Second time piking

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

We tried Loch Foot today ,what a boggy trek to the mark ,my mate Steve fell on his back in the mud and was lying there like a turtle .

Anyway ,we tried two swims using four rods with various dead baits with only one run resulting in another Jack about tow pound .

Still a great day with more things learned for me .

[PaulGH]

loch foot is the name of the village
The loch you fished is called Loch Rutton common misconception

Aye I've fished it myself, canny treck to the water tower peninsular, when I was there we didn't get any run only plagued by crayfish I've spoken to a few lads who recommend fishing behind the village somewhere, but I've never been back since being recommended this.

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

I know about the name of the village mate but for the life of me I couldn't remember the name of the Loch so I just posted it as Loch foot .
Anyway ,on the way back we passed another loch which again the name escapes me ....begins with an A I think ... sorry for being useless with the info , anyway we stopped to speak to a lad just coming off it ,he'd had ten runs and landed seven ,the biggest being 7lb . So it looks like my third Pikey trip is going to be there ,my mates been fishing for pike for years so he's showing me the ropes at the minute ,mind you I'm loving it so far.

[The Great Wallsendo]

I know about the name of the village mate but for the life of me I couldn't remember the name of the Loch so I just posted it as Loch foot .
Anyway ,on the way back we passed another loch which again the name escapes me ....begins with an A I think ... sorry for being useless with the info , anyway we stopped to speak to a lad just coming off it ,he'd had ten runs and landed seven ,the biggest being 7lb . So it looks like my third Pikey trip is going to be there ,my mates been fishing for pike for years so he's showing me the ropes at the minute ,mind you I'm loving it so far.

what's the gear you use? is it "proper" or do you use Carp type rods?

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

Aye mate ,3lb test curve carp rods , I've only dead baited so far but there seems to be a few more methods to try yet

[basscatcherbob]

second time piking

hi m8, just been reading your report, have you tried qe11 lake in ashington? its closer to home and has a good head of pike, its a day ticket water run by wansbeck & cramlington a.c. take a look at their website for info & photos

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

Cheers Bob ,my mate's from Cramlington and I'm sure he fished there a few weeks back so I may well have a bach there in a week or so.

[bigpaul]

Steve there is also bolam lake aswell just up past belsay £6 a day or £24 a year tickets avaible from the postoffice on the main road at belsay.

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

Cheers Paul ,that sounds like it's worth a shot mate.

[CPK1979]

Hi I'm new to this forum but not new to piking.

We have loads of places in and around the north east, North Yorkshire has even more.

Do a google for semmer water The lochs are fantastic but we have as good and IMO easier lakes such as semmer that have produced monster pike upto and over the 30lb mark

Pm me for more info

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

Welcome to NESA mate , at present I'm following my mate around who has loads of piking experience under his belt ,fish to 27lb as far as I know ,so most of the waters locally will already be on our hitlist ( I hope ) .

Post your catches on here mate everyone loves to see pics as well .

Thanks for the offer of advice and I may well take you up on it .

Cheers Steve.

[PaulGH]

..
Anyway ,on the way back we passed another loch which again the name escapes me ....begins with an A I think ... sorry for being useless with the info..r.

Auchenreoch? next to loch view hotel on the A75? never fished there myself.

I've always headed straight over to loch ken when going over that part of the world pike fishing but this year we were plagued by crayfish I doubt we'll be going back, baits were lasting 10 minutes tops before being stripped to bare bones every single cast!

There are a few good lochs about over south west Scotland, though the midge in the summer are the stuff of nightmares and the single biggest reason I won't ever be pike fishing Scotland again in the warmer months.

[oldessox]

If the crayfish are stripping your baits (as they will in short order at the north end of loch ken ) either float fish your baits just off the bottom or pop them up with a polystyrene ball , keeps the crays off them and makes them much more visible to the pike , you can twitch them when they are fished like this too , sometimes that little bit of movement is all it takes to attract a pike.
I prefer float fishing , find a spot where it's about ten feet deep in casting range , set your float at 9ft and put a ball lead just above the trace to sink the bait and cock the float , then sit back and watch till it starts to slide about on the surface before bobbing a couple of times then sliipping under and away , magic!
I always fish for roach when I'm there as well as the pike , groundbaiting and attracting silver fish also attracts the pike to your swim . Fresh roach or perch is a much better bait than dead sea baits (usually) too , though you are not allowed to use them live any more. I remember one day years ago I went to the trout farm and asked if i could buy a few little ones for bait , the lad working there asked what size , "about 5"-6" "I said , so he dipped this huge net in pond number three and lifted out about 20 6" rainbow trout , my eyes nearly popped out of my head . He didn't want any money for them and I had one of the best days piking in my life , got so many runs I had to fish with just one rod ...... it was great.
I have taken the boat up to loch ken for the last 3 winters , it's an amazing loch , the fishfinder on the boat really opened my eyes to what it's like where I've fished from the banks for 30 years , though I leave those pegs to the bank anglers when I've got the boat up there and fish anywhere that is inaccessable from the bank , there are some lovely swims where I can anchor up beneath some trees and fish out of sight of roads ,houses , people and any other kind of distraction , I love it!


Ray.

[lambtonworm]

have you tried auchenreoch its the long thin loch on the right hand side of the road when your heading toward stranraer from dumfries, fish either end for some real good pike,if you fish the middle you will probably get charged by the owner as well as pestered by jetskis,great this time of year but weeded badly over the summer month,a lot of the scots keep it too themselves,but not anymore......

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

It was frozen over the last time we passed it mate ,and as for Loch Ken yeah we did pop the baits up but with little success , anway it's Tuesday for the next session ,so fingers crossed.