perch fishing deep rivers and drains

[John Weddup]

There appears to be a lack of what I call proper fishing posts on here lately so I thought I would try one before I give up visiting for good.

 

I have had a really good spring this year but summer has gone a bit patchy and have not felt the need to visit the cambridgeshire fens yet. Most strange for me as I am usually there june 16th or thereabouts.

 

However I woke up at a stillwater this morning at dawn and whilst having my first cuppa Boadicea spoke to me. Not by mobile but the message got through. I new I had to plan for next weekend.

 

My return to the fens is but days away.

 

Strangely I was like a kid at xmas for a few hours. I seemd to lack incentive for the last few weeks but now I am as excited as can be. I now know what direction my fishing is going in for the next few weeks or even months.

 

My return will be the usual catch a few roach and bream maybe a tench or two but spend time spotting whats going on. I am not settling for sessions catching small fish anymore its specimen hunting for several species now. I feel I am ready to put some proper wild specimens on the bank. To share them with nature for a moment and maybe here too.

 

When it cools down zander will be my night time quarry but until then I am getting very keen to target big perch in the drains and rivers espescially ten mile bank which is 20ft deep. I have had many quality accidental captures but would like to target them properly. I will probably not lure fish but a static approach based around my night sessions for either zander later on and bream/tench now. I think now is a good time to prepare for the autumn both in tactics and location.

 

The fens have many fantastic reasons to fish there but on the rules front there are very few so any proper method goes. No bans on livebaiting no dead sea baits only a proper predator anglers venue.

 

I have a few idea's but would very much like to here others views. I can assure you any input on this thread will be read, thought about and included in my fishing should it be relevant.

 

Hope a few of the old crowd here read this I could do with any help i can get.

 

Best regards

 

John

Edited July 29, 2012 by John Weddup

[watatoad]

Deadbaiting? Livebaiting? Static? Drifting? Regular float fishing? Do you have a keep it cold container?

Edited July 29, 2012 by watatoad

[John Weddup]

Deadbaiting? Livebaiting? Static? Drifting? Regular float fishing? Do you have a keep it cold container?

 

The canvas in bare so any method can be good.

 

Oh yes I have a good cold box. Australian. Very good.

 

Nice to see you are still posting toady.

 

John

[watatoad]

The canvas in bare so any method can be good.

 

Oh yes I have a good cold box. Australian. Very good.

 

Nice to see you are still posting toady.

 

John

 

 

Hi John,

 

I still pop on now and again but stopped posting as I was fed up with people ripping threads apart talking about rubbish and not even expanding or enlarging threads.

 

Pork Chiterlings (from the intestines of pigs for those who do not know) use as they are or cut into strips you can lightly cook them or marinate them I soak them for 24 hours in a mix of blood and honey.

 

Lob worms - naturally.

 

smoked mussels (Aldi's work very well) but you will need a liquid tight container and if they get too warm they can smell a little and the oil gets everywhere.

 

Slices of pigs or lambs liver.

 

Octopus or Squid tentacles cut in half and trimmed to required length.

 

Dead mouse and sliced rat, I have always found this to be an excellent bait.

 

Anything you can find in the river/canal/drain/water itself.

 

Half rotted pigeon.

 

I have had marginal success on cheese paste but generally a smelly, bloody bait has always worked best for me. Although even a cheap pack of bacon offcuts have been found to be effective in some areas. Look up stream to see what might be regularly dumped in the water often this can give you an idea. I know a couple of spots that bits of kebab and burgers work well and beat any other offered bait.

 

Wish you a great time and a successful catch.

[John Weddup]

Hi John,

 

I still pop on now and again but stopped posting as I was fed up with people ripping threads apart talking about rubbish and not even expanding or enlarging threads.

 

Me too had not posted for a while

 

 

Pork Chiterlings (from the intestines of pigs for those who do not know) use as they are or cut into strips you can lightly cook them or marinate them I soak them for 24 hours in a mix of blood and honey.

 

Lob worms - naturally.

 

smoked mussels (Aldi's work very well) but you will need a liquid tight container and if they get too warm they can smell a little and the oil gets everywhere.

 

Slices of pigs or lambs liver.

 

Octopus or Squid tentacles cut in half and trimmed to required length.

 

Up till thissounded very tasty cooked slowly with a good wine but went down hill hereafter point

 

 

Dead mouse and sliced rat, I have always found this to be an excellent bait.

 

Anything you can find in the river/canal/drain/water itself.

 

Half rotted pigeon.

 

I have had marginal success on cheese paste but generally a smelly, bloody bait has always worked best for me. Although even a cheap pack of bacon offcuts have been found to be effective in some areas. Look up stream to see what might be regularly dumped in the water often this can give you an idea. I know a couple of spots that bits of kebab and burgers work well and beat any other offered bait.

 

Wish you a great time and a successful catch.

 

 

Thanks toady will hopefully spend some quality time there again health and god willing

 

John

[watatoad]

Hehehe... Until a while ago you could go in some top London French restaurants and unless you can read French you might have eaten breast of rat. ...hehehe...

 

I did not put on some of my baits as I realise some are rather sensitive to some of the methods I use, I just think they are wimps who should take up knitting.

 

You can always pm or email me if you want some iffy mixes for ground baiting but you will need your own liquidiser and not the household or the kitchen one. As I accept no responsibility if the other half goes mental if you are caught. ...hehehe...

[John Weddup]

Hehehe... Until a while ago you could go in some top London French restaurants and unless you can read French you might have eaten breast of rat. ...hehehe...

 

I did not put on some of my baits as I realise some are rather sensitive to some of the methods I use, I just think they are wimps who should take up knitting.

 

You can always pm or email me if you want some iffy mixes for ground baiting but you will need your own liquidiser and not the household or the kitchen one. As I accept no responsibility if the other half goes mental if you are caught. ...hehehe...

 

 

Knit one pearl one, knit one pearl one, knit one pearl one.

 

No good old mate I cannot seem to get to grips with this knitting stuff lets get back to killing and liquidising small mammals.

 

Am always keen to listen and learn

 

john

[watatoad]

P.M. on its way John

[JV44]

My favoured method on the Thames is paternostered lives esp if fished to structure or ledgered,use biggish ones or you will be pestered by small Perch..... they have big gobs and can manage what people think of as Pike sized baits

Dropshotting or Jigging worth a go and can get addictive ,Good old lobworm always a good bait depending upon Crays

Hope you get one nothing looks as good as piccys of big stripeys Steve

[Anderoo]

For a static approach on a deep river/drain, I'd echo Steve's post and suggest paternostered lives.

 

Knowing how many pike are in the fens I guess wire is sensible, but if they're not a problem for whatever reason, I'd replace with flourocarbon. You may get a few bonus zander too.

 

I've been doing something similar on the Thames, which is deep in places, although nowhere near 20ft. The benefit of the pats is that you can drop baits in good spots and leave them to it. Some things the Thames has taught me so far:

 

- the best feeding time might not be dawn/dusk; on the Thames, unlike the smaller rivers, these don't appear to be anything special

- the perch can be very hard to catch, even in seemingly good conditions; getting the rigs working well is essential so the baits are well presented and don't cause the baits to be rejected (I'm still working on this)

- 'big' (5") livebaits are taken by perch, even by quite small perch; livebaits in general are not size selective, I've caught perch no longer than the bleak on the hook

- avoid using baits that try to swim upwards (bleak, rudd, etc.) as they cause horrible tangles

- although the perch may spend their inactive time in the snags and tight to cover, when they feed they are out hunting in open water

- for reasons I cannot fathom, some bits of the river contain big perch while others that seem identical do not; the perch do not appear to be transient

 

I'm glad to hear you're fired up by a new project. I'm doing something similar on a local stillwater, I have a hunch there are some big perch there. No fish yet but it's very interesting, and it's good to refine the rigs before taking them back onto running water. To pass a bit of time in the daytime I've also done a bit of floater fishing for the carp, which has been quite good fun. I haven't even had a bite from a perch yet, although I have watched small ones being very aggressive in hunting fry in the margins. The first take should be electric

 

PS call me closed-minded, but as far as baits go, I'd need to be doing spectacularly badly to switch from lobs and lives to rat slices and rotting pigeon...

Edited July 30, 2012 by Anderoo