Piking in the rain...

Today I managed to go for a session on a south Cumbrian canal that I knew for a while it held a good number of pike and some decent sized ones at that. I wanted to test a slightly different presentation that I was hoping it would give me the edge and help me get more bites. I used a 13cm Savagear soft 4play mounted on the offset hooks meant for them, but with only one of the little weights on the hook and the addition of a spinner/flasher and a treble hook. Thus I was hoping that I could fish the lure relatively close to the bottom having good control due to the slow sink rate but also gain attractiveness by the flasher/spinner and a much better catch rate than just the offset hook.

Pimped out soft 4play!

The weather was cloudy with some wind and rain coming later, so I had to hurry-up.
I started fishing near some sunken trees and vegetation by flipping the lure under the branches (very easy to flip-cast this lure) and letting it sink to the bottom. I then retrieved slowly with plenty of pauses and short double jerks of the rod tip. As I paused near a branch and the lure was sinking I felt a sharp bite and I struck into a fish. After a spirited fight I landed the first pike and weigh it at 3kg.

Not big but very welcome!

 I continued walking and casting at all the features I saw, especially the ones near deeper water and after a few more casts I got the same style of take on the paused lure as before. Once more I struck hard and I had a good weight on the end of the line. This time the fish was slightly bigger and put up a better fight but again got it in rather quickly as I was using beefier tackle. I tried to weight this fish too but discovered that the wet weighing sling had gone over the cheap scales in my pocket and got it all wet and messed up! Anyway I estimated the fish about a pound or two heavier and put her back in the water quickly..

Nice plump pike.

By this time the rain started pouring and even though I continued to fish and was determined to persevere as the fish seemed very active due to the way they took the lure, I got a call from a friend regarding business and had to cut the session short. I will definitely come back to this canal as I'm sure there are better fish swimming in it. The lure presentation seemed to work well here and I need to try again for tweaks and improvements on it.
On the Lancaster canal things have slowly started to improve as the baitfish seem shoaled up in the usual areas and some decent perch have been seen. The larger pike have been shy at my usual spots but then again I haven't managed to devote as much time for them as last year.

Slightly better fish showing.

Little jack..

Baitfish-holding features..

A nice short session that could've been more productive as the fish were very active  but it was still good to be out and catching some fish! Hope the weather doesn't get any worse so that I could go fish for longer next time..

Thanks for reading!

Gear used.
Rod: Mikado Royal Edition Spin, 2.40m, 15-35g
Reel: Shimano Stradic GTM 4000
Mainline: Daiwa Tournament 8 braid, homemade Knot2Kinky 20lb trace
Lures: Savagear soft 4play