Cuan Muyllaert describes his fishing adventures and makes us envious of the action which ensued:
My friend Davie and I recently took a trip out in our float-tubes – my first outing in a float tube at all! Our venue of choice was a small midlands lake which is known for a decent quantity and quality of pike. Davie assured me he had had great success fishing pike on the fly the last session he was out in early December and though the fish weren’t that big, the sport was constant.
Dawn broke on the faithful morning as we geared up in our neoprines and got our tubes inflated. There was a strong wind blowing but the lie of the land gave us the impression that we would have some shelter in the water, this was confirmed when we reached the shore and we flippered our way out into the calm with some anticipation.
It took me some time to get the balance/flipper action/fly-casting all in check but after making our way slowly around the shore, and with some good practical advice from Davie I finally felt like I was fishing with some accuracy and my retrieve was under control. By now the wind was blowing force six to seven and just holding position to get a cast out was work in itself – indeed the hands were beginning to seize up. Still though, it was good to be out.
As we rounded the corner of a small bay I launched several casts in towards the dead looking reeds, searching for a take. Davie had already lost one fish and things were looking promising. as I came into the bay proper I felt the line tighten and hardly daring to hope, I lifted the rod: Solid. Then she began to move, breaking the surface, a mesh of big open jaws, white water and spotted green… Pike!
The next ten/fifteen minutes were a mixture of strong dives and runs and the constant fear that this fish’s teeth were going to end up in my nether regions, as she kept mistaking me for cover when I stopped moving.
A shout from the bank let me know that one of my other friends had arrived for a bank session with dead-baits and had spotted the commotion. I decided that I didn’t feel confident enough to land the fish by hand without hurting me or the fish, so I began back peddling towards Chris, who had the net and all needed for safe return to hand.
A short time later we netted the fish and the result is evident in the photograph; a fine, healthy female of between 15 and 20lb. I like to lean towards 20… There was a little superficial wound from the hook but the fish swam off fine and was handled with utmost care.
The rest of the day panned out windy, but about five or six more fish were landed, though none as big as my first. All in all a great first day out in a float-tube and to get pike on the fly of that size in December? Well, my new year is made!
