Thames is the best bet for three new record fish - Keith Arthur
Those that know far more than I on the matter have been saying the perch record is under pressure for a few years now. In fact it could go before you read this but if it doesn’t, and if I was a bookie there would be very short odds on the stripey being replaced.
The 6lb 3oz current record has been challenged a few times in 2019, including by a Thames fish that weighed a genuine 6lb 1oz. Not many know where it was caught but if it is caught again before March it will be heavier. Whether the next (or same!) angler who nets it will divulge the details is a different matter. In fact, that could already be the case.
It could be from a section close to where I thought the record barbel would be captured and, indeed, still may be. There are a couple of potential record barbel and definitely several stripeys on course to conquer.
Similarly, a record chub from the Thames wouldn’t be a shock, and I think it may well come from the Thames. I have definite reports of fish within a few ounces of the old Fishers Green fish of 9lb 5oz. Thankfully at the moment it would seem like the threat of a carp angler catching a ‘nuisance’ double-figure chub from a carp syndicate seems to have died off, unless, of course it has already happened but the captor doesn’t care or the fishery has a no publicity rule. We live in weird times, not only politically but piscatorially too.
Surprise perch catches in matches
When Gary Hampshire’s tip pulled round he suspected a carp to be the culprit, so you can imagine shock when he realised he was connected to this immense perch, caught on would you believe it, the bomb and pellet!
The fish came during a tricky day fishing at Doncaster’s Lindholme Lakes, where his 6mm bait was picked up by the special fish.
“At first, I thought it was a carp,” Gary revealed, “but when it broke the surface, I was absolutely gob smacked! I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Unfortunately, I didn't have any scales, but I ran back to van and got the tape measure.
“The fish was 48cm long, and I would guess it weighed over 4lb.”
Yorkshireman Darren Richards was also in for a shock when he banked this 4lb 3oz perch during a Christmas match with his local angling club.
Fishing the River Wharfe in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, Darren had been catching small dace, so he decided to change his hookbait in the hope of something larger.
“I thought I would try hemp and caster in the feeder with a small piece of worm on the hook for maybe a bigger dace or small perch,” Darren explained.
“I didn’t think for one minute I might catch a fish this size - it only just fit in my small landing net!
“I was and still am buzzing about catching a specimen fish and a new PB.”
The fish equals the Wetherby Angling Club’s record perch, and Darren went on to win the match with a weight of 4lb 7oz.
Perch trip of a lifetime
Angling videographer Robert Theobald enjoyed the perch trip of a lifetime this week – smashing his personal best three times in the same day.
Topping Robert’s catch was this 4lb 1oz specimen, which was backed up by three more fish weighing exactly 4lb each. The superb haul was taken from the same reservoir where Robert filmed his friend Charlie Coppollo catching a glut of big perch last month. All of Robert’s fish fell to Berkley Pulse shads in a perch pattern, presented on Berkley all-round jig heads.
Monster perch results in lost phone
DESPITE dropping his phone overboard Charlie Coppolo fished through the despair to boat this immaculate 4lb 8oz perch.
The lure-fanatic’s session on an Essex reservoir was certainly a tale of two halves, as he explained:
“The day started fantastically with my first bite producing a new PB of 4lb 10oz!
“I was buzzing but whilst sitting back staring at the photos on my phone I somehow managed to juggle it in to the air and over the side of the boat.
“With no back up or anything, I could do nothing but just watch the only photo I have of my PB just slowly sink to the depths.”
Undeterred the 32-year-old fished on and whilst drop-shotting a purple dropshot Molix SV Crawfish he managed to land the 4lb 8oz specimen alongside another fine stripey of 3lb 8oz.
