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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.

Firstly a Happy New Year to all, i hope it brings some monsters to your net!

Secondly what is up with this weather… gees its depressing – first snow, then freezing temps for what seemed like ages and now its chucking it down every other day! Resulting in the river being so high and coloured its hardly worth fishing. Damn i’m moaning but its doing my head in! I just want to get out there chuck some lures and do what i love doing the most. If i can’t, well i’m just not happy!

Apologies rant over…!

On to my challenge for 2011. To catch a Pike and a Perch on a fly. I don’t know what it is but i really want to catch a stripy and hook into an angry pike on a fly rod. There is just something about the method that intrigues me. I’m becoming obsessed, i’m constantly scouring the web looking at flies that i think could be the answer. Hopefully i’ll be able to go after them when this weather gets a little better. And whatever happens succeed or fail i’ll post updates to let you know how i’m getting on. Until then i’ll keep reading and spending my wages on materials and lures to help me on my mission.

Good luck to all, i hope your 2011 is a good one!

Lure fishing first outing the season…and the buzz is back!

I had a few new perch lures arrive today and i simply couldn’t wait until the weeked to try them out! Unfortunately i only had 45 minutes of light remaining by the time i hit the Medway after the train home from work and thankfully that was plenty of time to bag a few fish on the spro u/l rod.

First out was a white marabou jig, on testing the jig in the water a small perch attacked but didn’t take it so the first cast was to be made, BANG i was in straight away and a small perch of approx 6ozs had nailed it! Happy days – thats sure not happened in a while but damn was i chuffed to bits. A few subsequent casts were made and a few nibbles but no more takes.

On went a red tipped green 2″ kopyto and a few casts later a perch of similar proportions to the first had gobbled the lure! I was in again! Blimey it seems lure fishing has gotten easier than i remember!

Fish returned happily, the next cast was made along the reed lined bank, silver fish scattered and hello FIIIIISH ON! This time i knew it was no perch, the sedona went on to the drag and this bad boy was taking line! I got it back closer to the bank and oops a daisy it managed to nose dive itself into the reeds… i thought for a few moments it was gonna be lost… but with the spro bent double and giving the fish as much pressure as i could it managed to back out of the reeds to the open water and off it was on another run. This time it had had enough and with the chin up the fish was eased over the lip of the net, Estimated at a 8lb pike! damn these lures were doing the business!

With the last of the light a few more casts were made and low and behold something else had taken the lure, a feisty little perch probably the same stamp as before had engulfed the shad… i quickly unhooked the little fella, put him back and legged it back to the car just as the gates were about to be locked. Phew that was a close shave!! Thank god i didn’t try for another or i’d have been walking home…!

What a night! I simply cannot wait to get back out on Saturday morning to have another go… damn i love this time of year!!!!!!!!

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

So after a long lay off of around 4 weeks i managed to pick up the lure rod and bag and get out on sunday morning with my good mate Jon.  We spent nearly 4 hours roving the river throwing all my fav lures onto my favourite most productive spots… with not a single chase or take!  Nothing was happening… barely any movement at all on the river after the rainfall, even the quiet areas that are just off the flow were dead silent.  I guess it just wasn’t meant to be!  Still it was good to get back out there…

We decided we just needed to catch a few fish, so thought we’d walk over to a lake i know where i always used to get one or two Perch in the evening after work.   Arrived there and it looked as good as ever, out of the wind and in shadow… this little cut off from the main lake looked ideal.  So i put on a small red spotted spinner and dabbled it in… within two mins the perch were chasing in a pack and going mad.  So mad that Jon and I decided to take it in turns catching.  Managed 10 takes between us landing 8 of them.  Would have been 9 but a lurking monster perch launched into one of them and it came off.  Bare in mind normally this spot would produce two maybe three fish and then go dead, this was the best day yet.   None of the fish touched a pound but after having a blank on the river it was awesome to catch this many in such a small amount of time.

This tiny inlet on a local lake is one of my fav Perch catching spots and after seeing this hidden monster poke its head out of the reeds i think i’ll be there again very soon!  

One of my aims this year is to catch some pike, perch and chub on spinners & lures!  So far so good, i’ve had pike to 6lb, perch to 1lb 8oz and chub to 2lb.  Fingers crossed it will start to improve! 

For anyone else who fancies a go, i can highly recommend an ABU Diamond Crest Spinning rod from England Angling, for £16.99 Delivered it is an absolute bargain!  I phoned a few places on the web to discuss rods and what they would recommend for someone starting out… “You definately need this rod atleast” was common place, and when enquiring about prices they were all over £50.  Now to start out i didn’t really want to spend that much, main reason was i wasn’t sure how much time i’d get to go!  When i asked about cheaper rods i was told time and time they were useless and a waste of time.  Disgusting really as i could have been a total newbie to fishing and this wouldn’t have been the greatest of starts. 

So i thought the £16.99 cheapie from England Angling would suffice for now!  I opened the parcel and first impressions were good it seems well made with a nice solid cork handle.  I was going to go for a lighter outfit but i thought at 20-60g i could play with spinners and larger lures if i want, whilst at the same time having a bit of a backbone incase i hook a croc!  So far so good i would recommend this for anyone wishing to have a go.    I have many friends who now own one and are thoroughly happy with their purchase!

Click the link to take a look!
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