The best read in pike fishing will be winging its way to PAC members shortly.And we can bring you a sneak preview of what's inside issue 116 of Pikelines - the magazine of the Pike Anglers Club.
No surprises who's on the front cover. The papers christened her the Lady of the Lake, as Lyn Baker 's magnificent 39lbs 8oz pike gained the PAC blanket media coverage.
We've got the full story behind the capture of the biggest pike ever caught by a female angler, as told by Lyn and her husband Neil. And as you might expect, it's one hell of a story.
"I could just picture the fish coming adrift and slipping back in front of our eyes," Neil writes of the moment when the great fish surfaced. "I think I'd already prepared myself to dive over the side after it.
"After a hell of a scrap she drew the fish towards the net but it was so big about a third of the fish hung over the side and as I lifted it, the net handle snapped. In slow motion the fish swam off again and the nightmare seemed to be coming true.
"Divorce papers were already being prepared, but luckily the size 4 Owner trebles held firm. The fish was drawn over the broken net for a second time and this time she was safe."
Lyn's capture summed up what the club is all about for many who attend our events for the chance of catching the fish of a lifetime from waters not normally open to pike anglers.
As you'll read in Pikelines, our special events organiser has been hard at work negotiating access to other waters and we'll be announcing an expanded callender of events and giving members the chance to apply for a place to beat the herd and get on an Anglian Water trout reservoir before it opens for pike fishing.
But the club's not just about events. It's about bringing pike anglers together in other ways too.
Unity was a big theme for the tenth committee's first year in office. And with this in mind, we were particularly pleased to bring former secretary and life member John Watson back into the fold.
Watto, as many know him, doesn't pull any punches when he breaks his silence of nearly 20 years in an exclusive interview that's sure to get people talking.
Eric Edwards is another no-nonsense pike angler who tells it like it is. In a piece entitled Big Pike And The Meaning of Life, he lays bare his own philosphy on his fishing - which will strike a chord with many.
"Pikers are often highly tuned to their surroundings. We notice every patch of disturbed water, every bubble that rises from the depths and every fin that cuts the surface," he observes.
"Pikers are naturalists and ecologists with a deep understanding and concern for their environment."
Former PAC president Bill Winship strikes a mellow chord as he reflects on the importance of his fishing friends and companions, as he turns 51.
"George Orwell once said that once a man is over 40 there is not a day that goes by that he
does not consider his own mortality," he poignantly writes.
"I am not one to ponder too much on this kind of thing but we will all be dead and alone for a long long time and that solemn fact makes you want to get the most out of every minute we have."
Dennis "Digger" Moules charts the changing face of Fenland Piking, Jack Dinnewell relaunches our junior section and there are exclusive competitions, details of new events and one or two other gems.
Keep your eye out for the postman. It'll be on your doormat shortly.
