THE LAKE OF DREAMS
Back to the magical water where Bernard Cribbins and I made history for the cameras
HOW DO you catch a big pike? Well, it’s simple really – find a venue that contains one, and 95 per cent of the puzzle is solved.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? The problem is that a 20lb-plus pike is extremely rare.
Even with all my contacts in the sport they’re not easy to track down, but thankfully I have an ace up my sleeve in the form of the beautiful Milton Abbas Lake, which I’m privileged to be able to fish.
This eight-acre Capability Brown-inspired estate lake is set in a Dorset valley at the foot of a quintessentially English village, complete with picket fences and thatched cottages. Its spring-fed water is both clear and rich and is famed for its large population of beautiful big carp.
However, this isn’t the only species to thrive here and it could be argued that pike find the estate even more attractive.
Why this is defies logic. Strictly according to the rule book the venue’s big pike population just shouldn’t be possible. If you’ve ever watched the Catching The Impossible episode where the legendary Bernard Cribbins and I go out in a boat to catch his new personal best, well, that was at Milton Abbas. That particular pike, a low 20-pounder back then, is now over 35lb, which illustrates the lake’s potential and shows you why I was keen to return – which I did recently.
This winter the weather has offered no mercy to anglers and today was no different, with gales and torrential downpours forecast. Walking into the valley I could see that the normally pristine banks were awash with mud but at least the owner, Wayne Little, was waiting for me in the boathouse with a warm cup of strong coffee.
With a busy day ahead we needed the early caffeine hit and after only a quick chat did we head to a dense weedbed to complete the first task of the day – scooping up some livebaits. With both of us planning on fishing for the pike, it took a couple of attempts, but soon a good few of the lake’s copious number of roach were swimming about in our buckets.
Historically, the majority of big pike caught from the lake have been on deadbaits, but this year saw a change in feeding habits and a static bait was proving unproductive. This in itself is a valuable lesson that highlights the need to always have a range of tactics at your disposal.
Today I had chosen to fish a free-roving livebait and that would mean using only one rod. A piker traditionally uses as many as possible, but I felt
“On a normal day one pike would have been more than enough”
matching my mobility to that of the tactic would be the most effective approach. A Drennan Esox Piker rod was twinned with a reel loaded with 60lb braid – this was required to comply with the rules, and a floating line was vital to fish and control a Zeppler float.
The one I was using was far smaller than most other pikers would opt for, but I find its minimal buoyancy makes the bait work harder and the pike less suspicious when it takes the bait. Due to a combination of weed and shallow water, I would only be fishing the depth of the trace, which did away with the need for an uptrace.
Preparations complete, all I had to do was attach the size 8 trebles to the roach livebait.
Only a gentle lob would ensure that the bait stayed in place, but my 20-yard cast was more than enough. As luck would have it, I had landed the bait directly above a big freshwater crocodile’s head, and its black soulless eyes were immediately transfixed. With every fin trembling, its excitement grew and festered and the gills flared as the pike headed towards the surface, leaving a scattering of silver scales as it hit the bait.
My float disappeared into the vortex and I prepared to strike. A few seconds of delay allowed me to consider just how big the fish might be, which is one of the intoxicating things about pike fishing! Returning to reality, I wound down and set the hooks, hoping the reality would match up to my expectations.
An angry esox of 25lb thrashed its head violently and made a series of frenetic charges at nearby weedbeds, but I knew its fury wouldn’t last. Sure enough, the landing net was soon scooping up my prize. It was a perfect start, and on a normal day would one pike would have been more than enough, but today wasn’t a normal day…
As the wind and rain intensified, so did the bites, and I was switching traces at a remarkable rate. I always come prepared, but I was struggling to
“This pike was the biggest of the day, and every headshake was a frantic attempt to throw the hooks”
cope with the tidal wave of jacks and doubles as Milton worked its magic.
I was soaked and wading around in mud, but being attached to another 20-pounder soon had my heart pounding and the challenging weather was soon forgotten. In what was a magical five-minute period I then landed another over the 20lb mark. Mother Nature could have thrown a monsoon at me for all that I cared!
The action showed no sign of stopping. No sooner had I landed a fish, unhooked it and recast my rig when I would have another bite. Wayne was kept busy too, although the average size of the fish he was landing was smaller… but all that changed with another bob of his float! While I played a 23lb pike I watched him wind down and strike into something far bigger.
I was soon by his side and was treated to his fish doing an impressive tail-walk that left waves surging towards the bank. We were now in little doubt that this pike was the biggest of the day, and with each headshake it made a frantic attempt to throw the hooks. This was greeted by groans from the two desperate anglers on the bank, both keen to admire the beast in the folds of the net. The stakes were high and a loss would have been a true spoiler at the end of a day that had been full of fun.
Eventually, a head as big as an Alsatian’s sat beaten on top of the waves, and drawing it towards the net seemed to be completed in slow motion.
A congratulatory slap on Wayne’s back confirmed that we could breathe again, and he would soon be proudly displaying a 28lb 10oz pike for the camera. It was a brute of a fish, with a belly that bulged and distorted each polka-dot marking on its flank. What a morning it had been!
There’s still time left for you to have one last go for a big stillwater pike before they spawn. All you have to do is find where one lives, and you’ll have a great chance of catching it.