Autumn 2019

"You should judge the best fisherman not by the number of fish they catch in a day, but by putting them on a machine afterwards and judging how good a time they've had. That's the best fisherman. The one who gets the best bankside score for whether they've had a lovely day or not."

Bob Mortimer. 

Taken from the book Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing. 

Reservoirs

Pitsford has been very kind to me in the past. Lots of big perch and it also throws up the occasional surprise, like a 22lb pike I took on ridiculously inadequate tackle. The expectation of a great day always hits me when I pull into the car park, probably well before that, leaving the house, a week before, even further away. The sort of place where you close your eyes the night before and sleep fitfully waiting for the alarm to go off, usually beating it by half an hour or more. 

My friend James Truscott had been waiting for a good hour, despite my enthusiasm a burst water main in Boston had thrown my journey into chaos. He was remarkably understanding and we headed straight out to one of our favourite perch spots. The stripey buggers were conspicuous in their absence. To my detriment I don't use a finder so we were rather thrown by the lack of action. I did, however manage to hook a rather large brown trout which did a great impression of a massive perch for a few minutes. Bycatch but I'm claiming it anyway. New PB 8lb 14oz........

We motored over to another usually very productive spot to no avail. In my experience two things move perch- food source and angling pressure. There were plenty of bait fish in the areas so I concluded that late in the season (Pitsford opens in May) the bigger perch had moved to less popular spots. Despite this we ended up having marvellous day, drifting around picking up fish every few yards in the main basin. Between us we had probably eighty fish, mostly small perch. I also added another fine brownie.....

Our friend Jamie Potts arranged a stag weekend to Rutland water and I was kindly invited. We camped at the excellent Wing Hall. It's a lovely campsite but a bit 'Bates Motel'. The lady in reception was a perfectly lovely lady but I was slightly distracted by a shiny black cat sat squarely on a computer keyboard, staring at me with bad intentions. You probably had to be there but it was slightly macabre.

The intention was to fish Saturday and Sunday. Typically the weather was terrible. Strong winds and heavy showers. The more regular patrons suggested the fishing would be very hard. They were right, it was terrible. My boat partner was an old friend- James Edwards, new to reservoir lure fishing but otherwise a very capable angler. I was more disappointed for him than myself. Sure the conditions played a part but remember, a few years ago people were catching a hundred or more zander in a day from here.

 In a environment when we're quick to blame everything other than ourselves I'm afraid we have to bear the main responsibility of this particular downward cycle on ourselves as anglers. I don't know what the survival rate is, but I'd suggest the deep water and lack of research and therefore understanding of the problem of barotrauma makes it pretty low. Unjustifiably so. I wont be returning anytime soon. Some of the others fared better than my one small perch and a foul hooked (in the arse) micro-zed. Leo Heathcote had a lovely perch of 3lb 4oz and Nate Green and James Aris also had a couple of nice ones.  Most importantly, we still had a marvellous time and we all wish Jamie all the best in married life. 

Andy Lewis, Myself and James Edwards on a windy Rutland Water

Opportunity knocks

After a very wet night a few hardy souls headed out on Rutland again. Fortunately my boat partner had cancelled and I was under little obligation to subject myself to sitting on a overly aggressively spun floating waltzer while getting savagely jet-washed to the skin.

Between me and home was a river I hadn't visited for some time. It provided myself and Martin Barnatt with our most memorable perch session ever.  Even so, I was in two minds when I arrived. the river was pushing through and the rain had followed me, it wasn't lashing down but I knew it would get worse. My hesitation was due to my approach, I needed to set up my inflatable boat. Not pleasant in the rain. My enthusiasm wasn't helped by another angler present who hadn't caught anything of note during the morning. After much deliberation I went for it. Within five minutes of being afloat I had taken a 2lb 15oz perch. No reflection on angling ability, the other guy knew what he was doing, I could just reach areas he couldn't.

For the following two hours I took perch on nearly every cast. For the measurers amongst you the best five fish went 215cm. I know this because it was enough to win me the September Shimano Perch competition for which I won a Yasei lure rod (more on which later). You'll know from the previous blog I'd put in a lot of effort in the preceding months for a couple of runners up spots. Typically I won when hardly trying at all, a day before the end of the month. Bloody fishing. 

Getting back to normality I probably had a dozen over two pounds and one over three. A bruiser of 3lb 5oz taken before the wet weather really closed in. A really lovely session and made more pleasurable by those lovely Okuma Epixor rods I mentioned last time. Some of the very best fish playing actions I've ever experienced.

I've been perch fishing many times with Martin, you know, I've told you about most of them. By pure luck I usually come away with the biggest fish. In fact I can't think of a time he's had the biggest fish of the day. At some point I knew the tables would turn.....

On my return to the river I met Martin nice and early. It looked better than the previous week although still carrying a bit of colour. After getting afloat I had a lightning start, taking several fish over two pounds while Martin did some research into his forthcoming book- How to find every snag in Lincolnshire. He even ran out of hooks eventually and bought some of mine at a very reasonable £5 each. Eventually he stopped casting into immovable objects and started playing what was obviously a very large fish. After a few tense moments involving the propeller, anchor rope and the boat itself Martin finally had his prize. A new PB of 3lb 14oz......

To add insult to injury he took another big three and few minutes later....

3lb 10oz

He wasn't finished there let me tell you. He had another three. I think it was 3lb 1oz although I'd lost interest by then and seriously thought about making him give my hook back. Joking aside it was brilliant to see. Bear in mind I ended up with ten perch over two pound to 2lb 14oz and I didn't even bother the cameraman (apart from a rogue pike). It was a very special day, very special indeed and I was glad to be witness to it. Well done martin. Couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke. 

Worthy of a photo as it gave me the right run around.

Redfins

With some very big perch coming from the recently opened (predator-wise) Farmoor reservoir and a monthly competition win in the bag I could finally relax about the perch competition and switch species for a while. The river Bain was my venue of choice and I got stuck into a few lovely roach. Fishing breadflake on the tip I took a fish of 1lb 12oz on almost my first cast into one of my favourite spots...... 

I had several others but none bigger, not for the first time when roach fishing you get the very biggest fish straight away. My friend Andy Lewis got in touch with a view to upping his PB. A last minute trip was arranged and although I didn't have time to fish I met him at the venue and showed him around. A few hours later I got a message at work. He'd beaten it, multiple times. His best two fish went 1lb 10oz and 1lb 14oz, absolutely brilliant..........

A couple of weeks later an aborted trip to a swollen river Slea saw Martin and I on the river Bain again. Again he took the spoils with a 1lb 12oz fish taken on the float and centrepin. Bloody show off......

Pastures new

It was great fishing for roach but I'd been enjoying my perch fishing so much I was soon back to targeting them. After enduring a long drive to the river Nene only to find it unfishable I headed back east, stopping off at any likely looking spots on the Boston drains. On my very last stop before giving in all together I saw a couple of fish strikes. Small pike I thought but set up anyway, the only other option going home without wetting a line. Fishing a lob worm on the tip it was soon showing indications from small perch. At least I thought they were small. Hitting a tentative bite I was slightly surprised when this near three pounder popped up after a sprightly battle......

In a hectic hour I had several more including two over the magical three pounds before the action ground to a halt.  

3lb 1oz

3lb 3oz

Even though the action was short lived I was keen to return. Again after a fruitless session elsewhere, this time with Andy Wilson, we headed over to see if any other perch were still about. Sure enough Andy was soon into a few nice ones upto 2lb 14oz until he got pestered by a modest Pike of around five pounds, catching it twice. He mentioned that he thought the perch had backed off just out of his reach. Being downstream I took advantage of this, casting upstream slightly. I soon had a positive drop-back bite and netted what I thought was a fish of similar stamp to Andy's. I even had Andy weigh it too just make sure. The photo is outrageous, I could put almost any weight I wanted to it......

3lb 8oz

That's about all for this Autumn. Of course there have been several sessions where I have caught very little, mainly exploring new venues. Even some of my old haunts haven't been particularly productive. As ever I have A long list of excuses. It has been a strange few months though. Absolutely desperate for rain and then absolutely desperate for it to stop. I was very fortunate to be on holiday for the very worst of it. A week after my return I had a quick foray to another river that had just about dropped to a normal level. It wasn't easy and I needed 5 swan shot on the link to hold my worm in place but was more than pleased to take this magnificent looking perch.....

3lb 4oz

Tackle Talk

Shimano Yasei Perch Rod 7-18g

I make no apologies for this review. My responsibility is to you, my reader. I do feel a bit shitty though because I got it via a free to enter competition.....

Ok, let's start with the positives- It's very light and hugely responsive in the tip, brilliant for imparting action into lures. Other than that I hated it. Genuinely didn't enjoy using it at all. It's a pain in the arse to transport. Even the bag is poorly designed. Surely you don't put the butt pocket at the tip end? If Shimano were worried about ruining the action by making it two equal lengths they needn't have. It's terrible. Let me be as kind as possible because you may have spent £140 on one and love it- the action did not suit me at all. Really unpleasant, too stiff, too wooden, to thick under the handle. The 3-12g is slightly less bad but not by much. Sorry Shimano, not for me at all. I gave it away. 

ProLogic Specialista Barbel Twin Tip

Getting a brilliant rod for a bargain price is one of my great angling pleasures. Sadly this isn't one of them. On offer at a ridiculous £25 each I bought two. The 2lb section is fine. It's a little heavy but I can live with that. It will be fine for the occasional long range bream or tench session. I do like a quiver tip for barbel though and because the tips are glass fibre they create quite a horrific flat spot. Perfectly usable but not nice, not nice at all even if the price is barely believable.

Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing

Alright, alright it's not tackle. With Christmas coming up though it is relevant. Following on from the TV series we have this book. More in-depth than the programs it's a lovely little insight into Bob and Paul's thoughts on angling. It was particularly fascinating to discover how keen Paul is to be well thought of by the angling community- you and I, I guess. Bob doesn't really care. There are other intriguing thought-provoking passages in the book too, like the one at the very start of this blog entry. It's a lovely book, it really is. Get it. 

Opinion

I haven't taken many nice photo's this time around so I'll reluctantly end on something I've wanted to talk about for a while now..........

Perch have gained in popularity over the last few years. Catchable on a variety of methods and all throughout the year they are indeed, a great fish to target. In addition to this the bigger ones are so impressive they almost take your breath away. I know the quote, we all know it. The fact they look so big is probably the reason for so many false weight claims.

Here's how it works. Let's take the river Glen. A five pound Perch is reported to the press, it's either a blatant lie or a mistake. Let's face facts, for years people have been pretending they've caught bigger fish than they actually have, it's nothing new. Anyway, the photo gets published and it becomes fact. Open discussions on social media- 'Oh, yes, the Glen has done perch to 5lb'. You get approached on the bank and told in no uncertain terms- It's definitely done a 5lb perch. It gets repeated so often it becomes a truth. The reality is that the reported five pounder was nowhere near, probably not even four pounds.

Why does it matter? Well, we share a passion don't we? Bonded by our love and appreciation of fishing and in particular- big fish, of all varieties. A kinship if you like. We're different to others. You might not particularly like me, I might not like very much you but we can respect one another and show appreciation, especially for each others endeavours.

Big fish angling is largely based on trust. It isn't closely monitored and nor should it be necessary to do so. Sadly there are some that just don't play by the rules. Specimen angling isn't a rich sport, there's minimal financial gain and very little in the way of kudos. Watching Ben Johnson destroy everyone in the 100m was quite something to witness but it wasn't real. For those who'd got to that final legitimately it must have been spirit crushing. That's what it is like for genuine anglers, spirit crushing. Watching people conning fellow enthusiasts for their own pathetically fragile egos and a Drennan Cup weekly award.

Forget five pounders, just how rare is a four pound perch? For the purposes of this discussion we'll leave out Farmoor and Hanningfield reservoirs, two venues which currently are at maximum Perch, so to speak. Maybe even Chew too. Don't be fooled though, those venues are incredibly hard and have seen many, many competent anglers leave empty handed. In fact let me just keep it to the venues I frequent- mainly Lincolnshire rivers with the odd Anglian reservoir thrown in.  In the last five years I have fished with some really good anglers, targeting Perch with them and also alone. I've built up a decent network and have my ear firmly to the ground, especially locally. I'm reasonably competent myself and fish regularly, even areas where nobody else can thanks to my boat. Fourteen different Lincolnshire rivers and drains fished specifically targeting big perch. Must have seen or heard of a few then Phil in recent years? Er....no, not really.

I've seen one in the flesh. On a weekend at Pitsford where myself and my friends had 18 Perch over 3lb. Carl Arcus had one bang on 4lb, a short fat fish, probably carrying a bit of spawn.

I've heard of plenty and seen lots of pictures but Lincolnshire rivers wise, absolutely no doubt about it, cast iron, swear on my life it's definitely 100% accurate then also, one. A fish of 4lb 3oz caught about 3 years ago from a small river I know very well. It's presumed dead now. Some of the claimed sizes of fish are laughable. Angling integrity sold for a few Facebook likes or a magazine picture and a hat. For any aspiring Perch anglers a 4lb river or drain Perch is rare, very rare. For anyone reading this who disagrees then it's simple- prove conclusively otherwise. From spawn to 4lb on a wild venue you're talking a fraction of a fraction of a percent survival and then only if genetics allow. There's a school of thought that suggests some venues have a far better likelihood of producing big perch than others due to genetics of its inhabitants.

I've pretty much said what I had to say. On the bright side and despite all that a few of those venues I frequent are capable of very big Perch. One of them in particular did an genuinely enormous Perch many moons ago. I'm currently on blank number five. It's a very tricky one.

Remember, whatever you fish for, enjoy it. Your leisure time is precious. Use it wisely.


Till next time