Fishing Diary: Fishing Diary Autumn 2017

Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies.

I didn't get it at first. Why the secrecy? Was I not to be trusted, didn't they like me? It's a very strange place the specimen hunting world. Stuck out here on the east coast there are a few big fish men. All very nice. In terms of sharing venues though I'd be just as enlightened by talking to one of my Labradors. Why? Why is it that now when people ask me on Facebook where I've been fishing I just fob them off? What have I become?

.......

One of the river and drain systems I have been fishing recently for big Perch could be fifty miles of water. A thousand overhanging bushes, hundreds of deep holes, bends, snags, boats and bridges. A lot of the Perch you are about to see come from an area no bigger than my lounge. If you are a ten yards either side you wont get a bite. If I told people where they were, likelihood is I'd never be able to fish for them again. Through years of research, exploration and myriad dead ends I've gradually become one of those 'in the know'. These dolly holes aren't my places though, others my have been quietly fishing them for years, generations. That, ladies and gentlemen, is 'why'.

Now I get it.

A slow dawn

It was a speculative cast. A small rubber lure lazily hit the surface and fluttered down through the water column. Before it hit bottom I felt a sharp sensation through the braided line and down the carbon in the rod. Something had grabbed the lure and I struck. My shitty Daiwa LRF rod decided to maintain it's ridiculously fragile integrity and cushioned the telltale lunges of a big Perch as it fought hard in the deep water. The first sight is both magical and horrifying. When you haven't seen a large stripey for a while they really are the biggest of all fish. My first decent Perch of the autumn, 3lb 9oz........

After that the lures produced nothing, not a tap. I broke out the worms and had about thirty more, no more big ones but a few nice two pounders.

A few days later I went back properly equipped and had around fifty fish. Just one three pounder though in the shape of this fish of 3lb 6oz......

After that I kind of wrote it off in my mind. Sure, there were some big ones there but an awful lot of small ones too. It wasn't until I abandoned a boat trip one day that I had a spare couple of hours before dark that I decided to go back. Only having boat gear I rigged up a small loafer on my 7ft Dropdshot rod and fished a worm as deep as I could. It was a bit Heath Robinson but I was happy just to have a bait in the water. It was strangely quiet. No small fish at all. In fact for the first hour I didn't have a bite. It even crossed my mind to get the boat out and try that approach. What happened next will stay with me forever.

The float slid under and I became attached to a large fish. That was the start of half an hour of hectic action. The first fish looked massive. I slipped it in the net, I'd got a little excited at the 3lb 6oz fish the week before so I was trying to temper my feelings with this one. When the bites dried up I took stock of what I had caught. Six Perch- 2lb 12oz, 3lb, two at 3lb 2oz, 3lb 5oz and a new PB of 3lb 15oz.....

The turnover of fish was incredible. Seven three pounders and all different fish. It gave me the impetus to go back a few days later to see if, finally, for the love of god and sweet baby Jesus, I could finally lay claim to a four pounder. Another fifty plus Perch later I had caught three more three pound fish topped by this bristling beauty of 3lb 12oz......

Again, all different fish. Quite a remarkable amount of big Perch. Ten three pound fish and countless two pounders. It slowly dawned on me that the same fish weren't there all the time. It was a spot they frequented but didn't stay at.

The next two trips produced well over a hundred Perch. The biggest was astill impressive 2lb 14oz but I finally gave up. Between myself and my guests Benidorm Dave and Martin I reckon we've caught nearly four hundred Perch from that spot. They didn't get any really big ones but had a tremendous amount of fun. You can see now why some of us get annoyed when people claim four pound fish that clearly aren't anywhere near. Is there a a fish of that size there? My biggest is theoretically just one meal away. I tell people I'm not bothered about catching a four and I'm not. When I tire of catching three's it will be time to play golf.

Blow job

My boat had been laying dormant in the garage all year. Too much hassle I kept telling myself. When bank fishing though I'm always wishing I could fish certain spots from different angles. To do that I would need to break out the boat.....

My concerns were soon outweighed by the flexibility it gave me. Sure, the car takes longer to load up and it's a good twenty minutes pumping it up and clipping the floor in but it is definitely worth the effort. I've been to places rarely fished, perhaps never. You'd certainly never be able to fish them from the bank. Most of all though you can cover a lot of water. It really does vastly reduce the amount of time you'd normally waste looking for fish. Perch in particular don't mind the boat over their heads, even in shallow water.

What I have also learnt is that lures are excellent for finding pockets of fish but they soon become ineffective. Worms are a brilliant method for catching every fish in the shoal. Unfortunately that means the small ones too. That leaves livebaits and to be honest, it isn't a method I am keen on so I'll stick to the lures and worms.

Pastures old

From both bank and boat I have been exploring new venues, keen not to retrace old steps. When our friend Andy Wilson came over for a couple of days though I needed a reliable venue, one I knew would yield a few fish. So, after a morning spent working on a little project we headed over to a local lake for the last couple of hours of daylight. Sadly Andy lost his only decent fish but I fluked one out of peg I wouldn't normally fish. Just as I had been a few weeks before Andy was shocked at the dimensions of the fish. When you don't see one for a while, they really are shocking. He says in no way does the photo do it justice. 3lb 1oz......

The day after saw us have a full day on the boat. Martin came down to see how we were getting on and took this shot.......

Fishing wise it was strange day. I had a big fish on my second cast on a lure. As seems to be the norm the lures were then soon ignored. After that we both caught nearly every drop down on worms but only small fish. Out of the blue I then had another biggy on the worm before the small ones dominated again. We travelled a fair distance in the afternoon trying to find some bigger fish to no avail. Large stretches of water seemed completely lifeless. At last knockings Andy saw a tiny dead Roach and put it on his dropshot rig. It got snaffled straight away by a decent fish in an area we'd drifted over several times with worms. Highly unusual. Nevertheless we had a fantastic day. The boat handled the two of us no problems at all. My best fish.....3lb 5oz......