Barden Pike October 09

I have been fishing for over 15 years but never for pike so during the autum 09 I decided to head down to Barden lake in tonbridge which belongs to Tonbridge angling society. I was a member there for two years and was on the waiting list for my night permit which i never recieved. I knew it held some decent size pike over 30lbs so it seemed the perfect venue. Its a large gravel pit of around 18 acre and contains some massive carp to.

Out came my carp rods with deadbait traces legered with a float for bite indication. I decided to use dead roach as bait as that would be the predominant natural food for the pike in the pit. I also decided to take my spinning rod and a few lures .

I arrived at the lake at dawn and it looked fantastic as it allways does. I was struggling and was unsucessful for half the day until my spinning rod bent round and i was in. I landed a small male pike of around 3lb (below) but it was on a lure so i was as happy as larry. That was my first fish on a lure.

The evening drew closer and after walking around the lake twice I settled in a quite bay. Within 10 minutes my float dissapeared and i was in but not for long as the fish shook the hooks after a short battle. I returned the bait to the same area hoping the fish might take it again and within five mnutes the rod bait runner sounded. After a short easy fight I landed what looked like a large pike estimated 16-18lb but this was not the case. After weighing her twice she went to 12lb but looked much bigger. The head on the fish was of a 20lb fish. I decided that the fish was down in weight and may have been slightly ill as the fight she put up was poor. However i was still a very happy fisherman as this was my personal best pike.
(pictured right)

I made another trip to Barden in search of pike and had a great session catching three pike from the bay and losing two on deadbaits. 13lb(below), 10lb, 9lb again beating my personal best for the species. I intend to do some more sessions on Barden for pike during the winter when the fish have filled out more and are in better condition. I am also intersted in the large roach that inhabit the water so I will keep you updated.