L_A_2015_S_

£

Once bitten,

twice shy...

So what have I been up to?
Well, through the colder months
I still do lots of lure fishing and
I’ve been managing to get a few
on the bank with a variety of
different lures, but I’m sorry to
say I’ve had a few get away too.
The most memorable of these
was a big river pike of all of
25lb + that completely engulfed
a “Fox Replicant Twist” right
under the rod tip and only
inches from the bank.

AAARRRGGGHHH!!! I’m sorry

to report that before I could

react she spat out the lure and

disappeared from whence she

came, but only after showing me

her huge long flank as she

departed. Such a tease.

They say the worst thing

about losing fish is how they tail

walk through your mind for

days afterwards and recalling

this now it still hurts and I curse

myself for the lapse in

concentration which cost me

this fish. Those who know, know

and I’m sure you all know what

I’m talking about too unless

you’re a perfect lure angler who

never makes a mistake or suffer

from a lapse of concentration,

but I’ve yet to meet one and this

includes myself. Perhaps you

identify with some of those

questions that we berate our

minds with, why didn’t I strike?

How could I be so stupid?

Of course then come the

excuses, so I would hasten to

add that in my defence I was

using a “Fox Replicant Twist”.

Now I’m a big fan of Replicants

for their ease of use, their

results and their availability and

I was given this particular new

style of Replicant by a friend

(yes I blame you Ben Humber)

on a recent fishing trip together.

If you don’t know, the Twist

has a small spinning blade

underneath in place of the large

treble which is normally

situated there on normal

Replicants and therefore you are

solely reliant on only the top

single hook. This of course

requires you to set it, which in

this case I didn’t do, so I suppose

I’ll have to let Ben off. These are

good lures and of course a bad

workman blames his tools as the

proverb goes, so let me repeat, I

lost this fish through poor

concentration and not striking,

although I hope readers can

forgive and appreciate that I was

in shock when this big river pike

just engulfed the lure, catching

me by complete surprise.

So I do like these Twists and

they obviously work, hence the

take. The spinning blade is

fantastic, however that said I’m

not sure if the sacrifice of losing

the treble is worth it, especially

when targeting big specimen

pike as more often than not it’s

a case of once bitten twice shy

and if you don’t “take” the

opportunity you’ll rarely get a

second chance. It never fails to

amaze me just how quick a pike

can eject a lure, so the use of

only a large single on any lure

is always, in my opinion, a risk

and a personal choice. Speaking

for myself I never feel as

confident when using lures

like this. Perhaps your

results and their availability and

Spring is

in the air

An example of a

recent catch

recorded in my

log book