The story behind a PB perch

[Anderoo]

This is a story I've been meaning to share since last September...

For several seasons I’d struggled to connect with the bigger perch in the Thames. I’d had a handful of 2lbers over the years on a variety of methods, but never felt like I was fishing very well. I’d also slowly come to the conclusion that livebaits are usually the most likely bait to catch the bigger perch on, and had spent a couple of frustrating seasons working through a succession of unsuccessful rigs. What I wanted was a reliable paternoster set-up, so I could anchor a bait in specific spots, as free-roving baits were proving hard to control effectively, being dragged out of position too often in the flow.

The free-roving baits and the various paternosters did produce the odd perch, but the paternosters all had a tendency to tangle, meaning I was never confident that the baits were presented well enough, and I had several aborted takes from fish that realised something wasn’t right.

The closest I came to one of the big fish was a few seasons ago in the autumn. A free roving bleak trotted down the centre channel at mid-depth in the middle of a bright day was taken, with the chubber float shooting under. I hit it and felt a heavy fish shake its head and plough up and downstream. After a while it came up to the surface and I could see it was a big perch, and not the small pike I feared it might be...I wouldn’t like to put a number on that fish, but it certainly looked bigger than any perch I’d caught before. The bank below me was shored up with big, irregular boulders, and as a last gasp attempt, the perch shot towards them and nearly made it. Phew! I brought it back up to the surface and lent down to pick up the net. At that moment, it made it’s real last gasp escape, made it to the rocks, snapped the hooklength, and left me staring in disbelief at the bit of water where just a few seconds ago the perch of my dreams was waiting to be scooped up.

I still remember that gut wrenching feeling, but it did at least prove the potential of the stretch. There were obviously some big perch there, and they were also quite happy to feed out in open water, and in the middle of the day.

The livebaits continued to pick up a few fish, but it wasn’t a size-selective method, with several perch caught that weren’t much bigger than the bait! Proof, though, of how aggressive the Thames perch are when they switch on.

Rich and I kept working on the rigs, and eventually I made up a version of the CD paternoster. This was a real turning point, and although the first couple of sessions didn’t produce any bites, the rigs didn’t tangle once. I finally had a rig and bait I was confident it...I know, I can be a bit slow on the uptake By using long banksticks, it was even possible to fish slow water along the far bank with a light bobbin, keeping the line above the main flow.

It’s made up with a lot of quite heavy, stiff flourocarbon and a clear sunken float. Most of the problems I’d had before were due to using hooklength material that was too supple, and having the float in a place where the hooklegth could wrap around it. With a hooklength shorter than the distance between the float and the top of the pat link, tangles are almost impossible, even with bleak. A 1.5oz lead keeps the pat link in position, and bites pull the mainline through a ring swivel at the top of the pat link, pulling up the bobbin.

The first couple of perch on the method were not big, but they proved it worked well. Bites were confident and easy to hit, dropped runs very rare. So we decided to concentrate on the autumn, when it’s still possible to catch a load of little baits easily enough, and it’s a good time of year to catch the perch too.

One day in early September we were fishing an area where there was a lovely slow, deep run near the bank, with much faster water further out. I dropped a bait just short of the fast water and only just had time to clip on the bobbin before it started shooting up! That fish fought hard, and it was a really happy moment to see the first good perch in the net on the new technique – a stocky, angry fish of 2lb 10oz.

The next session saw me quite a way upstream, on a wide bend with slack water over on the far bank. I had several perch from there, including another 2lber, and by now finally – after about 5 frustrating years! – felt like I was fishing well.

The next session was on a boring, straight bit of river, and I caught again, out in open water in the middle. There were all spots I’d fished before and not caught from, the difference was amazing.

After a while I found myself with Rich back at the area where I’d had the 2.10 (and where in a previous season he had also had a big '2' on a free roving bait), but by now the flow had changed, with the fast water along the bank and the slow water towards the middle. We therefore fished it from the opposite bank, casting right across the river towards the crease.

The bite when it came was savage. I was messing around with the other rod, heard the alarm start beeping and saw the bobbin zip all the way to the rod (a drop of about 3ft), the line pull tight, and the rod tip start pulling over! I thought pike to start with as they often tear off with a bait. However, I lifted the rod and got that sick feeling – it was solid. I could just about feel a fish feebly kicking, but the lead on the end of the pat link was obviously wedged between some rocks or in a snag, and wouldn’t budge. I tried bouncing the rig to try to bounce it out, I tried letting it all go slack and the pulling again to see if the flow would help me out, I tried pulling from upstream and downstream, but it was totally wedged. By now I couldn’t feel the fish on any more, and assumed it had shed the hook and was gone.

It was only at this point that I realised there was still one more very important addition to the rig! Stupidly, I hadn’t included a weak link to the lead, and the weakest point of my rig was actually the 6lb mainline. Oh dear! The pat link was 8lb stiff flourocarbon, the hooklength was 6lb stiff flourocarbon, the mainline 6lb mono. So the only option I had now was to learn the painful lesson and pull for a break.

So I wound down, and started a slow, straight pull, walking backwards, waiting for the crack...it got tighter and tighter (I’m always amazed just how hard you have to pull to snap 6lb line) and right at the point where the line was about to go bang – the lead popped out of the snag!

I was really surprised, I’d accepted I was going to lose the rig, but even more surprising was that I could feel that the fish was still on! I was sure it was long gone. More than that, it felt pretty heavy...I slowly brought it back across the river, still not sure if it was a perch or a pike, and bundled it into the net, seeing for first time that it was a perch...a big perch.

I shouted to Rich and swung it onto the bank, and we both started almost in disbelief at it – mainly because we couldn’t believe I’d actually landed it! It was obviously the biggest perch we’d seen from the Thames, and in the shock I really didn’t know what it might weigh. We were guessing ‘3 and a half, a big 3?’. On the scales, the needle swung round past 4lb, I looked at Rich and said ‘...no...!’ and had to put it down again. I never expected a 4. We tried again, and when it settled the needle sat at 4lb 1oz. My first ‘4’, an awesome fish, and the end result of a long and sometimes trying journey. I’m really pleased Rich was there to share it and help with weighing and photos. Now we know what we’re doing, hopefully a few more will cross our paths in the years to come.

*my pat links now have a loop tied at the bottom, and a short length of 4lb mono tied between the link and the weight...lesson learned!

[JV44]

Great read Anderoo and a stonking Perch snatched from the jaws of dissaster by the sound of it ,When they get to that size they just look unbelievably big in the net eh??

[Steve Burke]

Excellent fish, excellent story! It's even better as one story rather than the individual posts over the years. Thanks for taking the trouble to compose it.

 

Rather than a rotten bottom have you tried the versatile Enterprise Snag Safe Lead Clips? They work well at Wingham too! Go to http://enterprisetackle.co.uk/et49-snag-safe-lead-clip.

[Anderoo]

JV, yes, it looked different! My expression is really weird in all the pics, I couldn't quite believe it.

 

Steve, they do look interesting, thanks - worth checking out!

[Dales]

Great story and great fish,I do enjoy reading well put together pieces like this on the forums.

[Matthew Simmons]

Really enjoyed reading this piece Anderoo - top angling! M

[Anthony78]

Cracking fish Anderoo. Isn't it good when a plan comes together. Great read too, thanks for sharing.

[Kappa]

I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of that perch swinging in in the net!

[WickerDave]

An excellent read, and a super PB perch.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Smashing write-up Andy and some cracking pictures to boot. Always liked your writing style and the fact you're happy to share them on the forum, rather than hidden away on a blog somewhere.

 

If my Perch quest works out this year, I hope to add something myself. Looking forward to more of yours though.