Steven Neely goes among the rushes in search of pike and reports:
Usually by this part of the season I would be out chasing bass, wrasse, pollack and sea trout but things have been a tad slow to start so we packed the gear and headed for a spot of piking in Co. Monaghan.
It was lovely and warm, slightly overcast and the water was crystal clear – we couldn’t have asked for better conditions. The lake we fished was shrouded with over hanging trees, thick rushes around the margins and lilly pads covering a vast majority if the lakes surface.
Paradise for a predator but a little tricky to fish with conventional plugs. We got our tactics sorted and rigged up with weed less soft plastics – this was the only way we were going to be able to present a lure to the fish lying in ambush below.
Over the shallower areas we used Fish Arrow Flash J soft plastics fished weed less weightless. These worked well on a slow retrieve worked over and around the lilly pads.
Fiiish Black Minnows worked a treat in the deeper areas of the lake. Fished sink and draw or a steady slow retrieve.
We open the account with a nice pike in the first 20 minutes of arriving – there was a lot of activity from small bait fish along the edges with pike chasing them up and slashing them on the surface.
It wasn’t long before another very nice pike was landed this time on a Fiiish Black Minnow. I could hear the screaming runs as I made my way through the trees to help land it. It was a lovely, solid pike and a great fish for such a small piece of water .
It was fantastic to see that all the pike were in great condition and the sport was top class on the lure rods. We were fishing 7 foot rods rated to 28g so it wasn’t heavy pike tackle by any stretch of the imagination.
Next trip will be back out to saltwater and see if things are starting to heat up and switch on.
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Steven Neely
Rookie Bass Angler
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