December 2014 - It Can Only Get Better

With the Christmas/New Year celebrations safely out of the way as I sit down to catch-up with the SENPAC Blog, the unavoidable retrospective on 2014 immediately came to mind and I am pleased to say just as immediately left again when it occurred to me that if any of our readers wanted to know how SENPAC and its members faired during 2014 they only had to scroll down! See below as they say.

Happy New Year to one and all.

Looking rearwards just as far as December and I would have to say that it was a very quiet month for RA 24 as far as the fishing was concerned, despite some completely suitable weather conditions and despite the fact that many of our number made full use of the increased opportunities offered by the seasonal holiday to get out on the water, very few fish were reported.

Peter's Reward For Sitting Still

Our much anticipated club trip to the Lincolnshire drains proved to be very disappointing with only one of the seven hopefuls that made the journey able to celebrate with a fish. Peter Armstrong was the lucky (skillfull?) angler who had adopted the tactic of "pick a swim and wait for the fish to arrive" whilst many of the rest of us walked miles (exaggeration) in every direction in search of a fish, which I suspect, made his success even more satisfying and the drive home even longer for the rest of us.

A Christmas Present For Bruce

Best pike reported during December in what was otherwise a very low key affair was a nice fish of 15lb.-8oz. taken by Bruce Turnbull on a trip to South-West Scotland on what was an absolute classic of a day, deep frost, high pressure, not a cloud in the sky from sunrise to sunset, the sort of day when being there is all that really matters. Perfect.

A Perfect Day

And what of January, well this is a busy month for SENPAC. Our club trip comes up first and we are heading to South West Scotland again, this time to one of the waters that is nearer to Newcastle than most and which produced a very nice fish for one of our number on our visit last year. We live in hope!

Next there is our Annual General Meeting which will take place on Tuesday 27th January 2015 at the Northumbrian Piper. Then, at the same venue, our annual presentation of awards night on Saturday 31st January 2015 which is the social highlight of our calendar when friends and families join in the fun, with slideshow review of the year past, buffet, raffle and of course the presentation of awards culminating in the naming of our Pike Angler of the Year. So a bit to look forward to and hopefully a more productive month on the fishing front.

As I said at the start, "it can only get better."

S.E.N.P.A.C. - Seasonal Greetings To All

With thanks to Fred Buller OBE
and his definitive work "The Domesday Book of Mammoth Pike

November 2014 - Not quite happening..............

I think the title of this blog sums up SENPAC's November pretty well. November is usually the month when our members sort of get serious about their piking, and just as in previous years this November saw some serious effort being put in on various waters by a significant proportion of our number, but with nothing outstanding by way of results so far. A case in point would be our annual tour of the Lake District, five days of  fishing hard for the six tour regulars with only five low doubles to celebrate along with a few smaller fish which ultimately felt disappointing. We've had 20's on each of the previous two years jaunts. Still the evening socials go a long way towards making-up for the lack of notable fish, thankfully. Stuart Fairclough managed two fish over the 10lb mark whilst Steve Sandiford, Dave Gardner and Bruce Turnbull each found one, although Bruce left it until the final hour of the trip for his fish which no doubt made the drive home a little easier.

and for Dave

A Lakeland double for Stuart

Of the other November fishing, well, our club trip was fished in what should have been ideal conditions weather-wise, light breeze, overcast, possibly slightly too mild, but as predicted in last month's blog the water level in the loch was up over a metre which made for difficult access and snaggy fishing. We were welcomed with a stunning sunrise which our editor felt worthy of the Newsletter's front cover and alarms which sounded from the word go although not all of the offers translated into fish on the bank sadly.

The action, though, didn't last long unfortunately and by lunchtime it had gone very quiet and stayed that way for the rest of the day. After two of our six trips we have a four-way tie at the head of the championship table, Pat Hamilton, Paul Proctor, Dave Gardner and Bruce Turnbull all hoping for better things on the next trip.

Paul Proctor' club trip fish

A few of our members have been fishing some of our more local waters and all have remarked on how weedy they all are. The die-back this year has been particularly slow as water temperatures seem to remain relatively high due to the lack of any frosts to speak of and the popular belief seems to be that it is this lack of winter temperatures which is responsible for the somewhat poor fishing results.........we always have an excuse for not catching I know but when you see reports of frog-spawn in the ponds and snowdrops starting to appear you could perhaps understand why the pike would be confused as to the calendar and delayed their winter feed-up. It can only get better one would hope and speaking of looking forward..............
December and we are heading south for a change for our club trip, to fish the Lincolnshire Drains. This is another of our regular venues which provides a complete contrast to the large lochs that we have so far fished this year and brings a whole new set of challenges for our members to overcome. Like mastering the art of short-distance casting and avoiding chucking your bait on to the opposite bank!! We've all done it. Over the years we have enjoyed catching some nice fish from the drains and this close-quarters fishing brings a new level of excitement to our fishing, that electric first bob of the float under the rod tip is a whole new dimension to what we are more used to.

We don't have a club meeting as such in December as Christmas/New Year usually gets in the way however this year we are have a fishing social on a local water on Tuesday 30th December 2014, the venue having been carefully chosen for its very convenient pub rather than the quality of the fishing I have to say!

From all at SENPAC can we wish you a very happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year and of course tight-lines for 2015.

October 2014............Off and Running...........Sort-Of !

Well that is the first month of the new Piking season already behind us, where did that go? It was all a bit of a blur for most at SENPAC as far as I can tell and to be honest it didn't really feel like the season had really started. The Regions first club outing was a surreal experience in many ways, particularly the weather. In last month's blog we were expressing the hope for some decent weather for what is a fairly exposed water. What we got was almost tropical in terms of temperatures as was highlighted by our Newsletter Editor on the cover of the November Newsletter. Most of those present felt distinctly over-dressed by the end of the day despite a short monsoon-like interlude about mid-afternoon. That said the conditions were not particularly conducive to catching Pike or anything that swims for that matter. But a few fish did show up with three of our sunburned stalwarts managing to net a modest fish each.

A Slightly Pensive Jim Moody

Particularly pleasing was a first SENPAC Pike for one of the Region's newest members, Jim Moody, on what was his first outing with us. Dave Gardner and Bruce Turnbull were the others with a wet net as far as the Pike were concerned however Pat Hamilton left it late in the day for his excitement when he had the rest of us convinced that he had located one of the bigger fish reputed to be present in this water, only to be surprised, perhaps disappointed, to see an eel of some 4lbs eventually come to the surface. Difficult to be disappointed with a fish of that calibre was the final view of all present I think.

A Slippery Customer........Nice Eel As Well Dave!

And speaking of inadvertent eels! Dave Gardner had a session on one of our local commercials in the hope of intercepting one of the specimen perch that featured in our September blog and thought he had struck lucky when his king prawn bait suddenly came back to life and headed off to the far side of the pond putting a worrying bend into his feeder rod. 3lb-10oz this one and whilst this is a good sized eel Dave was genuinely disappointed that it wasn't the perch that he was seeking, particularly after the head-shaking battle that he had to endure in the murky waters of the fishery had him completely convinced that he was connected to a monster stripey. Hey-ho, next time perhaps. Back to the Pike fishing and other notable fish caught during October were a repeat capture from a  south-west Scotland loch for Dave Greally of a very recognisable fish of 21lb which is fast becoming a part of the Greally family ( see our April 2014 blog) and an immaculate fish of 16lb for Bruce Turnbull from one of the larger Highland lochs whilst on a week long visit. Larger being the operative word as his visit coincided with ten inches of rain which fell in the first three days of his stay making swim selection interesting!

Looking forward to November and a busy month here at SENPAC, with our annual four day jolly-boys outing to the Lake District, our monthly club outing, this time to a hydro-electric loch north of the border which brings the additional variable of water levels to add to the challenge and a visit to the Lake of Menteith for a couple of our number. No doubt there will be a lot to talk about at out November meeting which will take place on Tuesday 25th November 2014 at the Northumbrian Piper.

September 2014..............New Beginnings

The month of October and the beginning of a new piking season is always highly anticipated here at SENPAC, and every year the excitement builds amongst our members and whilst some of our number have been enjoying the odd foray north of the border there is something magical about the start of the season proper, the early morning chill, the changing colours and, perhaps an early fish and then the magic is complete..............................

These new beginnings were celebrated by our newsletter editor in his October missive which also marked the end of the SENPAC competition year for 2013/2014. The trophy winners for the season are as follows;

Biggest Fish on a Lure......................Steve Sandiford
Biggest Fish on a Club Trip...............Dave Greally
Club Trip Champion.........................Dave Greally
Biggest Fish of the Year....................Bruce Turnbull
The three remaining Region trophies are all decided by the votes of the members, Junior Angler of the Year, Pike Angler of the Year and The Stuart Mordue Trophy for contributions to SENPAC will be announced at the annual presentation evening in January 2015, but congratulations go to all of the above named.

As for the September fishing, well the continuing dry bright weather and milder temperatures have not really helped those of our number who have been piking with small numbers of modest sized fish seeming to be the order of the day even on the bigger, deeper waters. Best fish of the month went to Dave Greally at 8lb on one of his trips to Scotland. Those of us fishing for the silvers have found it a lot easier I'm pleased to say.Highlight of the September SENPAC fishing reports though was, arguably, a continuation of the story reported in last month's Blog, the search for big perch from our local commercial fisheries and that man Greally, joined this time by perch fan Bruce Turnbull, were back where they left off in August. Success came towards the end of the month with two more clonking fish .

A 2lb'er for Dave and an ounce short of 3lb for Bruce

 There is no doubt that as the new piking season progresses time will be found for more forays after the stripeys. Whilst we are all first and foremost pike fishing enthusiasts at SENPAC, there is something very special about a big perch.
As for October, well, our first club trip of the new season will see us on one of the more remote waters in south-west Scotland which over the years has become something of a favourite with the SENPAC members. This is very much a "big-sky" venue which, if we are blessed with decent weather, can be a very special place to be.
Our October meeting will take place on Tuesday 28th October 2014 at the Northumbrian Piper as usual. Plenty to talk about I suspect as the fishing will be well underway by then and of course some of our number will be looking forward to a trip to Menteith as well as SENPAC's annual jolly-boys outing to the Lakes.

August 2014 - One Extreme to Another

Another surprisingly busy month on the SENPAC fishing front which again serves to confound my predictions in the June blog. However August turned out to be a different sort of month to July to the extent that our Newsletter editor felt the need to focus on those contrasts in his latest missive.

 The first of those contrasts was of course the weather which undoubtedly impacted on our member's fishing plans. July was probably too good to last and whilst some of our number were understandably complaining about the heat, bright sun and certainly the lack of water in the local rivers, in the main they were all getting out and doing a bit.

August arrives and all of a sudden it seemed we were presented with what was probably a more typical British summer mix of conditions, three nice days and a thunderstorm with an ex-hurricane thrown in just to liven things up. The rivers could probably still do with some more water but the more "active" weather that we enjoyed during August undoubtedly threw a spanner in the works for some at SENPAC when it came to getting out on the bank-side.

But that's not to say that all was lost because we have a fairly hardy bunch amongst our membership who aren't easily deflected from their fishing and it was the fishing that presented us with another of the month's extreme contrasts. (sounding a bit like Robson Green here which is a bit of a worry!)

Faye's New PB - 10lb-4oz

Highlight of our July report was a new pb for SENPAC's oldest member, Kay Needham. Highlight of the August fishing was another new pb, this time for SENPAC's youngest member, Faye Greally.

Fishing with her Dad on a four day camping excursion to a favourite swim up in Scotland her fish of 10lb-4oz easily beats her previous best and was caught early in the trip, immediately putting some pressure on Dave who was making do catching bream,roach and perch. All came right for him in the end though with a nice fish of 16lb-13oz. Not sure who was happiest about the new pb, certainly Faye was over the moon but I suspect Dad was quietly celebrating almost as much.

Our August club trip was to a local commercial fishery on a very windy and very bright day which didn't auger too well for successful fishing and to be honest there were a few who struggled as a result of the conditions. However we did learn one thing from the experience which will no doubt result in a few more trips to this venue later in the year.

A Proper Perch For Dave Greally

Whilst we had heard rumours of decent perch being present in this water we were treated to first hand evidence of the fact by Dave Greally who towards the end of our day and despite the conditions produced a proper one for the rest of us to admire. A good month for the Greally family all round!

The August club meeting managed to confirm our club trip calendar for the coming Piking season, the first of those trips is to be north of the border on the 12th October 2014 and I know that a good few of our number are starting to get excited about getting stuck-in to some proper Piking at last and that will certainly be the main topic of conversation at the September club meeting which takes place on Tuesday 30th September 2014 at the Northumbrian Piper as usual.

July 2014............. NOT so quiet on the SENPAC front!

It appears that a number of our SENPAC members took exception to my suggestion in last month's blog report that July and August would be a quiet time as far as their fishing was concerned. I had no sooner posted the blog when our newsletter editor began to receive fishing reports and photographs from all over the place, turning my prediction on its' head and making July one of the busiest of recent months.

Speaking of our newsletter editor, his cover story for the August issue, "Fishing in the Toilet" came as something of a surprise but turned out to be what seems is a unique solution to the interior decor of the male toilet at Matfen Hall Country Hotel, in south Northumberland, wallpaper with detailed instructions on how to go about catching just about every British freshwater fish that you can think of...............................to loiter or not to loiter would be a bit of a crisis but to get a camera out and start taking pictures strikes me as a risk too far!

Kay's new pb - 8lb - 5oz

So back to the fishing action and a couple of reports to feature, firstly, and what was probably the highlight of July, a new PB for SENPAC's  matriach, Kay Needham. Kay hasn't been able to join us on our fishing trips as much as she would have liked over recent times due to health difficulties and has had to limit her outings to venues where access is easiest. So she teamed up with fellow SENPAC member Pat Hamilton to fish a local country park lake and her first run produced her new pb, a long lean fish of some age I would say which no doubt weighed a few pounds more at some stage earlier in life. Pleased doesn't come close to describing Kay's reaction and she recorded her thanks to Pat for his assistance with the netting.

Also of note this month past, SENPAC's lure fishing specialist, Steve Sandiford enjoyed success with specimen sized chub from one of our local rivers using plug type lures as well as with the pike on one of our harder local stillwaters, in the process moving into pole position for one of our annual trophies. So congratulations go to him.

Steve Sandiford's month

As forecast in last month's blog there was a deal of discussion at the July club meeting regarding the venues for the coming season's monthly club trips but eventually a list of waters and dates was arrived at. Perhaps not surprisingly the final list of six waters looked a lot like last season's choices because whilst the total number of fish caught was down a bit on previous years the average size of fish caught had improved which I suspect had some influence on the decisions made. So, subject to final approval from the membership, we will be visiting two waters in England, North Lincolnshire and Cumbria and four in Scotland's south-west which is a fairly typical mix for SENPAC's  piking year. Can't come soon enough for most of our members I suspect!
SENPAC's August club meeting will take place on the evening of Tuesday 26th August 2014 at the Northumbrian Piper, Fawdon, as usual and as the latter part of September usually sees our more enthusiastic members starting their new season's campaign I suspect much of the discussion will be about getting back to business.