First Pike for Angus

I joined Alasdair and son Angus for an after-work evening session at Loch Awe. They live just down the road from me, so an easy meet up and we hit the water running. They came armed with a light spinning rod and a baitcaster for Angus. We spent the first few casts setting up the baitcaster, no easy feat for a beginner to get to grips with, but he did a stella job and was soon firing out lures with no backlash.

There was a chill in the air, and a bit of an easterly breeze after a couple of warm days, but I was hoping the post-spawn feed would make up for the not-ideal conditions. It was hard work, with the first couple of spots with no sign of fish, but as we found a sheltered bay, we had some excitement on a frog lure for Angus. "I think that was a fish" was confirmed by me when I saw the bubbles and big ripples coming from his lure still sitting on the surface amongst the weed. Unlucky, but there was a feeling something might happen as the sun set.

First pike for Angus at Loch Awe

As the light continued to die, there was some movement in the shallows near a big rock sticking out. I handed Angus my spinning rod with a small jointed Rapala on and told him he knew what to do. A couple casts later he hooked up, and quickly landed his first pike! Happy lad and happy dad (and a relieved me).

We will be heading out again soon I am sure, and hopefully we will see a few more fish, and some bigger ones as the summer progresses.

Well done Angus!