When life gives you lemons...

make lemonade!

Originally a pre-Christmas trip to the river Wye was planned, but by mid week it was running five and half meters higher than normal. That is something that Avon anglers can barely comprehend never mind fish. So plan B came into force and targets changed from barbel to perch. Old Father Thames remained stoical up until the day before, when that too was deemed barely fishable by local sources.

Now, like many I have found myself on the banks of an unfamiliar venue when it's out of sorts and can say with some certainty that it's miserable when you have committed time, money and effort into a trip, and have a torrid time when I should have just left it alone. This one got called before that happend though, and in truth that knocked the wind out of my sails.

Truthfully, I hadn't got round to conceiving a new plan by the time morning came. It was JB who tried to gee me up into getting out and good job she did as I had a large amount of costly bait I'd bought which would only go downhill if stored for another week. Whilst feeding BB sitting on the sofa I weighed up all my options. The Avon like most of the rivers was a bit off colour and dumping a load of worm in the canal didn't seem the best use for all that bait. So after pondering a few pools I opted to head to a commercial venue that in the past had produced some serious perch for me and others.

The one reservation I had about this venue was that it has seen a lot of pressure regarding perch fishing the last few years. As a result I wondered if it had seen its best days. So many of these commercial pools get burnt out once word gets out that a few big perch have been caught. Though why that happens I don't rightly understand. Maybe the fish die off or maybe they just become wiser, I don't know, but either way the sport declines under pressure.

So with a bit of doubt in the back of my mind I squelched my way across the sodden grass towards my chosen peg. After a bit of plumbing around I settled on a slight shelf a little out from the margin where I was sure big perch might patrol. A quarter of a kilo of dendrobena worms were minced and five small handfuls were deposited in a short line running out from the bank above, on and below the shelf so as to hopefully intersect the path of any perch.

To start with I began by using only half a lobworm on the size six hook. The rest of the worm was broken into three smaller pieces and thrown over the chopped worm as bigger freebies. I am a big fan of using Drennan chubbers or bobbers for this type of fishing as they give me multiple options on how to present the heavy baits I like to use, and shotted correctly they offer little resistance to a big perch moving off with the bait. Even with the wind still hacking across the lake, the tip of my bobber held stationary in the lea of some reeds glowing in the sun.

It didn't take long to generate some interest by way of a slew of hungry roach of around half a pound. Then not long after they stopped biting I got a proper bob and slide away bite. A powerful fish ramped around the swim putting a decent bend in my rod. Turned out it was no perch but an unseasonable December tench that come on the feed in warmer weather.

Like a match angler I always keep topping up the baited area, as in these commercial lakes it doesn't take long to get cleaned out when there's shoal of hungry silvers and carp rummaging round the lake bed. Literally you can tell when they have cleaned you out of bait and sometimes this is a good thing, as often I have found the big perch turn up after other fish have gone.

I'd topped up, had a bit of a lull in the action and the roach had been and gone once more before I got another positive bite. This time the float bobbed once and slid off towards the reeds and I struck into a heavy fish. The culprit went zipping down the margin before turning back towards me and bending my light rod in a very awkward angle as it bored under my feet. Luckily it went out into open water under pressure and the rest of the fight was a lot more civilised. That was until a big stripy flank rolled over into the net and the hook lost it's hold. I really wasn't sure it had gone in the net until I lifted the net to see a huge perch's back rise up in the water.

I was really happy to be proved wrong that this pool wasn't done with respect to big perch. I was even happier to see such a nice looking example from such a muddy puddle. So often they can be a bit wishy washy, but this one was quite well coloured and looked a real predator. I am willing to bet many a young carp or roach has been gulped up by that huge mouth.

After releasing that one well away from my swim I topped up with more worm. I reckon a second fish must have been lingering on the bait as not a single roach turned up for a long while before I hooked and lost what I was sure was a second good perch. It was time for a slight change in tactics. Up until now I have persisted in fishing either a half or whole lob worm on the bottom, but sometimes I've found that presenting a whole worm just off the bottom really sparks up some action. Though most of the time I split the worm into two equal sections and hook both by the split ends onto the hook. This gives the bait a very enticing fall on a tight line and does, as it did in this case, bring an instant reaction.

The float had barely settled and the weight of the worm had just sunk the tip a little bit more when it just disappeared under the water in a blink of an eye. This fish fought just as hard as the first but once in the net turned out to be a much younger looking fish around  two pounds, which although smaller and younger looks like it too will one day become a real commercial monster.

After that one no other big perch turned up before I had to go. Interestingly though I did have a run in with two perch right at the opposite end of the size spectrum and I wished I could have got a picture of these two as well. After putting away the float rod I figured it would be interesting to run a worm around the baited area on a drop shot rig by way of one final change to root out a monster Sargent. Quite quickly I felt something tugging at the end of the line and after striking into thin air I cover the same area again only to get the same tugging sensation. After striking at nothing again and again I concluded to just gently lift the rig out upon getting the little tug. This time my rig came out with the lobworm stretched nearly a foot long with a three inch perch greedily holding onto the end of the worm a good eleven inches away from the hook.

It seemed there was shoal of these tiny yearlings in the margin. Their presence certainly confirmed no big predators were around now, but also confirmed that these bigger perch have been breeding. Now given there seems to be just either big parent perch or tiny baby perch in the pool it's not hard to conclude that these little ones are the young of the monsters this pool is renowned for producing. So maybe in a few years time we might see a whole new generation of top predators occupying this commercial banquet, which would be very good to see.

A surprising new water.

I have used up most of my back up waters by this point and like everyone still stalwart enough to continue through this infernal wet winter, I feel like I am fishing the same waters again and again. It is this that has pushed me on to venture forth to pastures new, where I don't risk repeat captures. Needing a new spot to angle upon I made a list of waters that fitted the bill. All were to be commercial and far away from rivers, but the size and age had to be just right for me. Honestly I felt goldilocks skimming the list uttering things like 'too big, too small and too young'. As I compared the information, one stuck out to me as 'just right' and in doing so warranted more research. How in god's name this place passed me by I do not know but thinking about it now, it seems a glaringly obvious big perch venue and I feel rather dim for passing it by for so long!

With a target in my sights I went into research mode on the internet and after going through a hundred possible searches and a similar amount of key words, I finally found snippets of information hidden away in some match reports; turned out this particular venue came into its own once the lakes carp population became a little more dormant. With this in mind I conferred with a couple of match angling chappies I know who both confirmed the presence of what I sought. They even tipped me off on areas that produced them and what baits they had caught them on before so I was well set for a visit over the weekend.

Normally this place is a no-go area at the weekends as matches dominate and non-competitive anglers are hissed at as they pass by stepping over amusingly named poles. But luckily for me no matches were booked and the banks were deserted. Now I have fished a fair few commercials in my endeavour to catch big perch but this one takes the first prize for most commercial commercial. The banks are so well trodden that somewhere in the twenty feet gaps between pegs I wouldn't of been at all surprised to see a bunch of WW1 soldiers exiting a trench. Honestly this place is so well worn that I feel sure Chris Yates would instantly bend double, stomach cramping, and vomit into his cap should he find himself here. But for me it did have a certain deserted or abandoned post-apocalyptic feel to it with no match anglers around, and I kind of liked it. It was like I was the last angler alive after the world had crumbled and I was after any wild fish that still remained in this god forsaken pool.

And wild fish I think is an important way to refer to the perch I was after. You see that carp rule in this place and the perch are neglected as they don't eat corn or pellets and certainly don't often get caught fishing a shot gun feeder fished within millimetres of the opposite bank. These fish roam free, the top predator in a world on heavenly pressured pigeon mouthed carp, only getting caught when times are so hard for the common garden carp bagger that they turn towards silver fish as a route to that ever important brown envelope full of cash. For me this is like a perverted form of heaven. Although they undeniably get caught the fish that reside in this pool I hoped would be maybe green and hopefully forthcoming and I couldn't wait to get after them.

Three casts and fifteen minutes was all it took... I walked the bank once picked out two swims out of the hundreds, which was actually quite hard as I was surprised by the volume of features on this commercial. I baited sparingly and built up the swim with a very match angler like rhythm of feeding. Then bam float slides away and seconds later a big stripy flank rolls on the surface and in the net went my first nice perch.

2.12 was a very good start as far as I was concerned. But then how amazed was I when half an hour later another one took my bait. This one only scraped two pounds but still two twos in under an hour seemed good going for a first shot at a new venue and it didn't stop there.

After catching some small but very stocky sub pound fish that I knew had a very good set of genetics on them I landed another good fish of 2.6lb.

Time was flying by with the capture of a bunch of immaculate perch and my constant feeding and the rewards at that moment seemed amazing. Sometimes on commercials I have found myself fishing for a single bite from the right species in a plethora of bites from the wrong species. Today however they were crawling up the line. I feel I must say at this point that I had in fact landed several largish roach and skimmer as well as the perch, so it wasn't all perch purity.

I finished up landing two more fish over two pounds before time got the better of me and I had to make tracks. But this new lake had dug its hooks into me and having seen what it had to offer I couldn't wait to come back and see if it held what I suspected it could.

It was a week before I could return what with the weather and work. There was no messing round this time looking for spots so I headed straight back to the scene of the last good session. With my float still set at depth from before it was just a case of kicking starting the swim with a little feed then casting out. I stuck to the previous baiting pattern and after the initial feed I kept a constant stream of small amount of baits trickling in. This I think is more to attract the silver fish rather than the perch, which in turn attract the perch to their activity.

Now although I didn't catch anywhere as near as many fish in the second session I did catch three more fish just over two pounds. In doing so a small bit of paranoia crept into my mind, 'were there any repeaters?' Though I did no trophy shots of this second trio, I did take some net shots. Looking back the fish were worryingly similar, even having the same pattern of stripes, but by comparing similar shots differences began to appear, as the next two photos show.

Ignoring the different light levels both look very similar, but it's the fins that differentiate them. The bottom fish has a split in its tail and a tiny spot at the front of its anal fin, whereas the top fish has straight white bar down the front of its anal fin. The first fish also has some pitted markings just above its mouth. Apart from these incidental differences the fish it seems are the same shape, especially with their small heads and distinct hump just behind the head, as did all the other fish I caught. I checked as best I could and am convinced that in fact all eight decent fish are different fish. Furthermore after comparing them all it is obvious they are all closely related. The weights are so close that I would go as far as to say they could well be the same year class.

Honestly I am really pleased with this new pool and the results that have come in two very short sessions. Given the numbers of willing perch patrolling this pool and their good average size this pool might have an amazing future ahead of it! And it leaves me with a serious target... their mother.

Fish eye #2 small perch

Juvenile perch from a heavily coloured commercial pool in winter.

Commercial success.

A few weeks ago I made the hard decision that with a trip to the coast looming, joining the rest of the crazy crew on a jaunt to Hanningfield reservoir was financially unfeasible for me. It turned out Baz from Return to Ryton was in the same predicament, so I suggested we get together on the weekend in question for a perch session on one of the local commercial fisheries on my hit list.

My previous midweek trip out had actually been to check out this new lake and as I had bumped off a good Sargent early on, it seemed the rumours of big perch may of had some credence. So this seemed to be the perfect place for us to spend our Saturday searching for something special.

A week of bright sunny skies meant my confidence was not high. Even though the lake in question was far from clear. The sun had hampered even the small perches feeding in the week but when I awoke Saturday morning half the country was shrouded in fog and it seemed fate was at hand.

After Baz picked me up and we had one small disaster where my much needed net was left outside my front door, we finally arrived in rural Warwickshire and drove between newly planted fields towards the fog cloaked lake.

It was quite eerie making our way to the lake. The fog as always dampened all sound and all I could hear was the occasional ribbet of toads from the reed beds where the spring orgy was well underway.

On my last visit I had fished only one rod over a bed of chopped worms and prawns. This had lead me to keep swapping from one the other as hook baits, as when fishing worm I felt I should have been fishing prawn and vice versa. This time though, even knowing how hard it is to fish two float rods and watch both floats efficiently, I went for identical rigs with a different bait on each one and fished them a meter apart.

This was not easy as I had opted to fish the most awkward swim on the entire lake. The slight breeze blowing onto my rigs meant they had to be fished eight inches over depth to hold bottom. But they were under tension, so even the slightest bite was detected. So that problem turned into a bonus. 

It was the overhanging tree that hung so low that I could not even raise my rod which caused the most problems. All casts had to be flicked under deftly from my right and all strikes had to go out the same way. The casting I knew would not be a problem but in the panic of a fight I worried I could find myself tangled on the branches. A few hits at slight bites from silvers worrying my baits got me on the right track soon enough.

The glorious fog was not going to last all day. So with that in mind both Baz and myself worked hard to make the most of the lack of sun, but all too soon I could feel the rays burning away our cover.

I like to think any change can help when you aren't getting the right bites and even when light levels go from good to bad, fish sometimes feed just as that light changes. 

If I learnt one thing last year fishing for perch using floats on the canal, it was what a bite from a good perch looks like. At least that's what I thought when my float did a little bob before sliding off. But what I was attached to felt like a small carp trying to bore into my own bank. With my trusty new John Wilson Avon rod bent nicely I confidently pulled the little bugger into open water where it rolled once before I went white as a sheet and scrabbled for the net. I forgot that the rest of the world existed! Only one thing mattered - getting this fish in my net at all cost. Everything held, I managed not to flap and she was mine.

With it safely in the net I stood shaking and whistled over to Baz. I knew it was new PB before I even lifted it from the water, but I never expected the sheer size and girth of it. I have to thank Baz at this point because my composure had just vaporised and whilst I held the net in the edge he organised scales and cameras.

When I picked up those scales with a bulging carrier bag hanging beneath, I could not have put a weight on it. The moment the dial moved, it went confidently round to 4lb.

On the mat it looked like it could eat the flipping scales, it was that big. Still it had no anger in it like perch sometimes do, and for the life of me I could not get that fin to stand proud but that did not matter to me as I had a fish in my hands that most anglers go there entire lives without catching.

The thickness of this fish was probably around five inches and a six ounce roach would go in it's mouth no problems. In fact I remember thinking clearly at the time that two golf balls would easy go in it's mouth, it was that big.

Neither Baz or myself had ever seen a perch like this in the flesh and I wonder if I ever will again. After taking  loads of photos she was treated with the utmost respect. I crouched on the waters edge cradling her gently in the water as I took one last look before she swam back under the bank.

I must have sat, rods out the water smiling like a goon for ages before I snapped round and thought, what the hell do I do now. I just caught the biggest perch of my life and it's only ten in the morning.

Then the most insane thing sprang to mind! Who's to say that the biggest one in the lake. So I spent the rest of the day hunting for something bigger. Honestly...

I did actually hook and lose a smaller fish of maybe 2lb, which on any other day would have had me screaming but not today after having held a true giant.

All day I kept flicking on my camera and looking through the pictures, as I have done ever since. On the way home we chatted. I won't go back to this lake until autumn when they are feeding up for winter. And when I do I will follow up another tip off I got from a local, regarding a second hot spot on the lake where the capture of four fish over three pounds in one session was meant to have taken place.