L_A_2015_S_

experience is different from
what I’ve written here as I know
lots of people who regularly use
all different types of lures with
only one single and they have
excellent hook up rates. It is,
however, food for thought.
The story doesn’t end there
though and on this particular
day it wasn’t to be all doom and
gloom. I quickly switched the
Rep for a new fat belly shad
clownfish pattern lure that
Mark from MH Custom Lures
had recently sent me. I’ve
always wanted a “Nemo” type
lure and this was the first
clownfish style I had ever used.
After the one that got away, my
thinking was to downsize and
go for two trebles to pretty much
guarantee hooking up the next
take if I was to be lucky enough
to get one and at only 100mm
length and 22g the smaller lure
with two trebles would certainly
increase my chances.
I wasn’t to be disappointed
either as after about another five
minutes of roving down river I
reached a small slack out of the
flow of the main river, a perfect
ambush spot for a predator to lie
up in. The fat belly shad is a
floating lure with a diving lip
and once cranked will dive down
to approximately 3ft. The beauty
of floating lures is that you can
cast them out into the flow and
let them float down river, then
when you’re ready just lock the
reel up, crank the lure down and
retrieve back through the flow
and into the slack with the
minimum amount of
disturbance. I’ve written here
before about big lures (see
winter issue) and about swims
I call “one chancers”; these are
swims that I believe potentially
could hold a big pike and with
every cast you make the chances
of catching it decrease.
These “one chancer” swims
are places that require thought
before you ever make a cast, it’s
all about reading them correctly;
asking yourself where is the
right cast to place this lure and
how do I get it there accurately?
I can’t stress enough the
importance of this type of
thinking and your craft in
general. Everything has its place

• if you turn up at a large
  reservoir then, yes, cast where

you like and as many times as

you can, but when faced with

rivers and especially shallower

ones where pike tend to hug the

marginal slacks right under

your feet, then I would urge you

to use stealth and caution.

So back to the swim I was

describing, I was able to use the

river to float a lure past it and

then retrieve the lure so it

enters the slack. There’s been

no splash, no disturbance of

any kind whatsoever and I’ve

kept a rod length distance from

the bank with my silhouette off

the water. Now the lure enters

the slack as naturally as I can

get it, as close as possible to a

real fish entering the small slack

to escape the main flow of the

river and BANG, an instant take!

That’s just what happened here.

I witnessed the bankside

vegetation move with such

force through sudden water

displacement that I knew

instantly this was a good fish

and being focused and ready

this time I struck immediately.

Fish on, once again within a foot

from the bank and instantly she

went ballistic, heading straight

for the main river stripping line

from my reel. Good old faith in

your gear always comes to mind

at this point; the 65lb power pro

and strong trace both held and

after a few minutes I slipped her

over the net. 23lb 4oz of wild

river pike banked by design on

a new lure and by judgement

more than luck, you have to be

happy with that!

Finally, I’d just like to

introduce readers to the

“Tubeology” bait which are very

simply flies/lures that you can

use on a lure or spinning rod.

For those who don’t know,

Tubeology is a system of

different lures designed with

interchangeable heads,

spinner blades etc. which

allow you to quickly change

the lure colour, weight or

even your technique, right

at the water’s edge. It is a

system that has literally

thousands of variations

within one kit and is suitable

for all predatory species

regardless of light and

conditions. The takes on

these flies are hard, savage and

exciting and having the ability

to add colour, weight, blades etc.

or to remove them instantly

makes this a really exciting

product. If you haven’t heard

of it until now then it’s well

worth checking out and I will

be putting it thoroughly to the

test throughout 2015. I’ve

already had some good results

so far and it is available from

http://www.truefishinggear.com

So that’s it from me for now,

I have a couple of days on Chew

Valley coming up, I’m attending

a lure weekend in Devon and

stop press, I had a cracking river

twenty from the Dorset Stour

only yesterday on my banker

lure. Hopefully you will read

about this and my other

adventures in the next issue.

Tight Lines

t

w

f

r

‘The beauty of floating lures is that

you can cast them out into the flow

and let them float down river’

A Tubeology fly

on a lure rod

fools a good

river double

23lb 4oz of wild river

pike falls to a ‘Mark

Houghton Clownfish

A Fox Replicant

and a Fox

Replicant Twist