Wednesday 27 January 2010

A Pack of Perch

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Hoping that the cold snap might have slowed the carp down, I returned to Shillingford aiming for a decent bag of perch. One hour in and with no bites I wondered whether it was going to be one of those days: no perch in the margins like last time, and no response to a steady stream of maggot and chopped worm. Decidedly odd.
Anyhow, I soon decided on a move. What a difference! Fishing at the bottom of the shelf I quickly got two bites on worm: two perch, both over two pounds!
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I had the first in the net for mere seconds with Rob keeping her still for a picture when the float buried again. Really classic perch these, in excellent condition and clearly thriving on the rich head of fry here.
The action continued too- and with only one carp crashing the party, I enjoyed lots of action by carefully keeping the feed going in. Many more perch followed, lots over a pound including three more samples of two pounds and over! Silly fishing really, one of the best days perch fishing I've ever enjoyed. The pole rig and centre pin combo I also love- with the bait just touching bottom the fish were perfectly hooked near the lips every time, with no gorged baits. If only it were this successful every trip after these elusive perch... but then that would be boring I guess. Conditions were perfect today it seemed, and the lack of carp activity helped me build up the swim without these "nuisance fish" (hey, I'm joking) getting in the way!

3 comments:

Ian said...

Sounds like a great days fishing.
Its great watching the way a float gets taken under by a stripey. It really is real fishing. Especially with the basic set up you used.

Steve said...

First class blog, and really nice Perch.

Dominic said...

Why thank you gents! I was spoiled really- one of those red letter days when it all came together. The fishery is well worth a go though, a good head of perch and most visitors only interested in the carp.