4lb perch tops an incredible week’s haul

An impressive week for big perch was this week topped by an incredible haul of 50 fish that featured a 4lb 8dr specimen and taken in just a few hours.
Adam Perna visited a stillwater that he’s never fished before and nothing could have prepared him for the session that was about to unfold. An assortment of lures saw him back up his biggest specimen with a 3lb 1oz fish and six other perch all over 2lb.
“I found a mass of small fish grouped in one corner of the lake and I had a feeling there might be larger fish that were responsible for herding them there,” said Adam.
“My hunch was right as I had a 2lb 8oz fish first cast, but then the size of fish tailed off so I changed to a Natural Party Ambulance jig which is a favourite of mine on the big reservoirs. That’s what produced my fifth perch over the 4lb mark.”
Turning to the nation’s rivers, respected big-fish all-rounder Darran Goulder had every reason to smile when a 4lb 9oz personal best provided the only bite of
a session on a stretch of a tough river in the south of the country.
The Shimano and Dynamite Baits-backed specialist fed his way through two pints of  red maggots and 50 lobworms, which were introduced both via a feeder and also chopped and fed through a catapult.
It was a lobworm hookbait that produced the all-important bite. It saw him beat his previous best for the species that stood at 4lb 6oz.
“I banked my first 4lb perch around two months ago after 10 years of trying, so to catch another giant like this is really special,” said Darran.
“The river was carrying extra colour, so I doused my maggots in a little Dynamite Krill groundbait and liquid to give them a bit of extra pulling power, which really did the trick.”