Perch smash river record
Two friends experienced a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ session after both banking record-breaking perch that topped the scales at 4lb 15oz apiece.
Andy Cheetham and Simon Brough were fishing a club controlled stretch of the Derbyshire Derwent when they beat the current river best by 3oz and smashed their personal bests’ with the amazing brace of fish.
Arriving at the midlands waterway before sunrise the duo endured three biteless hours before moving downstream. Shortly afterwards the tip of Simon’s quiver tip was pulled round as the giant stripey picked up his feeder fished dendrobaena worm hookbait.
After assisting with the weighing and photography of the fish, Andy, a photographer from Manchester, decided to move upstream of his fellow Perchfishers Group member and cast a lobworm on a size 4 hook within a few feet of the bank.
“I had a dropback bite and by the way it fought I thought I was attached to a chub,” Andy told Angling Times. “It made several lunges for the bankside vegetation and when it eventually came to the surface my heart was in my mouth as I could see that the hook was nicked through the tiniest slither of skin on its top lip - thankfully it held in place!
“I called Simon over and when the scales registered 4lb 15oz for a second time we just stood there in disbelief.”
He added: “There’s no doubt that both of these fish will be well over 5lb early next year.”
Not only do the perch fishing fanatics now each hold a River Derwent record, but this is also the biggest brace ever taken from the venue.
“We are both still in shock. I doubt we will ever experience anything like this again,” said Simon, from Matlock in Derbyshire.
“At first we thought it might be the same fish but when we looked we realised it was different. My fish had different shape and colouration as well as a small chunk missing from its dorsal fin.
“I’ve fished the river since I was a teenager and we both know it’s potential. For just one of us to catch a fish like this would have been a dream come true, but this is something so very special and further proves how exceptional perch fishing is on our rivers at the moment.”
10 river stretches to try for big perch
River Great Ouse, Stony Stratford, Bucks , contact: Milton Keynes AA, 01908 270000 River Derwent, Borrowash, Derby, Derbyshire, contact: Nathans of Derby 01332 515353
River Ivel, Manor Farm Fishery, Biggleswade, Beds, contact: Manor Farm Fishery, 01767 317835
River Lea, Hertford, Herts, contact: Johnson Ross Tackle, 01992 462044
River Thames, Bourne End, Bucks, contact London AA: 020 8520 7477
River Ancholme, Brigg, North Lincs, contact: Brigg Angling 01652 651650
River Dee, Farndon, Chester, Cheshire, contact: Chester Tackle Locker 01244 345069
River Wye, Belmont, Hereford, tickets in advance from Woody’s Tackle, contact: 01432 344644
River Sour, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, contact: Soar Tackle 01509 670436
River Stour, Canterbury town centre, Kent, contact: Cathedral Tackle 01843 591134
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