The Autumn Perch Thread

[Vagabond]

1. mixed up with the Perch Pictures, which for some reason I cannot edit ?

 

 

2 .It's only a number.

 

1. I too once had a mix-up of captions and pictures - could only sort it out by making and re-naming duplicates on Photoshop - never did fathom why or how it happened

 

2. Indeed. A good fish for that particular water is what I aim at.

[Vagabond]

Returned to scene of Monday's soaking, Tried a different swim. One run on gudgeon at 12 noon resulted in another perch of a pound.

 

That's now six runs in four morning trips, each starting at 9 am. all runs between 11 am and noon, Three fish, one not much bigger than the bait, and two at a pound apiece. It's not looking good, but the pond has exactly the same characteristics as other ponds in the area that produce perch to two-pound plus. So I will persist for at least another couple of trips before trying another location.

 

,,,,and here is that pounder looking very lonely in a net chosen to wrap up a record perch with ease !

 

Edited September 27, 2014 by Vagabond

[Matthew Simmons]

Product of a cheeky 2 hours yesterday afternoon (when I should have been doing my tax return for the accountants) on the Loddon with leftover maggots - fab colours. one of 3 stripeys and some decent roach before I got minnowed out - I'll take a livebait rod with me next time and stay till after dusk.

[Vagabond]

I have a certain tenacity of purpose, perch-wise, so had another go at Smuggler's Pit, scene of good tench in the past, unfullfilled perch potential and Vagabond-soaking deluges. (Comparative declension " I have tenacity of purpose, you are stubborn, he is a pig-headed fool")

 

Took some lobs as well as frozen maggots, and baited a small hole in a potamogeton weedbed with maggots whilst I set up and cast out a worm-baited perch line into the open water. Then turned my attention to catching some gudgeon. To some 3lb nylon mono I attached a tiny quill, which carries a single BB shot. Put on a #18 hook and single maggot - dropped the rig into the hole in the weedbed. The float cocked and sank all in one movement. My initial thought was that I had inadvertently put on an AAA shot by mistake (its the sort of thing I do these days)

 

But, no, the float had sunk to good purpose, the line was tight, getting tighter, and the rod was beginning to bend ! A decent fish was surging into the dense potamogeton bed. All I could do was hang on and hope, The line was well into the weeds, and all I could feel was tug, tug, tug. I tried various angles of pull, but there was no way that fish was coming out soon, Gradually the tugs got weaker - the fish was still there, but tiring with fighting the weeds. I couldn't see the fish, but could locate it by the swirl of debris coming to the surface. My landing net handle extends to about eight feet, so put the rod down, bale arm off. extended the landing net, leaned out as far as I could, and shoved the net down through the weeds. Felt something, scooped and lifted, and up came this tench.

 

 

Well, it looks like being a good day, haven't really started fishing yet, and here is a fish on the bank !

 

Catching livebait was difficult - no more tench, and no gudgeon, just roach after roach, all too big at near half a pound apiece, it must have been nearly ten o'clock before I started catching the small perch that are the next best thing to gudgeon as far as perch lunch preferences are concerned.

 

This was my fourth visit to this water after perch this season, and I seem to have learnt something, because the next two hours saw eight perch runs on lives. Two runs were dropped, but six connected. The first was a bit comical - a long slow run that I left and left, then thought "this fish is never gonna turn the bait, so I will strike anyway"

 

The damn fish was only about two inches longer than the bait ! Here it is, looking belly full, mouth agape and eyes rolling. Hardly surprising, as the tail of the bait was still visible down its throat**. Anyway, its encouraging that the perch here turn cannibal early in life!

 

 

** [bTW if you lip-hook the livebait, somehow, more often than not, the hook transfers to the lip of the quarry, even if it swallows the bait head first - I'm not sure exactly how that happens, cos the hook has to reverse its direction - but it works for me.]

 

The other five runs produced fish of progressively increasing size - a couple of half-pounders, a couple of a pound apiece, and the final run of the morning at 1 lb 10 oz.

 

 

So I am still shy of the two-pound target, but at least they all looked quite young fish, so the potential for further growth is there, (and there is plenty of food at Smuggler's Pit!). I think I will have a go at another pond tomorrow, but come back to this one at intervals in the future. At least I have discovered where the hot-spots are - in each case between the open water and the thick cover where the prey lurks.

 

 

Edited September 29, 2014 by Vagabond

[Mark Wintle]

I fished the Dorset Stour today for roach and dace on tares but noticed a perch after the dace as I returned them so set up a freelined tiddler dace, 4 seconds and it took it, and after a spirited fight, landed it, my Stour best at 2-7.

[Paulg]

My biggest of the season so far, pretending to look a bit like a striped football !! Not the prettiest of fish, but at 3lb 5oz, I was more than pleased.

 

[Anderoo]

A really good perch Paul, congrats - big fat bruiser!

 

I must admit all these pictures of big perch have got the old juices flowing!

[Chris Plumb]

3lb 10oz from the Kennet this morning!

 

 

C.

[viney]

Some nice perch in here already! My lrf rod and reel will be here this week, just need a break in work to put it to use

[Vagabond]

Some nice perch in here already!

Right ! Well done Paulg and Chris.

 

For big river perch I think I need to look further afield than Upper Medway and the Sussex rivers, but there are decent-sized perch in many of our local still waters, so I need to get out there after them.