Shirebrook Pikers break the ice On Sunday 4th February 2007 Shirebrook Angling Club (SAC) took 16 of its members on a pike fishing trip to L Lakes at Rainworth. When they arrived they were shocked to see that the lake was frozen over, so the bailiff provided them with a grappling hook to break the ice about 15ft to 20ft out, so the children and adults could fish. It was a beautiful warm day but many of the dead baits ended up on top of the ice rather than in the water! Even so - a lot of the baits landed in the water, but no one had managed to land a pike by lunchtime. Later in the day about 2.15pm, NFA Coach Alan Hayes, the Chairman of SAC landed the first pike which weighed about 3lb, then about an hour later young angler and committee member Alex Everett caught and landed a pike weighing in at 8lb 12oz. This was the biggest pike Alex had ever caught and he was really pleased with himself. Both fish were caught using mackerel dead bait about a rod length out. Altogether 16 members from the club attended, 8 young anglers and 8 adults, only 4 adults fished and 4 looked after the young anglers. SAC would like to thank its sponsor Robin Clarke from Tackle Shak at Clipstone who very kindly came to visit on the day and to help out with coaching the children, as he is a keen pike angler. SAC would also like to take this chance to thank the owners and the bailiff of Rainworth L Lake for their kind generosity. All of SAC members were smartly dressed wearing their new tracksuits sponsored by John Hardy of Kingfisher Lighting, T-shirts kindly donated by G S Print and caps donated to the club by Shirebrook Carter Lane Club