Pike on stamps 4

Those who have been following my blog for a while, know that I collect stamps with pike on it. And as I’ve mentioned before, there aren’t a lot of them out there. So the more stamps you find, the harder it gets.

These are the ones I found since my last post.

 

This is a nice one from Switzerland.

 

 One from the Netherlands

 

From Finland

 

From Mongolia

 

And one from Sweden

This next stamp I already had, but now I found a first day cover of it.

And the same stamp on what they call a ‘maximum card’.

And this last one I like a lot, a maximum card from the Aland Islands.

If you want to see the other ones, click on the label ‘stamps’ on the bottom of this post or in the right column of my blog.

And I’ll repeat my question, if there’s anyone out there who can help me to find some more, please let me know…

Pike Poppers

If I lived in pike paradise… I mean in a country like Ireland, Finland, Canada,… then I would certainly fish a lot more with poppers. They’re not the best way to catch a pike, but they certainly are the most spectacular way! Unfortunately I live in Belgium, where focusing on catching a pike (in whatever way), is already a big task. So I mainly focus on the best way  to hook them on a fly.

But they’re so much fun on your vise, that sometimes when I’m in the mood, I just can’t resist making them. I say ‘making’ instead of ‘tying’, because to my knowledge (please correct me if I’m wrong), there is no pre-maid popper-head on the market that will support a 5/0 or 6/0 hook, along with a steel- (or titanium-) leader tip (and swivels), plus some rubber legs and a 15 to 20 cm tail tied on to it, that will still float enough to call it a popper. So ‘making’ the head will take most of your time.

But, this week I was in the mood to make some,…

They’re 15 to 17 cm long, tied (made) on a Piketrek, Eagle Claw, Pike Fly Hook (that’s a mouth full), size 5/0. I took two pictures from each so you would have a better idea on how I made them.

I also made some sliders. Fish these on an intermediate line, let them hit the surface, then start stripping again, and you’ll have a deadly fly.

What I would also like to share, is the material I used to make the heads. On a previous post you’ve seen how I make my popper heads (if you didn’t, click on the label ‘poppers’ on the bottom of this post or on the right column of this blog). This time I used another kind of  (cheaper) foam. I got another great tip from Renzo Callebert, a great fly-tier, and always in search of unconventional tying material.

Some of you will remember those wooden blocks in different colours we used to play with as a child. Well nowadays (due to all kinds of safety regulations for child’s play), they make this stuff in foam! And an interesting (and really cheap) foam it is.

Do you have any idea how many popper heads you can make with this? Well,… neither do I, but it will certainly be a challenge to find out.

The next pike flies I will post also started with an idea from Renzo,… although some other stuff will come first I think (pike on stamps for example, because my collection has grown)… 

On with the blog!

My summer in the Belgian Ardennes was the first thing I wanted to post, but I have so many pictures and stuff I could write about that I simply don’t know where to start, so… nothing happens. And since I want to move on, I decided to skip it (or do a piece now and then, or… we’ll see) and carry on.

 

The last two days for example, were exceptionally warm for this time of the year (over 20° C),

so I spent my afternoons at the ‘Hawthorn’ club water, chasing rainbows.

 

And I caught very well on this type of streamer.

Just a little bit of flash, a rabbit strip zonker and a deer hair head with some dumbbell eyes in it.

I actually tied these streamers this summer for chub (with great success by the way). Here are a couple of nice ones.

But as I said before, the last two days, they worked very well on these kind of beauties.

 

Especially a black version.

Now that I have that whole ‘Belgian Ardennes’ thing out of my head, I’m able to move on, so from now on you can expect a lot more posts on a more frequent base again…

Polder pike

A post about my summer in the Belgian Ardennes will be for later, because I still have lots of pictures to process.

But this morning, I went pike-fishing in the Belgian polders with a couple of guys from my club. And since I didn’t fish for pike the whole summer, the expectations were high.

 

We found ourselves a nice little polder water and hoped for the best.

Here’s Dirk, our president,

in action.

And we got lucky, there were a lot of pike swimming around in it!

These are the best fish of the morning:

 

This is Nico with a new personal best for him, 89 cm of muscles. Well done Nico!

 

And half an hour later, I was able to land this 92 cm beauty.

Needless to say that I’m a happy man. This is certainly the best way to start pike fishing again…

Guess who’s still alive?

 

Yes! I finally got back this evening from a fantastic (extended) summer in the Belgian Ardennes (with no internet connection,… as you may have noticed).

My mailbox is about to explode, but I promise I’ll get to everybody as soon as possible.

Sorry for not being there, but I have to admit that waking up every day next to a beautiful river, with only the sound of the water and the wind in the trees, beats every internet connection. Although,… when days grew shorter (and colder), I did long to pick up ‘ordinary life’ again (but, since I just got home, that idea might change quickly).

One thing’s for sure though,… no matter how many trout and chub I caught this summer,…

I MISS PIKE!!!

So I’ll get back to that as soon as possible…