Perch questions/big baits/nucience fish

[singy]

Thanks for all the advice.

 

I've just got back from my first day session. The carp fishing was very slow so it gave me plenty of time to try to sort out a stripey or two. Live baits were duly caught and I'd purchased a couple of different size puddle chucker floats (seemed great for the job)

 

i only fished one rod for the perch and duly caught one (well happy). The fish was about 1lb 8oz and was in fantastic condition. I chatted to a few of the more regular carp anglers down there and they all said they had seen perch 18 inches long and maybe a bit bigger. weight estimates were put at 4lb for some of the bigger ones.

 

Looking forward to my next visit. I hookes a 2 oz roach just through the back near the dorsal. Despite fishing 3ft deep and working the perch an inch or so off the bottom there was still an almighty swirl when the bait was taken, was this because the Perch hit the bait so hard it broke surface or did it dive down on the bait?

 

i used a size 4 Owner Iseama hook and used 8lb braid straight through (this was on my reels allready and has the thickness of about 4lb mono)

 

I did not weight the float (needed 3 SSGs) apart from one AAA a few inches from the bait to keep it down near the bottom. The float was normally lying flat on the surface and there were a few heart stopping moments as the live bait suddenly got bionic power and managed to sink the float. Initially I struck a few of these, but there was nothing there. There was no mistaking the take when it came though.

 

One of my live baits was most unfortunate, as it got dark I released the little chappie, only to catch him first attempt the next morning. Poor bugger

 

I also did manage to winkle out a lovely 12lb 4oz common during the night. A most enjoyable session despite 2 days of living in 2ft of mud

 

Singy

roll on the next attempt

[Steve Burke]

singy:

Thanks for all the advice.

 

Despite fishing 3ft deep and working the perch an inch or so off the bottom there was still an almighty swirl when the bait was taken, was this because the Perch hit the bait so hard it broke surface or did it dive down on the bait?

Probably the bait went up to the surface in an effort to escape and the perch followed it. I find this a common practice with small roach, probably instinctive, as although perch can chase up to the surface they can't stay there as long as the roach due to their different swim bladder arrangement.

 

If you lay on overdepth, especially in your sort of water, the bait may well settle in one spot. The float then often disappears with no epreliminaries at all. What I think happns is that the perch stalks the bait and nobbles it without the quarry knowing.

 

Anyone remember seeing perch doing just this to a minnow on Tom Williams' video/TV programme?

[singy]

Cheers steve.

 

I need to keep the bait moving though as the lake bed is strewn with broken branches. I found that by fishing the bait an inch or so off the bottom the bait worked it's socks off. When the bait rested it was usually because it had found a branch to wrap itself around. It did mean I was continually recasting.

 

Do you find the splash of recasting can attract the prey or have you found it to be detrimental?

 

Singy

[Steve Burke]

singy:

Do you find the splash of recasting can attract the prey or have you found it to be detrimental?

 

Singy

It depends on the venue. On virgin waters it's probably detrimental. However, normally I find recasting can sometimes result in an immediate take. It may be the splash that attracts the perch, but more likely it's the new positioning of the bait which is also momentarily disorientated.