“Fish under no angling pressure can be fabulously obliging”
“From every shady corner there seemed to come a ravenous fish”
EVER wondered if today’s angler might actually know too much about their fishing?
Digital resources are a huge help in sussing out new methods and venues, but the flipside is that less and less of our world is magical and uncharted. Wherever you look and whatever you do, the chances are that someone else has already thought of it, tried it or already caught it.
Which is precisely why a reader’s recent email made my ears prick up. Talk of an old, flooded quarry, well away from the usual Where to Fish guide, sounded truly spellbinding. Would I like to visit? You bet!
It’s maintained and fished by mad keen angler Grant Sturkey and a small handful of friends, I couldn’t have expected a more random journey or felt such a prickle of anticipation. Sure, the main species in this secretive, deep water were known about. But in almost every case, questions such as “How big do they get?” or “How many are in here?” were met with that golden answer: “We don’t really know”. Music to my ears, because I’m sick and tired of knowing what’s there before I’ve even arrived. I don’t always want to see the going tactics and ceiling weights before I’ve even cast out. It can be akin to watching Match of the Day when you know the results!
What a treat I was in for as Grant took me on the day’s mystery tour. Curiously sunken into the landscape, getting to the water was like descending into another little world. Amid reports of classic, dark olive tench and leathery-gold carp, there were also reputed to be plenty of pike. With virtually nobody fishing for them, it didn’t take much persuasion for me to get cracking.
In no time at all I was asking questions with a lure rod that received savagely decisive answers. From every shady corner there seemed to come a ravenous fish. Not that they needed a lot of guile, it must be said. Unlike the cagey ‘one hit wonders’ of my local waters, there was no such thing as a follow or a ‘no thanks’. Without fail, the next take would be as subtle as an uppercut, with another fierce fish on the line.
On one occasion, I watched a jack follow and bite the lure not once, but three times before being hooked. Indeed, fish under no angling pressure can be fabulously obliging, but the last time I experienced such redblooded, hit after hit enjoyment was a thousand miles away over in Finland.
The biggest of the pike couldn’t have been more than five or six pounds, but it was an absolute blast. Sure, I’d have loved to catch their grandmother. She might even be there in the depths somewhere.
However, as hungry as we are for every answer, it’s also important to dream and to leave one or two mysteries unsolved.