Thursday 6 February 2014

Adventures of two river fishermen

In early December before the rain really starting coming down i had the geat pleasure of spending the day with a Piker who is fast becoming a legend in this sport; Nathan Edgell.
Nathan was doing a whistle stop tour of PAC regions starting in Lincoln, stopping in lancashire(RA31) and finishing his talk/slideshow tour in Cambridgeshire. Clocking up one hell of a lot of miles to support the PAC and share his experiences of the last 9 years stalking Esox Lucius in the rivers of the Southwest of England.
It was my responsibility and pleasure to take Nathan out for the day and try and get him his first Northern Pike.. the day before he had blanked on the Trent sadly sothe pressure was on slightly to see him land one.
He arrived early at mine and i already had the boat hooked up and breakfast sandwiches made so off we went.
We lost an early fish but conditions looked good. We trolled livebaits and lures and cast a few lures during a fun day. We shared stories and made friends which is what this sport of ours and the PAC offers.
I thoroughly enjoyed his company. I've met a few well known anglerwho i haven't liked but this guy is a genuine fella. His approach to piking for those of you who have been to one of his talks is quite unique and it has paid off for him. The rewards have been well earned; he has put in the hours and walked many a mile for his pike. Some of his fish are breathtaking and inspirational. His sense of humour is widely known now from his infamous facebook postings but healso has gift for the written word which in the future will be there for everyone to appreciate.
Nathan's roadtrip might have contributed to his failing health this day. As the day progressed he got sick. Suffering from a sore throat and feeling pretty awful he wasn't at all sure he couold give his talk at Region31 in the evening and even worried about Cambridge thefollowing day.
On the way back to my house he loaded up with half the products in the Pharmacy in my village and proceeded to give a shortened version of his talk with the members of 31 huddled around so he didn't have to shout. He could barely speak but struggled through and delivered a fascinating talk and slideshow which was well received by the packed room. The photos of his captures truly amazed the pikers present including myself.
We did get that first Northern Pike and i made a new friend. Here are some of the photos from the day.
1st Northern Pike for Nathan

Happy face

Another Northern Esox

Sun going down on a fun day

Trolling through the city centre

You know you want to kiss her

Just had to snog a Northern Girl

Stunning sunset at the end of a great day

Photo editing 'Nathan Style'

Looks pleased

I entertained the public on the banks as santa all day

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