Strange Habits these Perch

The lighter evenings have opened up a few more opportunities for me to get bankside so late afternoon I set myself up in a very familiar Perch swim. About thirteen months ago I landed a pb Perch from this very swim and I hoped to better that in what is probably the last opportunity for a big Perch before they begin their annual mating rituals.

Martin joined me after work and set up on the side bank. As usual prawn hook baits were deployed and whilst they are excellent for big Perch there is a whole host of other species that find them extremely palatable. Carp, Bream and even a tiny Tench fell for them throughout the day but thankfully a few of the target species also picked them up. Sadly no monsters but the biggest was a respectable 2lb 1oz specimen that shone in the golden light. The mini Perch campaign has been disappointing with plenty of twos landed but no threes or the target fours.

We fished on into dusk but the strange thing about this venue is the Perch seem to feed better in the afternoon and switch off in the evening when you expect the best of the action. Strange but true.

A pb-I Think

Another afternoon spent chasing big Perch in a particularly pretty commercial fishery. 

Martin was already ensconced in a fishy looking corner and was catching regularly. Sadly not the target species. It didn't take long for fish to find my prawn hookbaits also and between us we landed a procession of Carp and F1s..........

and Chub to 1lb 12oz.

A few bonus points towards the bloggers challenge but that didn't make them any less a nuisance. I'm not sure I have ever caught stillwater Chub before so maybe I caught a pb (of a fashion) but not one I'm going to shout about. I really dislike Chub and especially Barbel being stocked into commercials, it does not sit right with me. They are river fish and should remain that way.

We fished long and hard but the Perch just did not want to play or weren't allowed to by the other fish. A hazard of fishing over-stocked match puddles! Fun though!

The Rumour Mill Keeps Turning

A Bank Holiday finally gave me the opportunity to spend a full day by the water however running your own business does not mean that the work stops completely, I didn't mind a few phone calls though when the view was as stunning as this.

Tazzy and I had ventured up the Cotswolds to a little known fishery that according to a mate of mine has the potential of a 'five'. It seems that every fishery now (allegedly) holds five pound Perch but I get a feeling a lot of these rumoured monsters may be unweighed fish caught by both pleasure anglers and matchmen alike. A big Perch always looks bigger than it actually weighs as Richard Walker implied.
Having said this I think that if any pool could produce a fish of a lifetime then it could be this one. All the right ingredients are in place: A little fished pond so the Perch are left relatively alone. There are very few Carp to compete for the available food, a fact borne out by my Prawn hookbaits not getting pestered by any today. And finally there is a good stock of stunted silverfish for the Perch to gorge themselves on.
The fishing today however was very slow. Cold overnight temperatures and a clear bright day don't generally accompany red letter days but whilst I waited for the fish to wake up I amused myself taking photos of my surroundings. It certainly is useful having two hobbies that can intertwine so perfectly.

I took snaps of the wildlife......although I missed a fleeing Roe Deer Doe!!

Backlit photos of the Spaniel....

Bankside flowers, not sure what they are...

some fluffy clouds...

and my Speedia centrepin....

Throughout the whole day I could only muster one bite, thankfully it fell to the centrepin rod meaning the fight was all the more pleasurable.
A youthful looking specimen of just over two pounds giving me confidence that bigger fish may be there for the taking. Just hope I can find the time to catch them!

The Big Guy Comes Good at the End

Within half an hour of my arrival Martin was bent into a hard fighting Barbel on 'his' stretch of the Warwickshire Avon.
At the end of the session he told me that this was my blog and I should not write about his day but that in my opinion is not the true essence of angling. A social sport that bonds its followers, brothers of the angle and when your mate has the sort of day Martin has just had it deserves to be in print (and picture) and broadcast across the internet.

This was already his second Barbel of the day as he had for several hours been camped (by his own admission) in the best peg on the stretch.

A good looking fish of about nine pounds. I had dropped into a swim a couple of pegs down was so far biteless and would remain so for the rest of the day. Not the kind of end of season finale I had hoped for!

The sun was definitely shining on the big guy and he soon after added another Barbel to his tally, this time a chunky fish weighing in at 10lb 13oz. The river might be icy cold but the Barbel were still feeding.

Martin was already having a good day but that was about to get even better in an unbelievable way. As the light began to fade a Chub fell for his mini boilie hookbait. With the fish still in the net he shouted down to me that he had a definite 'five'. As he passed it up the bank to me it dawned on us both that he had captured the sort of fish that most Warwickshire Avon anglers can only dream about.

In some rivers a 6lb 8oz Chub is a common recurrence but on the Warwickshire Avon it is a definitive fish of a lifetime. Some anglers are desperate and put in loads of  time and effort to try and catch a 'five'. Here Martin was holding up a true leviathan in comparison. A fish deserving a blog post.

The golden sunset a fitting finale for a golden day for 'goldenballs'. Top angling big guy.

Short Chub Session

The sun was shining and with the river back to its beautiful Winter best, I just had to sneak off for a couple of hours Chubbing. I grabbed some smelly cheese paste from the freezer and headed to a banker swim for Chub. With only two hours at my disposal this was not a session for exploring, just a chance to get a bend in the rod and fix the itch.
The ever faithful Chub didn't let me down. The bites were quite finicky but once I had worked out that I was not going to get big twangs and pulls I managed to hit a few fish. No monsters landed but some good fun in the resplendent Winter sunshine.

Car update: It is still there and is looking pretty sorry for itself, the floods have not done it any favours!!

Trotting the Wye

A day spent trotting for Roach on the glorious River Wye was an opportunity I was not going to pass up. The river was perfect having a few extra feet on, lovely colour and had been fairly settled for a few days.

The day started well with some lovely Perch, Roach and Dace finding the maggots irresistible but then the Bleak moved in in their thousands and absolutely mullered every grub thrown their way.

It was time for a move downstream. Thankfully the Bleak didn't follow and we were able to catch more quality Roach of about a pound, some small Chub and some more Perch.

It was such a pleasure to fish this stunning fish-filled river, I just hope I get to return soon!

Rumours of Monsters

A village pond that is free fishing and has reliable rumours of 4lb perch residing in it. That is something that needs to be investigated and finally I managed to take a few hours away from the business (which is going a bit too well!) and paid a visit. Located in beautiful Cotswold countryside the pond is gin clear telling me that few Carp live there and there was plenty of small fish activity meaning a plentiful supply of food for any marauding big Perch. Good signs.

There are loads of snags to hide in including a fallen Willow that had been down for a long time. 

Having not had chance to visit the tackle shop my only bait choice was some prawns from the freezer. As Martin pointed out via text the Perch would not have seen these before so worm may have been a better bet but I gave them my best shot anyway.

Sadly I think Martin was right (but don't tell him!!) The bait remained untouched. A Carp leapt clean out of the water near the fallen tree and out of desperation for a pull on my string I chucked a Prawn in the direction of the disturbance. Within minutes the float slid sideways slightly and I struck, more in desperation than hope. Surprisingly I was attached to a fish. It was dangerously close to the snags and used all its power to try and reach them. I gave it everything I had on four pound line and my light float rod and thankfully I won.

There was no need to put a weight on such a fish, just admire its beauty quickly and release it back to its watery home. I am not a fan of Carp fishing unless they are stunning, barely fished for and rarely caught stunners like the one above, those I could get used to.
I'll be back and the next visit I will be worm-armed.

One Bite Can Make All the Difference

I'll start this post the same way as everyone else seems to start theirs at the moment: River bank high, chocolate coloured, drop in temperature etc. Fishing time is precious so rather than flog a dead horse we headed to the local commercial in search of the elusive monster Perch that grow fat therein on a diet of stunted fish and left over match bait.
The fishery in question has a reputation for throwing up five pounders but funnily enough there are no photos to verify these massive specimen and I doubt they were even weighed. Anyone who is inexperienced in catching big Perch will no doubt be way out when trying to guess the weight of these fish. I've had a few now and I still never get it right.
The fishing was slow, tediously slow. We blamed the cold, not unusual for this time of year but this has not been a usual year for weather!

It took a good few hours before finally we had a bite, first blood to Martin. A decent sized double figure Carp. I'm not sure why, maybe because the fish was freezing cold but Martin thought he would give it a cuddle. Or maybe he's not been getting much lately!!

It obviously warmed the fish up as it gave a powerful flip and Martin ended up juggling it about for a while and then doing his uncanny impression of Keith Arthur.

Back under control he resumed some serious posing again.

Another spell of inactivity followed before I caught a Carp of my own. One of those fish that give commercial fisheries a bad name. So ugly that I did not even take a net shot. Half it's mouth was missing on one side. the other side not much better, it had three dorsal fins where there should only be one and a nasty sore just above it's tail. It had suffered enough and I felt guilty that I had put it through more!
An hour later, early afternoon the float twitched but didn't fly under, just edged its way away from the marginal tree towards the centre of the pond. A positive strike and it was obvious that this was no Carp as the rod tip jagged about in a way that could only mean Perch. Soon enough it surfaced and the hook which was only held by the tiniest flap of skin thankfully kept its hold. At last we had what we came for, Even though it fell short of the three pound mark by only one ounce I was still overjoyed at my biggest Perch for this fishery and believe me I have fished there many times.

I pulled my usual dour Yorkshireman pose before Martin said something mildly funny to make me giggle. 

2lb 15oz

And then he got all artistic with the camera but to be fair the result below was worth it.

Two more small Perch followed before we called it a day, we were cold to the bone but it only takes one fish to make a difficult day worthwhile.

It's Lovely Down South

With the amount of water around at the moment and hurricane Frank violently battering us,(it took the roof off the kid's playhouse this afternoon-another job for the New Year!) it was amazing that yesterday we were treated to bright blue skies and some sorely missed sunshine. We had to head way down south to find it though.
Our target was Roach and Dace, not the incessant procession of Trout that found our maggots irresistible.

By moving about the river I did find some Dace up to 8oz which were good fun but the Roach were nowhere to be seen.

We carried on into darkness in the vain hope that they might show but they continued to elude us. Scant reward for a tough round trip of over six hours but that won't deter us from returning.