The perch forum has started off well hit 30 members and got a mention in the Angling Mail which was spot on. So my thanks goes to the Anglers Mail for printing a small bit it has really helped get the forum on its feet. Hopefully this will continue as it looks likely that the next mention will be in Pike and Predator magazine followed by Total Coarse Fisherman. Fingers crossed on those and thank you in advance.
Also to mention the PerchFishers new book The Biggest Fish of All arrived through the door and i have got to say what an excellent book and it seems extremely well put together. I cannot wait to crack on reading it.
Good luck to all with your Pike and Perch fishing as the temps start to drop!
Perch Forum is now online! Please pop in and join up to discuss fishing for stripeys! Hopefully this time round it is protected enough not to be flooded with spam… grrrr!
I had a day out planned for Monday to target the perch at a local pit i’ve not visited for 3 months. I’ve had them to just under 3lb from this lake it the past and thought it looked perfect with the weather forecast. On arrival to my dissapointment the water level had dropped 3 feet and the wind was gusting to 20mph. Not ideal but still worth a shot.
To cut a long story short I gave it a couple of hours of baiting and wandering from spot to spot but saw no signs and had no bites to signal interest. By 10am i knew it wasn’t happening, it was the kind of time when you sit there and say to yourself its not going to happen so move. So i decided to try a small stream where i’ve seen some good fish in the past.
Blimey what a difference it was beaming with life! Within the next 4 hours i had caught 4 chub and 8 perch no monsters but i was a very happy man indeed i’ll definately be back there soon to have another bash. I’ve seen chub there before to approx 6lb and perch to at least three. So until the lake improves i think i’ll be spending some more time along this stretch. Nothing like fishing the tiniest of streams and watching monsters linger on through the swim checking out your bait right in front of you. Love it!
Only a quick update this evening… just got back from a pretty successful trip. I managed 5 perch and a pike of around 12lb. The pike was my first to a spinnerbait and added to my tally of fish to normally un-used lures. Adding to my confidence of late.
After the first hour i had caught 3 perch and the pike, i’d decided to move to the outlet of the lake. This outlet is pretty fast flowing and has accounted for a number of small perch previously. Today i had decided i was going to try dropshotting to hold the lure in the strike zone a little longer than a short retrieve of a grub. The choice paid off pretty quickly and a perch was caught after ten minutes of arrival… 28cm and a nice scrap on the light rod. Back went the lure and after approx 5 mins i was in again this time the stripey was 27cm clearly a different fish to a small wound on the flank. Darkness was descending quickly so i made my escape whilst i could still see where i was going. This is certainly a method i will be trying again soon, it was perfect for holding the lure in the area against the flow without the need to retreive.
What else does this small outlet hold…. only time will tell but i will definately be back there soon. I’ve seen some huge chub and perch here previously so cannot wait for the next trip.
Bewl went pretty well on Saturday, after a slow start and weather that was some what unsure on itself all went ok in the end. The wind throughout the day certainly couldn’t make its mind up with what way to blow which made for a new approach on drift fishing.
Once we managed to find the fish the action begun. I ended up with 5 and my boat partner 8. Happy days! Hopefully i’ll be back in a few weeks as i still have to break my record of 6. If we’d found them earlier this visit i’d have been on for my first full bag.
Boobies were my saviour although i took one late on to the buzzer on the dropper. Also lost two fish to the dropper. Grrr!
At last back out again tomorrow for what seems the first time in ages. I’m heading off to Bewl to try and catch a few more trout. The weather looks spot on so hopefully some fish will come my way!
I’ll update tomorrow to let you know how i get on.
Good luck to all that are out this weekend! And thank god only 6 days until the river opens its doors again.
A quick update to say went off to fish Bewl the first two days of the season and gees my right side aches! Was absolutely chomping at the bit to get out on Bewl for the first few days from the bank and what gorgeous weather! Perfect for a few days fishing…! Ok not overly great conditions for the fishing to be honest but still a great way to spend a few days.
Fishing wasn’t the easiest as on arrival the place was heaving with around 100+ people with the same idea as me. Doh! But still the hunt was on, not so much for the fish but more so fishable bank… you may think with over 12 miles of bank thats easy, give it a go you’ll soon be knackered and wondering where to try next. Half mile walk one way or the other… decisions decisions!
Still it paid off i managed 3 fish both days and had plenty of other takes and 4 lost. I was more than happy. I’m still a beginner but was more than chuffed when all fish were on my own little creation – wink wink! Happy days!
I managed another 2 double figure pike on a half day outing this Saturday, and boy they went like stink! They are certainly fighting hard at the moment, love it!
And I don’t know what it is at the moment but i only seem to be able to catch on Sprats. What is that all about? I even put a sprat and a smelt around 3 metres from each other for a couple of hours. 3 bites to the sprat, zero to the smelt. How weird and yep positions did get switched just incase! I always used to have more faith in the good ole smelt being taken but now i’ve totally swung my opinion. This isn’t a one off either… the week before on the river exactly the same! Still i’ll always take the smelts and other baits with me as i’m sure the next outing will be different… or will it? Have they got a particular liking to sprats or are the taking the bait as it is somewhat smaller than others…? Certainly gets you thinking about what you are doing and why it is working…!
I’ve also switched to single hook rigs for my last 3 outings, and only lost one. Although i think that was solely because i struck way too quickly in the excitement of seeing my float go under – admittedly that was after three hours of motionless floats. Still i am seriously impressed at the hook ups! I’ve had 6 fish on them now and 5 of them doubles. All fish were hooked perfectly in the scissors and unhooked without the need for forceps. Not bad hey! The same again will be used this weekend and i’m sure the results will be the same. Makes you think doesn’t it… and a damn site easier to make, unhook, and the traces seem to last longer as well.
Perch on lures was again the aim for saturday’s fishing trip! I visited a local pit that looks stunning at this time of year, and thankfully i was just in time before Sunday and Monday’s downpours. I tried my favourite productive areas but unfortunately hadn’t seen much to give me any confidence so started to have a move from swim to swim. I only had 2 hours before having to drive to London and I was simply after a quick fix. After an hour i was beginning to doubt myself a little, should i have gone to where i had good success last weekend.
I had gone through various lures, Rapala jointed shad raps, shallow shad raps, deeper divers, kopyto shads and even the faithful Salmo Hornet that has been so succesfull of late. Unfortunately nothing had shown a liking to anything i’d chucked in. I’d seen quite a few pike striking in to the local roach population, they were really going for it and hitting into them roughly every 15 minutes before the sun awoke fully from behind the trees.
Still working the bank i decided to change lures again. On went the Salmo Butcher in the Perch colourings. Tap tap on the first retrieve… hmm maybe we’re on to something here! Straight back out it went and after a few cranks of the reel bang, a fish had come along that really wanted my lure. At last I was in and the notorious head shaking thudding sensation was on the end of my line, at last a Perch wanted to play! Weighing in at 1lb 10oz it was no monster but was a cracking looking little chap, they really do show there best colours this time of year and with glowing red fins it was a cracker. Unfortunately that was the only bite and unfortunately i had to leave shortly after. The good that has come of this is that so far i’ve not had a perch out of this lake under a pound, ok they are not there in great numbers but the sizes have been promising. If all goes well i’ll be back down there again this Sunday morning to see if anymore want to play!
Please let the remainder of the week at work go quickly! Good luck to all on your predator adventures!
