Lure fishing for perch and chub

[The Flying Tench]

I had designated October 'the month of the roach', but yesterday afternoon, with moderately high presssure (around 1020Mb) and a clear blue sky, I couldn't see myself catching any decent roach, so I wondered what else to do. A question came to mind that I have asked in the past on AN and not had much of an answer. High pressure days are good for lure fishing for pike, but does the same thing apply to perch and chub? I'm aware that perch, like roach, don't like bright weather, so I wasn't expecting too much. If I could catch a few 4 oz perch in a fun way I'd be satisfied, and it might give some kind of answer to the question.

 

Another factor for me with lure fishing is that, due to a slight tiredness condition, the walking and constant casting mean I can only manage an hour or so. And, partly for this reason, I'm a bit of a novice lure angler, only doing it occasionally.

 

I got to the canal about 4pm and started trying out some very small lures I was given by a well meaning non-angler last Christmas. Caught a leaf every cast, but the first experiment was clear at least (from looking at their action in the water) - bin them! I then put on my trusty Mepps Aglia No3 Firetiger and cast to a bush. Caught a leaf as soon as it touched the water. Drat! May as well give up. Then the 'leaf' started moving, and I was pleased to see a 1lb 4oz perch in the clear water with a couple of slightly bigger ones swimming alongside. Next cast 1lb 12 oz perch, again with posse. This one, also, took the instant the lure hit the water. Then 3 takes in the next 5 casts, each around the same size, though for some reason they all got off. Hmm, something wrong with the lure, so I tried a couple of others with no effect, then put back the Mepps No3 and still no effect , so I moved on. Fair bit of walking, but no more takes up till dark at 5.30pm beyond one very small perch.

 

Well, my immediate reaction was that perch do like high pressure! The catch was not exceptional, but I have never known 5 takes in 7 casts before, and the fact that the first two took the instant the lure hit the water surely said something - up in the water and all that. But what to make of the lack of action afterwards? It's struck me before in lure fishing for perch that they stop taking much earlier than when fishing with worm. Puzzling in a way, since dusk is when they supposedly have the biggest advantage over the prey fish due to their superior eyesight in dim light.

 

Today I had already planned to take as holiday, so went back to the swim with the action yesterday. A few minutes earlier, maybe 3.40pm. I was pretty confident the perch would be there, so decided to experiment with some other lures, and tried a couple of plastics. Zilch. So tired the trusty Mepps again. Still zilch. So it was all a fluke yesterday, and they don't like this blue sky and high pressure stuff after all. So I went to another stretch of river/canal and got there about 4.15pm. I still had on the Mepps Firetiger.

 

A few ineffective casts catching weed each time then bingo, a 2lb 11oz perch. A lure-fishing pb, so very pleased. Next cast a 5lb chub. Also a lure-fishing pb, so even more pleased. A couple of casts later a 2lb 12oz perch. Wow! And that was it for the day.

 

The best results lure fishing I've ever had by a long way, though it would have been nothing extraordinary for a committed lure angler able to put time in, I accept. But the intruiging thing for me is that the 'action' each day was during a short period of about 10 minutes around 4.15pm.

 

Coincidence? I'd be very interested in comments from other lure anglers. At the moment I'm tending to the view that high pressure days may well be good for lure fishing for other species than pike - and the magic hour for lure fishing is an hour earlier than it is for worm.

[JV44]

I had designated October 'the month of the roach', but yesterday afternoon, with moderately high presssure (around 1020Mb) and a clear blue sky, I couldn't see myself catching any decent roach, so I wondered what else to do. A question came to mind that I have asked in the past on AN and not had much of an answer. High pressure days are good for lure fishing for pike, but does the same thing apply to perch and chub? I'm aware that perch, like roach, don't like bright weather, so I wasn't expecting too much. If I could catch a few 4 oz perch in a fun way I'd be satisfied, and it might give some kind of answer to the question.

 

Another factor for me with lure fishing is that, due to a slight tiredness condition, the walking and constant casting mean I can only manage an hour or so. And, partly for this reason, I'm a bit of a novice lure angler, only doing it occasionally.

 

I got to the canal about 4pm and started trying out some very small lures I was given by a well meaning non-angler last Christmas. Caught a leaf every cast, but the first experiment was clear at least (from looking at their action in the water) - bin them! I then put on my trusty Mepps Aglia No3 Firetiger and cast to a bush. Caught a leaf as soon as it touched the water. Drat! May as well give up. Then the 'leaf' started moving, and I was pleased to see a 1lb 4oz perch in the clear water with a couple of slightly bigger ones swimming alongside. Next cast 1lb 12 oz perch, again with posse. This one, also, took the instant the lure hit the water. Then 3 takes in the next 5 casts, each around the same size, though for some reason they all got off. Hmm, something wrong with the lure, so I tried a couple of others with no effect, then put back the Mepps No3 and still no effect , so I moved on. Fair bit of walking, but no more takes up till dark at 5.30pm beyond one very small perch.

 

Well, my immediate reaction was that perch do like high pressure! The catch was not exceptional, but I have never known 5 takes in 7 casts before, and the fact that the first two took the instant the lure hit the water surely said something - up in the water and all that. But what to make of the lack of action afterwards? It's struck me before in lure fishing for perch that they stop taking much earlier than when fishing with worm. Puzzling in a way, since dusk is when they supposedly have the biggest advantage over the prey fish due to their superior eyesight in dim light.

 

Today I had already planned to take as holiday, so went back to the swim with the action yesterday. A few minutes earlier, maybe 3.40pm. I was pretty confident the perch would be there, so decided to experiment with some other lures, and tried a couple of plastics. Zilch. So tired the trusty Mepps again. Still zilch. So it was all a fluke yesterday, and they don't like this blue sky and high pressure stuff after all. So I went to another stretch of river/canal and got there about 4.15pm. I still had on the Mepps Firetiger.

 

A few ineffective casts catching weed each time then bingo, a 2lb 11oz perch. A lure-fishing pb, so very pleased. Next cast a 5lb chub. Also a lure-fishing pb, so even more pleased. A couple of casts later a 2lb 12oz perch. Wow! And that was it for the day.

 

The best results lure fishing I've ever had by a long way, though it would have been nothing extraordinary for a committed lure angler able to put time in, I accept. But the intruiging thing for me is that the 'action' each day was during a short period of about 10 minutes around 4.15pm.

 

Coincidence? I'd be very interested in comments from other lure anglers. At the moment I'm tending to the view that high pressure days may well be good for lure fishing for other species than pike - and the magic hour for lure fishing is an hour earlier than it is for worm.

 

Well done John great result and in the words of Richard Hammond of top gear fame you are a lure fishing God ,Would have thought that the time of the captures could have been the light levels changing? or just that you came across groups of fish by a holding feature at the same time each day whatever trhe reason a great catch Steve.

[Chris Plumb]

Great result !

 

 

C.

[Stretpegger]

Very well done John and an interesting and thought provoking story to boot.

[Dales]

Sounds like a good session. Unfortunatly I have never been able to get my head around high and low pressure and whats best for fishing. I generaly just go ahead and fish what ever the conditions.

 

Maybe if I took this sort of stuff more seriously my catch's would improve.

[Anderoo]

Sounds like a good session. Unfortunatly I have never been able to get my head around high and low pressure and whats best for fishing. I generaly just go ahead and fish what ever the conditions.

 

Maybe if I took this sort of stuff more seriously my catch's would improve.

 

I'm not sure whether it's the actual air pressure or the accompanying weather conditions, but it's one of the things I consider most important. I'm certain that some fish (like carp, tench, bream, perch) feed much better in low pressure conditions, especially if it's a sudden drop after high pressure.

 

When I used to do a lot of piking I also noticed that I caught more in high pressure, although both Budgie and Steve Burke have since suggested that it's the rising (rather than high) pressure that's the key here.

 

I think my better chub sessions have come during high pressure too.

[Andy Macfarlane]

I don't think Perch mind high pressure at all. I've caught bagloads of Perch in the middle of the day when sky has been clear and the sun has been beating the water. They still like shade though.

 

They definitely don't like being in direct light for too long. I've caught a handful of fish, in direct sunshine, on occasion but as a general rule, I'd look for some kind of shade. Any kind of shade.

[The Flying Tench]

I'm certain that some fish (like .... perch) feed much better in low pressure conditions,

 

Does this include worm, livebaiting and lure fishing?

[Rusty]

So what constitutes a significant drop in pressure? I generally associate high and low pressure with fine and cr@p whether but if I wanted to be more scientific about it what sort of numbers are relevant?

 

For example, on Saturday in Newbury the pressure will drop from 1004mB to 997mB. This doesn't seem much but the scale might not be linear?

[Dales]

So what constitutes a significant drop in pressure? I generally associate high and low pressure with fine and cr@p whether but if I wanted to be more scientific about it what sort of numbers are relevant?

 

For example, on Saturday in Newbury the pressure will drop from 1004mB to 997mB. This doesn't seem much but the scale might not be linear?

 

Yeah this is the bit that gets me all confused.