The Pikers Pit

I will be dropping leads for fun and using funny gloves when I cast soon after spodding fifty kilos of bait too Dave lol, in all seriousness,they are filling in between the tench blanks nicely ,still prefer my traditional species(when I can catch them) and traditional methods

suffolk si wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17 2017 12:14 -

I will be dropping leads for fun and using funny gloves when I cast soon after spodding fifty kilos of bait too Dave lol,

Heretic!!!

Was out again Thursday,fourth blank on the trot (yes I'm turning into a prize blanker )
Pellet on one rod ,moggie muncher on another and a dumbbell rig with cuttlefish on the third no lives allowed.
Did see a good cat to a carp angler that I'd estimate between 40/50lb that wiped out the three anglers fishing to his left,after playing it
For a good 35 to 40 minutes he eventually got it near the bank ,his line looked like a washing line still having some of his neighbours rigs attached
(My was they happy)after removal of said lines it was pointed out that the cat was foul hooked in the route of the tail and then we watched as the cat was attempted to be netted with a 30 inch net .
You may have guessed it by now but his hook length broke and we all watched as the cat swam away (hook in tail)and the disheartened angler sat down
Head in hand muttering how he had lost the fish of a lifetime.
What probably didn't help was myself pointing out that the cat was caught in the tail ,Whitch in this case was about four and a half feet from its mouth so therefore in my book it didn't count.but each to their own,
And unlike myself at least he'd had a bend in his rod.

davelumb wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17 2017 15:58 -

suffolk si wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17 2017 12:14 -

I will be dropping leads for fun and using funny gloves when I cast soon after spodding fifty kilos of bait too Dave lol,

Heretic!!!

Careful now. Ive seen your carp pics.

Ah, but I'm cured now.

davelumb wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22 2017 13:01 -

Ah, but I'm cured now.

Rubbed a tench on it ?

Eel slime.

I really do not want to know how it was taken

Hard going catching cats during the day Tom,Imo.Hang in there

Happy Hayes wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22 2017 12:24 -

Was out again Thursday,fourth blank on the trot (yes I'm turning into a prize blanker )
Pellet on one rod ,moggie muncher on another and a dumbbell rig with cuttlefish on the third no lives allowed.
Did see a good cat to a carp angler that I'd estimate between 40/50lb that wiped out the three anglers fishing to his left,after playing it
For a good 35 to 40 minutes he eventually got it near the bank ,his line looked like a washing line still having some of his neighbours rigs attached
(My was they happy)after removal of said lines it was pointed out that the cat was foul hooked in the route of the tail and then we watched as the cat was attempted to be netted with a 30 inch net .
You may have guessed it by now but his hook length broke and we all watched as the cat swam away (hook in tail)and the disheartened angler sat down
Head in hand muttering how he had lost the fish of a lifetime.
What probably didn't help was myself pointing out that the cat was caught in the tail ,Whitch in this case was about four and a half feet from its mouth so therefore in my book it didn't count.but each to their own,
And unlike myself at least he'd had a bend in his rod.

I have somewhat limited experience of cats, but I have the impression that they will gorge feed over several days and then rest. Certainly fits the experiences I had fishing for them over a few summers on one water. A good indication of when they where on the munch was the sound of "clooping" on the surface at night, not sure if that is common on all waters but was a real confidence boost on the water I fished.

I also fished a small water in france for a week on a lads holiday, the log from the previous week showed multiple cats every day to carp bait, yet the entire week we where there, despite 9 rods out between three of us, and at least 3 cat rods out each night, we never saw a single one. (had plenty of carp though).

On the UK water, I did ok with big bunch of worms on the surface as a replacement for lives when I couldn't catch any.

suffolk si wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22 2017 14:18 -

Hard going catching cats during the day Tom,Imo.Hang in there

Cheers Si .
I've definitely dug my heels in to this one ,
And I'm sure one of the big cats has my name on it
It's just a case of when it's going to arrive,
Sooner rather than later I hope.

Duncan Holmes wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22 2017 18:19 -

Happy Hayes wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22 2017 12:24 -

Was out again Thursday,fourth blank on the trot (yes I'm turning into a prize blanker )
Pellet on one rod ,moggie muncher on another and a dumbbell rig with cuttlefish on the third no lives allowed.
Did see a good cat to a carp angler that I'd estimate between 40/50lb that wiped out the three anglers fishing to his left,after playing it
For a good 35 to 40 minutes he eventually got it near the bank ,his line looked like a washing line still having some of his neighbours rigs attached
(My was they happy)after removal of said lines it was pointed out that the cat was foul hooked in the route of the tail and then we watched as the cat was attempted to be netted with a 30 inch net .
You may have guessed it by now but his hook length broke and we all watched as the cat swam away (hook in tail)and the disheartened angler sat down
Head in hand muttering how he had lost the fish of a lifetime.
What probably didn't help was myself pointing out that the cat was caught in the tail ,Whitch in this case was about four and a half feet from its mouth so therefore in my book it didn't count.but each to their own,
And unlike myself at least he'd had a bend in his rod.

I have somewhat limited experience of cats, but I have the impression that they will gorge feed over several days and then rest. Certainly fits the experiences I had fishing for them over a few summers on one water. A good indication of when they where on the munch was the sound of "clooping" on the surface at night, not sure if that is common on all waters but was a real confidence boost on the water I fished.

I also fished a small water in france for a week on a lads holiday, the log from the previous week showed multiple cats every day to carp bait, yet the entire week we where there, despite 9 rods out between three of us, and at least 3 cat rods out each night, we never saw a single one. (had plenty of carp though).

On the UK water, I did ok with big bunch of worms on the surface as a replacement for lives when I couldn't catch any.

Many thanks Duncan
Unfortunately there's no night fishing allowed (but I'm working on it lol)
The owner has been keeping me informed on what's been coming out and it seems at present they are just being caught here and there by the carp boys,it's possible that they feed through the night and then rest as you mentioned.
I will be trying the worm rig this week and if I'm lucky I'll let you know.
All the best
Tom

getting closer to one of this summers targets,nine pound tench is looking increasingly unlikely!, the other being a forty pound cat, best scrap i have had in a looooong time!
not huge by national standards i know, but am getting the hang of them i think,with several reasonable fish coming to the net.
god knows what being attached to a sixty or seventy pounder feels like! Not everybody's cup of tea but good sport in my book......

Nice fish Si
Fingers crossed for you mate

Thanks mate you having luck with them yet?

suffolk si wrote: ↑Mon Jul 31 2017 20:12 -

Thanks mate you having luck with them yet?

Dare I admit this.
I still haven't had a cat this year.
Three months fishing mainly the lake with no night fishing (fishing Fridays)
Have tried most things but mainly stuck to large halibut or cat pellets.
Unfortunately I can't stay till closing due to picking the wife up from work so I'm missing the best part of the day
But as I said to the owner,I know it's going to happen eventually.
And it did,the one Friday a couldn't make it a 100lb plus came out .you guessed it on the bait I've been using and where I normally fish .
In Spain at the moment (holiday with wife)then I'll be back there.we all live in hope

a lake I used to fish we caught them to 55lb before they got removed. They loved a bed of Active 8 boiles.
They also really liked squid. Hair rigging the body or the most consistent was the heads and tentacles.
The most productive times in the day was 11-12 or 2-3pm. They came out during the night, fortunately not as common as they did in the day.
Miss fishing for them now. Used to get the heart racing when they rolled and flicked their tails on the surface close by your bait
It wasn't long before the delks beeped before the one toner.
Happy days.
Andy

The cats woke up big time in the heat around my way this week, took several to just off forty, guy a swim up from me had a 56 which is my target weight so wasn't to chuffed for him
Still had a good couple of nights sports , anybody else gone after them yet?

Well in Si sounds good fun

Cheers Nige, they certainly give you a scrap! a proper big one will come my way this season I hope (breaks up the terrible tench fishing at the moment too!)

What was the method Si ?

Popped up lives did the business,plus one rod on cell boilies which was on a rod meant to pick up a bonus carp or two, put quite a bit of pellet and cell out, to fish over, which some of the cats s**t out on the bank

Cheers bud.

Well done Si
I’m sure that Fifty is coming you’re way this year.
I was supposed to have fished Friday,at my bogey water (the one I blanked on all last season)
But as I was going to the lure fair today I cancelled my first cat session of the year and took the wife out instead ( brownie points)
Hopefully, like you there’s a big one with my name on..
Regards
Tom

I've had a few trips now, haven't blanked yet, although came close yesterday with just one fish as I was starting to pack up - it was a 54 mind Surprised I caught though, as it was just 6 degrees and the water had seen a lot of run off with the recent downpours. Think I'll be carp fishing next week and go back to the cats once the sun makes another appearance. I find if you can pick your days, i.e. try to be out on the warmer ones, you'll do a lot better at this time of year when cat fishing. Squid is my got to early season bait, as most waters I fish don't permit lives. Meat baits are also very reliable. I wouldn't bother with pellets until the water has really warmed up to summer temps. I started late this year, as we're what feels like a month behind after the beat of the east...

Just a comment on night fishing for cats, as in the main, I think that's the worst time you can fish for them. I think it's one of those things about cats that a lot of people seem to subscribe to that's proven not to be the case, like fishing with no resistance... I catch way more cats in daylight, so much so, that I just don't bother night fishing for them these days. The times I see people doing overnighters and leaving as the cats come on the feed... not that I'd tell them

Went to a different lake Friday just for a day session,
Met up with two mates who fished from Thursday till Saturday morning.
Rained all day ,lost a good cat then foul hooked another,unhooked in the net not weighed.
Friend had a 43 lb , 34 , 31 and a 28 all during the day , nothing during the night .
Back to my usual water Friday ( you never know )
Regards
Tom