Perchtastic

Out for another go for some river perch, after my last session I was hopeful of finding a few fish, however I failed to check the weather forecast. Overcast skies at home slowly cleared on the 40 mile drive and I was greeted with bright sunshine when I arrived at the stretch. The river has also lost all of its colour, confidence plummeted immediately and I briefly considered heading home to grab some pike gear and head to my closest river for a few hours.

Two bite-less hours later I reached for the dropshot rod to see if I could tempt something. I’ve had this setup for about 3 years without using it but I thought it might give me chance in these less than favourable conditions. It didn’t. 

It did help me find a dying weed bed a 1/3rd across the river, so I decided to bait this area fairly heavily and sit it out, hoping a perch would visit before dusk. A few dozen worms were chopped into a few big handfuls of mole hill and deposited into the area around the weed bed.

I was surprised when only 15 mins later the rod tip flew round and shortly after I had 2.09lb perch in the net. A new best for this river so I was very pleased.

2.09lb a new best from this river

The next 4 casts all produced bites…. 

2.12lb followed by a 1.11lb which was added to the net without a photo

2.13lb

The last was lost as I was bring it towards the net, gutted as it was the largest of the day! I had a bad feeling that I would struggle to get another bite and that was the case, despite trying a few different things and casting to other areas of the peg I had zero interest for an hour.

I made another couple of large chopped worm/mole hill balls, put them in the same area and then rested the peg for 20 mins.

First cast and a bite but excitement got the better of me and I struck far too early, next cast another bite but again I failed to connect. Luckily neither fish felt anything so I was still confident the fish hadn’t spooked.

A better fish was hooked next cast, a similar stamp to the one I lost, a little more care was taken this time and I managed to land the fish. A quick weigh and the fish went 3.04lb, no photo as I wanted to get my rod out asap.

Next cast and another 2 pounder was added to the keepnet. Time was running low as I had to get back home but I stayed until the very last possible minute which thankfully was enough for one last fish.

3.15lb - a very honest 3.15lb!!!

3.15 & 3.04 - my first brace of 3lb perch

3.15, 3.04, 2.13, 2.12, 2.09, 2.03 & 1.11lb

I managed to beat my best perch for this river five times, with the largest being a new p.b. Definitely my most memorable perch session.

Winter barbel (Middle Trent Madness!)

After that last Trent trip temperatures dipped so I changed my focus to perch from my local rivers, 3 trips, 3 different rivers, 3 disappointing sessions. Nothing much to report but I'm planning a few more trips before the season ends so hopefully I can manage a few.

I had been keeping an eye on the weather and river levels daily, hoping a spell of mild weather and kind river conditions would coincide with a night I had free. It wasn't until mid December all of these factors fell into place and I was again heading down the A1 to the upper reaches of the middle Trent.

Levels were up from my last visit, which thankfully I had judged correctly and had brought my 13ft flood water rods with me. I wasn't fishing long distances or using mega heavy leads (no more than 1/3 across and up to 5oz leads) but needed the longer rods to keep as much line out of the water as possible as the debris meant recasting every 20 to 30 mins. Thankfully the barbel didn't mind the debris as I was into a fish after 30 mins. I knew it was a good fish, heavy, holding its position in the increased flow and a bit of an arm workout! 

After a good 5 min fight in the powerful flow the barbel was resting in the landing net, using the heavier rods and larger landing net than my last visit, I didn't realise how big the barbel was until I lifted the net out a few minutes later. A new personal best.

14.07lb 

Another great start with the first fish of the session being another personal best! 

The session continued in a similar manner to the previous visit and I was kept busy over the next few hours with 3 more doubles, 10.07lb, 10.14lb and an 11.13lb.

10.07lb

10.14lb

11.13lb

Madness, 4 doubles in a little more than a few hours fishing. 

The higher water levels meant fishing further up the bank than previous sessions which meant the peg was now narrower due to the trees either side of the peg. I decided to drop down to one rod to make things easier/safer if I got a take in the early hours.

90 minutes later, I was woken by a screaming run, on the rod within a few seconds and again an obviously heavy barbel had taken the bait.

It was a few minutes into the fight that I realised that I had left the headtorch on my bedchair. In the middle of nowhere with no light pollution made for an interesting fight in the pitch black. The barbel stayed deep, fought very hard in the margin and was netted as it was trying to head towards the marginal reeds.

 

14.12 - another p.b on this session

Crazy fishing, 5 barbel, 5 doubles, 2 p.b's

Things went quiet for a few hours, so after some much needed sleep I got up at 05:00 and got both rods back in, hoping for another fish before dawn. I didn't have to wait long for the action to start again.

3 more single figure fish were added before first light. For once I didn't have to rush home early so I decided to slowly pack up whilst my gear was drying, obviously the rods were last to be put away. 

10.00lb - 6th double of the session

A 3lb chub and a 10.00lb barbel were landed whilst the gear was drying.

Another crazy session - 9 barbel (14.12lb, 14.07lb, 11.13lb, 10.14lb, 10.07lb, 10.00lb, 8.08lb, 7lbish, 6lbish) plus a 3lb chub.

Coming from the north east of england, barbel fishing of this quality is alien to me, I 'm more used to scratching around for the odd fish, occasionally having multiple fish in a session and very, very rarely coming across a double.

So barbel fishing of this standard is welcomed and very much appreciated!  

Well earned - The obligatory p.b pint when I got home

Late Autumn Trent Barbel (catch-up part 6)

 A planned social session down to the Trent for a mates birthday, 3 of us stopping for some food and a beer then heading to the middle Trent in search of barbel.

Ben had the best of this session with 7 (maybe 8) barbel to 12lb.

I split my session, between barbel and pike/zander, 3 barbel to 9lb and a modest pike.

The birthday boy had a bit of a nightmare session, forgotten equipment, a barbel blank and a lost rod ! I don’t even think a birthday pint cheered him up !

A week later I was back down with Ben, a short session, turned up as it was getting dark, left at first light, just the one fish this session.

The only interest on a difficult session, far too much debris coming down a river running cold

A week or so later I had the chance for an overnight trip back down to the Trent, more favourable conditions with very mild weather, the river had dropped a bit and most importantly the barbel were on the feed.

A full 35 mins after casting in I was into a good fish, the fish didn’t pull hard, just held its ground in the powerful flow. Eventually it tired and I pulled a new p.b over the net.

12.03lb - a new p.b, a great way to start the session

That first fish was the start of a very memorable session and a very busy night!

11 takes, 9 barbel landed with 6 doubles. (12.03lb, 10.04lb, 9.11lb, 6ish, 11.06lb 10.10lb, 11.09lb, 11.08lb and 6lbish)

On some of my local rivers I fish that’s a seasons worth of barbel and a lifetimes worth of doubles!

Obviously I couldn’t wait for the next trip down the A1……

Covid catch-up part 1

Approaching 2 years since the last update to the blog, plenty of reasons why I haven't posted anything, the main one being that I couldn't be arsed! 

I have half an hour spare so thought I'd try and bring the blog up to date, maybe get back on track with some regular posts.

End of the 19/20 season

Like most my season was cut short by the pandemic, but a few local pike were had before any lockdowns etc….

19lb 9oz my best from this river

19/20 highlights - 

Barbel - 11.07lb

Chub - 5.08lb

Pike - 19.09lb

Perch - 3.06lb

20/21 season

During the start of the 20/21 season, time on the bank was limited, travel restrictions, home schooling, blah blah.....

Some local sessions produced river best barbel and chub, nothing huge, but decent fish for these venues.

As autumn arrived the focus changed to pike and perch, again a number of river best were beaten.

My nephews first pike, live bait in the margin, last cast of the day.

A few stocky pike were landed during a difficult November barbel trip to the Trent. The best of the bunch being these 18 and 19 pounders.

With a number of more modest pike from rivers closer to home.

After the turn of the year, I focused on catching a 6lb chub from one of my favourite local rivers. A number of nice 5lb plus fish were eventually followed by a new p.b of 6lb 7oz.

20/21 season highlights -

Barbel - 8.03lb

Chub - 6.07lb

Perch - 2.09lb

Pike - 19.03lb

Autumn and winter perch part 1

A little burnt out from barbel fishing hard all summer and early autumn, I had a couple of weeks off with the thoughts of targeting pike on my local rivers on my return. However the rivers have been constantly up and coloured, far from ideal conditions for pike. 

Luckily a water that had been closed to fishing for a few years had changed hands and was now open to anglers again. The water, a small farm pond, holds some carp, the odd tench, a ridiculous amount of roach/rudd and some quality perch. Ben fished it a dozen or so times a few years back and caught good perch every session, with the largest going 3.02lb.

My first session was a good one, fishing live baits on light float paternoster rigs I landed 6 perch over 1lb with the largest going 3.06lb (a new p.b) and a brace of high 2lb’ers to back the ‘3’ up. 

My first fish from this water, a new p.b of  3.06lb

I also lost a lot of good fish, which I eventually put down to using too stiff a rod. Ben also landed a p.b on his first session back with a fish of 3.05lb but he was also losing more than he landed. We were both using avon rods, I was using Drennan series 7 1.25’s and Ben had an older pair or  rapier 1.5lb’s both over gunned but I thought the 1.25lb’s would be just about ok, however they were just slightly too stiff in the tip.

3.05lb 

Good perch have been landed on each visit with Ben landing the largest so far, 3.10lb. My aim was to catch a ‘3’ from this venue but after that first session visit we have both decided to try and get a four pounder from there before they spawn in the spring. The farm pond is a good 2 hours drive from home so visits there are going to be infrequent but I have also started looking at other waters closer to home. I’m hoping to visit the farm pond a couple of times a month before the end of spring, hopefully we can find those bigger fish.

New rods 

We have both invested in new rods specifically for the perch I initially bought a pair of 11ft series 7 pellet waggler rods, soft in the tip, bend forever but with enough power in the butt to stop commercial sized carp these rods are ideal for perch and have all but stopped hook pulls. However when underarm casting a fair size livebait and rig set between 6 and 8ft they struggled to achieved the distance needed so I also bought a pair of the new Drennan Specialist 1lb twin tips. These rods will be used when live baiting in deeper water or when distance is required, for most of my perch fishing I’ll be sticking to the pellet waggler rods.

Ben went for a pair of Greys 1lb TXL specimen rods, a bargain in the sale at around £60 a rod. Although I haven’t used them they seem a nice rod and have significantly reduced hook pulls.