4lb 11oz perch smashes river record
A huge record-breaking river perch weighing in at 4lb 11oz has capped yet another incredible week for the species as venues across the UK continued to produce the goods despite the winter floods.
In the Midlands, the Derbyshire Derwent proved it is much more than just a prolific barbel river when Kamil Sulima slipped his net under the huge 4lb-plus predator.
The Earl of Harrington’s Angling Club bailiff has taken numerous large fish from club controlled stretches in recent years, but he set both a new personal and venue record when he cast a small Kopyto lure close to a set of snags. He said: “I got the bite just after midday and I instantly knew it was something special.
“This waterway is home to a lot of large perch and I’ve had even bigger ones follow my lures in the past.”
Adam Perna only needed an hour and a traditional float fishing set-up to net no less than 15 perch topped by a trio of specimens over 3lb with the best going 3lb 5oz.
After a biteless first two hours of his stint on a local farm pond in Oxfordshire, the Bicester rod thought he might have overfed his swim, but then the shoal of predators moved in.
“I went big on the bait front due to the mild winter we have had so I put in a heavy scattering of red and white maggots as well as a tub of broken dendrobaenas, plus 40 lobworms,” he told Angling Times.
“I didn’t get a bite for two hours before a large pack of perch arrived at 2.45pm and I struggled to keep two rods in the water so went down to the one float rod.
“The action was hectic and I actually ran out of lobworms at 3.45pm and could not get any more large perch on the dendros that I had left,” added Adam, who used 5lb mainline straight through to a size 8 hook.
Moving further south, Fox-backed Dan Sales proved why he’s got a reputation as one of the most prolific big perch anglers around at the moment when he banked a brace of specimens weighing 3lb 8oz and 3lb 2oz in a catch that featured 10 fish over the 2lb-mark.
The Herts-based all-rounder was fishing with Fox’s media manager Lewis Porter on a stretch of the Grand Union Canal and the duo shared the capture of 26 fish with Lewis equalling his personal best of 2lb 6oz.
Both anglers used jigging tactics and caught the predators with Hot Olive and Firetiger Warrior Mini Fry from the Fox Rage range.
3lb 3oz perch from Midlands waterway
This 3lb 3oz perch from a midlands waterway was the highlight of several predator sessions undertaken over the festive period by Steve Russell.
The Oxfordshire-based all-rounder found success trotting a roach hookbait under an inline Zeppler float in mid-river.
“Given the abundance of small pike present I had to incorporate a 15lb Drennan Soft Strand wire trace in to my setup,” explained Steve. “I used a single Kamazan B983 with the barbed pinched out as my hook of choice in conjunction with a red maggot to help stop the bait from sliding off. I also managed several pike including one of 15lb 6oz specimen that I caught twice within 3 hours 250 yards apart - she must have been hungry!”
New personal best with 3lb 12oz perch
Philip Taylor has broken his perch personal best for the second time in as many weeks with the capture of this 3lb 12oz specimen.
Targeting a Lincolnshire river, the Skegness-base d rod made sure he was in position for first light and fed casters on a little and often basis over a dendrobaena worm hookbait.
He said: “I had two very small perch straight away and then a very tentative bite from a fish of around 2lb. On the next cast my line went slack and I struck in to the big one. It was a great fight and it powered around under the rod tip giving me several heart stopping moments before I got it in the net.”
Philip beat his prize with a 5lb Drennan Double Strength hooklink and a size 12 Wide Gape Specialist hook.
Perch personal best at last light
After hearing rumours of large perch getting caught from a small Norfolk stillwater Rich Wilby decided to investigate for himself and was rewarded with this 3lb 2oz specimen.
The impressive predator came on the Airfield Lakes owner’s last cast of the day after he made the switch from a prawn hookbait to a small livebait close to a set of dead lily pads.
Rich said: “I’d heard a few whispers of big fish getting caught but after sitting there all day without a bite I was beginning to fear the worst - then just as the light was fading I had the bite. It gave a great account of itself and a 3lb 2oz it equalled my pb for the species.”
He mounted his livebait on a size 10 Nash Fang Gaper hook and a 6lb mono hooklink.
Giant perch keep coming with two 4lb river fish
The sheer number of huge perch being caught by the nation’s anglers has shown no sign of slowing up following the capture of two separate 4lb 1oz river specimens.
Jamie Cartwright has banked numerous big perch already this season and he continued in the same vein when he banked a fish of 4lb 1oz along with four others weighing 3lb 13oz, 3lb 6oz, 2lb 14oz and 2lb 8oz during a session on the Great River Ouse.
The Northampton Specimen Group member, who compared the feeding habits of shoals of big perch to ‘a pack of hyenas’, kept the group of fish in his swim with the introduction of 200 lobworms and a pint of maggots. All of his fish were then taken on legered worms offered over the top on size 6 Kamasan B983 hooks and 0.15mm Reflo Power Line.
“I can totally understand why there are so many people targeting big perch as they are a perfect winter target -they are very obliging and can be caught on a wide range of methods,” Jamie told Angling Times.
“There was a time when I fished exclusively fished for carp, but it can get boring being too one dimensional so getting into targeting other species like perch has definitely made me a better angler.”
Dave Harman made the only bite during a session on his local river count when he also banked a perch weighing 4lb 1oz.
The Surrey-based specialist was walking his dog along the waterway and looking for likely chub and barbel swims when he spotted some big perch chasing small silver fish.
He returned a week later and trotted a small roach livebait on a size 10 Drennan Super Specialist over a deep hole where the specimen was ambushing its prey.
4lb 3oz perch for Drennan Cup champ
An unsuccessful morning chub session was soon forgotten by Gareth Goldson when he banked this 4lb 3oz perch.
The Dynamite Baits-backed angler had failed to catch a single fish so decided to head to another stretch of the waterway and try his luck for the perch instead.
Armed with a light jigging setup he was soon in to his first fish as a 3lb 13oz specimen made its way to the net. Another stripey of 3lb 1oz followed shortly afterwards before the session was capped off in style with the biggest of the outing.
“I knew it was a lump, as it had my light weight jig rod bent double. The fish was built like a barrel and in super condition,” said the reigning Drennan Cup holder.
Giant perch brace from Grand Union Canal
Dan Sales’ latest session on the Grand Union Canal saw him bank a brace of perch weighing 3lb 6oz and 3lb 4oz.
The Hertfordshire angler travelled light and wandered the banks of the popular waterway with his favourite ‘jigging’ setup and netted no less than 30 fish during the trip.
Many of the fish that fell to the Fox-backed angler weighed between 1lb 8oz and 2lb 8oz and fell to a Fox Rage Warrior Mini Fry.
“All of my fish came from the same swim, which just goes to show how effective this method is for maximising your chances,” Dan told Angling Times.
