Casting around - Emperor Lakes – Pike
Venue – Emperor Lakes, Blackdown cross, Loddiswell, South Devon, TQ7 4EA
Prices - Day Ticket Prices £15
Phone number – 07814060147
Website – http://www.emperorlakes.co.uk/
Target Species – Pike
When a venue gives itself such a bold name as Emperor lakes it immediately opens itself up to be shot down if it does not live up to the name, after all the definition of the word emperor is “the leader.”
The day started at just before 4 am with a 300 mile, 4 hour journey down to the beautiful county of Devon, after arriving at the gates of Emperor Lakes just after first light, I was met by the owner Dave Lidstone who gave me a guided tour of the complex. The lake that we was to fish is an absolute gem of a water, set in stunning woodland and rolling hills this place really will take some beating.
stunning Devon countryside
The idea was that Dave would be joining me for the session, he thought I might get a bit scared of the dark with me being from the north… but any way we decided on fishing the opposite bank to the car park, the main reason was due to the fact that over the last few days the temperature had really dropped and this area was the deepest area of the lake.
My set up was simple, two rods were set up with Fox size 8 semi barbed trebles, 20lb Gardner Hydrotuff line with a Fox dead bait float. I was using a float stop set 12inch over depth to allow the bait to sit naturally on the bottom. As an extra security measure I was also using my bite alarms just incase I wasn’t looking and got a take. As David had been pre-baiting the lake with sprats and chopped mackerel this was the baits I tried first, a whole sprat under armed to the marginal shelf and half a mackerel cast over to an island around 30 – 40 yards away.
A third rod was set up with leger style with a 2oz lead and on this rod I was using a whole sardine, the trouble with sardines as many of you know is that they are very soft and many people tie line or even elastic bands around the fish to secure it whilst casting. I have a new piece of kit for this and it is from a company called Castaway pva. The product is a pva cable tie which you simply wrap around the fish and pull it tight no more messing trying to tie knots with freezing cold fingers this worked a treat and enabled me to cast the sardine around 45 yard to another island on my left.
cable tied bait, secured for a long cast
As for my baits on this trip they was all provided by Devon Baits which I thought was fitting that they would be used in Devon, they certainly looked good quality dead baits and were very well priced. The small blueys just had to catch pike they were the perfect size of around 8 inch.
With the rods out I sat down and had a chat with David who unbeknown to me had been around the world and caught probably every fish on my bucket list, from tiger fish to the mighty Nile perch, he also had a lake in France that he built up from nothing so it was reassuring to see that Emperor lakes was in good hands, we spoke about the plans for the new lakes and an extension to the one we was currently fishing, it all sounded very positive and with no corners cut, the complex had also just had an electrified otter fence erected to the sum of tens of thousands of pounds to protect his stock.
Within half an hour there was the slightest lift on Dave’s float and he was striking into the first fish of the day, the fish was only around 7lb and was beautifully marked but the interesting thing was that it had a bite mark scar on its flank that made us both think there maybe something much bigger in there. That’s the thing with Emperor – no one really knows what size they go to as no one has really targeted them before. It was only when Dave decided to have a day’s spinning on the lake a few weeks ago and actually caught 11 pike to 23lbs that he got in touch with us at Pike and Predator asking if we would help him to see what the lakes potential is.
The next 2 or 3 hours went along the same lines really, we had 4 more fish between us to 15lbs and there was definitely a feeling there was still better to come. Dave suggested we rested the swims for a while and tried our luck with the lure rods, so we set off around the lake armed with his 2 Savage gear bushwacker lure rods and a huge selection of lures. At this point I would like to point out to you all that if you do leave your lures unattended here then there is a 100% chance that Dave will borrow several with the chance of getting them back nil to nil, although he did give me a good selection of rubber lures so it wasn’t so bad.
The bright colours seemed to work well and we had a couple of instances when a pike had followed in the lure, before turning away at the last minute. This must be the most frustrating aspect of lure fishing and definitely gets your heart in your mouth. Dave then had a take on a 6 inch orange rubber lure; the fight was explosive with a few jumps and lunges before we finally netted her, a fine mid double and again in perfect condition. It was great fun lure fishing on a cold day and a good chance to warm up whilst exploring the lake.
An absolute stunning emperor pike.
=
Resting the swims really worked and within half an hour of recasting the rods out I had a low double on the sprat, I like using sprats they are very under rated as a pike bait and better still they are dirt cheap from any fish market. Just as I was releasing her Dave shouted over again that he was in but it felt a much better fish, the rod was definitely bent double as he struggled to get in control of her. The fight lasted no more than a couple of minutes before we saw this huge head coming up from the depths and straight into the net at first time of asking. I haven’t seen that many 20s but as soon as it was in the net we both looked at each other and shook hands on the first 20 of the session.
The fish was hooked perfectly in the jaws mainly thanks to a quick strike and his sensitive set up, as we placed her in the sling and onto the scales the dial moved around to 20lb6oz. It was exactly the kind of fish we wanted to really showcase Emperor Lakes and we knew now that even if we caught nothing else then we had a fish worthy of this stunning lake.
As darkness fell and the rods went quiet Dave decided to go home and catch up on the paperwork (so much for me being scared of the dark) and was replaced by one of Emperors bailiffs Jamie Parr. Jamie was down for the night and was intending to carp fish as he hadn’t done much pike fishing before with a pb of around 10lb8 but I managed to talk him around and he used Dave’s rods and the offer of help was there if he needed it from me.
I made a quick recast with some fresh baits on, injecting them with mackerel oil just to add an extra edge and hoped that it would help the pike home in on it. As the night passed by the temperature dropped to minus 5, the coffees were flowing before deciding to get tucked in my sleeping back and get some sleep before the fish go on the prowl at first light.
With the first hint of the sun rising up over the Devonshire hillside Jamie`s float bobbed and sunk away into the depths. This was followed by a prompt strike and ‘fish on’ was the call. I could tell by his silence that it was another good fish and after a brief struggle yet another clonking Emperor pike was gracing the net. The scales revealed it was another 20lb fish in fact 20lb4oz, it had destroyed Jamie`s old pb almost doubling it. Just as we started taking the photos Dave arrived and brought us some more fresh bait and water, setting us up for the day ahead.
Jamie with his first 20 and a new pb
The morning continued in the same form as the previous 24 hours with another 7 pike landed to mid doubles, by this time I had decided that I was to set off around lunch time hoping to have a smooth 4 hour run back to the North.
After packing my gear away Dave joined me and told me he intended to open the lake for pike fishing from Dec 15th, he was doing so on a limited number basis to prevent them being pressured too much and the fishing was to stop on the 1st of march so the pike can spawn in peace. He was also offering the opportunity of free coaching whilst pike fishing from Jamie who is a level 2 coach and Paul Power who is also a level 2 coach and assistant head coach for the south west region, it really shows how highly Dave puts his fish welfare that he will allow his coaches to stay all day and teach for free for anyone that is unsure of rigs, tackle or handling and unhooking.
Please book early as this will be limited numbers only and I am certain they will be booked up in no time; there are very few venues that throw up fish of this quality and I’m 100% certain it will throw up a 30lb pike at some stage possibly around march time when they are at there heaviest, now that will make people sit up and take notice, as their company slogan says “most promise, we deliver” they certainly never let me down.
The post Emperor lakes, pike, Danny Johnson appeared first on Danny Johnson Fishing.