April 2015.........Love It.........Hate It

The title of this month's Blog is taken directly from the cover of this month's Newsletter, our editor bemoaning the fact that he considers April to be a distinctly poor fishing month up here in the north, going as far as to describe it as a "fishing no-mans-land". Not everybody will agree with this view I'm sure and he makes the point himself that being out on the bankside somewhere in April, is in itself an enjoyable experience as the natural world re-awakens after the Winter.

Mind you, judging by the level of fishing activity amongst the regions members our Newsletter editor may have a point. Of those that have reported their results it was clear that there was a mix of decisions as to what the chosen quarry was to be. Some elected to continue their pike fishing others made an early switch to the carp and/or the commercials. Many others decided not to bother with either or thought their efforts were better spent sorting out the garden as the weather became more conducive.

We'll ignore the gardeners amongst our number and as far as I can tell from the reports received those that elected to continue their pike fishing did significantly better than those who made the switch to the carp or commercials. In these northerly climes it obviously takes that little bit longer for the water temperatures to notch upwards before worthwhile results can be expected by the boilie and maggot brigade I guess.

Highlights of the piking month were two post-spawning fish, a 15lb'er from a Scottish Loch for Dave Greally and a 14lb fish from what is a tough local water for our long-standing RO, Mike Bell. The slight downer on this capture being that the fish had a very un-sightly and in my experience very unusual growth on its upper jaw, promptly earning itself the nickname of "lumpy" from those present.

Mike Bell and "Lumpy"

As for the coming month, well we have a "fish for what you want" day out on a local water on the 17th May and our next region meeting on Tuesday 26th May 2015 at the usual venue, when we will be starting to pull together arrangements for both next seasons monthly piking trips as well as our annual four day jaunt to the Lake District. If you're interested why not call in for a chat, it would be good to see you.