We laugh in the face of Hurricanes!

Tornado Twins; When the going get's tough..........The tough get their rods out! lol

Festive cheer for the Tornado Twins

Mally has knicknamed me and Paul 'The Gwyniad' Gratton as the 'Tornado Twins' after a blustery days fishing with 'Womble' the other week. But after my intentions to return to that exposed location yesterday and claiming to 'Laugh in the face of Hurricanes' and then ended up on the Dee; Mally duly took the piss!
The decision to switch to the Dee was not just a case of bottling the wind at the other venue, Paul had been on a reconnaissence mission and judged that although the Dee level was high the clarity was good. So it was an early start to beat others to the desired pegs. Followed by a good old natter in the dark and a fry up and a super sausage sandwich. My compliments to the chef!

Paul's research and shout to switch plans paid off. Early on we both banked doubles; Paul had a superb looking 15lb 2oz fish that was as fat as a pig(Photo to follow when i get the picture via e-mail). As soon as that fish was weighed and photographed and tenderly returned my right hand bung obliged and shot off into the middle of the river. A hard fighting typical Dee double of exactly 12lb came to the net. I managed a Jack shortly after of around 5lb and later on added another fish of 12lb 4oz to round off a super bit of festive fishing fun.

Xmas Pike for Mally

A couple of xmas presents pictured above that didn't need wrapping.

www.baitsdirect.com

Just got to give a plug for baitsdirect.com in Brentwood, Essex. I have just received an order for Lamprey, Pollen and a few Blueys. The bait arrived in super condition and are great quality. I also ordered some of their winterised fish oils which are superb quality and very reasonably priced; starting at £2.28 for 250mls. The chap in charge Graham Gurton is very helpful too.

http://www.baitsdirect.com/ Tel 01277 811903

Are pikers crazy?

Some days we consider staying at home when the weather forecast suggests we should. But Pikers are crazy; Well Womble, myself and Paul 'The Gwyniad' Gratton certainly are. The video clip above shows the conditions last Tuesday we endured on a lake that at times resembled the North Sea.

Mally and Two-Tone

Mally had a few bends in his rod again Sunday and this two-toned fish being the best at over 17lb. Well done that man!

Pike virgins catch first time out!

Bit of guiding on the Dee last week saw my taxi driving buddies Wes and Wayne catch their first Esox.......Happy Boys!

Wet and wild

I have just returned from my favourite perch lake in Scotland.Despite having to battle rain, hail ,sleet, snow and falling water temp. In true tradition my brother pull on a daft hat climbed on board the Fury and within an hour was holding a new pb perch of 3lb 2oz. Top stripy bro.

Great start to the season!

Mally and his fishing partner made a superb start to the season with 2 20lb+ fish

Pike Season around the corner!

The excitement is growing for the new Esox season. I am a traditionalist and my season starts on October the 1st. A trip to Cheshire fishing and Tattenhall yesterday with Buzzz got the juices flowing so to speak. I must stop buying lures; I keep saying this but am hypnotised at shiny things especially when they are on sale. Buzz was buying 2 new boat rods but came out of that shop with a whole lots more including a couple of free gifts.
Anyway tight lines to all you pikers out there! Bring it on!..................

Summer buzzing!

The pike rods have been put away temporarily and the disappointment of Ireland is fading in the memory and Darren is back amongst the fish. What a superb treble as well; 2 barbel of 8lb+ and a new PB river carp of 19lb! caught from a secret river location. Fantastic daz. Well done mate!

For Sale

Items for sale: Long shaft 25hp two strike Evinrude Offers but will swap for short shaft 15 or 20hp engine. Phone Dave Clarke on 01244 377442 Contact tackle shop. Three 4050 Daiwa Baitrunners in excellent condition loaded with line Contact Paul Gratton on 07855 497748

Franglais Fishing

Checkout my link to FranglaisFishing.com ; they stock a superb range of jerkbait rods including St Croix rods. A great range of lures and accessories for us Pike fanantics.........The service is prompt and reliable.

Paul 'The Gwyniad' Gratton

Legendary Esox hunter Paul Gratton adds another lump to his tally. Formerly known as the 'pike slayer' and now referred to as 'The Gwyniad' due to his un-natural and mystical talent of catching this little known and understood fish that resides in Bala. Paul has not caught these little very rare fellas in Bala though. He has managed a number of them many miles downstream on our beloved river Dee. What the hell they are doing this far from home i fail to fathom??? Maybe they just wanted a day out in Chester and are now safely back home in Bala. Who knows???

On the river at the 11th hour

Eventually Darren and i got out on the river after many unsuccesful recent attempts. Darren skippered his landing craft on a beautiful almost summers day in March. the big girls eluded us but a number of feisty jacks entertained us on a day filled with story telling and laughter.

Mally gets his first Zed

Connahs Quay Piker extrordinaire Malcolm Hough took time out from sending me his usual selection of dubious jokes to send me these pics of his trip last weekend to the drains for the pike doubles match. Sadly in the match the Zed didn't count but he managed a pike on the saturday of over 14lb's pictured above.

local lump

Last week end after having travelled the length and breath of the country in the past few months my good buddies from Coventry had a session on a local venue that they had not fished for a few years. Neil started the day with a fish of about 7lb, and Baz soon after took a 17 pounder. Then the best fish of the day came to Neil a magnificent specimen just over the 20lb mark. Well done boys.

What a croc!

Great fish Terry! The head on it is huge. Awesome fat pike...........

Womble shows me how it's done........

Womble is getting quite good at this pike game. This week landing two super doubles of 14.4 and 17.4 whilst all i had was a dace bitten in half from a peg that 2 days later produced a 21lb'er.....Ouch that hurt!

Photographs don't do these fish justice; they were stunning lumps wiv bellys as fat as santa's.