Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentOver the last 3 years me and my mate have been targeting a local pond which holds a head of about 20 good sized carp,mostly commons but the biggest is a leather at nearly 29lb.
Anyway we have been making sure we get a 5 day session on there at least once a season...the last 2 years have produced some nice fish the biggest been a 26lb common.Last year we was having a wicked session both catching well and landing some of the better fish...untill we encounted a little problem...half 10 at night the buzzer screams pick up the rod,big splash and commotion and it's OFF....gutted,i wound in only to discover a snapped hooklink about an inch from the swivel...pissed off wasnt the word...only recently i'd been blagging my mate about this wicked stuff..i will name it(striptease) as it has no relevance as you will see.Anyway my mates laughing at me and says "you wanna borrow some decent stuff ...gutted i agree.
Ties a new rig with my mates boring old sinklink,puts double 20mm sauce on the hair and out it goes to the same spot.I say boring old sinklink,cause i wanted too try something new thats all,it does the job really.
Back too the events...20 minutes after the 1st run and its off again..hellova run..w'hey i'm in again..so i start playing the fish,my mate picks up the net getting ready...bit of a hectic fight but getting there slowly,just about too get it head up and.....you guessed it 'OFF'..oh noooo hookpull? lift the rig out to inspect....snapped again..my mate aint laughing now,he cant believe it,'that was brand new weeks ago' he says..we never did solve the mystery and didn't get another run for the last 2 days.
Back to this year,got all the gear ready sunday,even though the weather wasnt looking too great we thought we'd still give it a go,shame not to really
By 3 o'clock monday the bivi's were up and the rods in...1st night was really quiet apart from the wind and rain,so was the 2nd saying that..the 3rd day things warmed up and the buzzers woke up just a little..mainly poxy little f1's but sport all the same.That evening i had a proper screamer,this is the 1 i'm thinking...WRONG.....shock-horror...its a pike! About 6lb..couldnt belive it,its only a small pond and all the pike was supposed too have been netted a couple of years ago.Half hour later my mate gets one aswell,this time on a couple of scopex...so now the mystery is solved..it had too have been pike snapping the hooklinks,or biting them as it were!
It was nice to solve really cause it really did do our heads in at the time,no sleep,loads of weed...i think you carp anglers know what i mean.
The next day we get chatting to the bailiff he tells us the story of a young lad a week previous week who managed to land a 22lb pike on 2 pieces off popped up fake corn.
So thats that then, the toothy critter was the'Dodgy Hooklink'..still cant understand a pike been able to see boilies on the bottom with there rifle sights but i do know they do.
A bit of a crap ending.....but dont be jugding hooklinks me thinks,,thats it and thanks for reading...
A few pics of fish from the venue..the 1st pic is called the 'Torpedo' you can guess why...

had a estimated thirty plus pike on a pop up and bag of pellets myself bud in the dead of night in winter ..the capture just dosent make sense really unless the fish was trying to eat the pellets ,had sevearl jacks grab my hookbaits when ive been reeling in to

carpingkid

I had something similar happen fishing Pendle View in lancs. I pulled into a dead-weight in the middle of the night and my hook link gave almost immediately! I checked the next one really well, recast with a new bag on and waited....sure enough the self-same thing again!! From then I've always used a braided hook link with korda safety rigs. Mind...I haven't caught a whale since....hmmmmm

lovely fishes by the way....lucky boy!

I was on about braided hooklinks hedgehog.....the point i was trying too make was,,,,that it wasn't the hooklink..it was a toothy critter..Pike!

Doh! Oh yeah...I get ya now.....shucks, must have been spannered as it looks so clear now

.....I've never been deliberately fishing for pike, the only pike I've tangled with has been, like you, by accident. I'm told it's fun fun fun...but then pole fishermen tell me the pole is actual fishing.....hmmmm

Soon as the the summer comes too an end..the carp rods go away and the pike n lure rod come out! Pike are awesome creatures,2 catch and too look at...

.....okay...... I've heard they lurk in cannals and the such like, and I have an abundance of those near me. Maybe it's 'cos I'm not averce to a bit of winter carping that I've never been. My winter fishing is severely curtailed now and, I guess, I'd rather go carping. That said...long, cold evenings catching nothing can be poo....hmmmm