With very little spare time available on the Saturday and a storm coming in which would make fishing almost impossoble on Sunday I was aware my best bet would be to target the Basingstoke canal as close to home as possible in Ash Vale.
I got home from work after dark on Friday so could only really prepare but having seen some members of a facebook group sharing night time photos of fish underwater using a headlight to find them I decided to do a little reconnaissance and see if I could narrow down a few key areas in which the pike would likely be come daylight.
Pike are very territorial and often defend their own terratory by chasing off any other large fish which may try to share the space. They are well known for eating their own kind when given the chance. So I was sure that if I could find them that they would almost definately be in the same vacinity come daylight.
The canal is countless miles long and can be brutal when you dont have the time to keep moving so by locating these fish at night I was confident that I could return and get one quickly if a short session was on the cards.
So on Friday night when I had some time spare I took a long walk along the canal in total darkness with a little hand torch to highlight pikey looking spots to see if any were lurking in the shallows.
I started to see millions of tiny baitfish, most likely baby roach I thought as they had shiny sides but they weren’t being attacked by anything. Once I left them behind I started to find the predators.
First of all a decent sized perch swam off as I lit him up and then about 25 yards from the railway bridge I often fish under I saw a half decent pike which hugged the bank tight and tried to glide beneath the bushes overhanging. 
I kept moving and found several more pike as well as some decent sized perch, all them like ghosts in the night.
The recon was done and I had a good idea of where to target.
When my chance came on the Saturday afternoon, I headed right for where I expected the pike to be based on my recon.
5 casts in I felt resistance on my line, followed by deadweight. I lifted the rod and applied steady pressure until I felt movement again and a fish started reacting heavily on the end of my line. It felt big. I thought maybe even another catfish until an onlooker called out pike.
I was chuffed to bits and quickly erected my landing net ready to slide under the fish once I brough it in under control. A relatively short fight and steady pressure allowed me to get the pike in over the top of my net and lifted it clear of the water in seconds. 
Mission accomplished. #4 species of my lure species hunt for 2020 was Pike.
I got a quick snap and then released the fish unharmed.
What to target next?
Not long until the coarse season ends meaning in freshwater I would have to turn my attention to trout or commercial waters for any fresh water quarry.
Still not having got the saltwater year under way I know there is a long way to go but I am confident of beating the 2019 haul already.
If you want to find out more about catching UK fish on lures, I strongly recommend you try this great book here which provides info on everything you might want to know about lure fishing in the UK and how to catch a huge variety of species.
How To Trick A Fish 