Martin Bowler’s Adventures The hunt begins for a specimen predator

Here are three top ways to fool a specimen Esox

WHERE’S the time gone? It seems like only weeks since I was looking forward to spring and summer!

Now autumn has arrived, and winter already seems to be snapping at its heels.

Living my life by the angling calendar means there is always something new to look forward to, although I do sometimes wish certain purple patches would last a bit longer than they do!

Unable to turn back time, I do the next-best thing and embrace each angling opportunity as it arises. Cue the pike fishing season.

Anything over 20lb is a magnificent fish. Any pike bigger than that, well, I dream of these with the arrival of the first frosts.

I used to believe a thirty was an almost unobtainable target, but nine under my belt show what even a part-time piker can achieve if – and it’s a big ‘if’ – you can find and fish waters holding such crocodiles.

When you do, waste no time. Unlike carp, and despite being at the top of the food chain, big pike are remarkably delicate fish that don’t take well to angling pressure.

I start my 2017/18 piking season hoping for my tenth 30-pounder while knowing full well I may never see one again.

All I can do is prepare as well as I can and fish efficiently across the three main disciplines, which I will now try to explain… Dawn and dusk are peak pike fishing times, otherwise aim for overcast days.