Sunday 14 December 2014

Winter Perch

Hello,

Sometimes with fishing I get a "feeling" of what I should be doing. For the last ten years or so I have been concentrating on pike fishing with lures almost exclusively, but this year I have been getting to grips with fly fishing and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think having a change from chucking big lures around has done me good. Don't get me wrong I still love lure fishing but locally there is not too much to go at. So, only having a spare three or four hours I didn't fancy a long drive or bothering the local jack population....what else could I do....break out the old gear and go for a short winter perch session.


Only having a short amount of time I didn't want to be lugging loads of gear about, so armed with an old match rod ( the first propper rod that was ever bought for me some 30 yrs ago ) and my first ever center pin reel, the ever reliable "Arnold kingpin" which has been running like perpetual motion for the last 20 years, a small rucksack with a few bits in I headed off for a local pond that is only a matter of minutes from my house.



Setting off, the thermometer showed a chilly 3 degrees celsius and the day was bright and calm. After a short drive I arrived at the venue to find it empty...perfect.

The set up could not be simpler a large hook (Size 6)  then a small gap of about 6 " to the shot which were all bunched here, with just enough to sink the float which was a small crystal waggler. Some may think a size 6 excessive for perch fishing but if a small hook is used with worms it can easily become masked and the larger hook doesn't seem to put the perch off. The float was set slightly over depth and fished "Lift Method" style.

After getting the gear sorted I baited up with a good handful of pinkies and half a dozen worms that were broken up to get the perch rooting around. As the lake was empty I decided to bait another swim up in the same way....just in case.

On went the first worm and before long the float buried, expectations were high but on the strike I knew it was only a tiddler, never mind at least that was the blank avoided which is always a possibility this time of year.



On with another worm and out again with the rig...same result float under and a slightly better perch on. This continued for the next half an hour or so, and though it was good sport these were not really the stamp of perch I was after. One of the problems with worm fishing is that you can get done over by smallish perch before the biggies get a chance to bite. I decided to bulk the bait up and put three or four good sized worms on the hook tipped of with a pinkie to keep the hook point clear.









A few slightly better perch followed with the best one going 1lb 10oz, bites were coming thick and fast with a steady string of perch coming to the net.







Then I started to miss a few finicky bites....a slight change back to a smaller single worm hook bait and the culprit was a roach, followed soon after by another then another....so much for fishing fine for roach in winter, These roach were taking size 6 hooks on 6lb line.  Time for a move to my reserve swim.



A quick top up of bait in the new swim and in with the rig, bites were not quite as frequent here but I was still catching every 5 or 10 minutes and the fish were a slightly better average size with another two going exactly 1lb 10 oz... although these are quality fish and put a nice bend in the match rod they still were not what I was looking for ...a 2lber was my target.






The weather had started to turn a little it was warmer now but with that the wind and rain had picked up and my small crystal waggler was being dragged under by the tow. Another weight was added to the rig and a swap to a slightly longer float...sorted. The steady sport continued as I was building a nice catch of perch but still no monsters. Time was also growing short as I had to be back home just after lunch for child minding duties:)

The pattern continued feed a few pinkies and two or three broken worms, rig in, float under, perch on. I knew that there would be the odd better one knocking about but the number of perch in the swim was making catching a specimen a bit of a lottery.




With about 10 minutes of time left I hit into something that felt a little more solid. The rod hooped over nicely and I even had to give a little line (grudgingly) as the fish hit the surface I thought it might just go two pounds, it was a stocky fish with a full belly.


However the scales refused to budge past 1lb 14oz. Another drop in with the hope of a last minute 2lber was in order but another fish of about 1lb followed..by this time I was risking the wrath of the missus, so decided to call it a day.

I had enjoyed a good session, I reckon I fished for about three and a half hours and had three perch over 1.5lb with one not far of 2lb. These fish were punctuated with a good catch of other perch that averaged about three quarters to a pound. I didn't use a keepnet but would estimate that I had well over 10lb of winter perch, not bad for a short session. Next time out I think I will try a more selective approach to catch a 2lb plus fish rather than the somewhat scatter gun method of worm fishing.

bye for now
Mark