Three Hits and a Jack (Are they 21!?)

3rd August, River Leam at Willes Road Bridge, 18:00 - 19:20. Overcast but mild and dry.

I fished an hour or so before a fishing meeting (....if Carlsberg made meetings....) on the Leam in Leamington Spa.

I was spinning for Pike. I covered the short stretch from the bridge downstream with my favourite blair spoon without incident. Upon reaching the canoe club at the end of the stretch four very athletic young things started exercising on the grass and doing laps on the path. I freely admit this knocked my concentration a bit. It was like oversized weebles invading a bouncy castle. I walked back upstream to start again at the road bridge.

Still not fully focused I bounced a few lures off the bridge struts and then branches of various trees, luckily escaping each time with my lure - now a 'Triple Charlie' segmented plug in tact.

Thankfully I then had a hit from a Pike near the edge which pulled me back out of the real world and into an angling one. Focus regained I redid the whole swim (properly this time) and had another hit close in.

Not being able to tempt this fish again I moved down and quickly caught a Jack Pike of 2lbs 40z, very slim but long. I didn't bother taking a photo.

I worked my way down to the canoe club again but no further interest. Thankfully the side show had also departed. As I made my way back to the road bridge and parked car for the final time I made short stops in the most likely looking spots and had one more hit from a Pike which didn't hook up.

This second lure I was using flew true and so by the time I was finishing up I had it's measure. I was taking real joy from casting it across the river and landing it in the bay of some lily pads or scudding a low one under the branches of far side trees. I even deliberately bounced it off the underside of a bridge arch at one point so it hit the water in the middle of the stream. The action of the cast, left shoulder, right shoulder, low and up, then feathering the braided line off the reel was the backbone of the art. I'm no prof. but I came away without tackle loss which is good for me!

I'm off on my holidays now so will not post again until late August.

Cheers.

Tonight do you think I will go to bed thinking of Pike?


Nah. Weebles.