Last October through the D.C.A.C. I enjoyed a day pike fishing at Ladybower reservoir in the company of our membership secretary David Holmes. Ron Trevis had requested an article of the day for the club's website. However, it was a very uneventful day, as like almost everyone else we never saw a pike. Despite the lack of fish it was nevertheless very enjoyable, with much chin wagging and a pint and a meal at the end of it.

In lieu of this I thought a few words on pike fishing on club waters would be appropriate; Two of our waters are open to pike fishing the year round; Wilne pool and Willington coarse lake, at these waters all legal methods are allowed including live baiting, (as long as the baits are caught on site). Wilne pool has produced pike to low doubles for me and the water certainly contains a lot of “Jacks”. Willington has given me as many as ten pike in a session up to 16lb 8oz although the water certainly contains bigger fish.

The rivers Trent , the lower Derwent and Idle all contain pike to double figures with fish in the Trent certainly going to plus 20lb. These can be fished for during the coarse open season, again, all legal methods are allowed. I do tend to neglect the river pike though as barbel come first! Down on the Dr's Surgery stretch I have had pike chase retrieved swim feeders and on one occasion a large pike “shadowed” a near 7lb barbel I was playing until it was netted.

The middle reaches of the Derwent; Allestree, Ambergate and Willersley also contain pike but never having exploited these stretches I know little of the potential.

We now come to the water that without doubt contains the largest fish. Three of the club's trout fisheries; Willington, Coneygre Farm and Widgeon. I am aware of at least seven fish over 20lb being caught in these pits this year including one caught on a fly recently by my cousin Bob Booth at Willington- a fish which had not yet spawned. Pike fishing is allowed on these waters from the 1 st November until the 14th March and is a concession allowed by the management committee. This should not be forgotten, especially when fly anglers are on the water. The rules regarding pike fishing are there to protect the trout and when using lures or dead baits the minimum size should be adhered to. Remember these waters are primarily trout fly-fishing waters; Lures should be a minimum of 6'' not including swivel or hook, (I understand that this will be clarified before next winter) or dead baits at Willington. Dead baits only at Farm and Widgeon.

My own preferred method of fishing is wobbled/spun natural baits, sometimes dyed red, orange or yellow, I use a 30lb B.S. wire trace with 2 size six semi barbed treble hooks. Being mobile allows a lot more water to be covered. If you opt for static dead bait fishing remember a maximum of two rods and an efficient bite indicator system please. Regular pikers will have all the necessary unhooking and handling equipment but if you just want a casual go because the trout fishing is slow please at least have the basic essentials with you. i.e. a large enough net, unhooking mat. long handled pliers and wire cutters strong enough to cut hooks should be regarded as minimum requirements, and don't forget the scales and camera!

Now a few words on a water the club no longer has; Hoveringham Lagoon. The situation here was different, as it was then the club's policy to remove pike from trout waters and it was towards this end that pike fishing was permitted on this water, also, trout fishing ended on 15 th October and pike fishing began on the 16 th . There was therefore no mixed fly and pike fishing. I do not have a verdict on the rights and wrongs of the policy of pike removal from trout waters but here are a few facts for consideration.

Over a 10-year period I removed 95 pike from this water from “jacks” to a best of 25lb 12oz. Some of these fish were transferred; some were eaten, (not by me I might add). A lot of these fish were in the 5 to 8lb range but there were quite a few low doubles, some high doubles and another 20+ (24 ¼), the rest were “jacks”. If we take an average weight of 5 1/4 lb this equates to almost 500 lb of pike, converted mostly from trout purchased by the club! This of course is only my catch; other members were also taking pike.

The largest I know of was 34 lb, which the captor had set up.

But the interesting fact is that despite large numbers of pike being removed, the lagoon still kept producing good pike year after year. The last time I fished this water shortly before we lost it I blanked, but had follows from two large fish. I hope that sometime in the future the club can regain this water.

The club's policy towards pike has now thankfully changed and we can now return all fish to the water where they are caught. Despite their size big pike are delicate creatures and should be handled very carefully and returned as quickly as possible.

I have managed a personal best this year; 27 lb 1 oz, and yes, it came from one of the club's trout waters.