Payday

The wind was howling, the rain was pouring and it was the last day of the piking season in Holland. An excellent combination to put the devotion for piking (and Evert's Bromanodell Jacket) to a serious test. Without any expectations whatsoever (and just enough hope to go at all), I took off for the last piking hours before Finland.

When I arrived at the first spot, the wind was blowing so hard I didn't even have to cast the streamer to get it to the desired spot (not that I could cast anyway). I just had to stick the rod in the air, let the wind catch the fly and then feed line until the streamer reached the required fishing distance. However, as nice and promising as the water looked, the only fish I saw were carp that didn't survive the extreme winter we had in Holland this year.




But for these last few piking hours, I had the itinerary with alternative spots already in my head, so off I was to a place Sander introduced me to some weeks ago. Good decision! After I moved and/or spooked two pike and caught a rather small one, I went to the place Sander described as the hot spot right there. And indeed, at the second cast in the surprisingly clear water, a pike rolled over the streamer right in front of me. Wow! Being able to follow your streamer during its journey through the clear water and then suddenly witness it being charged by a green flash out of nowhere: never ever will I get tired of strikes like these!



EP streamers are very attractive in clear water, both for pike and piker.


After a strike like that, you can either go home totally satisfied, or push your luck and go on for a couple of hours at the risk of not catching anymore and hence go home with a somewhat disappointed end-feeling after all. At this last day of the season, of course I had to take my chances and go all the way. Another good decision! Because only a few minutes later, a really nice pike was landed at almost the same spot.




After that the spot was fished out and I decided to finish the day at my initial goal: a narrow, clear canal in the middle of a small village, not quite picturesque but known for its abundance of preyfish and (be it small) pike. This place treated me with a real feast. It may have been the spot itself, or maybe just the time of day (early evening), but whatever the cause: the pike were all over the place. I must have landed at least 7 pike over there, and moved quite some more. Not big ones (50-70 cm.), but more than enough to cherish this windy and rainy day until we get to go to Finland.



Mmmm...., nice reel....I mean, pike!








So regrettably, this is the last home-made pike porn on this blog before Finland. Starting today, it's only allowed to fish with flies/lures that are smaller than 2,5 cm. here in Holland until June. It hasn't been a great season here in Holland (to say the least), but who cares if we get to extend it this May in Finland......

From now on you'll find more technical stuff on this blog: we'll present some more sponsors (rods!), write articles about their products, present some flies we intend to fish with and discuss other material stuff. And of course, there's always our ticking ice-clock and other things that try to (but will not) spoil our mission in Finland.