly kept ourselves busy over the summer. Their have been changes to our committee structure as James Dean stepped down as assistant RO and his mate Dave Cotrial also stepped down as treasurer. On behalf of RA31 I thank these two lads for all their help last season and wish them well in their own fishing exploits whichever direction that may take them in. Stu Randle has replaced James as assistant RO and Ian Whitaker has taken up the mantle of treasurer. This season we have a great line up of guest speakers: October. Local Wigan lad Damien Wood, top eel angler and accomplished specimen hunter. November. Mad Mick Bowen on his river-piking exploits. December. Piking legend, Steve Ormrod. Jan. Big fish expert, Geoff Parkinson. Feb. RA 31 members and big fish hunters, Paul Haughton and Martin Salisbury. March. The Godfather of piking himself, the one and only Neville Fickling. April. Presentation night trophies will be presented by none other than esteemed Pike and Predators editor James Holgate.
are all part of the same club and need to work together. My thanks also to Peter Waterfield of the NAC who donated some goodies. We have already had a bit of a social meet with a BBQ as a bit of a catch up which went very well.
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RA48Lincoln
We have monthly club fishing trips planned including local reservoirs, land drains and Scottish lochs giving a good range of diversity with some big pike to be caught. The regions second teach-in went very well and my thanks to those who attended. Not just our own region 31 members but also Geoff Gauton who came across from the Cheshire region to help out and Mark Green and his mate who came over from Wakefield. This demonstrates that it doesnt matter which region we are in we
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Greetings from the Mighty 48, things have been quiet over the summer period, but that sense of calmness was soon shattered with the first speaker of the season; Stephen Harper of Broadland Pike fame kicking us off The lads in the Region have now started to . in September. . . earn themselves nicknames, this bit of . . Stephen was cool, calm and collected but harmless fun started with nicknaming the . . we had the unknown to deal with; a new region the squirrels (as in secret). Some . . venue, and our tech-head had decided that members have more than one nickname . . the wifes birthday was more important such as Andy Cooke AKA The Baron, . Captain Cookey Pugwash or Cookey two . than we were, so no support from his . . laptop on the night. After an hour of Steve brews dependent on the situation. Other . . and Darren hitting every key at least six members have still to be nicknamed, one . . times things were working perfectly. I was nickname that stands out in particular is . . sweating like Kosh going for a job as the R31 member Adam Caulfield who earned . . typesetter for the O.E.D, but Stephen himself the nickname of The Bulldogger . . arrived and all was well. Over 40 eager at an event. Im sure he can explain this . . pikers arrived, including a few very welone to you when you bump into him on . . come raiders from darkest Norfolk (love to the bank or in the carpark! Feel free to . . see you again Andy, perhaps stood up ask him folks! . . next time!). . . There have been numerous catch reports . . Stephen began, the laptop went into of various species including Mashy who . . kamikaze mode and I ran away leaving had a 20lb grass carp, Paul Haughtons . had a nine pound tench several times and . our team to sort it out, instant success . . after 10 minutes and we were away again. is now on pet terms with the fish. Gary . . Stephen put on a fantastic talk and stunned Knowless brace of double figure barbel, . us with his enthusiasm and encyclopaedic Neil Stubbs knowledge of everything pike-related from first twenty his beloved Norfolk. It was a fantastic start pound pike (as to our speaker season and was thoroughly reported on enjoyed by all, huge thanks Stephen. page 62 of this issue). Eric The new venue although slightly less Edwards and roomy was a huge success, pretty his son Joe barmaids and good beer are always a have had the good mix and makes up for a little less boat out room than we were used to. Ian Weatherall catching some was particularly smitten by one of the nice doubles, barmaids (Suzie) who sang to him whilst Adam C has pulling him a slow one, apologies to had his boat out Mrs.W if she is reading this! on the rivers Continues on page 50... catching several
49
RegionTalk2
NewsAndViewsFromYourLocalPACRegion
PL123 deadline for submissions: Dec. 26th 2008.
RA48Lincoln
Big news is that the first Mighty 48 fish in, supporting the St. Barnabas Hospice is to be fished on a syndicate water kindly lent to us for the day by Mighty Mick Cobb on Sunday November 23rd. We are hoping to attract a very good turnout from the Mighty 48 and raise plenty of money for St. Bs Hospice. Entry is 15 and can either just be paid or raised through sponsorship of the angler fishing. Deads and lures are the methods on this very nice water. Im yet to grab the chequebook from Rick our treasurer, but we will have a fancy non-tacky shield engraved up after each event and a smaller shield for the winner of the day to keep. Anyone who is connected to Lincoln PAC is more than welcome to fish the event so contact me as soon as you can.
Continued form page 49...
As the season proper is almost upon us a few of our faces have been getting into some nice fish at their first attempts, the Gallery section of our blog is littered with some cracking fish, 2 early ones to mention are the pin-up lad Simon Blaydes. Noticing predator activity whilst breaming then finding a double figure zander attached to his lure.
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RA40Selby
Hello from the rugged lands of North Yorkshire. I have been a member of Wakefield RA96 for 27 years now and a few years ago I served as joint RO with Sir Peter Green. I have recently moved house to Selby North Yorkshire and I thought, why not re-start the Selby region again. I had my first meeting on Tuesday the 16th of September many thanks to John Dinnewell, Andy Webster and Mark Collins for attending and supporting me. Between the four of us it was decided that my location for the meetings was a little out of the way for people to attend. This in mind, Im in the process of finding another venue which will probably be more Selby town centre based. I am hoping that the Selby region will be a success and if I can get enough members to attend the meetings I am planning to have more guest speakers. It would be nice to arrange monthly club outings for members to have a get together and hopefully catch a few Esox. The next monthly meeting will be Thursday the 20th of November which gives me enough time to sort out another venue to hold the meetings, RA31 RO Jon Neafcy has kindly offered to come along on the night and do us a Talk-Slideshow titled Stepping Stones. I have been to a couple of Jons talks before and they are excellent, so if there is anyone interested in coming along to the meetings please feel free to email me at: markpike73@googlemail.com or check out Selby RA40 blog page for details. Mark Green.
RA70EastSussex
Steve Hood discovering that the hat he won in our raffle was in fact his new lucky hat after he tracked down a cracking pike of 22.00. I hope that this is the way everyones season will carry on. Chico.
50
Well, another winters piking is well and truly underway, and hopefully a few fish will oblige me this year; time will tell! It always amazes me how quickly writing these reports comes around, its already 2 days late as I write, but thought Id include this years Convention in the write up for those of you who couldnt attend. Thanks to . Steves flexibility in including it! . . . Before I do so, a little news on the regions . . activities, and it starts with good news. . . Dave Wilkins and Jeff Smith are resurrect. . ing the old West Sussex region. Dave and . . Jeff will be publishing details in the near . . future, but for those that want to contact
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them, please email them at: Davewwilkins@yahoo.co.uk or completeangler@sky.com With two PAC regions running in Sussex, the meetings will be held in alternate parts of the county every other month, with east Sussex continuing to remain where it is at the Kings Head in East Hoathly. Our meetings will continue to be held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month starting in November. Meetings dates for this years season are as follows: Tues. 11th Nov. This month sees renowned local big fish catcher Dr. James Gardner entertain us with his wealth on knowledge. From trolling the large open trout waters, to his more local fishing, this really is one not to be missed. Tues. 13th Jan. Keeping it local again this month, the region has the honour of fisheries expert and manager of Bough beach reservoir Ken Crow. Ken runs one of the most successful fisheries in England, and has the knowledge and understanding making him an exceptional piker in his own right. Tues. 10th March. Our Guest speaker this month is yet to be confirmed. Who knows it might even be me! Normal prices on the door being 2.50 for members and 3.50 for non. After some great turnouts last year the region will hopefully continue to grow, which is where the members come in. If we can all persuade just one person to join the PAC locally, the region will go from what it is currently to an exceptional one. This means more clout both nationally and locally. You know it makes sense! The Convention as ever was a great success with Region 70 manning the second hand stall along with Scott Davidson (when he actually did some work!) and Mark Green. A good day was had by all, with some first class speakers and tackle deals to be had. Speaking of tackle, Region 70 has some cracking raffle prizes, which have been kindly donated by various shops, we salute you. See our blog for the fully updated list of sponsors and I ask that you give them a look. Not only do they do some cracking deals, but they all support not only the region but the PAC as a whole. The list is long but it wouldnt be right not to give them a quick mention here. Special thanks to Esox and more, The Pike Shop, Eddie Turner, Mark Barratt, Sovereign Superbaits, Catmaster Tackle, The Friendly Fisherman, Polegate Angling Centre, Dave Lumbs DLST, Anglers Cabin, Predator Publications and last but not least Neville at The Tackle Shop. See you soon, Jon and Gary.
RA74Inverness/Highlands
Hello again from the Highlands. Well as we ended the last report with news of Ian Hopkins being our first member in the RA 74 thirty club I will start this report with news of another member joining the elite ranks. Again, extra special congratulations to member Robbie Milne on this fine specimen and new personal best of 30.06. He was so chuffed I even got pictures sent to me in Spain whilst I was on Spanish Safari (just rubbing it in, I think, wink).
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aboard. With members Sandy and Taff from north Lanarkshire RA93 strengthening the bonds between both clubs, we are now sending newsletters between regions. This keeps RA74, North Lanarks RA93 and Ayrshire RA52 up to date with each other and builds on some very good friendships already made.
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As normal, our meetings are held at the Green Dragon Public House, Kimberworth, Rotherham on the first Monday of each month at 8.00pm and everyone is welcome to attend. Finally, I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a productive New Year. Phil Heaton.
RA96Wakefield
. . . . . . . . . . . . Micky and Rab. . . . . . RA99Rotherham/Sheffield .. . . . . . . . As Im writing this in early September, . . before our first meeting I would hope . that by the time of reading we will have . . had some good pike and hopefully a PB . . . or two. It seems that pre-Christmas is . . the more productive and comfortable . . part of the winter season. . . . . Once again I have a Plan A, for the . . coming seasons campaign. Once again, . . I will probably be sidetracked into . . something completely different but . enjoyable and then wonder if I would have . . . done better sticking to my plan! . . . . We have some excellent guest speakers . . arranged for the remainder of the winter, . . the details are: . . Mon. 2nd Feb. Mark Barrett, General . . Secretary of the PAC, catcher of quality . . predators and well-documented author of . . various articles and books. . . Mon. 6th April. Jeremy Wade. This man . . will be well known to all the Sky viewers . . among you as the presenter of Jungle . . On a personal note, after jetting of to Spain . Hooks; the chronicles of a travelling fisher- . . . . and getting my first Spanish pike to 16.04 . man. This, in countries we have probably . . . . never even considered visiting to catch with some barbel too on Spanish Safaris, . . . . fish, let alone heard of. This will certainly my better half then get her new PB on a . . . weeks holiday to Loch Fad. I had to wait till . be a night not to be missed. . . . . I got home again for my red letter day; a . . midweek session saw me land 2 twentys, . The remaining outings for the season are: . . . . 3 mid doubles and 2 jacks (were having a . . . . . Sun. 14th Dec. Dam Flask reservoir. great year!). . . . . Sun. 18th Jan. River Torne. . . . Memberships are still growing, and the club . Sun. 15th Feb. Underbank reservoir. . . . . Sun. 15th March. Ulley reservoir. would like to welcome Robbie Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Away from club outings theres also been . . some good days. Andy Grant has had his . first twenty of the year at 20.08, well done . . Andy. Allan Stewart had his first fly caught . . fish at 14.07. This fish sees him win a bait . . . casting reel courtesy of the Glasgow . . Angling Centre during a weekends fish in . . with members from Inverness RA74 and . North Lanarkshire RA93. I must give a wee . . . mention here to my boat partner Dougie . Loughridge who had fish of 22lb+, 16+ as . . . well as others, a total master class in fly . . fishing for me (cheers mate). Club secre. tary Ewen Lyon has also had a new PB of . . . 21.04 as well. .
We now look forward to the winter fishing; rain, sleet, snow and high winds; hang on its the same as summer but without all the midges! Tight lines and wet nets to you all!
Club outings have been going very well of late, with some good turnouts from members and some very good catch returns, a lot of high doubles and twenties gracing us. So well done to George Cassels with a 21.04 amongst others on a fine days fishing. Allan Stewart keeps his fine form going with a new PB of 22.06, Ewen Lyon also increased his PB to 21.04 along with others on another red letter day. Well done to you all.
Well meeting season is off and running again, Wakefield region started with a bang this year with Mick Gleeson coming down from parts up North to do his show and bring with him the Eddie Turner tackle stand. A very good show was mixed with a great deal of good business; thanks must also go to Craig Patterson who came down with him to help out. This proved important on the night as loads of normally careful Yorkshire lads dug into their deep pockets and parted with their hard-earned cash they normally guard so well. Very big thanks to Mick for doing such a good job and kicking off the season so well. I unfortunately could not be present on the night as I was suffering badly at the time and lying on a beach in Egypt looking at the warm and inviting Red Sea, the hardship was terrible. Mick I will catch your next show I promise. The season started early this year for Wakefield region as a teach-in was carried out at the start of September on Oaklands Lake in Gowdall to show pike fishing techniques and correct handling practice. This was done with the support of the owner of the lakes who is quietly establishing a very nice little specimen lake for carp, catfish and of course pike. So if you fancy catching fish above 20lbs for any of these species pop over and have a go on this up and coming day ticket fishery. The event was well attended and as a result several new members attended the first meeting a week later. Our first fish in took place the weekend after our first meeting, and a few doubles graced the nets of those who fished, I was still in Egypt so missed that as well. Mark Collins took the honours on the day and heads our points table at present, when he caught two mid-doubles. A cracking start to the season, but its a long way to go to claim the outings trophy in April.
Continues on page 52...
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RegionTalk3
NewsAndViewsFromYourLocalPACRegion
PL123 deadline for submissions: Dec. 26th 2008.
RA96Wakefield
The next meetings are listed below: Oct. 14th. Steve Ormrod. (taken place as this goes to print). Nov. 11th. Neville Fickling. Dec. 9th. Peter Green and friends.
Continued from page 51...
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Although at the time of writing, this could . . easily apply to our lakes as most are still . . choked with weed. So much so to the . extent that I could walk across a lake I am . . currently fishing! Roll on the frosts, see you . . . all soon. . . . . Chris Betts. . . . . . RA111NorthernIrelandSouth .. . . . . . . . The PAC in N.Ireland has taken a step . forward over the last few months by the . . . introduction of our new Region. . . We already have over 40 members on . . board and at least another 10 putting . . pen to paper; the stage is set for . . something really special. . . . Already weve enjoyed three successful fish-ins, the first on the 17th August where 10 regional members enjoyed a fantastic introduction to tope fishing. 12 fish came to the boat and amazingly half were over the magical 40lb mark. Congratulations to all that broke their PBs that day especially Stevey Cromie who boated a fine 60lb specimen.
Each meeting will be followed up the following weekend by outings for members of the region. This year we are mainly focusing on local fishing due to fuel costs and the decision to explore what piking is available locally. We are all guilty of driving past many waters on the way to what is believed to be greener grass in someone else field, so this year we will try to establish just how green our own grass is. RA93 and RA111 met up at Derravargh for the first inter-regional fish in, two doubles showed with the best being a slim 18.00 for Neil Todd and an 11.00 for piking guru George Higgins, and although the water levels were high, the weather conditions couldnt have been better. There were plenty of jacks caught with all boats
52
seeing some sort of action. However, to be honest, the fish came second place as the banter and cohesiveness shown between the two regions was to be applauded. Both regions would like to thank all 26 members that turned out with special thanks to Gerry Linden (RA111 Events Organiser) for cooking everyone sausages, burgers and steaks. Thanks also to Sandy Mackie and the lads for keeping to their word and supplying the cheeky refreshments, were already looking forward to the away leg. If any other regions feel like taking the step and coming over to join us Im sure the lads will accommodate. With such great success on the first tope trip we arranged another date for our third fish-in and again there was no disappointment as 4 fish came to the boat, Matt Dean was blessed with a fine brace which included a 42 and 55.00 PB. Ian Coulter also had a new PB at 54lb and Gerry Linden pulled a 29.00 out of the hat. Weve already two dates booked for next year for which we will be taking names during the first meeting. Its safe to say that theres a real buzz about the club at the minute with all members pitching in to make things happen.
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The committee has had their first meeting and set a great schedule for the up and coming season. Matt Dean has just created our very own website: www.pikemania.co.uk/home.html and weve had some top names offering to come over to do talks which will only boost our membership numbers. For all those that are not able to get onto the PAC website Ive included our Agenda for the following season. The winter league will be a team event where your top 5 sessions will be added along with your team mates. Gerry Linden is taking names and the teams will be drawn during the first meeting... 8th Nov. Fish-in and BBQ: Lough Muckno Gas Lake slipway and facility. Thur. 4th/11th Dec. Guest Speaker: George Higgins. Venue TBC (probably Portadown T.H.) Mon. 29th Dec. Fish-in: Lough Erne with lunch at Round O quay and slipway. Weekend of 17th Jan. 09. Angling In Ireland Exhibition Region 111 PAC stand. Feb 7th. 09. Fish-in: Lough Ramor lunch etc. April 17th. 09. Annual Members Dinner. Venue TBC. Will include prize giving; Pikers Cup and Region 111 Pike Angler of the Year.
August 09. Annual AGM. Nomination of new committee/review of year. Actual date and venue TBC. Tope Trips 2009: 28th. June. 16th. August.
. RegionSnaps . . . . . . . . Retired Cheshire Ro Geoff Gauton sent in . Please note also that we intend to supple- . these amusing pictures; fancy a new . . sporty boat? ment Region 111 funds in the following . manner: Region 111 Yearly Levy: 10.00. . Regional meeting entrance fees: 3.00 at door. Refreshments: 2.00. Please support this attempt to raise funds, as it enables the region to offer the above calendar of events and attract new members!
All non-members and non-Region 111 affiliates welcome. Please note: voting rights, Committee membership etc. is only conferred to paid-up Region 111 affiliates. The region would also like to invite members to put themselves forward to give presentations, talks, demonstrations etc to make our meetings more interactive. On a not so positive note some of our best anglers have been fishing the Lower Bann and Lough Beg without any fish making an appearance. Anyone that had the pleasure of fishing these waters during their prime will know how big a loss these waters are with the years of illegal netting finally taking their toll. Weve also had to endure three fish kills on the upper Bann and another on the river Qouile in recent weeks which has been devastating. Miles of prime fishing has been wiped out in a blink of an eye, looks like it will be a busy year for us! Just to finish up our first regional report Id like to thank all the members of RA111 for their continued support over the last couple of months, as well as George Higgins for agreeing to do a talk for us at the end of the year. Weve already had interest from other pike fishing clubs wanting to come along, now thats what I call progress! Robbie Marsh.
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KeepYourEyesOpenFor AnySignsOfPikeActivity AndAnalyseWhatsHappening

signs of pike activity and analyse whats happening. A couple of winters back Id been moving along a narrow side drain and had the sum total of one jack to show for my hard work. I then noticed a huge swirl and subsequent puffs of silt as something big struck at a shoal of bream in the shallow water. I then sat it out in that one spot and had a 22lb fish two hours later, a just reward for observation and hard work. I tend to use just 2 rods when moving along a drain as not only is it easier, but I fail to see any advantage in using more than that, youll be covering the water anyway. Whether to use rod rests/buzzers comes down to the method in use at the time. If Im legering baits Ill always use them but my favourite method by far is to lay the rods on the ground and watch a float, efficient and less to carry. Having said that, the one thing I never go without is a lure rod. I may only take 3 or 4 lures in a small box in my pocket, but they are invaluable, and have produced some real bonus fish, on the days that the pike dont want lives or deads. Whilst on the subject of lures it might be worth mentioning that they are a very good method of evaluating an unfamiliar stretch of drain as they are a quick and efficient method of locating fish. Look for follows, swirls etc. as well as hits. I did just that on a new drain last year and had follows from fish in one small stretch of water although I didnt actually catch anything. Having identified an area with pike in, I went back at the next available opportunity with my bait rods. Over 5 short morning sessions I had 30 doubles to around 17lb and a load of single figure fish, brilliant fishing by any standards. One last point before I move onto the tackle and methods I use. Due to my location, I fish the Lincolnshire drains which tend to be shallower than the corresponding Cambridgeshire Drains. For this reason I dont use paternostered baits as the method is useless in 2 feet of water!
55 My simple float leger set-up.
Everything else is applicable to the deeper, wider waterways. If youve read this far then it must be obvious that I consider mobility to be the key to success. You are far more likely to move if you have the bare minimum of gear with you. The very thought of having to pack away an umbrella, bedchair, cooking gear etc. is enough to put anyone off before theyve even started! With that in mind Ill detail what, for want of a better description, is my standard gear for roving tactics on the drains. Rods are Dave Lumbs P5s fitted with Shimano 4500 Baitrunners loaded with 65lb PowerPro braid. Traces made from Masons Multistrand wire in 30lb bs fitted with Owner trebles. Homemade floats, leads etc. Redport 42 Fastnet alloy bank sticks fitted with Delkims and drop-offs. Spare traces, floats, leads etc. in an ex-army rucksack along with camera, food, towel and any assorted bits I may feel I need.
Tackle Up For Mobility.
Fishing Lures Reveals A Lot.
Sometimes the lure rod produces a bonus fish.
Low 20 from the upper reaches of a drain.
but I try and avoid them as its just something else to carry. As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece due to the shallow nature of the Lincolnshire drains I rarely paternoster livebaits, much preferring to leger them as it is a far more effective presentation in 2 feet of water. As above my rod/reel/braid remain the same but the float is dispensed with. I like to think that Ive refined my methods over the years until they are as efficient as possible.
The unhooking mat is attached to the rucksack. The only luxury I allow myself on these forays is a lightweight chair, but thats purely down to the fact that if I sit on the bank for any length of time my back is murder for days afterwards so I try and be sensible (no comments please!). How you choose to transport your frozen baits is entirely up to you but for mobility I find the Cotswold Aquarius cool bag hard to beat and it fits easily into the rucksack. The whole idea being that I can move easily in one go without struggling along the bank or having to make a second trip.
Simple Set-ups Work For Me.
Having given you a basic outline of the tackle and modus operandi Im now going to take a closer look at the actual set-ups that I commonly use when tackling these waterways. Ill start with deadbaits which are probably my favourite, and most productive, method on the waters I fish. Given their shallow nature I fish them hard on the bottom for most of the time unless there is an excessive amount of weed present in which case Ill add some
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buoyancy to the bait to keep it clear and within site of any pike. My actual set up couldnt be simpler, a bottomend only float with enough weight to cock it against and a suitable wire trace. Using this method I can lay the rod on the floor and tighten up to the float until it lays at half cock. The braid is then tucked into an elastic band above the reel seat, thus giving a very sensitive bite indication. This must be one of my favourite sights as the float keels over before moving off across the drain. In truth, any rod will do as long as it has the backbone to set the hooks and land a fish as quickly as possible. I use the aforementioned DLST P5s as I find them a pleasure to use and they are more than capable of subduing any pike Im ever likely to meet. Ive lost count of how many fish Ive caught on this simple set-up and, truth be told, if you were never to use anything else, then youd catch plenty of pike. By all means use banksticks and alarms if you wish,
My preferred set-up for legering baits.
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This, both from a presentation and bite indication point of view. With this in mind Ill go into some detail about the actual terminal tackle. I used to use standard 18 inch to 2 foot long traces when legering lives, but I suffered a couple of bite-offs as a result of the bait swimming back up the mainline and the pike engulfing the lot. Lesson learned, I set about altering things to prevent this, heres the set up I use today. The hook trace is 10 inches long and is attached, via a link, to a 2 foot long uptrace of 100lb Ti wire, this has a cork ball permanently fixed above the link swivel. Running freely on the uptrace is a lead link of 8 inches which has a suitable-sized lead attached, via a paperclip. Why a paperclip? They are perfect for retrieving a snagged lead, but strong enough to cast without opening up. Any of the dimensions above can be altered to suit your own set of circumstances. You may wish to lengthen the lead-link due to weed for example, but bear in mind that the hook trace must always be shorter than the uptrace or you are back to inviting bite-offs. With everything in place it is then simply a case of placing the rod in the rests and attaching a suitable form of bite indication, my preference being for home made dropoff indicators used in conjunction with Delkim front alarms. Ill let you into a secret here, I used to use electronic drop-offs but
21.00 from a bigger drain system.
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ItReallyIsASightToBeholdWhenThe FloatDisappearsInAHugeVortex AsAPikeHitsTheBait

moved over to the Delkims because I can place the receiver in my coat pocket and I dont have to let the world know when Ive got a take. They are my two most common set-ups, but there is just one more that can really come into its own some days, and thats the free-roving livebait simply fished under a float. I tend to use polystyrene floats bought from a sea angling supplier that take 2 ounces of lead to cock them. They will support a decent-sized bait whilst still being of a size that even a modest pike can pull them under. Used in conjunction with floating braid a bait fished in this manner can cover a considerable amount of water. It really is a sight to behold when the float disappears in a huge vortex as a pike hits the bait. At the very start of this piece I mentioned the Redport Fastnet. For those of you not familiar with this item of equipment it is a full-sized 42 landing net but, rather than pushing the arms into a tensioning block, they slide along the
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pole and open out in one simple movement. I began using one of these as I found one of two things was happening with my standard net. Either it got caught in every bramble and thistle as I walked along, or I rolled it up and promptly forgot it when I had a take! Probably not an item youd purchase unless you were going to do a lot of this type of fishing, but certainly something to bear in mind. On a similar
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vein I dont carry a tripod for my self-take shots but prefer to use a bankstick and camera adaptor, just one less thing to carry. That about brings me to the end of this piece, I hope its given you some insight into the way I tackle these unique waters. Keep mobile, keep trying and you will catch pike from the drains. Good Luck! Graham Slater.
Sunset on a drain; always worth fishing until dark.
Another fish from a narrow drain; 26.10.
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Manufacturers/Members:AnythingNewToReview?
Please contact Steve Ormrod at: predhunter.o@virgin.net
RealReviews
TriedAndTestedItemsOfInterestToThePikeAngler
H2oKayaksJonBoat
. . . During the last 40 years I have fished . . from all types of boats on Fenland . . waterways, still waters and reservoirs. . . I have never owned a state of the art . vessel, but on several occasions I have . . . been a guest on such boats owned by . . my young piking friends. . . . . Most of my boats have been of light fibre. . glass construction, enabling me to launch . . almost anywhere. At this years Fenland . . Fair, whilst manning the PAC stand my . attention was drawn to an array of canoes, . . kayaks and wildfowling boats on the trade . . stands opposite ours. In particular a 12 foot . . . boat in green and beige, known as The . American 12, or Jon Boat, caught my eye. . . . . . It looked an ideal pike fishing boat and . visitors to our stand agreed. Neil Buchanan . . . of H2o Kayaks Ltd of Norwich imports . these from the USA at user friendly prices. . . . After speaking to Neil, Tim Anderson and . . myself took the boat from the Fair to field . . test it on Fenland waters.
The boat is robustly constructed of Fortiflex high density polyethylene. It will take an outboard engine up to 6hp and has a lug on the front to accommodate an electric trolling motor. It weighs in at just under 1cwt (50 kilos) and is light enough to launch it more or less anywhere. It can carry up to 3 anglers and is virtually maintenance free. In common with most boats, care must be taken when launching on gravel, tarmac and concrete slipways.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The boat is rated in Marine Category D, . . i.e. inshore, on rivers, drains and lakes. . . In conditions where waves do not exceed . . half a metre and wind force 4. The boat . . transports well on a trailer. Some have to . . be altered slightly to accommodate its . . almost flat bottom with small triple keel. . . . The owners manual explains how to do this . . fully. Afloat the boat is stable and you soon . . get used to the sitting positions. The main . . . floor well is long enough to take a large . . unhooking mat and equivalent sized pike. . . There are several accessories, namely
oars and rowlocks and mooring cover, available from H2o. It comes with a limited 2 year warranty. Portable accessories, such as fish-finders, trolling rests etc. can be fitted to the boat. I have achieved this by some simple woodwork on the rub rail to reinforce it. The boat can be customised in several ways to achieve your own needs e.g. engine safety chains and anchor rope mountings etc. Summary: At 546 the boat is excellent value for money and makes a very good pike fishing boat on waters for which it was intended. I have no hesitation in recommending it. Distribution: H2o Kayaks Ltd. The Willows, Common Lane, Brampton Norfolk NR10 5BD. Tel: 01603 279411 www.h2okayaks.com
DenisMoules
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PikemasterTracesPart1
Alan Dudhill is keen to promote his new ready-made trace and snaptackle business and sent me several samples to test for review. As we go to press I havent had enough time to thoroughly bank-test the samples, so will give an initial bench-test here and follow up with a further review in the Spring edition of Pikelines. First impressions are that the traces and tackles are of professional quality and presentation being hand-made and using top quality 7 and 49 strand wire with Mustad trebles as standard, ie. no poor materials! The samples I have been sent cover a good selection of what is available; everything a pike angler needs for general deadbaiting, wobbling, or light to medium weight lure fishing. All are made up to around 18 inch lengths too, so no scrimping on the wire! Ill comment on the traces first. As mentioned, top quality materials are used, although I would personally prefer Crosslock clips as apposed to the D-style ones I was sent to review. These can prise open too easily, especially if using lures. They would be ideally suited for use with lighter shads and spoons. However, Alan does provide a custom-made service on the website where you can specify your own needs. Maybe Alan could also consider some much heavier traces to cater for the larger lure market. Onto the snaptackles. I was sent several samples, all made from quality materials, crimped properly and neatly protected by silicone sleeving to match the wire colour. Some are coated, some not, indicating the wide choice available. These are available in fixed or adjustable top treble styles too. I must admit that I am not a fan of adjustable top trebles, but that is just a personal preference. The hooks are stated as being semibarbed on the packaging, however, the ones I have been sent are definitely barbless having no small hump on two of the points and the usual full barb on the third for bait-holding? Strength; I tested a trace and tackle very thoroughly with pliers giving them a good tugging etc, none came apart Im glad to report! Good so far, next, I will get some baits hooked up and soaking and report back on how they perform in actual piking terms in the next magazine. Alan is offering discount to PAC members if you order 25 or more snap tackles or traces as follows: Traces: 1.35 each
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RRP 1.80. Snaptackles: 1.70 each RRP 2.25. Min Order: 25 pieces. All products are covered by a no fuss full money back guarantee. See the full range available at: piketrace.co.uk Alan Dudhill, Pikemaster Traces. Email: adudhill@btinternet.com Tel: 07815 308463.
SteveOrmrod
VFMPikeTackleAtBoyes
Boyes, the famous north east chain of retail stores with 34 outlets are testing the water in their Scarborough store with a great range of fishing tackle. Boyes are famous in northern England for selling good quality products at lower than average prices providing great value to the consumer. If the test is successful it will be great news for angling in the north as it will mean quality tackle at lower prices. Last week I visited the test store in Scarborough to check out what was going on. I was surprised to find a wide range of quality tackle for carp anglers, sea anglers and even a wide range of coarse and pike and trout gear. The first thing I noticed was a boat rod kit for 25.00 which included a boat rod and expensive looking multiplier all packaged in a lovely presentation kit. I am no sea fishing expert but it looked good value to me. Then I checked out the pike spinners, many of which were new to me sold by a Swedish company called Fladen. The spoons, spinners and plugs were heavy and very solid and lures of this quality would normally cost anything from three to six pounds each, these were on sale for 75p each! or 2 for 1.00! Needless to say I bought a good range and I soon set about field testing them with great success. The heavy spoons worked and cast great, the pike liked them too, but my favourite from the Fladen stable is the red and silver headed spinner. It casts well and moves through the water with a deadly vibratory spin which keeps going even at very low speeds. The plugs were great value too, indeed a 16cm plug normally retails at around ten to fifteen pounds, at Boyes they were 1.99! I would be happy to use these baits for the rest of my life they are so good, and at a time we are all been hammered by increasing fuel costs its refreshing to see prices go the other way for a change!
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ETSneakerTravelRod
I was a great fan of ETs first travel rod the sneaker, and have used it both here and abroad to catch both pike and zander; it really is a great piece of kit, so when a new version was added to the range I had to have a look! First off initial impressions are of a much more finished piece of kit; in so much as its got a lovely cross-weave finish and contoured handle than the original version. The newer one though is more of a delicate piece of kit, it can easily double up as a very good jigging or light spinning rod, without losing any low down grunt to stop a big pike. But for me the real beauty in this rod is that you can almost put it in your pocket when its folded down, and as a go anywhere knock about rod for your travels it will take a lot of beating. These rods are always going to find a place in my suitcase, and I can easily see them becoming the number one choice for the travelling angler. RRP 45 from: www.etproducts.co.uk
MarkBarrett
BillWinship
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RealReviews2 Manufacturers/Members:AnythingNewToReview?
Please contact Steve Ormrod at: predhunter.o@virgin.net
TriedAndTestedItemsOfInterestToThePikeAngler
NJFNewPikeBook
There has not been a lot written about pike fishing specifically on big waters and yet this branch of the sport has become very popular in recent years. Some other authors had promised to write on the subject but nothing has materialised until now. Nev has also got his timing spot on with the release, well in time for Christmas and all those piking widows buying presents for their husbands. The book is good quality in terms of both production as well as content. Nev has used the same format as a number of other compilers in getting co-authors to write about their specialist water type. Several recent pike books utilising this formula have failed to hit the mark but this one is spot on. The book does not have a loose dust jacket which should help it to age well. All of the authors have gone into great detail in passing on their hard won tips as to how to get the best of their waters and in some cases methods and location are described to the extent of almost marking the spot with an X. But as Nev says Its all about boat fishing Im afraid so you will need to go afloat to take advantage of much of this sound advice.
That said there is a chapter on English Lake District pike from the bank by Geoff Parkinson but even he is well into bait boats. Another author Ill pick out is Jimmy Woolnough writing about Spanish Reservoirs and his pioneering work to track down the big pike that live in them. You may be aware that Jimmy has since gone missing. There are 14 chapters in total and they cover all of the major waters available in the UK and Ireland as well as covering Spain and the Baltic Sea.
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Nev could perhaps have found room for something about the waters in North America such as Lake Of The Woods but that is a small point and with the knowledge gained from reading Big Water Pike the reader would be well equipped to tackle any large water containing Esox. I enjoyed reading the book and highly recommend it. It is available in hard back from the Tackle Shop and selected shops at 25 plus 5 post and packaging.
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PhilWakeford
EsoXLuciusJerkbaitRod NewPredatorBookFrom I was given this rod to try out at the CLA Dr.SteveRogowski Gamefair that I attended on behalf of
the PAC and from the moment that it came out of the bag it got an awful lot of admiring glances from the other workers on the stall, so much so that I made sure it got locked away in the car pretty quick! What can I say about the looks of this rod, other than it is stunning. OK, so beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but there are some very nice touches to this rod like the engraved butt cap, and etched Duplon in the handle, but the real test of an rod is in the use as a fishing tool, and once again here it XLs. I have had a few fish on this rod now to low doubles, and all have been handled with ease. Furthermore, it fits and stows away nicely thanks to its two-piece construction, which in no way inhibits its action. My test sample handled lures from Replicants to Mag Dawgs with no problems at all, but does actually have a bend to it when a fish is hooked. The range of products by Fishing Matters is growing, as can be seen by the stand at this years convention with some exciting products to come. RRP 80. Visit their website at: fishingmatters.biz Pike and Freshwater Predator Fishing in the British Isles is a brand new release from Steve Rogowski and is a unique volume of very in-depth chapters on the UKs main predatory species. Similar to other recent books, Steve has pooled the resources of several writers who are each single-species specialists. This ensures that the reader is thoroughly informed on the habits of pike, catfish, zander, perch, eels, even chub, salmon and trout are covered. More importantly, each author then gives in-depth information on how to locate and fish for each species. To kick the book off there is an honest foreword by Barrie Rickards that sets the tone of the book perfectly. This is followed with a fascinating introduction by Steve himself to all the species featured in the book which then whets the appetite for more information. We then move onto the 6 main chapters, which focus on: pike; Steve Rogowski, Catfish; Simon Clarke, Eels; Steve Ormrod, Perch; Mark Barrett and Zander; Neville Fickling. Each author covers their specialist species in their own style with detailed
MarkBarrett
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advice given on tackle, rigs, baits and how to care for your fish. There are also tales of fishing experiences to put the reader on the bankside. Steve then concludes the book with a sobering chapter on future challenges that freshwater predators face. Price: 25.00 from all good Quiller book outlets, or visit: countrybooksdirect.com
SteveOrmrod
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BazzasNewZanderBook ..
With only two books on the subject and no new ones for over a decade, its fair to say that the zander angler has been starved of literature on the subject. Well that has now changed thanks to PAC secretary Mark Barrett and a number of guest chapters from other dedicated zander anglers, including membership secretary John Cahill. The book covers just about every aspect of zander fishing on the significant zander waters of the country, with separate sections on lure fishing and the rivers of the midlands that have practically re-written the zander record list. As the spread of zander continues, and more and more pike anglers switchover for periods to zander fishing this book is a timely manual on just how to get the best from your zander fishing. The book is available in hardback and a very limited edition leatherbound of 25, of which the first ten contain a limited edition Stephen Harper print of the cover design. Both of these are available direct from Mark at: 32 Berristead Close, Wilburton, Ely, Cambs. CB6 3RS. 07733 306921. Price: 19.95 for the H/B and 200 for the leather. Please add 5 for P&P.
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SteveOrmrod
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ETTackleBespokeTraces
I can imagine that for a lot of pike anglers the idea of using traces made by someone else will fill them with dread, well if thats the case, think on. These traces can be made to your exact specifications, or used straight from the box. They really are lavished with a lot of care and to be honest, far better made than my own home-made ones! This is mainly down to Bill Hancock who makes every single trace by hand, Bill is certainly what you would call a perfectionist. Personally I use the traces that Bill makes as standard, made from 30lb BS AFW wire and impressive Owner hooks that ET and Bill sell. With a 2 twenties and back up doubles on them last year, I will never be making a trace again! RRP is dependant upon what your requirements are. www.etproducts.co.uk
MarkBarrett
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Jon Neafcy reports on Region 31s scheme to encourage self-generating learning and success.
RA31sContinuousImprovers
Neil and his first twenty.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Many members, like myself, are very . keen, but average pikers. I reminisce and . . . cast my mind back to my early teenage . . years when I met a chap from St Helens . on a local water, Eric Edwards. He encour- . . . aged me to join the PAC and the old St . . Helens Region 31, which I did. The RO . Kev Glover and his dad would pick me up . . and take me fishing, a much needed help- . . . ing hand. On my very first outing I was . lucky enough to scoop the pot for biggest . . . fish. I hadnt the money to enter the . sweep, so Kev had paid it for me! What a . . . true gent! That money paid for a much . . needed new rod. . . . . Such camaraderie was part of the ethos . that I firmly wanted to embed in the culture . . of the resurrected Region 31 as I have no . . . doubt whatsoever that my own developRegion 31 South Lancashire is a relatively new entity, its predecessor being the old St Helens Region and the enthusiasm and passion for piking of many members is evident. Membership ranges from lads seeking to catch their 1st pike to seasoned veterans (such as Eric Edwards) and indeed several members have had fish to over the magical 30 pounds mark.
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ment as an angler has been furthered by being a PAC member. The Region has celebrated members individual successes through the newsletter and club awards. Several of the lads stood out from the crowd over the last season as having made considerable progress in their own fishing examples. This includes guys who have learned new skills such as boat fishing and those who have tried out and caught some nice pike from different water types. All of these guys have one thing in common in that they have all put in considerable time and effort into their own fishing. They are all also hungry to catch that magical first 20 plus pike. Im sure that we all (or will) recall that all important and magical first 20; a memory that no pike angler ever forgets. In Region 31 South Lancashire it was decided to do a bit of a feature on this in our own newsletter and subsequently that was the catalyst for this piece. My own slideshow is based around my milestones in piking; a journey which Im still very much on the road with and still looking for continual improvement. Its good to look
Continuous Improvers was born.
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back and see the improvements made in your own fishing over the years. The Region has implemented a trophy for continuous improvement, hence the feature was born. My own personal commitment to these lads being that I would do my best to help them catch their first 20lb plus pike. Now I have not caught hundreds of 20s, but Ive been fortunate enough over the years to have a number of good fish. My intention is to give the lads a helping hand where I can and help them to avoid some of the pitfalls along the way. It was hoped that this would further motivate these guys and give them a little helping hand to hit the 20 milestone. They in turn could then encourage new pikers to look up to them to get a bit of assistance in catching their first pike, their first double etc. Therefore creating an ongoing, self-generating cycle of improvement. Helping each other to mutual benefit is of course one of the things that the region is all about. Here are some of the escapades of some of our Region 31 Continuous improvers by way of a profile on each member, included are some photos of the pike the lads have caught.
Peter looks pleased with this lakeland 15.00.
Peter Kendrick.
Pete helps organise our club outings, he is a school teacher by day and has been an international globe trotter travelling the world. He got into boat fishing and had some right disasters including wrecking more than one trailer, narrowly avoiding a serious accident. He could have easily jacked in boat fishing and remained on the bank. Being determined to succeed, he got another boat, did it up himself and bought a new trailer, going on to beat his PB twice in one day (as previously reported in Pikelines).
Stu Randle.
Piking mad Stu is now assistant RO, he has cracked his local river catching some nice pike and has caught his first glacial lake pike. Stu has had to juggle his fishing around launching his own business with his partner and has continued with his fishing despite having very limited time.
Stu takes control of a 17.00.
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Andy is our mister fix it and he has already helped me and some of the lads with boat engines and trailer work. Neil has fished all his life, an accomplished match angler, he then started piking and joined the region. Neil now has many good doubles under his belt from a variety of waters. Being temporarily deprived of his driving license is an obstacle that Neil has had to overcome and adapt his fishing to suit.
Neil Stubbs.
. . . . Andy Cooke. . . Andy was a keen angler as a boy and . then discovered the world of women, work . . and beer, (sound familiar?) he returned to . . . the sport three years ago accompanying . . me on many a trip. What Andy needed . . was to go it alone for a bit, find his own . . way and succeed. The guy has done just . . that! I received texts off him one day, he . . was out on a big pit struggling. . . . . A bit of moral support was all he needed, . . going on to finish the day with 3 cracking . . doubles by making a couple of subtle . . changes to his approach. Andy is now a . boat owner and re-furbished his own craft, . . . he has had to make changes to his . . working life to accommodate his fishing.
I thought it fittingly appropriate to end this piece with a nice success story. This year Neil Stubbs accompanied me on his first For me, this is what the ethos of the Scottish piking trip and he caught his first Region is all about, helping each Scottish pike. Suitably inspired, he went on other for mutual gain and sustainable to catch a Scottish double on another trip pike fishing. with me and the lads. Recently, we had a trip to a large Scottish loch with Andy Cook We may look to extend this scheme in the and Stu Randle, the venue can be very future and could be on the look out for productive but can be a tough nut to crack. volunteer piking mentors to help the Crack it Neil did, with the first fish of the aspiring ones. trip a nice fighting ten pounder. I countered with a 14, a 16 and a 10 in that order. Tight lines, Jon Neafcy. Neil then followed up with his first twenty at 20.03, she was a cracking fish and the highlight of the trip. Neil was boat-partnering Andy Cooke myself and Stu went over to congratulate Neil and look at the Never stop improving: photos of his fish. Jon with a recent 23.00. Neils good fortune certainly rubbed off on me as an hour or so later I too boated a twenty at 20.02. Stu followed this up with a 14.14 and a nine. Neil went on to catch a few more jacks and I managed another low double. Not for want of trying, poor old Andy Cooke blanked,
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losing a big fish at the boat. However, Andy had been top rod on a previous river fishing trip. Andy mate, you cant win them all. We contacted some of the lads to tell them of the capture of Neils first twenty, Im glad to say that we received back a flood of well dones! On our first club outing of the season, Neil received many pats on the back and handshakes. The lads being genuinely made up for him. Sometimes all you need in life is a helping hand. Having received his own helping hand, the following week Neil was at a teach-in showing local kids how its done and putting something back into the sport.
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ThePresidentsShield
PACs almost constant slide show on the road
I caught my first pike on a worm when I was a lad; it weighed about two pounds and I took it home for tea! It seemed huge to me and I couldnt believe that these creatures grew to over twenty pounds, so I set out to catch a bigger one and it went on from there. Ronnie Pendleton ran the St. Helens Region of the PAC in the early days. Ronnie was the clubs first-ever Pike Angler of the Year and while he rubbed people up the wrong way at times, me included, he did a huge amount for pike fishing in the town. I still see Ronnie from time to time and I dont think he fishes any more; I must try and bring him back into the fold. I seem to recall that over the years you have been an officer of the PAC. Could you just clarify that for the readers please as well as tell us how you view the running of the club, now and in the past (lights blue touch paper and stands back). Thats a big question to ask an opinionated person like me. Ive never been an officer, only a humble RO in my time but Ive been around a while and seen a lot happen. My view is, and always has been that the club is its members. I dont belittle the work the committees do at all. I know its a difficult and, at times, thankless job and I applaud anyone who takes it on but I really believe the strength of the club lies in its regional structure. The regions are close to the action and have an ear to the ground for any potential problems or opportunities they may arise and so are able to act quickly when they do. I believe the real talent in the club lies in the regions and not necessarily in the committee and with that in mind Id like to see less centralisation but rather, active support for regional projects; of which there are many! There does seem to be something rather destructive about the general secretarys position though. It appears to turn normal rational people into megalomaniacs at times! The current committees drive
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WINTER 2008 NOMINEE
AWARD
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Eric Edwards
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What first got you interested in Pike Eric and why/how did you first get involved with the PAC?
for membership is exactly what the club needed. Freezing the cost of membership was another good move, I see little point in pushing subs ever upwards only for the money to lie in some bank account. I know that you have organised several pike fishing teach ins for youngsters Eric. How did this arise, what has the experience been like and has it achieved what you hoped for?
I made a conscious decision a couple of years ago to try to do more for pike fishing in my local area rather than fly around the country helping out others who, frankly, have much better local piking available than I do. Local youngsters in my area have very little opportunity to catch pike so they dont have any idea where to start. Running teach-ins is an attempt to break this chicken-and-egg problem and get them interested. Teach-ins are great fun. Most people who attend show a genuine interest and I like to think they all learn something. Watching someone who is new to lure fishing try to walk the dog with a surface lure can be hilarious at times and funnily enough, the youngsters seem to pick it up far more easily than the grown-ups. Were very lucky at Region 31 in having an RO who is a qualified angling coach, Jon Neafcy. Jon Makes sure things are done in accordance with the law taking into account health and safety legislation as well as child protection concerns. The very best thing about teach-ins though is when I look around at a local PAC region and see faces there that we first saw at a teach-in. That tells me weve managed to set those people off on the right road to pike conservation. How do you feel about the PAC in general in terms of does it make a difference in pike fishing/protection? Do you see it having a rosy future and is 3,000 members achievable?
the country if the Environment Agencys data is to be believed. I have no doubt though that the club is still suffering from the fallout from the Blithfield debacle, otherwise we would by now have met the three thousand target very easily. That episode was handled very badly by the committee of the day and ultimately led to a damaging fragmentation of the club. Contrast the way that was handled with the way in which the current committee dealt with the problem of members translocating livebaits across national borders. No big fuss, no show of strength but swift and effective resolution of the issue in a way that kept the club together and still satisfied the demands from the membership, the media and the general public. PAC has had a tremendous impact on the way pike are perceived in my local area but that has been brought about by having a strong local region rather than by direct action by committee. Some years ago we had an issue locally, which caused the regions members to band together and successfully take on one of the larger clubs in the area. The effect was both dramatic and long lasting and there isnt a club in the area that would risk taking the PAC on even now, years after that happened. You are quite a prolific writer of articles and have your own blog site. Do you use these to try and educate people and generally spread the good word or are there other reasons?
I honestly think TEN thousand members is an achievable target. There are certainly in excess of ten times that many pike anglers in
The blog was never really intended to be a shop-window, but rather a personal online fishing diary of sorts. Shortly after setting it up however, the omnipresent PAC press officer somehow trawled it up from Google and plastered it across the PAC website. Quite a few people have confessed that they look in on it regularly now. My style of writing in Pike and Predators, Pikelines and others is very definite, I write to educate and inform rather to entertain. Im sorry if that sounds a bit pompous but its true. Im not a fan of writers who deal only in the experiential. I think its a bit of a cheat to simply write about a days fishing and get paid for the
privilege. Thats why I dont write nearly as often as some others do, I have to have genuine inspiration you see. I get very excited about my fishing, Im always experimenting one way or another and I like to share my findings. My ultimate hope is that by telling others about the things I have discovered it gives them the opportunity to take my findings a step further so that they can feed it back to me. That way we all improve and pike fishing gets better for everyone. How do you view pike fishing in the present day in terms of threats to it and have you got any solutions? (Note pad at the ready!). Attitudes to pike in the north of England are improving. Education has always been the key and there are few anglers now who would admit to believing the old idea that the only good pike is a dead pike. Thats because rank and file PAC members are out there attending club meetings and spreading the word on the websites and in the tackle shops. Im talking here about people like Karl Devlin and John Woods, names you might not have heard of but who, locally, are crucially important people when it comes to challenging anti-pike sentiment wherever it crops up. This is why PAC needs to be big. We need to be working in the angling community, dotted about like currants in a cake, teaching, challenging and speaking up for our sport. Those people who proudly announce that they keep themselves to themselves and dont get involved dont actually help their own sport much. My solution is simple, be big and have influence. To my knowledge you hold strong opinions on a number of fishing related matters. One that stands out is your opposition to the massive spread of carp into a great number of fisheries. How could you get the message across to people that carp should be culled but pike preserved without sounding like a hypocrite or contradicting yourself?
You know I guess its easy for people who have a narrow perspective to consider my views hypocritical but Ive been around a long time now and Ive seen big changes in angling. Time was when carp were a rare fish round these parts, hard to find and hard to catch. Trouble is, I live in a massive conurbation, one of the biggest in Europe and people want instant gratification in everything; angling included. This has resulted in ridiculously heavy stocking of carp in almost every water in my area. Carp are useless as pike food, they occupy the biomass, pushing out more suitable prey species like roach and once they get above five pounds or so the pike cant eat them. Whats more, they stir the water up and make it muddy, thats not good for sight-feeding fish like pike. Ive seen many waters transformed from decent pike
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fisheries into filthy mud-holes where the pike are small thin and really not worth catching. Well Im sick of it and I know Im not alone in wanting it to change. The crazy thing is that even carp and match anglers in my area want this level of stocking to be stopped. It results in waters that are jam-packed with eight to twelve pound carp, too small for the carpers and too big for the match fishermen. What am I to do? Keep my strident views to myself for fear of offending people who live in pike-rich areas and dont have this problem? Think again, Ill be shouting my views from the rooftops for a few years yet! I have been quite impressed how you often find a new angle on old issues. Similarly whilst writing about Angling Companions in Pikelines you wrote about your son which was a great thing to do. Can you tell us something about your outlook on piking or life in general if you like?
You know Phil, as I get older and this body creaks and groans more each year, I find myself drawn to my pike fishing more than ever. Ive been fortunate enough to catch some very big pike and that tends to change your outlook a bit. The pressure is off me now, I dont have to catch, Ive nothing to prove and that means I can really enjoy my fishing. This gives me the opportunity to play around with new ideas, most of which come to nothing, but while everyone else is piling onto Thirtymere Ill avoid the crowds and go and do my own thing; sometimes with good results! Fishing with my son is just the best thing in the world. We had a great trip to Blithfield earlier in the year where he thrashed me soundly with three twenty pounders to my one. Was I jealous? Too right! Would I have changed it? Not for anything! There are fewer and fewer youngsters coming into pike fishing especially compared to carp fishing. Why do you think this is and can anything be done about it?
Its this old chicken-and-egg thing again. Every water bar one in my area is heavily stocked with carp and there is no decent pike fishing at all. Of course, the youngsters are going to turn to carp fishing, its all they have available. You have to travel for your pike fishing if you live in St. Helens and young lads dont have the means to travel far. Once again its the regional structure of the club that can help here and once again we have an RO, in Jon Neafcy, whos doing some terrific work. Jon organises fish-ins throughout the winter where lads and dads can get together with experienced pikers and travel to some very good venues. Child protection issues can really get in the way, thank goodness Jon is properly qualified and policecleared. I do see a lot of selfishness in pike fishing. This masquerades as conservation but make no mistake most of it is selfishness.
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Some of those people who have racked up huge numbers of big fish and who are looked up to and revered by the pike fishing community have never done a thing to help others find their way in the sport. We should be looking up to people like Kosh, Sandy Mackie, Stewart McMath and Denis Moules, people who really work for pike fishing. If you were given full control over fishing in the UK what direction would you take it in and why? Are we as pikers all doomed?
I would bring in much tighter regulation over stocking of fish. I believe this will come anyway in time but we mustnt let the Environment Agency have an easy ride. The Environment Agency are supposed to promote biodiversity in our waterways yet they allow the indiscriminate stocking of invasive species into almost every bit of water whilst at the same time pointing at pike anglers and accusing us of transferring fish for livebaits. THEY are the hypocrites not me. I firmly believe that the EA is anti pike angler and we must not allow them to get away with it. Only pike anglers have had to face widespread bans on baits and methods, no one else. Piking isnt doomed but it is inevitable that it will change and we must insist that we have a say in the way it is shaped. You put yourself out tremendously to visit different regions of the PAC and give slide shows. How do you motivate yourself to keep doing this, as I know from personal experience how demanding it is. What do you get back from doing it please?
Im only too well aware that without speakers the regional meetings would soon peter out. No meetings means no region and piking would very soon return to the dark days before the PAC came to prominence. Ive already said how important I believe the regional structure is and I feel I have a responsibility to help the regions out, we all do! Im generally looked after very well when I give a talk and once in a while I get treated to a days fishing as well, which is very nice. I love talking to other pikers and I love the sound of my own voice, so giving slide shows comes quite easily. I did a lot of shows last year though and most of them were at long distance. This eats into your fishing time so Ive cut back a little. No one wants to listen to someone who isnt catching and youre not catching if you dont get out fishing so Im going to spend a couple of years building up some new slides now and come back with a whole new show. As ever Eric it has been interesting talking to you. You are definitely a thinking mans piker and Im sure that this has led more than a little to your outstanding list of captures. Phil Wakeford was talking to Eric Edwards.
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SpecialistAnglersAllianceBulletin
Do you want it? There are just a few weeks to go for people who live in the Salisbury area to let the Environment Agency know what they think about plans to turn the river Ebble into a wild trout fishing river, one of the few in England. The Agency has been consulting local people for the past few months about reclassifying the Ebble (one of the best trout chalk streams in England) into a Wild Fishery Protection Zone. If local people agree to the idea, it would mean only wild trout would thrive in the river. Stocking it with farmed trout could no longer take place. Doing this would mean wild trout in the Ebble are not mixed up with farmed fish. DJ Gent from the Environment Agency said: Every response we've had to the proposal so far has been really positive. We are nearing the end of the consultation process, but there is still time to tell us what you think about reclassification proposal. From our point of view we are keen to protect the native wild fish population, but there is also potential benefit here for local angling businesses who will be able to market themselves to the niche market of wild trout fishing. The Environment Agency is keen to formally re-classify the river by the end of September, so if anyone has a point of view on the proposal, they are being urged to get in contact with us as soon as possible. People can do this by calling DJ on the Environment Agency customer service line on: 08708 506506.
Wild trout fishing on the River Ebble.
Movements of fish in and out of the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Ponds at Hyde Hall, Essex have been restricted, following the confirmation of Koi Herpesvirus (KHV) Disease. Apparently the RHS was willing to accept donations of fish from members into their ponds! Defra has issued a Designated Area Order prohibiting the movement of fish to and from Hyde Hall (Top and Bottom Pond), Royal Horticultural Society, Hyde Hall, Hyde Hall Road, Rettendon Common, Chelmsford, Essex. Samples were taken from the affected pond following reported deaths of fish. KHV Disease affects common carp and carp varieties such as Koi. It can result in high rates of fish mortalities. There are no implications for human health. It became a legal obligation to notify suspicion of KHV Disease on 6th April 2007. The measures developed in partnership between government and industry to help combat outbreaks were announced on 21st May. Suspicion of the presence of the disease should be immediately reported to: the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) in Weymouth.
Mike Heylin.
Photocopies of this form are acceptable.
Koi Herpesvirus disease outbreak confirmed.
Visit the PAC Forum: websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/pacgb
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PACRegionalAssociationsAnd
NORTH EAST
Liaison Officer Robert Murray, 33 Greenlaw, West Denton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE5 5DD. Email: northeast.lo@pacgb.co.uk Website: pacgb-northeast.co.uk Teesside and Darlington RA21/89 Craig Patterson Tel: 07984 164746. 13 Castlefields, Bournmoor, County Durham DH4 6HH. E: peter@patterson5177.fsnet.co.uk South East Northumberland RA24 Mike Bell, Stonepykes, 2 Holystone Drive, Holystone, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE27 0DH. Email: pikeymikeyatra24@blueyonder.co.uk Neil Baker, 2 East View, Burnopfield, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE16 6HP. Email: neillyn.luke@virgin.net Tyneside RA86 Geoff Clarkson, 17 Monks Crescent, Durham DH1 1HD. Tel: 07872 188658. Email: geoffrey.clarkson@hmps.gsi.gov.uk Assistant RO: Dave Mitchell, 13 Cauldwell Villas, South Shields, Tyne and Wear NE34 0RZ. Tel: 01914 235188. Website: pikergrove.co.uk
YORKSHIRE
Liaison Officers Brian Birdsall, 3 Hough End Crescent, Bramley, Leeds, W Yorks. LS13 4RU. Tel: 01132 298789. Email: brian.birdsall@ntlworld.com Restarted: Selby RA40 Mark Green, Oakland Waters, Gowdall Road, Gowdall, Goole, East Yorks. DN14 0AP. Mob: 07960118685. Email: markpike73@googlemail.com Halifax RA47 (Vacant) East Yorkshire RA42 Ady Brayshaw, 11 Hall Walk, Walkington, Beverley, E Yorks. Ripon RA50 Bill Winship, 7 Knox Chase, Harrogate, N Yorks. HG1 3HZ. E-mail:bill@pacp.fsnet.co.uk Restarted: Leeds & Bradford RA66/44 Andrew Brown, 37 Coppicewood Avenue, Guiseley, Leeds LS20 9JP. Tel: 01943 871765. Email andyjanebrown@aol.co.uk Doncaster RA78 Jeff Squires, 147 High Street, Dunsville, Doncaster, S Yorks. DN7 4BT. Email: esoxjeff@talktalk.net Wakefield RA96 Peter S Green, 17 Lincoln Street, Wakefield, W Yorks. WF2 0EB. Tel: 01924 782705. Email: psgreen@blueyonder.co.uk Road, Ossett, W Yorks. WF5 8BA. Restarted: Hull RA95 Tony Derrick. Poplar House Farm, Church Lane, Skirlaugh, Hull HU11 5EU. Tel: 01954 563645. Mob: 07976965756. Email: tony@skirlaugh.co.uk Web Blog: hullpac.blogspot.com
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. . . . . . . . . . . Rotherham and Sheffield RA99 . . Philip Heaton, 4 Straight Lane, Goldthorpe, . . Rotherham, S Yorks. Tel: 01709 888996. . . Email: rotherhampac@yahoo.co.uk . . NEW: Aire Valley RA104 . . Brian Birdsall, 3 Hough End Crescent, Bramley, . . Leeds, W Yorks. LS13 4RU. Tel: 01132 298789. . . Email: brian.birdsall@ntlworld.com Joint RO: . . Jim Taylor, 4 Trent Road, Redcar TS10 1NN. . Tel: 01642 472636. Email: jimataylor@google.com . . . . . . . NORTH WEST . . Liaison Officer . Mark Johnson, 6 Chestnut Road, Market Drayton, . . . Shropshire TF9 1LY. Tel: 07817 419286. . . Email: mark-cheshirepiker@fsmail.net . . . . Preston RA6 (Vacant) . . . . Cheshire RA9 . . Andy Bates, 4 The Close, Northwich, Cheshire, . CW8 1JX.Tel: 01606 871066. Mob: 07834999129. . . . Email: andybates7@sky.com . . . . Blackpool RA17 (Vacant) . . Manchester RA65 New RO TBA. . . . . Newton-le-Willows RA73 . . Gaz Hackett, 12 Dixon Avenue, Newton-Le. . Willows WA12 0NE. Tel: 01925 291349. . . . . North Lake District RA5 . . Tommy Thompson, 32 Clifton Lodge, . . Great Clifton, Workington, Cumbria . . CA14 1UR. Tel: 01900 602253. . . . . Colne RA82 (Vacant) . . . . Glossop RA88 . Andy (Kosh) Kershaw, 18 Meadowfield, Hadfield, . . . Glossop, Derbyshire SK13 2BL. . . Tel: 0797 6797158. . . Email: pike4kosh-22@zen.co.uk . . . . Southport RA103 (Vacant) . . . . South Lancashire RA31 . . Jon Neafcy, 30 Greenbank, Abram, Wigan, Lancs. . . WN2 5XU. Email: roregion31@blueyonder.co.uk . . . . . . WEST MIDLANDS . . Liaison Officer . . Steve Bown, 32 Saxonwood Road, Cheswick . . Green, Shirley, Solihull, West Mids. B90 4JN. . . Email: solihullpac@hotmail.com . . . . Birmingham RA1 . . Robert Tonks, 5 Barford Close, Sutton Coldfield, . . West Midlands B762UL. . . . . Dudley RA3 . . John Tate, 12 Cherry Orchard Avenue, . . Halesowen, W Midlands B63 3RY. . . . . . .
Keighley RA79 (Vacant) Huddersfield RA100 Craig Beverley, 93 Knowle Road, Golcar, Huddersfield HD7 4AN. Tel: 07815 785726.
Shakespeare RA20 Steve Bown, 32 Saxonwood Road, Cheswick Green, Shirley, Solihull, West Mids. B90 4JN. Email: ra20shakespeare@btinternet.com Website: pac20shakespeare.blogspot.com Walsall RA37 (Vacant) Gloucester RA41 (Vacant) Cotswold RA46 Malcolm Yates, The Old Post House, Salperton, Northleach, Gloucestershire GL54 4EE. Tel: 01451 850659.
EAST MIDLANDS
Liaison Officer Pete Haywood, 20 Carisbrooke Avenue, Gedling, Notts, NG4 2RD. Tel: 01159 615958. Nottinghamshire RA26 (Caretaker ROs) Pete Haywood, 20 Carisbrooke Avenue, Gedling, Notts, NG4 2RD. Tel: 01159 615958. Phil Kirk, 8 Edge Hill Court, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 1PQ. Tel: 01159 731347. Leicester RA67 Soar Valley RA80 (Both vacant) Burton-on-Trent RA49 Gary Edwards, Honey Cottage, Hatton Fields, Sutton Lane, Hilton, Derbyshire DE65 5GQ. Tel: 07875 133682. Email: gary@garyedwards.orangehome.co.uk Amber Valley RA84 David Holmes, 33 Thurston Avenue, Somercoats, Derbyshire DE55 4JP. Tel: 01773 603607. Assistant RO: John Milford, Email: John.Milford@drakauk.com
ANGLIAN
Liaison Officers Denis Moules, 32 Fairhaven Close, Lode, Cambs. CB5 9HG. E-mail: moules@btinternet.com Dave Batten, 14 Mill Lane, Carbrooke, Thetford, Norfolk IP25 6TD. Cambridge RA2 Andrew Blazey, 3 Mason Gardens, West Row, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 8PH. Tel/Fax: 01638 717128. Mob: 07770 970946. Email: andrew.blazey@primeag.co.uk Joint RO: Richard Wesley, 15 Holland Park, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 9DL. Tel: 07812 161955. Email: Richard.Wesley@incadigital.com Suffolk RA8 Colin Hall, 2 Rymer Point Cottages, Barnham, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PN. Tel: 01842 890652. Herts/Chiltern RA16 John Lawrie, 12 Mallard Walk, Biggleswade, Beds. SG18 8DY. Tel: 07894 561348. Email: lawrie1@ntlworld.com Joint RO: Dave Thompson. Mob: 0703390045. Kings Lynn and West Norfolk RA72 Chris Bishop, Tel: 07789 592834. Email: chris_bishop1@hotmail.com Joint RO: Steve Rodwell, 10 Methwold Road, Methwold Hythe, Thetford, Norfolk IP26 4QH.
68
LiaisonOfficers-RegionalOrganisers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ely/Fenland RA32 . . Colin Goodge, 2 Barton Close, Witchford, Ely, . . Cambs. CB6 2HS. Mark Barrett, 32 Berristead . . Close, Wilburton, Ely, Cambs. CB6 3RS. . . . . Corby RA91 . . David McLachlan, 15 Jubilee Close, Islip, . . Kettering NN14 3DU. . . . . Fenland/Lincs. RA45 (Vacant) . . . . Lincoln RA48 . . Mark Winterton, 53 Silver Street, Bardney, . . Lincs. LN3 5XG. Tel: 01526 397174. . . Email: thewaits@btinternet.com . . . . . . THAMES . . Liaison Officer . . Phil Wakeford, 17 Ramsbury Drive, Earley, . . Reading, Berks RG6 7RT. . . . . Reading RA14 . . Lyndon Barrett, 15 Adam Close, Baughurst, . . RG26 5HG. Tel 07771931739. . . Email: Mandylyndon@tiscali.co.uk Joint RO: . . Peter Wardle, 65a Kings Road, Caversham, . Reading, Berkshire RG4 8DS. Tel: 07876 503569. . . . Email: petersrgi@hotmail.com . . . . Walton on Thames RA15 . . Dave Fish, 63 Ashurst Drive, Shepperton, . . Middlesex TW17 0JH. Tel: 01932 562929. . . Email: dave.fish@waltonpac.org.uk . . . . Swindon RA34 Guildford RA51 (Both vacant) . . . . Lea Valley RA85 . Caretaker RO: Dave Horton, 88 Berecroft, Harlow, . . . Essex CM18 7SD. . . . . Tring and District RA101 . . Brad Sinfiend, 89 Kingsley Walk, Tring, Herts. . . HP23 5DR. Tel: 07879 070167. . . . . North Essex RA102 (Vacant) . . . . . . SOUTH . . Liaison Officer . . Mark Skinner, 41 Brook Street, Polegate, . . E Sussex BN26 6BH. Tel: 0771 754993. . . Email: south.lo@pacgb.co.uk . . . . Restarting: West Sussex RA11 Details TBA. . . . . Canterbury/Thanet RA30/60 . . John Roberts, 102 Minster Road, . . Westgate-on-Sea, Kent CT8 8DG. . . . . Southampton RA39 . . Lewis McCall, 264 Warsash Road, Warsash . . SO31 9NZ. Tel: 01489 575077. . . Email: esox9@btinternet.com . . . .
Restarted: Norwich RA33 John Currie, Lodge Farm, Halesworth Road, Ilketshall St.Lawrence, Beccles, Suffolk NR34 8NJ. Mob: 07776221959. E-mail: jcurrie@ymail.com Joint RO: Steve Roberts, Comfrey Cottage, 2 Low Common, Swardeston Norwich NR14 8LG. Mob: 07950292933. Medway RA59 (Vacant) East Sussex RA70 Gary Hodd, 14 Smith Close, Ninfield, E. Sussex TN33 9RB. Mob: 07734 045233. Email: garyregion70@aol.com Joint RO: Jon Cook, 17 Swale Close, Stone Cross, Pevensey BN24 5GY. Tel: 01323 743736. Email: jonregion70@aol.com Web: sussex-pac.co.uk
Thames Gateway RA19 Steve Gould, 52 Coptefield Drive, Belvedere, Kent DA17 5RL. Email: Esoxlucius1964@aol.com Website: pacregion19@aol.com thamesgatewaypac.blogspot.com/
SOUTH WEST
Liaison Officer Pete Austin, 1 The Myrtles, North End, Creech St. Michaels, Taunton, Somerset TA3 5AD. Tel: 01823 444116. Email:Levelspiker@aol.com Somerset Levels RA12 Pete Austin, 1 The Myrtles, North End, Creech St. Michaels, Taunton, Somerset TA3 5AD. Tel: 01823 444116. Email:Levelspiker@aol.com Joint RO: Mick Saunders,113 Hamilton Road, Taunton, Somerset,TA12EP. E: Pikemad@aol.com Devon RA13 Bristol RA25 (Both vacant) Plymouth RA36 W. Cornwall RA81 (Both vacant)
SOUTH WEST SCOTLAND

Liaison Officer Scott Davidson, 7 Old Glasgow Road, Kilwinning, Ayrshire KA13 7QJ. Tel: 01294 542843. Mobile: 07886 435139. Email: ayrshirepikeangler@hotmail.co.uk Ayrshire RA52 Scott Davidson, 7 Old Glasgow Road, Kilwinning, Ayrshire KA13 7QJ. Tel: 01294 542843. Mobile: 07886 435139. Email: ayrshirepikeangler@hotmail.co.uk Joint RO: Dave Morris, 7 Trabboch Avenue, Drongan, Ayrshire KA6 7DR. Tel: 07960 368053. email: davemorris62@aol.com Castle Douglas & Kirkcudbright RA61 (Vacant) Newton Stewart RA57 Duncan Vincent, Galloway Angling Centre, 87 Queen Street, Newton Stewart DG8 6JR.
CENTRAL SCOTLAND
Liaison Officer John Oliver, Flat 1 Left, 91 Fotheringay Road, Pollockshields, Glasgow G41 4LH. Tel: 07764 635206. Clydebank RA58 Jonathan Sykes, 3 Watt Place, Milngavie, Glasgow G62 7LQ. Tel: 0141 9567742. Email: ycfcpike@hotmail.com North Lanarkshire RA93 Sandy Mackie, 2 Raeburn Walk, Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland ML4 1ILH. Tel: 0771 7175353. Email:sandymackie@blueyonder.co.uk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
NORTHERN SCOTLAND
Liaison Officers Rab Hay, 15 Elizabeth Street, Nairn. Tel: 01667 456506. Mob: 07766 439860. Email: helenandrab@talktalk.net Joint RO: Micky Jones, 17 Miller Street, Inverness IV2 3ND. Tel: 01463 712591. Email:esoxness@hotmail.co.uk Inverness RA74 (Highlands RA54 Elgin RA75) Rab Hay, 15 Elizabeth Street, Nairn. Tel: 01667 456506. Mob: 07766 439860. Email: helenandrab@talktalk.net Joint RO: Micky Jones, 17 Miller Street, Inverness IV2 3ND. Tel: 01463 712591. Email:esoxness@hotmail.co.uk Aberdeen RA76 Jim Horsburgh, 66 Harlaw Road, Inveruie, Aberdeenshire AB51 4TB. Tel: 01467 622381.
WALES
Liaison Officer (Vacant) North Wales South Wales RA10 (Vacant)
NORTHERN IRELAND
Liaison Officer George Higgins, 201 Lower Braniel Road, Belfast BT5 7NP. Northern Ireland RA43 Gordon Nesbitt, 25 Glasvey Drive, Ballykelly, Limavady, Co. Londonderry BT49 9HQ. Tel: 028 777 29324. Mob: 07765 896016. Email: region43pac@btinternet.com NEW: Northern Ireland (South) RA111 Robbie Marsh, 21 Springdale Cresent, Kilkeel, BT34 4XY. Mob: 07727044623. Email: marshpike@aol.com Website: pikemania.co.uk/home.html
PAC Affiliate Organisations

Irish Pike Society (IPS) Contact: Ian Forde, No.4 Effernoc Manor, Trim, County Meath, S Ireland. Web: irishpikesociety.com Specialist Anglers Alliance (SAA) Contact: Mike Heylin, 41 Crofts Path, Hemel Hempstead HP3 8HB. Website: saauk.org Pike Flyfishing Association (PFFA) Chairman: Peter Jones, 28 Crown Avenue, Holbeach St. Marks, Spalding, Lincs. PE12 8EU. Email: pffachairman@btinternet.com Web: pffa.co.uk Pike Anglers Alliance for Scotland (PAAS) General Secretary: Joe Toner. Email: gensec@esoxecosse.com Note: Will all ROs and LOs please check their details with care. Any alterations please contact Steve Ormrod asap at: predhunter.o@virgin.net If any ROs want to advertise their meetings events on the PAC website regional events page, contact Dave Lumb at: webmaster@pacgb.com
Send your reports to Neville Fickling at: thetackleshop@btconnect.com PL123 deadline for submissions: Dec. 26th 2008.
WhatsHappeningAtYourPACRegion?
Visit the regions: pacgb.co.uk/regions/index.htm
69
Articles/Reports/Letters/News? email Neville at: thetackleshop@btconnect.com PL123 deadline for submissions: Dec. 26th 2008.
Welcome
ToPikelines122
Yes, I know its a catfish not a pike, but youve got to do something in the summer. For some reason the catfish fishing was quite easy at my lakes except for odd people who shall remain nameless (eh Steve?). Then in September its back to pike fishing and reality bites. A whole month of trying various waters including a week in Eire and the biggest pike is 17lb. Never forget that pike (and zander and eel) fishing is real fishing. To catch a 20lb pike is only easy if you have a water full of them. They really are a pain in the neck. Yet it is the challenge that makes it interesting. As long as I have the desire to catch big pike Ill still be pike fishing when I drop. If I ever lose that desire Ill pack it in. Pike fishing for 40 plus years does alter the way you think about pike fishing. Im not bothered about catching small pike though the initial run or the hit on a lure is exciting no matter how many times it happens. Other pike anglers who enjoy catching anything are blessed, but there is a limit to how many
EditorsViewpoint
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
pike you can catch without wanting something special. One thing that I do not like is the concept of light line fishing for pike. Im firmly in the get them landed quick camp. Im also worried about the next craze; drop shot fishing. If its carried out with a wire trace and strong
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
line Im fine with it, otherwise, it can stay on the European mainland. They can kill their pike if they so wish to. We have taken 30 years to get to where we are now and going backwards is not an option!
NevilleFickling
ProductionNotes
Hmmm, Nev has made an interesting point here re. my catfishing this summer. I must admit it has been rather frustrating when you are doing everything right, but with nil results. The only thing I can say in my defence is that I havent managed enough rod hours there this season. Living 100 miles away, escalating motoring costs have inevitably affected angling plans.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Im sure this rings true with many of our members too. It does make you think twice about travelling any distance on a regular basis to fish. Of course, the alternative is to stay local and rediscover some venues you may well have been neglecting.
This is exactly what I have done to start my piking season, being happily rewarded with a bonny lass of 25lb on only my second outing (reality bites eh Nev, LOL!). Im now hoping my luck will last! I think this reflects on other folks plans too as they are now thinking more to whats available on their own doorsteps. A sign of the times? I must make an apology to Pete Waterfield for wrongly naming him as Woody re. the NAC fish-in report in the last mag. Woody, is of course eel fanatic
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Damien Woods nickname, not Petes, sorry lads; magazine blindness! The Convention was as great as ever this year. It was a pleasure to meet so many friends and associates again, especially the lads from PAAS who made the long trip down to attend their stand. I hope you all found the talks interesting and that you will support the day as well next year, thanks. I must also thank several of our stalwart members for helping with a call for a specific cover image needed for this edition, you guys are stars. The cover image is a very important element of Pikelines, the archive is rather empty at the moment, so if you feel you have something that is worthy, please email me any samples. Who knows, a forthcoming edition may raise a grin on your face! Merry thingy by the way. For the love of Esox...
SteveOrmrod
3
PACObituaries
PAC is saddened to announce the passing away of a valued member.
BrianWootton
1936-2008
Brian sadly passed away on 13th August 2008 aged 72. Brian had been an angler all his life catching pike up to 25lbs. Brian adored his pike fishing frequenting waters in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Norfolk. He will be sadly missed by his family and friends, including his wife Shirley, son Ian, and daughter Jane. Shirley, Ian and Jane.
PAC is saddened to hear of the passing away of a legendary pike angler.
Many newer members of the PAC may not be familiar with the name of Dave Standing, who sadly died in September of this year. However, Club members who have been fortunate enough to see one of Daves numerous slide shows, which he undertook for many local branches, will undoubtedly remember both him and the slideshow with great affection. Never one to take fishing, or himself too seriously, these talks often seemed to have only an oblique connection to fishing. Thankfully, Daves sheer chutzpah always managed to win over the most cynical and hard-bitten audience. I first started fishing with Dave way back in the late 1970s, and shared many an adventure in those formative years. Some of those trips were successful in terms of pike caught, others less so, but in the company of Dave even the hardest most weather beaten session could be transformed into something equally if not more memorable. The news of his premature death was received by Geoff and I whilst on a weeklong pike-fishing session. Interspersed with the sadness of the loss, as we reminisced what we remembered most of all was the laughter and the sometimes bizarre situations we managed to get ourselves in, often, it has to be said, due to Daves highly trusting nature, and his ability to attract every nutter within a mile radius! In fact, I didnt know anyone who didnt like Dave; perhaps because he genuinely didnt have a bad word to say about anyone he met.Whether fishing in this country or abroad, his sheer bonhomie and good nature seemed to transcend mere language, just as well really because Dave never managed to learn one ungarbled word of another language. It just didnt matter; he still managed to communicate, somehow. Dave had suffered some serious health problems in recent years, which latterly seriously curtailed his fishing. Still, visiting him to talk fishing was always a real boost, and I am sure I speak for his many friends when I say that fishing will never be quite the same with his passing. James Holgate.
DaveStanding
1958-2008
34
Talking T actics
Pike fishing on drains seems to divide people into two camps; those that hate it and those that love it. Im firmly in the latter category and would go as far as to say that drains are probably my favourite venue. Judging by the amount of times I hear I wouldnt know where to start I think this must be the biggest stumbling block for the novice drain angler and there is no easy answer.
What doesnt work, in my experience, is relying on backside features such as trees, telegraph poles, fences etc. I have caught pike from near these but Ive also caught an awful lot from completely featureless areas. I would even go as far as to say that pike captures close to external features can be a self-fulfilling prophecy in as much as always fishing near a certain tree produces a few pike! Well it will if thats the only place you fish! My advice is to pick a stretch of water and work along it methodically using the oft maligned leapfrogging method whereby the last rod is constantly moved in front of the first rod to cover new water until pike are located. How far you space your rods, and the interval between moving, is open to debate as everyone seems to have their own ideas. 20 minutes and about 20 yards seems to work for me. What you are searching for is an area that holds some pike. This may be as small as twenty yards, or as big as 100 yards in a mile of water. However, whatever the size, it can provide fantastic sport once identified. As odd as it may sound you sometimes need to work your way along a productive stretch until you are no longer catching anything before you realise what the boundaries are. With this done it is worth going back and sitting it out in an area with pike present. Keep your eyes open for any
ASeriesThatGivesMembers TheKnowledgeToSucceed ThisQuarterGrahamSlater CoversHisDrainPiking
Drains:MyFavouriteVenues
A brace of twenties at 20.10 and 21.00, caught half a mile apart.
Search For Holding Areas.

Pikelines Issue 122

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pacgb.

ISSUE 122 Winter 2008

Piking2008Report . WinADayWithDave Kelbrick . TalkingTactics:Drains Features AccidentsHappenDarrenWard ThreeTimesALadyAlixHepworth PikingOverChristmasDavidWillis

UnderTheSkinMickGleeson Unlucky13JasonWoods PresidentsShieldEricEdwards

PAC Committee Contact Details...

PAC Honorary Life Members:

Prof.BarrieRickards, HughReynolds and BillChillingworth.

PACTroubleshooters:WeHaveThePower... If you see or hear of anything anti-pike/

Visit the exclusive PAC forum: websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/pacgb

For the latest news visit: pacnews.blogspot.com

Exclusive New Memberships Promotion 08/09

Please read the rules below...

So get recruiting and Good Luck!

For the latest news visit: pacnews.blogspot.com

Visit the exclusive PAC forum: websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/pacgb

TwoNewPrivilegedAccessPACEventsFor2009 .... SoLongToTheRealQuint

Three times A Lady!

Three times a lady.

Was it worth the effort?

My friend John McDonald with a 13-08 from the Christmas location.

Do we need so much gear?

Frozen to the rocks!

Convention 2008 gallery:

For the latest news visit: pacnews.blogspot.com

Visit the exclusive PAC forum: websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/pacgb

For the latest news visit: pacnews.blogspot.com

Visit the exclusive PAC forum: websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/pacgb

John with a lovely Lakeland lass.

TheAmbulanceChapCheckedMeOver AndAdvisedMeToGoToHospital,IWasnt GoingAnywhereUntilIdSeenJohn.

For the latest news visit: pacnews.blogspot.com

though its bones make for challenging chewing.

Pike is edible, even glorified by some palates,

Sara Bensinger of The New York Times.

Visit the exclusive PAC forum: websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/pacgb

A perfect river 21.00 to Mick.

Q: Dislikes about pike fishing? Liars, now everyone

Carefully returning a big twenty to her river home.

Proudly cradling a river 27.00.

Careless pike killers,

our pike fishing!

Q: Favourite fishing holiday location?

Q: Non-fishing interests? Military history.

Q: Last piece of fishing tackle you bought? American Surflon bleeding

Q: Favourite film? There are two that I

Q: Favourite cheese? Red Leicester.

NJF: Many thanks for letting us in on your

For the latest news visit: pacnews.blogspot.com

Preparation, preparation and more preparation!

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NEW: Warping Drain, N. Lincs. Bank-fishing Sat. 7th Feb. 2009

More special PAC events to follow... watch this space.

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20-catching machine Ross Greaves with a bonny Scottish beauty.

See more member pictures at: pacgb.co.uk/gallery/index.htm

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PAC Badges a. Round colour car sticker

Three-inch dia. Full-colour cloth Order Code: CB. 3.50

PAC Enamel Badges c. One-inch dia. Full-colour enamelled

Baseball Cap (one size)

e. Stainless Thermal Mug

Colour: Green Order Code: WH One Size: 8.00

Wooly hat (one size)

Large full-colour PAC logo. Order Code: BS6. 3.00

g. PAC Mouse Mat