| Back in the Sixteenth Century famous angling | | | | I wandered along the bank peering through the |
| author Izaak Walton was describing the pike as a | | | | gloom hoping to see signs of active pike. The |
| fresh-water wolf! The predator has been blamed | | | | surface of the canal was like a glassy mirror, |
| for many stories of lost dogs, lost livestock and | | | | broken only by the sporadic splash or ripple as a |
| even lost people! It adds to the mystery of this | | | | bait fish darted here and there. Something was |
| fearsome predator and provides the attraction to | | | | feeding! Seeing the water like this urges you on, |
| the hunter. | | | | you want to make haste and present your baits |
| It is Britain's biggest native freshwater fish and | | | | to the unseen foe. This desire to challenge and |
| ranks also as one of North America's leading | | | | best the majestic fish is what makes us want to |
| quarry. Catching the big one needs stronger rods, | | | | seek out bigger and stronger pike. |
| larger nets and clever tactics. Holding up this | | | | I quickly tackled up, attaching a still frozen half |
| heavy beast for the camera makes the hunt | | | | herring dead-bait to my treble hooked trace. |
| worthwhile. Taking the hooks from the pike's | | | | Casting upstream about twenty five yards to the |
| mouth require strong equipment and a stronger | | | | spot where I was walking just minutes earlier, I |
| nerve. A slip of the hand can result in deep and | | | | could just see the splash as the bait hit the water. |
| painful wounds that are easily infected. Many pike | | | | I thought the line would follow the bait as it sank |
| fisherman use a steel gauntlet of the type worn | | | | but something seemed odd. Puzzled, I lifted the |
| by knights of old, such is the danger when | | | | rod to take in the slack, only the feel the line go |
| unhooking this fearsome beast. | | | | taught. I struck quickly and sure enough, a fish |
| But it is this fear and respect that attracts us to | | | | was on and I realized that it did not want to be |
| angling for pike. I think back to my last visit to | | | | simply drawn towards the net. After three strong |
| the canal, where it joins the river not far from | | | | runs including a worrying spell downstream I drew |
| where I live. It was close to dawn when I left my | | | | the monster pike over the lip of my oversized |
| house, cold and very still. There was no frost but | | | | landing net. This was my best pike, at just over |
| the mist was thick. When I got to the water I | | | | twenty pounds. Not really a monster maybe, but |
| found a good spot that would allow me to cast | | | | a success for me. There are reports of thirty |
| upstream almost to the canal lock where there | | | | pound plus fish at the same venue, and it is this |
| was a deep pool and also downstream to the far | | | | that will lure me back for more! |
| bank around thirty yards away. | | | | |