pike and perch.co.uk

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

I went out 4:30am saturday to try my luck on the river.  On my arrival it looked low and not exactly full of life, i chucked out a handful of maggots and a few silver fish had a nibble.   So on went a worm to trot down the far margin to see if anything good was out there.   On the forth or fifth trot i managed a nice chub to about a pound, and shortly after another followed suit and then all went dead.  Not even the maggots were catching.  So i thought it about time a deadbait went out to a very tasty looking spot. 

An hour later and i was on the move as it just looked dead where i was, barely any movement and i was questioning myself as to whether or not i was in the right spot.  I went down river about 80-100 metres where i’d seen quite a few tiddlers jumping clear of the water.  Out went two deads but again to no avail.  They were cast in different locations throughout the morning but i couldn’t buy a bite!   So unfortunately i went home later that day totally deflated.

Not to worry too much though as i went out last night and managed a jack on the first cast of a dead on ‘the’ lake, shortly after my buddy managed a perch of about a pound and then i bagged another pike around 6-7lb.  Not bad considering we’d only been there for 3 hours in the evening and the day before i’d wasted about 8 hours chasing not very much on the river.  Fingers crossed we’ll get some decent rain soon and bring the river back to life.  Until then i think i’ll stay on the lakes!  Not many stripeys were about but it was very windy down there so maybe that is something to watch out on future trips… never thought to much about the location of stripeys when there is strong winds, but thats twice its happened now!

Hmm!   

Well what an evening, i have just returned from the big lake having caught my biggest from there so far.  On arrival i walked to my favourite swim to find a guy already fishing there – totally gutted.  I set up one down behind some trees and thought i’d go have a chat with him before i start.

He said he was after alsorts and had got fed up with small perch nicking his maggots so went over to sweetcorn to go for the roach, with some success taking them to the 2lb mark.  I mentioned would he be there long and he said he was nearly out of bait so would give me a whistle when he’s done.  Low and behold i was in the spot i wanted at a little after 8pm, which isn’t bad going as that meant i’d only been there 20 minutes.  And being as i’d gone straight from work all i had to catch some livies was bread, thankfully he gave me a handful of maggots and i was away/  Third cast i caught a perfect sized bleak.

Thankfully i’d prepared and had the rod setup so on went the bait and i cast out to the edge of the trees whilst the guy was packing away.  I didn’t have to wait long as the bait was taken in under a minute by a pristine perch of 1lb 10oz.  Second biggest i’d had so far so i was well chuffed.  Out went the float for another bait…  2 minutes later a nice 4″ roach decided it fancied the maggot!  Perfect…!

This was cast a little deeper and the bait presented about a foot from the bottom.   15 minutes later another take, unfortunately this one spat it out before i managed to get him.  The bait still being ok, so it went back out to the hotspot.  Then about 10 minutes after casting it in bang bang bang on the float and then he was off…  i struck into it i and knew i was on to a good un and boy did he put up a great scrap.   Out went the net and he was mine!  Ok not massive but being the biggest by nearly half a pound i was well made up!  He went 2lb 7oz on the scales and i was overjoyed!!!

After this all went a little quiet until bang on the float again and i thought surely not!  I hit into and it felt damn good, unfortunately it was not seen nor heard but it felt bloody good and it felt perchy!  And stronger than the two previous fish……  nothing else happened after this so i packed up and headed home as it well pretty dark by now and i was struggling to see the float.  But you’d better be sure i’ll be back down there soon after nearly getting my hands on a real good one!

Watch this space…!

Hi all,

Today i went for a different approach and thought i’d try dropshotting for the Perch.  I went to a large lake near where i live armed with my spinning rod 5-20g with 15lb braid loaded onto a Shimano Sedona 750.  This outfit is a total joy to use when targetting Perch and seemed perfect for dropshotting.

New dropshot hooks are currently on order so i opted for some green size 4 fly hooks that i have and they seemed to stick out perfectly when mounted on 12lb grand max.  I rigged it so the lure was about a foot from the bottom and set about trying to christen the new technique and get to grips with how effective it could be.

It didn’t take too long to work either i think on about my fifth cast i was into a nice perch of around a pound!  A great way to start on a new way of fishing!!! Luckily i managed another around 15 minutes later and i was set on always taking a rod rigged up for dropshotting on my luring trips.

I’m not so sure the hooks i used stood up enough but for the trial it seemed sufficient enough, i cannot wait to get out more on this method and see if it out fishes the usual spinning and jigging!  Time will tell!

And hey if you haven’t given it a go yet i highly advise you try it out!

Ok I did manage a day and a bit of fishing on the lake mentioned before to see what i could catch.  I went armed with an arsenal of red maggots hoping for a perch, but basically to get a rough idea of stock within the lake.

I must have gone through around 40 roach on good friday, amongst the odd gudgeon, bleak and dace… and then taaa daaa a perch took a single red maggot!  Ok he was only about 4 inches but atleast now i know that there is atleast one Perch in there!  The problem is how the hell do i find them in 15 plus acres of water… i suppose follow the bait fish and try the overhangs and undercuts! ….I cannot wait.   It may be a long slog but fingers crossed there could be a gem in there somewhere.

I had a walk round on Sunday also, to get ideas of where to fish and did fortunately see a few perch chasing the smaller fish.  Albeit they only looked around .5 to 1lb but the signs are there for me to focus my available time on the place!  Please oh please let this lake hold some magical untouched perch!  

This is the sort of lake that books are written about, away from the crowds little known about and only the very odd fisherman frequents it’s banks…!  

Hmmm.

Why is it that as soon as the close season begins the rivers looks its best for ages?

I have fished the last three weekends on a near untouched lake trying to find whatever will take my bait, albeit for the time being its just been Bream whilst i’ve been there.  This weekend an attempt will be made to see what predators or in the lake… at 15-20 acres its a challenge to say the least but hopefully something nice will grace my net over the weekend.  Its barely fished so i have no idea what is in there and with only once seeing an angler fishing it – there is a buzz about the place for me to find something special.  I’m hoping this weekend i can find atleast one Perch to really set the off season campaign in to action…!  I was told a few months back of a number of pike in the lake but on questioning the perch population there was no information to hand.

Maybe its just waiting for someone to target them, and hopefully that person is me!  I’ll let you know how the place progresses, as atleast for now i have until June 16th to see if its back to river or not…!  Please oh please let the Perch come to see me, the place is so special and off the beaten track it will be a great pleasure to find some stripeys hidden out there somewhere!  

I’ll keep you informed!

Just a quick report to say we’re 5 days in and already achieved 10 members!  If it carries on like this hopefully it will be a great resource for all us Perch and Predator anglers out there.

Come on in and have your say!  Signing up only takes a minute and all anglers are welcome!

Thanks for dropping in! 
Mark