pike and perch.co.uk

Sunday just gone a change from the norm was in order and 4 weeks ago i decided it was time to try lure from a boat so booked up at Blenheim Palace.  The fishfinder was ordered and a few new lures in the vain hope that we could hit into some of the gems of the Palace lake.  The alarm was set for 4am and i was looking forward to what would hopefully be a great day afloat.

I picked up Jon my fishing bud at 5am and set off on the drive to Oxford.  A short and enthusiastic 2 hours later and we drove through the gates to be greeted by our first view of the lake.  The only word i can think to describe this place is ‘wow’.

The boat was loaded and off we went in search of some action!  The fishfinder ( a garmin 140 ) was mounted so we could quickly gauge the depth and the first lure was cast as the sun broke onto the surface from behind the bank hugging tree line.  Wow this place was stunning!

With temperatures around -2 on the journey over and with ice in the top end of the lake we knew it wouldn’t be the easiest of days, and after two hours of plugging we hadnt seen much at all.  The fishfinder led us to some deep spots of 14-15′ at the dam end and had shown signs of fish below the surface but no matter how many variations of lures we had tried nothing was showing a liking to the bait.  We decided to head up towards the other end to see if our fortunes would change.

We rowed for around 15-20 minutes keeping an eye on the depth and decided to work our way along the Palace bank.  Again nothing was obliging and despite there being 7 other boats out we were yet to see any fish taken.

We turned the corner towards the bridge and again were greeted by another stunning view, this lake was extremely pleasing to the eye!  It was just a shame it wasn’t to be an overly productive day.  We dropped the anchor around 10-15m from the bridge and set about our luring regime again.  After two casts of the Spro Ultralight rod ‘bang’… the 2.5″ chartreuse Kopyto had done the business - i was in!  Bang bang bang on the tip and i thought i’d been lucky and hit into a stripey (perch).  Then the fish picked up speed and the banging stopped, the fish rose up and a pike was in the net!  I didn’t bother weighing the little chap but was more than chuffed at landing my first Blenheim fish!  We plugged away in the area for a further 30-45 mins but none of his friends were willing to give chase.

After our success at the bridge we tried various other areas but unfortunately were not to be blessed with anymore fish.  Although this little chap (below) did stop by to say hello, and i have to say i was equally pleased to get such a good picture of a kingfisher as normally when the camera is out they elude me.

All in all it was a great day afloat, the fishfinder worked well and so did the camera.  Hopefully next time and there will definately be a next time there will be more action to the rods.  It wasn’t that we hadn’t tried our damdest we slung everything into the water, but i think with mixed weather on the lead up to our visit and the freezing temps the fish were never going to be over active.  But hey ho that’s fishing.  Fingers crossed we will get back there when the new season opens, and i’ll be sure to post another report and more pictures.

Thanks for stopping by.
Mark

I’ll will send another update soon as to state of the medway in the upper reaches and hopefully soon the new christmas lures can be christened!

Good luck to all and I hope you all have a great 2010!

I was up well up for some more perch action on friday and with that in mind I made sure i was up nice and early to give a small nearby pit another go. I had my first lure caught perch from this lake the other day and at approx a pound and a bit i was eager to try to find some more.

I drove down there nice and early after de-icing the car and the lake was extremely high but not too coloured so i thought it was definately worth a shot.

First hour not a touch, and i hadn’t seen any movement at all. But then low and behold after moving swims a few times bump bump on the lure and whallop i was in. It felt like a good un and kept its head down for a little while and then up it popped and was scooped into the waiting net. It sure looked like a lure caught pb and once on the scales it went 2lb 2oz’s - at last I’d managed a 2lb’er on a lure! Happy days indeed.

No others were taken and once it got bright i headed home, fingers crossed i’ll be back down there for the last couple of hours of light to try and tempt another one!

Succesfull lure = A white Mepps Spinflex

What a week, high winds and what seemed like an endless amount of rain plummeting out of the skies.  For river fishing that’s about as bad as it can get! 

To numb my pain on Wednesday my latest tackle purchase arrived, a nice new Savage Gear Bushwhacker 10-30g 7’ spinning rod.  I had been reading everywhere about how nice they are to use and with that I couldn’t resist purchasing one for myself.  What does a new lure rod need?  You got it… some lovely new lures.  So I met up with a local chap who sells Rapala’s and treated myself to five new uns.  A couple of X-Rap Shads and a couple of Glass Shad Raps hopefully these would tempt a few perch to play! 

Luckily I managed to get a few hours of lure fishing in on Friday afternoon before darkness in between the heavy rain spells.  I was hoping where I had in mind wouldn’t have been too badly hit by the weather.   

On arrival at the lake I was quite happy that it wasn’t coloured up at all, although it had risen about 6” since my last trip.  I plugged away for an hour hopping swims without a touch, admittedly I hadn’t seen much movement either which was weird for this place.  When I was here carp fishing for a few nights over the summer I saw loads of perch chases on the surface.  Maybe the cold had sent them down a little. 

On went the x-rap shad and I cranked it down… I felt a little tap tap and struck but unfortunately it was just a little weed.  Back out it went this time a little shallower and BANG I was on to a half decent Perch, phew I only had about 30 minutes till darkness and the smile on my face would take some beating!  Yee haa!  I had managed to christen a new rod and lure in one outing, lovely jubbly!  Unfortunately no others came my way but still I could not have been happier.

Below is a link to a video of the X-Rap’s action so you can take a look and see what you think… I will definitely be spending more time trying these out on this lake and other waters nearby! 

Rapala X-Rap Shad Lure

Its just a shame with work that I won’t get out again now for a week and a bit.  Grrrr!

Well a great weekend fishing was had this past weekend.  The perch and pike fishing was very slow in the end, and Sunday only produced a few small ones.  Then i got invited to fish Bewl Water on monday to fish from a boat on the fly.  After a slow start the first fish was taken and at around 4lb it was my biggest so far!  Then an hour later another followed around the same sort of size taken an a fry imitation.  A pristine fish that was purely stunning!

A few hours passed without a take and after going on a drift bang bang bang on the fly and whallop i was in again and a great fight followed by a very spirited trout of around 3lb.  I was over the moon we still had around 3 hours to go and i had 3 in the boat.  I fished on hard as my previous best was 4 fish, and i was sure that i could better this.  Bang i’m in but unfortunately this one was a lost fish.

Forty five minutes later and i had another 2 fish in the boat!  I’d done my best so far whilst out on this vast expanse of water…!  2 hours to go and i was damned if i was done.  Thankfully after an extremely slow retrieve of the flies another decided to have a go at it and roared off.  After a few minutes the fish came off.   I was not a happy bunny but on the very next cast it’s friend came to say hello and after whizzing round the boat and from side to side it was beaten and in the net!  6 fish and i was a damn happy fisherman, with the sun going down quickly it was time to take the boat back to the jetty and off to the pub for a well earned pint.

Unfortunately with only a week of the season left that will probably be my last visit to Bewl in a boat until March 2010 when the boats can go back out.  Next up i’m hoping for a Perch on the fly as its one of the species i’d love to catch on this method…  on goes the thinking cap and the research in to the best flies begins!

Until next time, tight lines and may all your fish be bigges!

Well low and behold i managed it!  Back out on the bank today and damn it felt good….!

After the rain yesterday which absolutely chucked it down i wasn’t too sure how good it would be but conditions looked perfect for a decent day out.   I arrived at 6:30am and silver fish were moving as normal, but none of the anticipated pike action to be seen anywhere… baits were cast around the swim but still no signs and no takes.  Very perculiar for this area that i was fishing…!

A move was made after a few hours and i managed to lose what felt like a good double!  Gutted!  Moved to smaller baits for the perch under a 5ssg loafer float and let it drift around, after two minutes whop the float was under and i was in at last… unfortunately again a lost fish.  Re-cast to the same and the stripey fancied another go, damn it hit the bait hard!  Thankfully this one was landed and was around a pound.  Very happy!!!  Shortly after another 2 were taken to around the same size.  Then the swim went dead.

I returned home a happy man, as although id have loved to stay longer i just didn’t have time.  Still atleast i know where some of those stripeys are hiding for tomorrow and maybe monday as well!  I cannot wait to get back down there to see if any biggies are about!

Hopefully someone can help me!  I’m desperately looking for some of my favourite floats as i’m down to my last one… if anyone has any please let me know!  Or alternatively if you know anywhere i can get some or something similar please send me a mail at pikeandperch@gmail.com

Thanks,
Mark

Well i’ve got to admit i’ve been quiet for a while due to doing a bit of carp fishing and working silly hours! Only a few more weeks of madness at work and hopefully i’ll be back on the banks each weekend.  With the onset of the colder weather approaching i cannot wait for the chance to get out at 5am at the weekend and try to find some pike, perch and the odd chub.

I will be posting again hopefully next weekend as fingers crossed that will be my one off!   I hope everyone is catching well and finding those biggies - wherever they may be hiding!

Tight lines
Mark

Its been a while since i’ve posted so i thought i’d post up a little update.  I’ve been hard at work finishing my pond off which is literally done now.  So hopefully back on the fishing as soon as possible!  If all goes to plan another night will be spent on the river this weekend to see if life is returning to a very low looking river.  Not much fish movement to report at all and captures… well even less so!

I’ll hopefully be posting up on here sunday of some marvelous captures, well probably not to be honest but i’m staying optimistic just in case something special comes my way!  If not i think it may be time to try somewhere else for a while until we have some real amount of rain to rejuvenate a somewhat silent river that is really struggling to produce at the moment.  Fingers crossed for the weeks to come!

Unfortunately the night was a quiet one and the perch weren’t having it either, fingers crossed i’ll be back down there soon as the river does look great at the moment its just a case of finding the fish.  Admittedly it wasn’t a roving approach as i had very little time to get setup before dark after getting back from work late.  Still a good time was had nevertheless and the help of a late night BBQ always make it a worthwhile trip.

And now i’m on a fishing break as i have a lot of work to do on my new pond.  Hopefully it will be done by next weekend and then the following weekend i can get out on the bank again!