Fry Jumping

[The Flying Tench]

I was checking out a new lake today. Seems to attract dads with youngsters catching loads of small roach plus some easy carp. I just fished for an hour near some reeds at the end of the lake, and there were quite a number of 2-3" roach jumping out of the water (well, maybe 10 in the hour). It would be interesting if this meant there were some decent perch.

 

I guess there's no way to be certain without asking them, but has anyone acquired any knowledge on this? Is it a fairly certain sign of a predator, or are there other reasons small fish jump out?

[captain cojones]

john, it could be there was an albanian with a speargun underneath!

[Russell Fitzpatrick]

either perch...or carp!

 

i watched a very very big mirror(25-30+) fry feeding on a river the weekend,it was chraging through a lily pad,into shallows around a foot or two deep,back out of teh water,swirling at the tiny fry,i did notice a few chub around 2-3inches that were in teh same area but i didnt see the carp actaully take them but he was definetly having a munch on the "pin" fry.

 

very intresting to watch,never seen carp behave that predatory before.

[Mat Hillman]

either perch...or carp!

 

 

very intresting to watch,never seen carp behave that predatory before.

 

 

I witnessed a carp of about 8lb taken on a 4 inch roach livebait intended for cats a few years ago, it was a screaming run, and hooked well down inside the mouth, so it obviously meant it!

 

Mat

[chesters1]

not always ,i was watching some today in gin clear water and suddenly they jumped in all directions a large crow had passed overhead,i expect they also spook themselves for other reasons as well ,better to jump about at the shake of a branch than get eaten .

[markp]

i agree about it possibly being the carp remember fishing some matches a few yrs ago on a obscure pond full of carp from 3lb to 20lb and at the weigh in my net was full of half digested carp fry(the only fish in the lake)

[Steve Burke]

Fry will jump out of the water if they think they're under threat from all sorts of things, real or imaginary. This of course includes being attacked by perch. Sometimes a shower of fry will erupt, and this is often put down to perch. Unless you can see the perch though you can never be certain, and there are a lot of other possibilities.

 

However, if you see a single small fish skipping repeatedly out of the water, often at speed, it's odds on that it's being chased by a perch. Pike rarely do so, but perch will single out one victim and chase it for quite a way, often repeatedly nipping at its tail to slow it down. Then one big suck and it's all over!