One For The Lure Anglers Amongst You

If, like me, you buy more lures than you could ever use sufficiently to find out whether they can actually catch fish, then you will no doubt, like me, have a few lures that seemed like a good idea when you bought them but now languish at the very bottom of your lure bucket. Some of those lures may never have been in the water, some on the other hand may well have had an outing or two, not caught a fish and been dismissed as a failure. Most if not all of those lures will have been purchased on the basis of conversations with fellow anglers, articles in the fishing magazines, You Tube videos and/or plain and simple marketing by the manufacturers as being the latest “must-have” fish catcher that you couldn’t possibly do without. Some of those lures may well have achieved a reputation based upon the successes of others that elevates the lure to an almost mystical status, but despite that they just do not work for you and inevitably reside in the bottom of that bucket.

I own one of these near mystical lures. It is not a new lure, in fact it is one of the lures that I have owned longest. So long that I can’t remember how or where I came by the lure. It is a lure that has been made famous over the years by many well known lure anglers and in their hands has caught many spectacular fish. Read any article about lure fishing and variants of this lure will undoubtedly feature in the “must-have” list.

It is the definitive jerk bait……………The Buster Jerk.

As I said I can’t remember how I came by my Buster Jerk and I certainly can’t remember why I chose the colour that I did ( perhaps it was the only one the shop had?) but at the time it must have been something that I just couldn’t do without and it was, for a while, one of my favourite lures. The action on the lure is fascinating, it hangs in the water when stationary absolutely perfectly, settling only very slowly, the slightest twitch of the rod or turn of the handle and the glide is perfect, it feels and looks like a fish catcher in every respect and in the hands of others that is exactly what it is. But mine just doesn’t and hasn’t caught me a fish and hence the bottom of the bucket.

A recent clear-out of the aforementioned bucket exposed said BJ to the daylight for the first time in a long time and I was reminded of my earlier efforts with the lure to catch a fish and given that there could be absolutely no failure on the part of the angler in question that had contributed to the lack of fish then there had to be something wrong with the lure. In short order it had to be the colour of the lure that was to blame I convinced myself. What to do about that was the next question and a trip to Wilko and a quick review of the spray paint cans on offer was enough to convince me that what I needed was somebody who knew what they were doing.

Step forward SENPAC founder member Mark Houghton of MH Custom Lures who very kindly agreed to do a conversion job on my lure. I provided a very detailed design brief for Mark, “roach pattern mate” seemed to do the job and despite being incredibly busy trying to keep his head above water satisfying an ever growing order list for his immense catalogue of lure patterns my BJ was headed for a make-over.

I think the transformation speaks for itself, and pictures are worth many words or something like that, so………………………………………..

BUSTER BEFORE

BUSTER AFTER

The only problem now of course, is that if I fail to catch with it, then I’ve run out of things to blame!

For lure fishing porn go to………………….mhcustomlures.blogspot.co.uk

SPANISH SPECTACULAR

   

     
        The above picture tells it all. The shades, the tan, and a River Ebro Catfish weighing in at 183 lbs. This was the biggest of the bunch in a staggering haul of over 1,700 lbs caught by two members of SENPAC Steve Sandiford and Dave Gardner during a week's Spanish fishing break. Dave also managed a 25lb Carp on the trip.

I guess for many a trip of this nature would only be a dream but for Steve and Dave it became a reality. A truly stunning week's fishing and I gather that plans are already being made for a return visit. Fishing under cooler conditions the other members of the region have been out and about on some of our smaller waters. Fishing started slowly due to the weather conditions but recently the catches have improved significantly. Good catches of Rudd, Skimmer Bream, Tench, Roach and Carp have all been reported.
                   

             

                           

                       

       
The region now looks forward to the Summer matches that will take place over the next three months.

Awaiting That Run In The Setting Sun.

The weather is improving and as we move into March the members of the club are out and about trying to catch that elusive big fish before the season ends. Paul Proctor has been on his travels and caught this 13lb Pike whilst lure fishing on a Yorkshire canal.

Not content with the above he moved on to a water closer to home and caught this 21lb 8oz fish.

Reflections On Menteith.

The Lake Of Menteith PAC event took place in March and four members of SENPAC, Dave Gardner, Bruce Turnbull, Dennis Fearon and Mike Bell turned out on the day. After a slightly rainy start the weather was kind to all concerned. Some large Trout fell to Dave's rods whilst Bruce and Mike had to make do with a few Jacks between them. Dennis took the honours on the day with a 16lb 12oz fish pictured below.

Another Menty Double For Den.

Meanwhile back down on the river Steve Sandiford was pursuing the Barbel again and getting the right results.

The final round of the club's annual Pike matches took place during the month. Only one fish caught on the day which did not effect the overall result. Club trip champion for the year went to Dave Greally. We now move on into the Summer months and look forward to our various competitions fishing for other coarse species before returning later in the year to our main quarry Esox Lucius.

Spectacular Sunset.

One of the advantages of Pike fishing is that if the fish are not being cooperative you can always do a spot of photography. Freezing that moment in time can result in photos like this stunning Scottish sunset. Moving on with the region's February report, well things have started to pick up a little and a few more fish have been caught. The region's calendar of events was severely disrupted during the month due to weather and a trip down to Lincolnshire was cancelled due to rain and snow. The trip was hastily re-arranged to a water closer to home which resulted in those who turned up in a totally fish-less day. Dave Greally took time out to visit one of his favourite swims over the border which resulted in him having the best Pike of the year so far at 20lb 1oz. Steve Sandiford had a session on a local stretch of river and was rewarded with a beautiful Barbel that weighed in at 10lb 5ozs.

Steve and his Barbel.

A NEW YEAR DAWNS.

                       The dawn of a new year and with it the club's 21st birthday. The region was started by Mark Houghton on the 25th January 1996. Those twenty one years have flown by but many members past and present have had the joy of catching a very large Pike. Pride of place must go to Lyn Baker for her Lake of Menteith fish that weighed just under 40lbs. Other members have achieved that magical thirty pounder whilst on their travels. So what will 2017 bring. Hopefully some more big fish for our members. One of the highlights of January was the club's annual review and presentation evening which included The Story So Far, which was a leaf through the region's Piking photograph album and Piking diaries of the last fifteen years and beyond in one or two cases.

January proved to be a quiet month for the region fishing wise with only a couple of double figure fish being reported.

S.E.N.P.A.C. Christmas Wishes To All

November 2016 - Can The View Make-Up For A Lack Of Fish ?

The main reason for the question in this month's blog title ( and our newsletter editors cover image) isn't as you could reasonably assume, another moan about a poor fishing month but more to do with the fact that November provided many  of our members with opportunities to fish in some very scenic locations in some very scenic conditions. Some of them even caught some nice fish whilst others were forced to revert to becoming photographers instead of anglers which will at least mean that the slideshow at our annual presentation of awards night will have something other than pictures of fish to entertain the assembled masses.

With visits to the Lake of Menteith and our Jolly Boys Outing, also north of the border, there were undoubtedly opportunities for both fish and photographs to feature in this month's blog. First the fish and best of the month was one of Menteith's crackers which fell to our joint RO Bruce Turnbull at the tail end of the day fishing with our Scottish colleagues the PAAS. The PAC visit proved to be a bit more of a struggle due to the breezy conditions and the somewhat questionable anchoring equipment that was provided by the fishery ( I'm sure that this will be sorted out in time for the March visits) and SENPAC representatives Dennis Fearon and Mike Bell had a frustrating time although Dennis did manage an 11lb'er between re-anchoring practice. Dave Gardner who was at the sharp end of the boat with Bruce had one of those days when nothing would stay hooked and took solace ( I think?) in the netting of Bruce's fish.

By The Light Of The Super Moon - 24lb Of Menteith Magic

The JB Outing fished over five days in the west of Scotland coincided with a period of high atmospheric pressure, clear blue skies, bright sun, sub-zero temperatures ( can you tell where this is going?) and no breeze which kind of equates to the perfect storm when it comes to catching pike, but as I said earlier, did provide alternative opportunities and did not impact greatly on the overall enjoyment of what is principally a social event. Certainly the very comfortable farm cottage which was our base for the trip proved to be very popular and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if we don't go back. Best fish of the trip amongst a number was an 11lb'er and the competition for best photograph is still to be decided but sunrises featured strongly.

Of  December, well the Region outing is to one of our regular venues, high in the hills of Dumfries, high enough to need us to keep an eye on the weather so hopefully that all comes together and then we enter the silly season that is Christmas, when as anglers, we all try to fit the fishing around all of the other demands on our time and domestic expectations of the festive season.

No formal region meeting in December because of the celebrations although a few of us will be found in the Northumbrian Piper on Tuesday 27th December 2016 just to get out from in front of the TV!