Q&A with Dave Horton, by Alan

CCD (CookiesDaughtersDad) AKA Alan
DH (Dave Horton)

CCD, Hi ya Dave, I was thinking of doing a question and answer thing for the pike pool with some of the " notable pike anglers" , and I would like to start with you, some of the questions may involve you supplying the odd photo or two. How do you feel about that?

DH, Fire away old man! ;)

CCD, Kicking things off, How you been since we last nearly met at Rob's talk, was it a dodgy back that's been the pain?

DH, Alan, I am nothing short of astonished at my improvement - the Physio was FANTASTIC and today I had a full gym session at the Fire Stn too in preparation for my functional assessment at HQ next week. A month back I had genuine doubts about ever doing my operational job again but I'm very confident of that now!

CCD,Hope that goes well for you.
I have suffered a bit myself over the years with sciatica, whats been your problem? was it a work related thing or was it simply lifting a big fish without bending your knees?

DH, I had a fall whilst Swift Water Rescue training back in Oct. It resulted in mass soft tissue damage in my lower back /glutes, left me with 2 bulging discs and highlighted a degenerative issue consistent with my manual line of work and being 51. It sounds worse that it is and I've been taught management techniques in order that I may carry on pretty much as before. In short I'm delighted!!!

CCD, That's a real shame for the story as I was hoping it was lifting a big fish! But I'm glad you seam on the mend.

But enough of this career hero fireman s***e, suitably admired I must say, so one last question off fishing if I may, what about the Horton's family, mum, dad, love life kids etc?

DH, My father was an Irishman who left Tipperary town in his teens for the bright lights of England. He and my mother made a family of six as I have an Older brother and sister and I'm half a brace of twins! We were the Casey's (a common name around Tip Town) but became the Horton's when my mother re-married after Dad done a bunk when I was 4 and I gained a half sister too!

My Twin brother became my twin sister (gender re-assignment) many years back so life is, was and always will be varied in my world.

I met the mother of my Children when we were both in out teens and we shared the next 17 years together before she eventually had enough of me. In fairness we had little other the kids in common but you don't realise these things when you're as young as we were perhaps? Between us we created my greatest accomplishment yet in the shape of my three fantastic kids (Amba 30 - Connor 27 and Jake 21) and this coming May Amba is to make me a grandfather for the first time so as far as I'm concerned 2016 is already a GREAT year!

I remarried some years back and have the perfect Wife now in as much as I haven't clapped eyes on her in over six years! That reminds me I must divorce her?
These days I share my life with a Girl (Donna) I was in class with every day throughout senior school but never found the courage to talk to much. She was a pretty lil thing (still is), went out with all the cool dudes (I never have been) and seemingly never noticed me? We re-met 4 years ago and get on like a house on fire!!!!

My world is completed by the fact that the young Lady I dated before Donna decided she'd sooner leave with both of our cars rather than the dog she'd arrived with and in no time at all Lucydog and I became inseparable!

She's a huge commitment and has cost me numerous fish (Dogs are not always permitted) but we love each other implicitly and I wouldn't be without her!

CCD, That is what I call a great answer Dave, thanks, somehow I just knew you were a paddy  I shall be asking a few fishy questions now

CCD, So Dave, what would be your 1st angling memory, who did you go with, where and importantly, did you catch?

 Dave and his Grandad on his 95th Christmas Day

DH, My first Angling memory was of a family day out back in the very early 70's- I suspect we were somewhere around Slough for that's where the majority of my extended family lived at the time - my Grandparents and a couple of Uncles and Aunts were present, my mother wasn't as she was quite poorly by now. Particularly as my Father had long since had it on his toes, it was the men folk that sort of mentored us boys. Again it's not until much later in life that you realise what was going on at the time but I remember it all fondly and with great respect now too. Fishing tackle appeared and so did a little gravel pit and a few hours were spent being educated in the fine art. Grandad was very comfortable with fishing and apparently I was the quietest and most softly trodden of "the twins" so I got to fish with him and see how it was done? 

Grandad helped everyone set up and got them fishing first and then he and I wandered as far away from the others as we could (all of 50 yds on the half acre pit) and planted the gear down beside some trees. For the next 30 minutes I learned more than was ever going to again in any other 30 minutes of my next 30 years of fishing! Whilst my uncles, cousin and brothers were busy catching little Perch and Roach Grandad and I simply crept along the tree line and looked into the water. I didn't always see what made Grandad mumble and muse but occasionally I did and they were HUGE!

Little crusts of bread were scattered amongst the branches of the trees and slowly they'd disappear into magic swirls of water that slurped and sometimes even re-appear too! I remember graphically having it explained to me how if we were stealth like and patient enough that maybe just maybe we could lead one or better still two of the fish (for when there's more than one they compete and make mistakes) "Hansel and gretel" like out from the branches to where we might just might be able to try fish for them "We're just trying to trick them David!" Pleasant banter and mild derision emanated from the area of the Pit that the rest of the family were fishing, at our lack of fish but Grandad smiled wryly and tried to keep me calm. 

Periodically I'd run back and forth to the others telling them of the monsters that lurked beneath the trees but they were more than content catching the little Roach etc and so if I'm honest would I have been! Eventually we began fishing ourselves and shock, gasp, horror all we were catching too were little Perch that seemingly swallowed the hooks and bled and even littler Roach. Every couple of minutes though Grandad would wander off down to the other end of the trees and feed a little more bread in. All too quickly an Auntie appeared and told us that time was almost up and that Nan (the matriarch) was thinking about heading home soon. His hand forced Grandad stood up and declared that it was now or never and promptly bit the line above his float before tying on a really BIG hook! I had to hang back incase I spooked them but off he went to the other end of the trees and within seconds he was waving frantically and calling me over! The whole family seemed to appear just in time to hear Grandads line snap and see the water calm and I got to watch the ever calm head of the family throw the rod down in disgust and start cussing! I was to run the whole event through my head a million times over the next few years and without doubt the Angler in my was born that very day!

CDD, So the young Horton is off and running down the angling path, over the next few years, which way did this path twist and turn regarding species and the places you fished etc and what was your 1st experience with pike?

DH, Throughout my junior School years I flirted with fishing and most of it was carried out in the company of my bestie, a boy by the name of Nigel Palmer. Initially we caught mostly Perch and it was whilst doing that that I learned the value of a livebait! That's a little misleading actually for it was worms that were used to catch the Perch but we soon learned that the more vigorous they were then the thus the more productive. Nigel and I were sent to different senior schools and slowly lost contact but not before we spread our wings a little further and found ourselves at a Dobbs Weir on the River Lea in Herts. Here we were to witness lots of Pike being caught and after watching "The Big Boys" and picking their brains we went away and armed ourselves with heavier line, shop bought snap tackles and some sprats. My first Pike though fell to a Live Gudgeon cadged from a fellow angler on our maiden trip Piking to Dobbs Weir! I was ecstatic and eager to show the world just how clever I was, so we promptly dispatched it with a hefty glass lemonade bottle and I rode the 10 miles home with it strapped to the handle bars of my push bike! Somewhat reminiscent of our EE brothers eh?

Having drifted apart from Nigel completely and having hooked up with other kids I continued to flirt with Fishing and Piking in particular but mostly with spinners and caught quite a few too! BY the time I was in my late teens my best Pike was still very modest in size and though not weighed I'd hazard a guess at 8lbs? When I was about 18 I witnessed a fish of 18lbs (the captor called it 20 but it never was) get caught at Dobbs Weir again and it had such an impact on me that I set about trying to catch such a fish myself and bloody blimey if I didn't catch the exact same specimen on my first trip a week later!

I learned so much from that first very intentional capture and above all I found confidence in my ability to catch Pike - From that day onwards I've never looked back!

CCD, I love that image of you cycling along with a pike strapped to the handle bars  but how attitudes have changed eh!
So I get the impression that from that 18 lber you became inspired to catch more pike and bigger pike and other than catching bait, you all but exclusively fished for them. When your 1st 20 plusser came,am I right in thinking it actually weighed over 30?

DH, Yes and no Alan. The "Yes's". I became inspired to to catch more and BIGGER Pike and yes I almost exclusively fished for them and that remained the case until fairly recent times. My recent flirting with other species has been born out of the fact that I've struck up a friendship with Keith Kracknell (KC) and he's without doubt one of the country's great all rounders and very inspiring to be around! In order to spend a bit more time in his company I've had to forsake a few Piking sessions here and there but have had my eyes opened to the bounty of great alternative fishing I've been missing out on. We both love our Piking and there ain't no way we're sharing runs at that but with everything else we're both pretty laid back and happy to share just about everything. The fact is that when KC and I go fishing together, special things happen. By way of example, our first ever session saw me catch the lake record and my first ever Catfish (courtesy of KC) at 61lbs and our most recent trip out saw him land his PB Perch of 4lbs 11oz, that I was delighted to be able to put him on to! There have been many many other happenings too (Hmmm I think I've just given birth to a future article for the Pool with that as the title?)!
The No was the fact that my First 20 was in fact 20lbs 6oz

but my second one weighed 32lbs 4oz 

and simply illustrated to me that they are far from mythical creatures and certainly no more difficult to catch than say a 20 pounder (both of which require a different mind set to catching Jacks IMHO) but there are of course far far fewer of them about! The capture of that first 30 and it's profound effect on me saw me decide to specifically target fish of that stamp on a frequent basis. That said I learned somewhere along the way that it can be soul destroying and also result in very few fish caught (I had just a dozen or so runs one winter but 4 of them came from 30's) so these days I punctuate my BIG fish fishing with some easy fishing where I'll get runs and thus remain relatively sane?

CCD, Now we can move onto what makes a angler become a "notable one"  like yourself.
Not allowing for ETs two 40s, I believe I am right in saying that you have caught more 30lb pike than any other UK angler, 30 I believe, now forgetting about techniques and baits etc because many reading this will have a good understanding of all that, but as we know that putting enough time on the right waters is the key to angling success. So can you try to explain how you have consistently managed to choose the right waters and how you found the dedication, year in, year out to put the time in. Regarding the right water, what sort of water, ticks all the Hortons boxes?

DH, Firstly, there's no "Not allowing for ET's 40's" or indeed his number of upper 30's too for his stats are phenomenal (I do enjoy reminding him of one negative stat though and that's that he's a decade older than me)! The fact is, you can only catch what is available and for the most part fish of that stamp are generally few and far between.

It's possible there's someone out there caught more than ET and thus obviously myself but they're very good at keeping stum if that's the case?
Thirty pounders though are without doubt realistic targets and throughout the length and breadth of this country fish of that size get caught week in week out! I think I'm living proof that if you're driven enough that a working class lad with all the trappings of family life and a basic career etc can realistically hope to catch fish of that stamp should he wish to? The actual catching BIG Pike is I think relatively easy Alan - finding waters with them is not! Sure we have the obvious ones like Chew but unless you're one of the chosen few or loaded, getting access there is no mean feat? What we're left with then is either finding a water capable of producing one all of your own (I've only managed that once in 30 years) or more likely fishing somewhere that has a little history, recent or otherwise. Chasing specific fish is not everyones cup of tea (it's not my favoured option either) but I've done it and it is achievable. I've caught several fish that had popped up in the Angling press, that I'd been shown in pics or had perhaps even surprisingly turned up in fish surveys etc. I've specifically targeted them and almost without exception I've caught them too if I've made a concerted effort to do so!

I do chuckle sometimes when I hear terms like "circus" or when I see one angler deriding another for fishing a specific place or catching a particular fish and then offering themselves up as some paragon of virtue for fishing, for example, the great Lake's, a mighty lough or loch, the extensive Drains system, perhaps the Broads or even a large river etc for example? Rarely are they first to have done so, so are they not themselves simply following up some bit of information or snippet and jumping on someone elses all beit historic band wagon? The actual fact is that many many of us are actually fishing for the self same very few BIG fish if indeed that's what tickles our fancy?
Whilst I'll not try to refute your assertion "we know that putting enough time on the right waters is the key to angling success". I will offer the suggestion that choosing the right time to do so is far more effective! I've just done a very quick bit of mental arithmetic and can hand on heart tell you that five of the thirty pound fish I've caught have been landed within my first three attempts at catching them! Don't get me wrong I've had long campaigns too, particularly where for one reason or another I can't get at the fish as and when I would want to and my Irish thirty is a case in point in a much as it took in excess of 5 years for me to finally catch it when I specifically fished the water it lived in!

My dedication and inclination to go wavers dramatically and from time to time (for one reason or another) I've had none and thus taken full winters out to regroup as such. Where once I considered this a bad thing, these days I specifically choose to do it in order that I may fish more effectively when the inclination finally rears it's head again. To try keep it all fresh and interesting I set myself little targets - I'm particularly proud of having caught 20's from a dozen different rivers and 30's from the same number of different venues too. A few winters back I set out to catch 20's from all the home nations in one winter (and did it) and this winter I'm hoping still to catch a 20 plusser from my Kayak (MISSION ACCOMPLISHED NOW) !

"Regarding the right water, what sort of water, ticks all the Hortons boxes?"
I enjoy River Piking above all else Alan (and have a right River result this winter too) but I'm genuinely happy fishing anywhere and I do mean anywhere as long as I suspect it holds a thirty pounder. That's not to say I don't fish waters that don't hold them for often I specifically make a point of doing just that for above all else I just love catching Pike!

CCD, Ok I'll let Eddie keep his 40s
The future, I think if you haven't already, as I know you like to keep a little bit back, caught your 30th 30, I'm sure its all but a done deal, even 40 30s looks likely to one day be on the cards but I wonder how much importance you place on fishing for, and catching a 40?
With all the pressure modern angling is under,the ones that make for some of the most repeated threads on the pit, you know, EEs, cormorants and otters etc how optimistic are you for the future of British angling, and in particular specimen angling?

DH, Hahaha I do hold a little back Alan and for good reason. Invariably telling even your closest friends what you've caught and or where can see the fish come under greater pressure.  Some recent events have just reinforced my thoughts on this matter!

I have my own little rule of thumb regarding recaptures in as much as I'm perfectly happy to set out to catch a specific fish by design twice but there are others who will do so repeatedly (and of course there may be some who would not wish to catch a fish even twice) so by NOT sharing captures we are effectively protecting the fish and of course our own future fishing!

I don't think I'm being over ambitious in thinking it likely that I'll at least match ET for numbers of Pike over 30 Pounds one day (if not the 40's or BIG 30's)especially when you consider he has had a decade more at it than I have! If I'm honest though (and I heart on sleeve am at times) I'd really like to catch at least one more than Eddie. There's not much in this world that I'm any good at but Piking is something I can lay that claim to so I don't mind admitting that it would tickle me if one day it were accepted that I'd caught the most 30 pound Pike.

I do still dream of a 40 Pound Pike BUT I'm a realist and recognise that opportunities to catch one are few and far between and it would be difficult to specifically target one? Yes I know there's that gorgeous one in Yorkshire that Wyne Coole has caught twice but fishing for it under the circumstances I'd have had to was not something that appealed to me. I am not under any circumstances knocking anyone who has though either!

I'm fairly optimistic about Piking actually - Chew aside there are still good numbers of 30 pound fish to be found the length (Scotland seems to be up and coming) and breadth (the fens are holding their own) of this country and with so much focus on Chew itself some of them are getting a little overlooked in my opinion? It's a travesty what has happened on the Broads in recent times with Salt incursions and Prymnesium not to mention the Otters but even there there will be opportunities for the man prepared to put in the hours and leg work? That the EE's are an issue is too obvious to ignore and I in no way condone them taking fish for the pot.

Daves favorite, a river thirty

I will however, try to offer a silver lining to that particular cloud by suggesting that generally, in the main, their techniques are most effective with the smaller of our Pike and that the removal of them, whist potentially having dire long term effects, may be part of the reason that some of the waters that the EE's frequent are seemingly producing more BIG Pike at present than they have done for quite some time?
Going off at a tangent here but one positive by product of having caught quite as many BIG Pike as I have is rarely do I feel any pressure to do so again and as such I'm free to play long shot's and explore opportunities that I might not do if I were driven merely by the pursuit of the next one?
Piking and specimen hunting in general is a funny old game but above all else I've come to learn that there really are very few outstanding anglers. Instead what is very obvious to me and has been for decades but somehow eludes some others is that any fisherman is only as good as his fishing! So any Piker who is consistently catching more than average is likely very competent at Piking but has access to above average fishing - simple as!

Dave Horton - One Good Deed

I first shared this little tale through the pages of a small circulation Irish Piking magazine (An Luis) back in the early 2000’s?

I’m hoping then that few if any of you will have read it already and that it entertains you and fills a few minutes of your life’s as intended.

I don’t know if it’s the fact that I have Irish blood coursing through my veins (my father having been born and raised in Tipperary town) but the one place in this world that find myself most comfortable and at home in is Ireland.  For many years now I’ve nurtured a dream that sees me living somewhere on that beautiful Island and god willing one day I will!  Here and now though in the cold light of day and the stark reality of the present I live on a somewhat different Island surrounded by people with whom I find myself increasingly at odds with and the majority of whom I seemingly become ever more detached from.  Don’t get me wrong, I recognise the fact that the common denominator in all my conflicts is me and that I can be a difficult man but on the whole my brother man (and woman) disappoints me more often than not and even if I am able to recognise and (slowly) accept my own failings, it still doesn’t alter the fact that there are some who’s failings are yet greater!

Here then is a Piking tale that contains considerable good and just a little bad, that will I hope paint the picture more clearly to you of what I’m getting at. 

The story begins with me driving a couple of hundred miles across country in the dark, in order to get a reasonable nights kip on a mates couch (Les Moses) and wake just a short jaunt down to his local river in pursuit of the awesome Pike it held!  Forgive me for not naming the venue but even with this passage of time I’m mindful of treading on the toes belonging to those more local than myself.  Some if not all of you will work out the venue I’m referring to but at least I can say I didn’t tell you eh?

Previous ventures to the river had seen Les and I share multiple catches of BIG Pike, with his best going over 28lbs and mine just a pound less.  Confidence then was high especially when the river conditions were at their optimum best following flood conditions.

I’d first met Les (a good, good man) in the late 90’s when I’d been asked to give a presentation to his local region of the PAC.  Despite being well versed at giving these presentations I don’t mind admitting that I get a little anxious about giving them (few of us like public speaking?) especially if I attend on my own (please take note people I won’t be alone in feeling that way).  Anyways, there I was, stood anxiously in a room full of strangers, 150 miles from home in the late 90’s, when out of the crowd emerged  a stranger (Les) who was to become a friend for life with his warm words of welcome, a kind smile and a pint!

Les, he won’t mind me saying so, is a bit of a scally wag which meant we found common ground and empathy quickly.  Even before we shared great fishing and more than our share of bad times together we discovered that rare natural understanding from which lasting friendship grows.

Anyways back to the story.  It was about ten at night and a tired Horton decided to pull into a motorway service station for a refuel and a coffee.  Parking the car up near to the Services entrance, my headlights picked out a forlorn looking figure standing with an empty Petrol can in his hand.  Already starting to recognise an opportunity to help someone I wandered over and enquired if all was well with him?   “Not really.”  He started and proceeded to tell me how he was driving home in his Van and had realised he’d left his wallet at work and was on the brink of running out of fuel.  Could he perhaps borrow a fiver to get him to the next Services where he’d hopefully find another “generous soul”  who would maybe lend him another so that he might repeat the process until he made it home.  He would ofcourse take my name and address in order that he could mail me the fiver back if I were good enough to help him?  Blimey this was my lucky day I thought to myself!  This bloke really was up shit creak and I was in prime position to help him!  To cut a long story short I gave not the £5 he was asking for but the £30 he’s need in order to get home without stopping again and so that he wouldn’t have to suffer the indignity of having to ask some other stranger to lend him some of their hard earned cash – I even bought him a coffee and a pastry (incidentally I’ve never ever bought myself a pastry from a motorway services because I wouldn’t justify the extortionate price of one  for myself – but when I asked him if he wanted anything it that which he pointed at and that which he got!) so that his little tummy might stop rumbling!  Feeling pretty good about myself, we shook hands warmly and parted company so that I might take a leak and he’d go fill his van up with diesel.

Needing fuel myself I figured I’d see him at the pump too.  Smiling to myself and humming “Everything is beautiful” I drove down to the petrol stn and was a little surprised not to see a van of any sort?  Certainly I’d been pretty quick and I doubted I’d missed him but somewhere deep inside me stirred an uneasy feeling.  NO!  I wouldn’t allow myself to think what I’d started to think and so I tried my best to shut it out!  The next couple of hours passed without event and eventually at about midnight I pulled up at Les’s place. “You’re a little later than expected?” he said and whilst making my apologies I related the tale of the poor fcuker I’d met at the motorway services and how I’d saved the day. Les smiled wryly, at the same time shaking his head and muttering as he left the room momentarily.  When he returned he furnished me with a local Newspaper already open on page 5 with the bold headline “Motorway Services Petrol Scam!”  I didn’t know wether to laugh or cry when I realised that the very plausible “Paul?” that I’d met some 100 miles or so earlier and had seemingly shown honest respect and gratitude to the simple but kind man that had pressed 3 crisp tenner’s into his hand and bought him a coffee and cake, had likely been little more than a confidence trickster!  Even faced with the mounting evidence I clung to some desperate hope that Paul would honour our verbal agreement, stop my already dwindling faith in humanity, restore my faith in myself for being able to judge the good and bad in my brother man and mail me the money he said he would to my place of work, the Fire Station.  NO NO NO!  I simply refused to accept that I’d been mugged!  I even tried to console myself with the fact that I’d done something that made me feel good, though I wasn’t sure I felt £30 good?   I slept very little that night and all too quickly morning was upon us with the ever cheery Les enthusiastically waking me to begin the assault!

A hearty breakfast (Les always looks after me) and we were on our way.  As luck would have it another factor Les and I found in common is that we both abhor early starts so it was gone eight before we were at waterside and ready to launch the 10ft Ally boat we were to fish from.

The river was in fine fettle and was just as Les had predicted, only just becoming fishable after being in flood for the best part of the winter.  Previous experience had proven this to be just about the optimum time to fish for the rivers Pike.  Today that would simply be re-affirmed! 

Les had in the past been a bit of Salmon ghillie and was first class at positioning a boat in the most appropriate position to get the most from a swim.  The “plan” was to drift along one of the margins and take it in turns to cast a bait to “Pikey” looking spots.   Lives and deads, cast into every nook and cranny, invariably solicit a rapid response from any Pike that have taken up residence there and had proven to be very productive on previous trips.

We had only been fishing perhaps 15 mins and had presented baits in maybe 4 or 5 swims when we happened upon the first really horny looking one.  We were taking it in turns to cast our baits into these often quite restricted swims and it was Les’s turn to fish this particularly small one.  A perfectly positioned under arm plop saw les’s half pound bait land exactly where he wanted it and within seconds it was taken.  The spirtited fight that ensued resulted in a fine looking fishing of about 18 lbs.  Several hundred yards and half an hour or so later we came upon a slack that was large enough for us both to fish.  I dropped the anchor and we both swung our baits out to fish perhaps 10 yards apart.  We had simultaneous takes, with mine being a tiddler that was easily dealt with.  Les though was into a much better fish that was taking line as it headed upstream of our position.  I’d just dropped my jack back in when I witnessed Les’s BIG fish turn beneath the boat and throw the hooks!  A few quick words of consolation were offered whilst we both quickly hooked fresh baits on and got them back out into the slack again.  My bait reached the tail end of the slack first and “plopped” under!

The fight was similar, the outcome different as minutes later we were weighing our first 20 of the day!  A great start at 24lbs and we’d only been out an hour.  I’d love to say that the action was fast and furious but in truth it wasn’t and rarely is on this particular venue.  In fact you can fish dozens of great looking swims and hundreds of yards on this river and not get a sniff of a Pike and today was a case in point.   It was then a couple of miles and quite a few hours later that we encountered our next BIG Pike with just a jack a piece to each of us in between.

As luck would have it, it was my turn to drop a bait into this swim and as is usually the case, if a Pike is present, the 6oz (the baits were getting smaller) Roach was taken pretty much immediately.  I wound down hard and the rod wrenched in my hands as an obviously BIG Pike gave it best for the initial few seconds before being bullied back towards the boat.  It was all over in a flash as the bait came flying back in a sorry looking state for me to examine. The teeth marks were BIG and I felt the despair only a fisherman who’s lost a whacker does!

The swim required a better look so we dropped the anchor and both got our baits ready.  Decent baits were running out so I mounted a dead one of about a pound whilst Les stayed with his more moderate live one and we both got them out into the slack.  Both our baits made it unmolested to the end of the slack but as I rapidly retrieved mine in order to clear Les’s line, it was engulfed in a BIG swirl.  This fish, like all her sister’s on this river fought like a Demon and set off upstream at a rate of knots against a not inconsiderable flow!  This time the hooks held and after the initial surge another mid 20lbs fish was bullied into the net.  A little BIGGER than the earlier one this fish weighed in at 25lbs 4oz (interestingly this fish had appeared in one of the Angling papers some months earlier at a claimed weight of 32lbs and had been one I’d hoped I’d bump into) and was ofcourse my 2^nd twenty of the day.  

A few quick shots and a happy Horton sat back to take it all in.  I had a move in mind but Les had other ideas and what’s more he had my best interests at heart too!  “You cast out again Dave I think there might have been two different fish down there?”  Les offered.  Well, I have to admit I was convinced that both takes had come from the same fish and also it should have been Les that was putting a bait through the swim.  Les though was having none of it and went on the explain his reasoning.  “Go on Dave you might catch a third 20 and after last night events I’d like to see that!”  With that I quickly hooked one of the remaining little live baits back to the head of the slack.  God it’s good to be wrong at times!  The take was a carbon copy of the first and the fight just as spectacular but the weight was better still!  At 26lbs this was our last fish of the day and still remains one of my favourite days fishing ever.

I’d love to finish on a high note but sadly I can’t for as I’m sure you’re probably guessed already? Old muggings here never did see his £30 quid again. Would I do the same again? Yes I most certainly would (and have) for I genuinely believe in the old adage “one good deed deserves another” (fortunately so it seems does Les) and I live in the belief that for every snake of a human there is out there, there’s at least one good man to balance them out?

Dave Horton

Give n Take - Dave Horton

Fishing is different things to each of us and can even be different things at different times to some of us too?  I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m often driven almost entirely by a desire to catch another BIG pike but I can also see that it’s not just the fish that make the fishing!

Fishing (in this instance piking) is about so much more than catching fish but it is without doubt the fish that are the catalyst and indeed the cement that often holds together or occasionally shatters all the peripheral factors that it brings to each of us.

I am by nature quite a social animal and suspect that this fact has even had some bearing on the kind of job that I do for a living?  For without doubt the Fire Service relies heavily upon team work and camaraderie and I like to think my fishing does too.

As I sit and reflect upon approaching 30 years of piking now, I can see that the brother pikers and the mates I’ve made through piking are as important to me as the piking itself.

I’ve met Fire Fighters the length and breadth of the country and in having done so I’ve concluded that there’s a kind of “generic” Fire Fighter and the same is pretty much true of pikers.  It’s no surprise to me then that I find common ground with most of them.  I genuinely like my brother man and when it comes to pikers I generally bloody love em!   Ofcourse there’s exceptions but on the whole pikers are my cup of tea.  

My immediate group of piking mates comprises of a nucleus of old stalwarts with peripheral individuals coming and going over the years.  Some of them simply drop out of piking but still remain friends and some of them apparently never grasp the fundamentals of friendship and loyalty and once their cover is blown get dropped by the wayside (Snakes).   You see relationships, not just fishing ones, rely heavily on compromise, respect, loyalty and give and take and unless there’s fair play they are doomed to failure!  My oldest (literally lol) piking buddy is the long suffering Adrian “MR K” Kisbey.  Ade and I found each other as strangers on the banks of a local gravel pit 25 or so years ago.  Where the gift of a few excess Livebaits won me a friend for life!  In the early days Ade worked long hours and rarely fished anything other than weekends but where we could marry time up we did and he regularly financed a lot of our fishing.  Raising a young family on a Fire Fighters minimal wage saw me in a position where all I had to offer in return was my time, my seemingly boundless enthusiasm, drive and an occasional uncanny knack of locating good fishing!  It was a good combination and to this day MR K is my most frequent fishing partner.   Our personal situations have changed over the years and our relationship has had to evolve.  These days I’m in a healthier financial position and our roles have altered a little with Ade having retired and having more time on his hands.  It’s clear then that the give and take in fishing, doesn’t necessarily have to be the fishing itself.  That said the wheels do tend to come off if one of you encounters good fishing and decides for no other reason than greed to indefinitely exclude the other!  Ade and I have over the years exchanged some excellent fishing and here I’ll relate a couple of fruitful transactions that have helped keep our wheels turning.  A decade or so back Ade and I managed to find ourselves divorced from our long term wives within a year or so of each other.  At that time Ade put a roof over my head for upwards of a year whilst I found my feet and together we slowly came to terms with our new lives.  Much self-analysis, abuse, seas of tears and a few laughs here and there cemented further our friendship.  I’d become single first and as such was ahead of the game in as much as after the best part of two winters out of fishing I started to find the inclination to pick up a rod again.

You’d think that with all the extra time on your hands and with no one to answer to anymore that you’d fish more frequently but my experience is that this is simply not the case!  In truth when you’re depressed (and we both were) it seems that the things you enjoy most elude you soonest and seemingly take the longest to find again too?

Despite our varied lack of interest in anything fishing related, Ade and I couldn’t help but be intrigued with rumours in the local pub of a BIG pike having been caught from a local river.

To cut a long story short I decided I’d go check the rumours out and bugger me if I didn’t go and catch the fish at my first attempt (all 31lbs of her) on the first occasion that I’d been fishing in almost 2 years!  This fish was the catalyst that got me back into fishing after my self enforced break and was also to help Ade find his way back too!

A year later, In, identical flood conditions, I caught the self, same fish for a second time, this time weighing just 8 ounces less.

The Give!

A further year later and the piker in Ade was by now waking up and he was making infrequent yet concerted efforts to try track this same fish down but it simply wasn’t happening.  It took flood conditions to create the ideal conditions for location and capture of this fish and when 2 winters after I’d first caught her, these conditions arose again, I figured that if she was still around that she’d be ripe for capture?  There’s no merit in catching the same fish over and again (even 30’s) in my mind so I certainly wasn’t going to try to myself (My own little self imposed rule is that I’m happy to catch a BIG pike twice before I won’t target it any more) but I decided to try help Ade do so instead.   Armed with a bucket of the right stuff, Ade with a single rod and me with the net we set about tracking her down.  I honestly felt that if the fish was present that it would take the bait within minutes but when 15 of them had passed I started to conclude that she was no longer alive?  Leaving Ade in position I set off to see if there was another more likely looking spot for him to fish and I’d only been gone 30 seconds when he called out to me that he’d seen the BIG pike chase the 1lb live bait to the surface and take it!  Moments later we were photographing Ade’s first 30!

I’m not trying to kid anyone reading this into believing that I’m the most selfless or benevolent piker in the world and rest assured if I hadn’t already caught this fish twice I’d have been trying to again alongside MR K.  Further to that I don’t mind admitting that often when I’ve encountered good fishing, I’ve generally milked it a bit before I invite anyone else along but always without exception Ade finds himself included eventually and it works just fine for both us like that!

The Take.

The give and take in fishing doesn’t then necessarily pertain to fishing alone but it is ofcourse important and often does.  So when, some years later, whilst fishing a 20 acre gravel pit, Ade was fortunate enough to a 32lbs fish, he was magnanimous enough to give me the heads up too!  A fortnight later (there’s something in this time scale if you ask me) Ade and I set up together in the same swim from which he’d caught his recent 30 and fortunate as I often am I was to land a fish, Late morning, that was just a few ounces smaller than the one that Ade had caught recently.  Unsurprising, we concluded that I’d caught the self, same fish?  Elated, I down loaded the pictures from my camera that evening and was to become even more elated when it came to light that I had infact caught a different fish from Ades!  Naturally we were both excited by this fact and the rest of the winter was spent by each of trying to catch the fish the other already had but that as they say is another story.

More Give.

The predecessor to this forum saw me meeting, on line and inviting a complete stranger by the name of Darryl (The Baddie) Kirkbright out for a couple of days fishing.  The Baddie, it seemed was struggling to catch that all elusive 20 pounder and I at the time had access to a bit of drain that quite literally held upwards of a dozen and what’s more I’d caught most of them!  Sympathising with his obvious plight I contacted him through the forum and invited him down for a bit of easy fishing. I hope I don’t offend Darryl when I tell you that when he arrived at mine he wasn’t quite what I expected.  For some reason I’d got it into my head that I was going to be taking out some skinny little youngster that had little or no life experience let alone fishing experience.   How wrong can you be? 

The man mountain that is the Baddie roared into the yard at the Fire Station where I live and work in his Range Rover and covered from head to toe in tattoos, all 20 stone of him swept me up in a bear hug and for the next 48 hours we never experienced a minutes silence – he was and it was great company!   We had a few jars, a bit of supper and bedded down early so that we could make a dawn start the next morning.  Excited as he was I found him perched ready on the couch at 4 the next morning in readiness for day one of our trip.  60 odd miles later, we arrived for first light at the drain and set about getting him to the going swim.  I’d chosen not to fish so as to give the Baddie the very best chance I could for at times pike do seem to find me irresistible?  To cut a long story short The Baddie had a field day!  My memory isn’t what it was but if I recall correctly he caught a dozen or so fish over ten pounds that day and best of all one of the resident 20’s showed up for him too!  It was it’s fair to say “Mission accomplished!”  We could easily have stayed put for day 2 but I really wanted to give the Baddie a crack at another on song venue I was fishing at the time and day two saw us arriving at the mighty Abberton Reservoir.  With the Baddies 20 of the day before tucked under his belt I chose to fish too and we set up side by side in a going area.   When fishing Abberton it’s very difficult to do anything above and beyond the next man but being able to cast a good distance is a BIG advantage and make no bones about it the Baddie can cast!  That day he out cast and out caught me and with no help from me what so ever he promptly caught his second 20 pounder!  I don’t know who was the more elated (oh yes I do)!

Fishing aside the Baddie and I got on like a house on fire and kept in touch on line from then onwards.

More Take.

The next spring the PAC organised a fish-in at the The Carp Societies, Horseshoe lake, Oxford and by way of thanks the Baddie was good enough to book the pair of us in for a little social.  

All expenses paid, I wasn’t about to turn him down and besides I looked forwards to meeting up again.  It was again a 2 dayer and for us atleast the first of these was uneventful.  News did filter around though that the opposite side of the lake was producing a few good double.  Armed with this knowledge I set off at dawn the next morning with a wobbling set up to see if I couldn’t turn something up?  My wobbling set up is really just my free roving float fished live bait set up because I like the try make the float plop whilst twitching the bait back and ofcourse you also get to see what’s going on if and when a fish takes.  Cutting another long story short I’d covered a few hundred yards of bank and could see that I was raising a few glances as I headed towards the static anglers as I repeatedly cast out my pound plus deadbaits when lo and behold I had a take!  I personally think wobbling is a bit like lure fishing but has the added bonus that the pike hang on to the free meal they’ve intercepted?  I felt the obvious take, opened the spool whilst I readied the net and wound down to a good resistance.  Minutes later the Baddie turned up to photograph what to this day remains one of the prettiest 20lbs pike I’ve ever caught.  Thanks Baddie!

I’ve got more anecdotes like this, that highlight the necessity for “Give n Take” but I’m mindful of the length of this piece already so I’ll hang on to them for a bit and perhaps contribute a follow up to this for the Pool in the future my piking brothers?

Dave Horton