THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

Alex Wilkie, Pike on fly
and patterning scheme guaranteed to break up the fishes outline when
hiding amongst weeds. A single rounded dorsal fin is placed well back
towards the tail.
Colouration and markings are quite variable, though usually some shade or mix of green and brown,
with golden yellow mottling, spots and even short stripes to help the camouflage work.
Not being a specialist freshwater fisherman, and with such a wealth of informed knowledge on the
subject of pike out there available from people who do actually fit that definition, it's difficult to know
where to start on this one.
I've caught literally hundreds of pike over the years, including lots of good doubles. But only ever one
over twenty pounds, when, ironically, I wasn't actually fishing for pike. So I suppose that's as good a
place as any to kick things off.
I had my ferox trout fishing head on that particular day and was slow trolling a small char dead-bait
rigged up with a stiff wire inserted in through its mouth running the full length of its body, which I then
bent like a banana to give it an exaggerated rotation. In in the past this has been good for big
cannibalistic trout.
It never stopped raining all day as we trolled the western margins of Coniston in my small open boat.
This eventually took us into Allen Tarn, which isn't really a tarn at all but the narrowing exit of the lake
into the River Crake where you get quite a few yachts moored up along the reed fringed margins.
This was our turning around point ready for heading off up the eastern side of the main lake, when
suddenly, the rod tip was dragged over resulting in a nice pike of twenty pounds two ounces.
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