Massive perch on a £1 lure!

A lure bought for £1 from a car boot sale is to thank for one of the biggest-ever hauls of specimen perch.

John Deprieelle and Ben Humber boated 30 perch over the 3lb mark, topped by a 3lb 14oz specimen, during a day at the incredible Chew Valley Reservoir.

The Somerset venue, widely regarded as the UK’s best predator water because of its stocks of huge pike, proved that it holds much more when the pair switched to targeting perch after a pikeless morning.

“By 1pm we hadn’t had a touch from a pike so we changed our attack, and that’s when the day turned into the session of a lifetime,” John told Angling Times.

“Initially the odd perch turned up, but then I decided to give a little lure that I found at a car boot sale a try – and it just went off big time.

“They just couldn’t get enough of this thing – you could see the bow waves made by the big perch as they fought to grab hold of the lure as I was retrieving it back to the boat. The transformation was incredible.”

By the time they returned to the fishing lodge, John, from Exeter, and Ben, a Fox Rage consultant from Bristol, had shared in the capture of more than 40 big perch.

“Ben had taken a few fish, but then he found a lure in his collection that was as similar as possible to what I was using, and from then on his catch rate improved no end,” John continued. “We had numerous double hook-ups, follows and missed fish too, as well as six pike to mid-double figures. 

“It really was incredible and we won’t be forgetting it in a hurry.”

The haul didn’t come as much of a surprise to John Harris, who is Fisheries and Recreations Officer at the Bristol Water-controlled Chew Valley Lake.

He is fully aware of the perch potential of the vast venue and says there’s every possibility it could contain a specimen that beats the British record, currently standing at 6lb 3oz.

“I would be so bold to say that this venue is more likely to produce a perch record than a record pike,” said John.

“This is one of the best catches of perch we’ve had on lures, but we have massive catches of them every year, especially to those fishing with flies. I’ve had loads of them over 3lb on that tactic, and the vast perch stocks prove just what an incredible venue this is.”

Chew Valley Reservoir has produced more than 40 pike over the 30lb mark since it opened for its annual predator fishing season, and the biggest reported so far is a 39-pounder.

39 barbel ‘doubles’!

Six friends enjoyed a barbel fishing trip to remember last week, landing an astonishing 39 double-figure fish topped by a 14lb 1oz specimen.

The amazing haul was made by pals Gary Whelan, John Mott, Shaun Swift, Glen Drummond, Phil Marsden and Dean Stewart during a two-day visit to the renowned Collingham stretch of the River Trent.  

The lads, who are backed by GW Rig Solutions, used 5oz-6oz leads or swimfeeders, 2ft-long braided hooklengths and Dave Mallin pungent squid boilies on the hook.

They also banked numerous fish under 10lb during the action-packed session, but it was John who bagged the biggest of the entire trip on the second day.

Prebait helps tempt bream of 16lb 1oz

Prebaiting paid off handsomely for specimen hunter Paul Faint when he banked three double-figure bream topped by this 16lb 1oz fish.

His session at a Lea Valley gravel pit got off to a steady start after an initial introduction of pellets, corn and dead maggots the afternoon before.

First fish to fall for Paul’s traps were a small carp, a tench and a 7lb 12oz bream.

The big-fish hunter from Waltham Abbey, Essex, then topped up his swim and his imitation pop-up corn hookbait accounted for bream weighing 10lb 5oz and 10lb 1oz before his new personal best graced the landing net.