pike and perch.co.uk

Perch on small plastics is one of my most enjoyable ways to fish, you always catch good numbers and there is always the chance of a monster. This weekend i was out using small 2″ grubs and small Kopyto 2″ shads. Casting upstream on a section that is around 6′ wide and with overgrown banks it is just how i like it. You can’t always see the lure land but with the plop of the bait hitting the water you know you are in with a chance. A nice slow retrieve with a jig to lift it from the bottom once in a while seems to be just what these perch were after.

I managed 5 on Saturday topped by a stripey of approx a pound and a half, great joy to land on the Spro Ultralight rod. Infact they are all great to land on this bit of kit. My only issue this week is the style of jighead i’ve been using… i think its time for a change as i lost a few this time out and noteably they were what felt to be much bigger fish. Still am i just doubting myself, or was it simply bad luck? Who knows but to make sure i’m off to get some jigheads with a slighty different pattern to see if it makes a difference.

If it does make a different i’ll report back soon.

Tight lines to all and get yourselves out there stripey hunting!

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!

Good luck all!

A quick update of how the drop shotting is getting on with the Perch. One answer – its doing the business in this mega fast flowing outlet of a large lake. The water gushes in at speed to this small outlet and a normally cast lure either gets swept away or you have to do a real quick retrieve… meaning the lure is probably only being fished for 2 or 3 seconds before its out of the hotspot.

After delving with dropshotting about a year ago i thought this would be perfect for this situation. It can effectively hold the lure static in the strike zone, something that no other technique could. And oh boy is it showing! The tally so far is up to 6 perch all over 27cms. No monsters as yet but i’ve seen them in there its just a matter of time now.

Most effective lures have been agm’s live baby shads…! They seem to love them!

Update – 3lb+ chub last night! Wehey!

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.

I’ll be sure to keep you informed.

Perch on lures has been the target for the last few weeks and wow has it been manic.

First evening on a huge lake the weather got the better of the fishing. I chucked alsorts at them on the light Spro Passion rod, damn its a joy to use. Albeit better when the fish are more active. The first evening i managed one perch and a pike of around 5lb. Next evening the wind had dropped so i nipped back down there. They were feeding on the fry on arrival at 7:30pm, they were chasing the lures happily but few were striking. On went an orange spinner and boom. We’d found what they had wanted… i managed 8 perch to around a pound and a bit. Also caught another pike around the 4lb mark and then all hell broke loose on the spro rod with tiny sedona reel… i’d hit a powerful fish that went on a great run on such light kit. A few mins later and a trout around three and a half pounds hit the net. Pleased was an understatement as it confirmed the sedona’s clutch is spot on! Unfortunately the light levels had dropped and so had the takes.

Three days later and i revisited the same location, the day had been warm and the evening a little muggy and a tad overcast. Conditions looked great and it certainly proved to be perfect as the fishing began. First cast resulted in a Perch around a pound. Second cast another…. over the next hour 30 perch were landed and some monsters were also spotted. Same as before though as the light fell from the sky so did the Perch from the water. We’d hit the magic hour spot on, but come 9pm they retreated to the depths. The feeding was crazy they were churning up the water looking like piranhas attacking their prey. It was an awesome sight and one that i had never witnessed before on such a grand scale.

Will i be back down there for another go, damn right i will. I just hope i hit the weather and the timing right again… there is a definate feeding window and when the light starts to go its gameover.

Succesfull lures : Orange bladed spinner + Red spotted Spinner + Ondex. Kopyto Shads. The 2.5″ Pearl Kopyto’s were singling out the better fish on the day it went mental.

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!

Mission accomplished.. i set out at 7am this morning armed with the fly rod and a selection of flies and a few dog biscuit.   On arrival I had a quick wander around the lake and found a couple of carp nosing around on the top as the sun started to hit the lake, so in went a few mixers and i nipped off to the other little lake to see if there where any other oppurtunities to be had.  After seeing no other signs of fishy life i returned to my original spot. 

Most of the mixer had dissappeared so i tackled up and out went a small yellow dog biscuit fly.  And low and behold within all of 5 minutes a pair of lips rose to the fly but unfortunately they turned away at the last second, dammit!!!  Undeterred I recast the fly a little further out this time, and straight away up came some more carpy looking lips that gratefully closed around the fly and i quickly took my oppurtunity to strike.  Wehey…. i was in to my first carp on a fly – time to hold on tight! 

The spirited little mirror wasn’t happy from the get go and went on a high speed 20-30 yard run.  I had a assumed my fighting position with rod bent right over and a silly grin on my face that was from ear to ear.  Within what felt like 20 minutes of rod bending action (probably more like ten) this feisty little carp was in the net and ready to be unhooked.   Wow what a total buzz, in fact as i right this this evening i’m still smiling like a kid at christmas! 

I had another wander after putting the little fella back but only managed to see a couple of others that were unfortunately unreachable with the fly rod.  I will definately be back down there soon for another go.

After the carp adventures i headed off to the river but after this weeks rain it was very coloured and seemed more like a day for bait fishing rather than fly and lure.  I had a dabble in various different spots for a couple of hours but didn’t manage to catch other than a take for a small perch that decided it didn’t want to say hello and came off after a few seconds.  Still my day was still made after the carp in the morning!   If all goes to plan i may even try to nip back down there for an hour or two tomorrow. 

With the weather looking perfect this bank holiday weekend the plan is to go out roving.  First thing tomorrow the plan is to go after my first carp on the fly rod, fingers crossed they will be up in the water in the morning sun.  Well thats aslong as the weather man has got it right!   Then its off to the River Medway with the fly rod with some muddlers and minkies to see if i can tempt a few fish.  The Spro ultralight is coming with me incase the flies don’t produce… i’ll update tomorrow evening to let you know how i get on! 

Damn i love the night before an outing!  Sorting through the gear and making sure i’m ready to go first light!   The alarm is set and i’m like a little kid at christmas!

Good luck to all for the bank holiday weekend!

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!