Occasionally you hear of a catch that inspires you to the extent that you simply have to target a particular water or fish, at the end of last winter I got a phone call that had this effect on me. One of my friends had just landed a very big pike, not only was the fish caught on a lure, but was also from a canal! Having begun my fishing as a child on canals and drains, this was just too good an opportunity to miss, and a few minutes later, when I received a photo by phone of the fish, it proved to be everything I hoped, beautifully marked, full finned, and in great condition.
There were however a couple of problems, the fish on this water had a large area of water to roam around, and it would be very easy to spend the whole winter on the venue without being anywhere near a big fish. Secondly, like most people I have limited fishing time, and with several other winter campaigns planned and permits bought, I knew time on the new venue would be limited. I soon formulated a plan based around a method that had proved its worth several times to me in the past. Pre-baiting is normally more associated with species such as carp, tench and bream, but the introduction of quantities of chopped fish into the swim will hold the pike in the area, and suited my short session approach.
To ensure I had adequate supplies of bait, I stocked up heavily with left over baits from a campaign on a local reservoir, as well as buying all the reduced fish from the local fishmongers, salmon heads, haddock fillets, kippers it really doesn’t matter! I choose to bait two areas around a mile apart to maximise my chances, and so began the regular after work trips, adding around 4kg to each spot per week, after a few weeks I was itching to try the swims, but have found from previous experience that the longer you bait the spot the more chance of a large pike having found the bait and taken up residence in the area.
Eventually I simply had to try one of the swims, within an hour the float on the rod fished over the pre-bait bobbed gently before sliding away, the strike resulted in a powerful run straight into a marginal snag! A couple minutes later and a huge weed bed and branch came over the net, somewhere under there was hopefully a pike, as I pulled the weed apart, a huge pike came into view, as I tried to lift the net, the pike back flipped over the front of the net, neatly transferring the trebles into the net, and ambling away out of view, not the best of starts to the campaign! A few days later, I found myself sat in the same spot, another quick take followed, and this time I made no mistake and quickly netted a long, lean 25lb 2oz specimen, an absolutely huge canal specimen, I was over the moon!
Subsequent visits proved that the lost fish had obviously moved on after its close brush with my landing net, so it seemed a good time to move on to the other spot. This area had now been baited regularly for ten weeks, so was definitely primed for a visit. Within twenty minutes my ledgered smelt was away and as I wound down my Precision specimen 2.75lb took on an impressive bend. As the fish came to the bank, she shook her huge head angrily, despite the low light of early morning I could see that she was only lightly hooked, and was relieved to see the fish of my dreams safely in the net a few seconds later. On lifting the net, it was clear that I had a fish in excess of 30lb; I was soon proved correct as the needle swung round to 31lb 2oz! Two friends quickly arrived to photograph and witness the catch, such was my level of excitement that as I lowered my self into the margin to return her, I didn’t notice that I wasn’t wearing my chest waders until it was too late! I then watched in awe as she swam away from view, hopefully to make someone else’s dream come true.
Would I have caught the fish without the additional effort that went with my baiting campaign? I will never know, but truly believe that it would have taken a lot of additional fishing time to track her down without it. So if you are struggling this winter in your predator campaign then maybe this method can work for you?
