John Bailey – The Kingfisher Diaries
December 14th 2012
Kingfisher's Historic Pike
Most of you know that for many years, the present Kingfisher's Lake was called the Norfolk Fly fishers' Lake. Between the late 60s and the early 90s, it was all fly fishing apart from a short winter break when dear Cyril allowed the pike-minded ones of us in the club to enjoy ourselves.
The 80s were the heady times. During those years, Reg Sandies, Jim Tyree, Dan Leary, roger Miller and even old JB himself caught different thirties from the lake. And I remember one particular night, after dark, seeing a trio of pike swim past in the torchlight that really would have dwarfed even the biggest fish we saw. And that saying something!
Of course, we all know that pike wax fat on stocked rainbow trout. However, up and down the Wensum Valley pits which are not stocked like this, there are still very large pike to be had. Big pike will always get through. They'll find their own way to become gigantic. I honestly believe there is a sprinkling of very big pike along the Wensum that are, by and large, evading capture. I have strong thoughts on this. Perhaps we might even see one or two of these creatures as this winter is milder than the last two.