Monster week for big perch!

The onset of autumn has seen rivers and lakes across the UK producing their biggest perch of the season topped by fish of 4lb 1oz and 4lb.

Osprey Specimen Group chairman Bob Hornegold embarked on his first perch fishing session of the season and struck gold with an impressive haul topped by this 4lb 1oz stunner.

He backed the fish up with perch scaling 3lb 8oz and 1lb when he legered a small livebait during a session on the tough Lea Navigation.

“In my experience dawn and dusk are by far the best times for catching big perch, so I got to the river at 5am, even though it takes me over an hour to drive to the venue,” Bob told Angling Times.

“I thought I’d hooked a pike until the four-pounder rolled into the net. A perch that size is really special, and even though I’ve now had four over that weight from the Lea Valley the sheer beauty of them just blows me away.”

Turning to stillwaters, perseverance was the key for Michael Barnshaw when, after six hours without a bite at a South East stillwater, he was rewarded with an impressive 4lb specimen.

The 31-year-old introduced a bed of soil, chopped prawns and dead maggots, then cast a small livebait over the top to prompt the take from the big stripey.

He used a simple running rig made from 6lb mainline and a size 4 Kamasan B983 hook.

“I was struggling to catch baits and hold on to my brolly to stop it blowing away… it was really rough, but I stuck at it and I’m so glad that I did,” said Michael.

“It was such a finicky bite that when the indicator started to move I thought it might be the livebait – but when I struck everything went solid. I was a nervous wreck when the perch began shaking its head and trying to escape the net, but I won the battle.”

Dave Tarrant, too, had reason to celebrate when he link-legered a lobworm on the River Loddon and banked a 3lb 10oz perch.