Aiming for PB Perch

[AndyM]

Hello all,

 

One of my aims for this season is to catch a decent sized perch, with my PB being just under 1lb. The canal I fish on a regular basis is rumered to hold a head of decent fish in the 2lb+ range, which I can well believe, due to the volume of small silver fish. I’ve read all of Steve’s articals (One of the reasons why I’ve set myself this target) and found them useful, but with the stretch of water I’m targeting being around 1mile long between locks (due to it’s size it was never drained durring the restoration works 3 or 4 years ago) and having a variaty of swims, I don’t know which to plump for first.

Swims which I’m guessing would be best to fish include beds of reeds on both near and far banks which get a fair amount of light, same again with sun light blocked for most of the day due to factorys, bridge swims and open swims with over hanging trees on the far bank.

Tactics wise I was thinking of using a waggler on 4lb mainline to a 3lb bottom, baiting up with red pinkie, and fishing lobworm on the hook. I would try a small livebait, but with pike well into double figures, believe that using a wire trace will reduce the chances of a perch.

I’m also trying plugs, spoons and spinners in the evening after work, but have only had pike so far.

 

Any help appreciated.

[kleinboet]

AndyM - fish either hard on the bottom or lay on slightly, this eliminates a lot of "tiddler" bites and may I suggest you try a whole lobworm.

[Pangolin]

Are there trees on your own towpath side, Andy? If so, try parking yourself with a tree behind you and, if the canal is reasonably deep, fishing triple pinkie just under the rod tip. If your canal has any streamer-weed (the stuff that looks like grass bades, but around 1cm wide, then fish beside patches of it. It isn't strong enough to cause you to snag up. Finally look out for leaping fry, and drop a bait in right where they are leaping: that's usually a big perch causing it. Groundbait should be a light helping of chopped worm, just to provide a smell-attractant, not to feed the fish! Tight lines...

[AndyM]

Thanks,

 

There aren't many swims with trees on the near side, most are on the far bank, but there are the odd group of bushes on the nearside which over hang the water (have tried lures here), but where the trees do similar the water tends to be very shallow and void of other features. I have noticed perch in the 0.5lb bracket in these swims however. I have noticed fry jumping around the bridges and investigated it when on the near side. one occassion last summer when the water was clear, you could see a schoal of small perch herding a schoal of 2inch fry toward the bank, and crashing into them, must of spent a good 20mins just watching them.

 

I'll give it a go anyway, as if I don't manage a perch, there are plenty of tench upto 5lb and bream getting upto double figures to keep me occupied

[John Bogle]

Hi Andy,

 

I don't have much experience of Canal perch, but have caught several over the years from my local river Rother which is very slow moving in summer(almost no flow at all), so almost canal like. No monsters, but had a few to just under 2 lbs.

 

I found that early in the season you will often see them chasing fry. I always fish for perch around conctrete obstructions such as bridges, sluice gates where water is pumped from ditches into the river, etc. In summer I always fish with small livebait or whole lobworms for them.

 

Livebait does attract pike(then again I've had pike to almost 10lb on lobworms too!), but to be honest I used to fish for many years with just 8lb nylon when livebaiting for pike and only ever had lost one fish when the line broke, and this was when I had a mid-double on when very young, and someone tried to hold the line to land the fish, the pike decided to run, they didn't let go, and it broke!

 

You could fish with braid or some of that fine knotable whire in about 15lb which is very soft. Both would eliminate bite offs from pike.

 

This was successful for the first month or so of the season I found. It then became good once again around september/November when the river started to clear and I would catch a lot on livebaits again. Come October/November I would catch a lot twitching free-lined lob worms along the bottom close to the bridges.

 

When waggler fishing lob worms I always fished them at about 2/3 depth and if it went quiet, twitching the bait often produced an instant response!

 

Hope this is of some help

 

John

[Dick Dastardly]

Please dont use braid as this can be bitten through quite easily.Has to be wire Im afraid or be prepared to leave a small single in a pike.The choice is yours.

John never realised you must live quite local to where I used to (I used to live on Romney Marsh) the Rother used to be a regular venue of mine when in the country.

[J.K]

I have caught perch upto 3lbs on a few canals now and can say that maggot is the way to go. After a few hours feeding maggot (attracting gudgeon and catching alot of them) Perch then get drawed in and they seem to put up maggots with ease. My first 3lber came to a single red but my other 3 came to red white red combo on a size 16 to 4lb line.

 

p.s

waggler tactics

[Ed Matysiak]

Give a lure a throw. This way you can fish many swims and only catch the larger fish.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Andy....I've sent you a PM.

[Will Wilkinson]

I'd either go for 1/2 a lob over chopped worm or double red maggot feeding maggot. Had perch to just short of 2lb from the Grand Union on both of these. My PB of 2lb4oz came from the Thames on single red maggot. Plenty to 2lb2oz from the Ouse last year, but no monsters :confused:

 

Will

 

[ 15. May 2004, 11:38 PM: Message edited by: Will Wilkinson ]