4lb perch by the shedload
One of the greatest perch seasons on record shows no signs of letting up with a flurry of giants providing another prolific week for the species.
The stunning image on the right shows Chris Lowe with his 4lb 8oz fish taken on his first cast into a stillwater in Yorkshire.
Chris’s initial target was pike, but after discovering his intended quarry were spawning he turned his attentions to a venue that he hadn’t fished for five months and set his sights on perch with jigging tackle.
The Savage Gear consultant from Birmingham admitted that the bright, flat calm conditions didn’t fill him with confidence of hooking a big ‘stripey’ but he was soon cradling a new personal best after the specimen took a liking to his Savage Gear T-Tail.
“I got home and unloaded all my pike fishing tackle and sat in the house thinking about fishing.
“I just had to get back out there,” said Chris.
“The perch gear was quickly in the car and shortly after arriving at the water I cast my lure out to a spot at around 20 yards from the bank. I made one jigging motion with the rod and bang… it was on.
“It was an absolute beast and my legs started to go as soon as soon as it came over the net. The girth of the fish was something else and I’m so glad I made the effort to get back out after the pike weren’t playing ball.”
Pike fishing legend Gord Burton likes nothing better than exploring the wide range of canals Up North and he came up trumps when he banked his biggest-ever perch from one of these waters.
The ‘Piking Pirate’ from Southport, Lancs, landed his third perch over the 4lb mark when he slipped the net under this specimen that weighed 4lb on the nose.
He fooled the fish with a 7cm Fox Rage Spikey Shad fished with 8lb braid threaded through the eyes of a 40g jigging rod.
“I got the fish in the net and left it with my mate as I ran back to the car to get the camera, and when I returned I said ‘how big was it’? to which he replied ‘it’s 4lb exactly’ I was blown away,” Gord told Angling Times.
“The canals around this way are full of big perch and pike, yet few people give them a go.
“I lost another huge perch later in the same session and a guy who lives on one of the houseboats told me that he’s had perch to 5lb 3oz off here.”
It hasn’t just been waters in the north of the UK that have been in top form for big perch, as Leicester’s Joe Oakes targeted a venue in the Midlands to smash his perch personal best with a 4lb specimen.
It came as part of a 25-fish haul that included many fish to 1lb. All fell to a 5cm shad fished on a braided mainline, a fluorocarbon leader and a size 12 hook.
“My previous personal best for the species was 3lb 8oz but I always knew that this venue held much bigger perch. It was just a matter of time until I caught one.”