pike and perch.co.uk

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!

Atlast it seems that the cold long winter is behind us and the weather is finally on the up!  The last month has been hard since the river season ended and my time was to be spent on nearby lakes whilst i wait for the return of the river.  This is without a doubt my hardest time of year, especially when travelling by the river each day and it starts to look more full of life as each day passes.  Only this saturday did i see a near 20lb carp cruise on past me during a quick stroll along the banks.  So frustrating!

So what has happened since my last post fishing wise, to be honest not a great deal except for the fact that i managed 3 4lb + chub.  The last being a PB from the river at 4lb 9oz on the last day of the season which was a great result considering there was work on the river that weekend and water levels were 3 feet down from the usual.  What made it even better was that the fish took a liking to my new homemade cheese paste!  I’ll definately be trying that again when the season re-opens.  The other two were taken on pop-ups whilst trying to tempt the odd carp!

Perch wise i’ve been trying a new pit to see what the numbers are like within.  I have managed to do a few hours over the last couple of evenings so far, and last night i finally managed to find one.   Not a biggie but at a pound and a half and coloured the way he was i was delighted.  The little spro ultralight rod really does come in to its own with the perch!   The lure that tricked this little fella was a little Salmo and i’ll be trying it out again down there very soon.   As ever last light was the key again…!   Last night i was losing the light very quickly and in the end i decided to stick it out for ten minutes more in to darkness and it thankfully paid off.   (Just be prepared a head torch is a must for unhooking at night)

I’ll try to update the site again should anything else come my way on this spring/summer evening trips! 

Tight lines and best luck to all

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 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!

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!

I think today must have been my 10th or 11th attempt to try and catch a fish on a lure again. 

I went out for a wander last night and found a few pike hitting shoals of fish just as the sun was going down. I had a cast about but had to leg it early as otherwise my car would have been locked in the car park for the night . Didn’t really fancy that… how gutting that was - the fish were active and i had to get the hell out of there! 

Anyways so off i went at 6:30am this morning as i wanted to make sure i got back in the spot that looked so good last night. The water levels i knew were 3-4′ down … the EA were clearing a lock somewhere and nowhere else looked remotely good. 

After about an hour and a half in ‘the spot’ i must have seen about 6-7 pike launching into their prey and pike/prey breaking the water… but still the lures had not produced. 

I was beginning to question myself… until i bunged on a white 3″ Kopyto with a light jig head on, started to reel as slowly as possible and then BOOM at last something had found one of my lures appealing! I was in and the knees were knocking! The rod was an abu 5-15g and was doubling over - wow what a thrill on such light gear! A few moments later and the pike was in the net! Phew!!! I’d broken my duck! 

I managed to catch my first fish on the new lightweight setup, meaning that i’d just i’d christened my new rod, my new reel, my net from christmas and best of all i managed to catch my first predator on a rubber lure! Previously they’d all been on spinners and spoons! 

Happy days! Guess where i’m going next weekend! 

Oh and shortly after a i hooked a near 3lb eel on a grub! Doesn’t get much weirder than that!  

Cheers to all the LAS members for recommending Kopyto shads and making me invest in a load of em! 

Hi all, another quick message to recommend a great site for lures and a vast array of soft plastics.  

www.agmdiscountfishing.co.uk

Service has been excellent!  Delivered extremely fast with no fuss.  The stock levels are updated regularly and any queries are answered quickly!   Highly recommend you give them a try!!! 

After just heading over to Sportfish to compile a shopping list for upcoming ventures look what i have just found… new spinners from Blue Fox - maker of some of the best built spinners on the market.  These will definately be added to my lure bag!  I’ll let you know how i get on…!

 New Vibrax Hot Pepper Spinners

Ok my new kitchen fit / fishing break is over and its time to get fishing again!  I really want to get another 3lb plus perch to either a lure or bait.  My choices are varied from commercials or quiet streches of the Medway, to me though the commercial is not so much of a challenge i fancy the river!  The possibly of uncaught unseen fish is much more enticing and the personal reward so much greater.  Having had one last winter to 3lb 10oz i cannot wait for the hunt to begin.  My bag next session will be the faithful worm with a variation of spinners and small rapalas.  This way i can try my best with the worm to quiver and if this doesn’t produce in my favourite my fancied spots i’ll begin to rove with the lure rod.   If this fails on the first couple of visits i may even try the old faithful livebaited gudgeon that produced my last monster perch.  Having not heard of any other big perch in my area being caught the chance of another 3lb’r may be tough but this is something that makes me want to try even harder.  Is it just me or is there something special about the perch that others miss.  I rarely see other anglers on my travels that target the perch…! 

To me this means more chance of a rewarding capture and more fish for me to target!  I cannot wait for the winter to come again and heighten my chances considering how good last winter was.  I love the summer for sport and relaxing, but come winter its fishing time and hitting those predators with great excitement!  May the rest of this year be productive for us all and if the big perch come biting it could be a great end to slow year.