pike and perch.co.uk

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!

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!