Apologies
Well, we are running a bit behind but better late than never as they say. After April's debacle I've been very busy trying to catch something worthy to show you. Did I succeed? I'll let you be the judge of that.............
Lure practise
With a boat booked for the predator opening day of Northamptonshire's Pitsford Reservoir in the middle of the month I thought I had better get some lure practice in. First off though I had a bit of a problem. My new lure rod had developed a crack in a ring lining. Typically it was at the bottom where it was causing all sorts of havoc with my braid. Back to the shop it went and they ordered a replacement for me. Never mind I'll use the old faithful Ugly Stik I though as I wandered around the lake on site.
It didn't take long to get one as a fish of around a pound shot out from the near bank and engulfed my lure. Another one quickly followed before something far more substantial became attached to my line. Again I only hooked it feet from the bank but it shot out into the deeper water and bored around trying to shake the hook. It's always a bit daunting seeing a big Perch surface for the first time, even now they still look impressive. Anyway it did shake the hook but luckily it was in the net at the time. A fine fish weighing 2lb 15oz........
Sadly that was the end of the action for the evening but I left happy with my efforts. In keeping with my lure practice I popped down to the beach the day after to fling some Bass lures around. It was always going to be a long shot in the shallow murky water off the Lincolnshire coast but I had a good go. It certainly made the dog walking a little more interesting than usual.......
4lb Perch hunt
As many of you will know a 4lb Perch is one of my long term goals. With my new found confidence in lures gained on the Boating Lake where I was catching fish on every trip I headed over to the dreaded caravan park. This venue has produced a Perch of 4lb 6oz in the past (to sweetcorn!) but very nearly broke my spirit last year as I tried in vain to catch a decent fish. As I arrived at the lake in question I was pleased to see nobody else fishing which gave me a free reign. To cut a long story short after three hours I had covered every inch of the Lake with my trusty lure and had just two micro Perch to show for my efforts. I had a little dabble in each of the other five lakes on site but my enthusiasm had been blunted. My mood was further dampened on the way home. One of my favourite winter drains had been just that.....drained......
Quite where they put all the fish is a mystery. Not too far from me anglers bemoan the weed growth in the drains. They ought to think themselves lucky, at least they still have water in them.
I also visited Water Meadows fishery in Chapel St Leonards. I'd heard of some big Perch in the match Lake there and after a chat with owner and all round nice-guy Andy he very kindly agreed to let my have a go with my lures. The conditions were far from perfect and although I did manage to lose a good Perch that proved to be the only take I had. Maybe one for the winter months when the Carp haven't coloured the water so much. Thanks to Andy though for letting me have a go.
The Main Event
You'll remember some of the guys from last month, Nate, Carl, Andy and Leo. Well we all arranged to meet at Pitsford Reservoir for the opening lure fishing day. New guy Jamie joined us to make three pairs. Pitsford is a water that definitely holds 4lb Perch. It is usually fly only but after overhearing some Trout guys in the car park it seems they've opened up to the predator anglers early simply because they have been running at a loss for the last few years. Keen to oblige we each handed over £30 which gave us a full day fishing and the use of three motor boats. My boat partner for the day was to be Leo, my old Rutland compadre.
We quickly headed away from the rest of the gang and motored right to the dam end of the reservoir. This took us a good while and while it wasn't particularly cold it was quite windy which had whipped the water into a choppy maelstrom. By the time we got to the dam I was soaked from the spray of the waves crashing on the bow. Any thoughts of discomfort (typically I had no coat to wear unlike Leo who looked fit to work on an oil rig) were soon dispelled as I had my first take in nearly 40ft of water. All through the fight I was convinced it was a large Brownie as it led me a merry dance all over the place, surging off at every opportunity. I have to admit I was a little disappointed when a modest Pike popped up. 'Bloody hell, I wonder what a 20 pounder goes like,' I said to Leo as he kindly netted it for me........
After an uneventful hour the Perch were conspicuous in their absence. Leo decided to put a proper Pike lure on to see if he could get a pull. Leo quickly opened his account with another small example and then I added another. The Pike really were active as we also had several follows and takes. Every one of them fought like scolded tigers. Forget what you've heard about Trout water Pike, those Pitsford fish fight, even the small ones......
Leo and I hadn't gone to catch Pike and we decided to head back to some calmer waters with the intention of finding some Perch. Even with a drogue we were drifting too fast to work our Perch lures effectively in the open water. Setting up a drift close to the most sheltered shore seemed a good idea but even so I imparted very little action into my lure due to the rate of drift. A quick glance at the sounder revealed a drop off from 15ft to 20ft. As we went over I lowered my lure down another five feet and bang I was in straight away. At first I thought it was another small Pike but gradually it woke up and everything went a little crazy.........
The water was quite clear that day and I saw what I was attached to quite early in the fight. It was a Pike and a big one too. Towards the end of the season I detailed losing a very big fish on the secret river. As they inevitably are, the loss was still fresh in my memory and I began to get doubts. My little 5g lure rod was struggling and the fish started to take off reducing it's effectiveness even more. Leo was quickly on my vintage trolling motor and I gradually gained on it as he manoeuvred the boat into the deeper water.
All through the fight I though it would come off. My little Mustad ultra point was holding though and the fish tired begrudgingly. The tension in the boat was palpable and I fear I may even have been a little blunt with my boat partner as the bow turned in the wind alarmingly close to my line. Leo was marvellous though, he held his nerve and when he scooped the net under it he was as pleased as I was. After a quick high five a victory whoop we set about weighing her and taking some photographs. By this time we had drifted onto the shore. I still can't pick my favourite shot so have two.............
The weight? 22lb 8oz. One of my favourite captures of all time and I now knew how a twenty pounder goes.
Before we knew it lunchtime came around. Leo rang the others and we all met for some food at the picnic area. Carl and Jamie were struggling while Nate and Andy were faring a little better not one of us had even seen a Perch. A foreign looking gentleman was also having a quiet time on his float set up, changing to a feeder as we looked on in amazement.
By the end of the day I had seven Pike with Leo not far behind. We didn't even see a Perch and neither did any of the others. We had a brilliant time though. We could hear constant laughter from Nate and Andy's boat. Andy had also unwittingly found a lure irresistible to Trout which gave them something to do. As he says 'You never have a bad day afloat'. I can thoroughly recommend it. Even the trout anglers were friendly towards us, certainly more than the other lure anglers. Maybe I'm being a little unfair as they could have been 'in the zone'. There is however a slight elitism emerging with lure angling- I've been doing it longer, I was the first to do this, look at my £200 rod, I'm an expert etc etc. I'm happy with my cheap rods and tackling large expanses of water without a coat. All the idea and no gear if you like.
A test
So, lure fishing, just how effective is it for Perch? Back to the boating lake for a little experiment. My best catch on lures had been five fish in total. I wonder what I could do with bait I thought as the lure fishing became less and less productive over the weeks. The plastics had given me an idea of the best place to start and I arrived one afternoon with my pole, a couple of pints of red maggots and some worms. After three hours I had fourteen Perch in the net along with a couple of decent Roach around a pound. The best Perch went 2lb 9oz........
The one at the top is the 2 9 so there are probably three other 2 pounders among the best fish of the day. Certainly more productive than the lures and while it's hardly scientific I wouldn't neglect bait fishing for big Perch...........
The rest of the crew (rogues gallery)
A quick round up of this months action from my pals.....
Trout aficionado Andy Wilson with a superb midlands Bream of 11lb 6oz....
Fishing nutter Dan Sales with a traditionally caught Carp.....
Man vs food competitor Dave Owen with a mighty midlands Bream of 12lb 2oz........
Fellow Lincolnshire specialist and new acquaintance Martin Barnatt had one of the most spectacular Tench catches the county has ever seen topped by this magnificent fish of 10lb 8oz......
Over to Kent to see Tench supremo Nate Green now. He also had an unbelievable catch of big Tench. Countless eight and nine pounders topped by this beauty of 10lb 3oz....
Also from Kent is this 47lb Carp caught while Tench fishing by my old mate Rob Thompson......
Tackle Talk
Tackle tarts need not read on......
Back in the 60's the British motorcycle industry almost totally dismissed the threat of products from Japan. Ten years later they had been humiliated into an ignorant series of bankruptcies by their far eastern competitors. I always think of this when people dismiss Chinese made fishing rods as crap. They might have been to start with but not now. Some seriously good equipment coming from there and at a price almost nobody else can compete with. I came across my latest lure rods completely by accident. The ever helpful guys at Big Catch Tackle gave me the keys to their rod room and told me to'pick anything I liked' after my lifelong loyalty to Shakespeare had been tainted by them not replacing my rod in time for my Pitsford visit. I appeared after much debating and waggling later with an Okuma Dead Ringer. I had no idea how much they were (no price) but the 7ft 5g-20g felt great even if the upper rating was a little ambitious. After my Pitsford trip I fancied a beefier version. A quick internet search revealed a 10g-30g version at guess where? The very same shop. Price? £23...........Quite remarkable, cork handles, good finish, tough rings, super light with lovely actions..........
In my search for a 4lb Perch I have been investigating new venues. Almost none of my potentials will let me lure fish. Very short sighted in my opinion. They way I fish it is almost impossible to foul hook one of their precious Carp (that gets caught twice a week anyway). Another thing to consider is the amount of detritus I can remove with lures. I've taken out line, hooks, litter and even an old unhooking mat this month. No charge, I'm happy to help those that are happy to help me.........
Contact
As ever you can contact me via email here........the.power@tesco.net
Photo's
Lure fishing from the Beach, Daisy at sunset and a beautiful Pitsford sunset..............
Till next time............
