Drop shotting brings haul of large perch
DROP shotting tactics helped Richard Bedder boat an impressive haul of 10 perch to 4lb 10oz during a recent visit to a Midlands stillwater.
By fishing a mixture of rubber worms, spikey shads and rudd imitation lures close to the bottom, the Norfolk police officer managed to net his new personal best alongside three others over the 4lb mark.
He said:
“I had one at 2lb 15oz, five over 3lb to 3lb 15oz and four over four weighing 4lb 1oz, 4lb 5oz, 4lb 7oz and 4lb 10oz – it was truly a red-letter day!”
Richard Bedder – 4lb 10oz perch
Reservoir perch rips line off the spool - Dan Eaves
“With bright sunshine, high winds and warm temperatures forecast for my visit to Grafham Water, I knew I’d have to work hard for a bite. Despite trying the Ned rig, drop shot, jigs and crankbaits, though, I still had nothing to show for my efforts by lunchtime.
“When the going gets tough I’ve found a black Ned-rigged worm imitation from Inspired Angling Products can pick up a bite, so I persevered with that.
“At 2pm we’d moved to a new area of the water away from other anglers and started working our lures along the bottom.
“Because the boat was rocking around so much due to the wind, I didn’t need to impart much action into the lure, as the motion was doing it for me.
“Out of nowhere my rod suddenly arched over and line started ripping off my spool!
“Once I gained control and wound the fish to the surface I was gobsmacked to see a perch – and not a small one either! My boat partner Clint Rice safely netted the fish and this feeling of relief came over me.”
Dan Eaves 4lb 4oz Grafham perch fell to a worm imitation
Dawn not dusk the time for big perch - Simon Baker
“For the past few weeks I’d been slipping out for a few hours after work in search of big perch on the River Lea. Despite catching lots of moderate-sized fish I hadn’t snagged a specimen – but that all changed when I ditched fishing at dusk in favour of a dawn attack.
“I’d managed to located several small shoals while freelining lobworms. I also took time to familiarise myself with different swims, and the one I ended up choosing had few bankside features. With the help of a float and a 1oz lead I located a depression in the riverbed, which I figured was an ideal ambush point for perch.
“I spent several evenings fishing that spot, resulting in numerous perch between 1lb and 2lb. I was happy that it was producing bites, but I was after something bigger, and knew I had to change something if that was to happen, so I switched my evening sessions for early mornings.
“On my most recent trip I set my alarm for a time that only we anglers would be seen out and arrived in the swim for 4am. I began by catapulting in several pouches of dead and live red maggots before casting a free-running leger rig over the top carrying a lobworm tipped with a fake red maggot.
“The session began with a run of several small perch. I had just slipped one of these back and recast to the mark when my rod-tip tapped twice then pulled round… and didn’t stop!
“I asked myself ‘could this finally be the one?’ As I struck, I was met with a solid resistance and a fish that stayed deep. I played it in gently, and as it broke the surface and slid towards the net I got the shakes because I could see it was something special.
“Needless to say, I was delighted to weigh in my first river ‘four’ at 4lb 5oz.
“Not only was it a personal best, but as I stood on the bank as the sun rose I could really see it was an absolute beauty of a fish.”
Simon Baker and his new 4lb 5oz PB perch, caught at dawn.
Google maps reveals spot of longest perch I've ever seen - Brett Davies
“After spending a long time on Google Maps scoping potential perch-holding areas on a new river, my girlfriend Derian and I decided to drive from our South Wales home for a four-hour lure session.
“I knew the stretch also held some zander, so when I struck into a powerful fish that’s what I’d thought I’d hooked.
“I’d just cast out my pearl Z-man TicklerZ lure, twitched it back then let it pause for a moment when it was suddenly annihilated by something big. The take bent my rod double and I didn’t even see the fish for the first 30 seconds.
“Then this big striped shape popped up and I could see it was the longest perch I’d ever encountered. I performed the quickest ‘net job’ of my life and it was panic over – 3lb 5oz!”
Brett Davies – 3lb 5oz perch
Giant reservoir perch banked in tough conditions
Bright, still conditions didn’t prevent Thomas Finney from landing this stunning 4lb 12oz perch from Cambridgeshire’s Grafham Water.
Thomas knew there was an abundance of small baitfish that threatened to preoccupy his targets.
“I tried drop shotting and casting larger lures without success, so I set up another rod and rigged a small shad in pear silver on a 15g jig head,” he revealed.
“First cast produced a 20lb 8oz pike.
“An hour later I felt another heavy thump on the lure, the rod hooped over and a dogged battle commenced, with me praying that it was a perch and not a trout.
“Soon, a lump of a perch broke surface, barely hooked in the top lip. I got the net under it and immediately it shook the hook free.
“It was enormous. I knew instantly it was going to beat my 4lb 4oz PB that I’d set at Grafham on the fly two months ago. I know I’ll have a hard time beating this one!”
Thomas Finney and 4lb 12oz perch from Grafham Water
Switch to weedless lure snares a monster perch - Ash Costa
“I recently learned the importance of carrying a variety of lures when predator fishing after a change in approach during a recent trip helped me to catch a massive perch.
“There’s a particular Fenland drain that’s been a tough nut to crack this season, although on a few occasions I’ve seen some very big perch follow the smaller ones that I’ve hooked to the bank.
“Seeing these inspired me to keep fishing the area, but to begin with I had very little luck. That all changed on my latest session, however.
“I arrived at the drain early in the morning and found the water was quite coloured, so I clipped on a chatterbait, which is a vibrating lure with a colourful skirt, as I wanted something vibrant that the fish would notice easily.
“After 10 minutes I’d not had a take and so I just assumed that either the fish weren’t there or my approach was wrong. I decided to switch to crankbaits to cover more water, and apart from catching two perch between 1lb and 2lb, I was mostly reeling in weed.
“So, with there being so much weed about I made yet another change and switched to my trusty Olivette Rig with a pearl-coloured stickbait mounted on a weedless hook.
Ash’s Olivette rig
“All I’d done was thread a Drennan Lock & Slide olivette on to my line which allowed me to adjust the distance between the weight and hook without cutting the line. The stickbait is also buoyant, which can be effective in weedy areas.
“I cast the lure out and fished it almost static – letting it rise through the water column before twitching the olivette back towards me.
“It took only a few casts before a very heavy fish smashed into the lure just as it rose above the weed. My legs turned to jelly and, to make matters worse, the fish rolled on the surface immediately and I could see that it was a big perch and not a pike!
“At 4lb 6oz she wasn’t the heaviest perch I’ve ever caught but one of the longest at 50cm!
“I’m pretty sure it will be well over 5lb come February. The catch certainly proved that it pays to have a few lure options with you on the day.”
Ash Costa – 4lb 6oz perch
Huge perch falls during Classic match
THOM Hunt was the envy of all anglers competing in this year’s World Predator Classic when he boated the largest perch of the contest at 4lb 6oz.
During the first day of the weekend-long event on Cambridgeshire’s Grafham Water, the lure-fishing fanatic struck into a string of big fish when he targeted marginal weedbeds with crankbaits.
“On the Saturday I had an unbelievable session and caught perch of 3lb 12oz, 4lb 3oz and 4lb 6oz,” he says.
“It was a hard competition this year, with 100-plus anglers fishing, so to manage a brace of fours about an hour apart but from different areas of the lake was incredible!”
Thom’s catches ensured that he and his boat partner finished fourth overall in the competition.
Thom Hunt and 4lb 6oz perch from Grafham Water
Summer perch campaign ends with Stillwater giant
A SUMMER spent in pursuit of a specimen perch finally came to fruition for Paul Bailey with the capture of this stunning 4lb 10oz predator.
The Pontefract, West Yorkshire angler decided to exclusively target the species since fishing resumed in May and concentrated his efforts on three stillwaters in his home county.
By fishing just a couple of hours before first light on weekday mornings, 63-year-old Paul managed to catch several twos, four threes and a 4lb 2oz specimen – all of which were eclipsed during his latest session…
“I arrived at my usual time before dawn and baited lightly next to some lily pads with maggots, redworms and chopped prawns, before casting a waggler with a prawn hookbait to the spot,” says Paul.
“Two hours went by without a bite, though, and it began to rain heavily, so I decided to pack my kit up and call it a day.”
Halfway through Paul turned round to see his float dip and sail away.
“I came out from the cover of my brolly and got a soaking, but It was necessary as the fish tried to snag me in the lilies twice!
“After steering it out I stabbed the net under it and she was mine.
“My PB is just over 5lb so I knew this one was close.
“At 4lb 10oz it’s probably the biggest summer perch I’ve caught and would love to see it again in the winter when it’s even bigger.”
Paul Bailey and his 4lb 10oz perch
YOUR Top 10 Catches of the Week
WE receive so many catch reports here at Angling Times, that sometimes it is just impossible to fit them all in the magazine. We do, however, always love seeing and hearing of our readers top catches.
Here are some of the best fish we have been sent this week, some of which haven’t made the magazine but are still more than worth celebrating…
Remember to grab a copy of Angling Times every Tuesday, to read more of the latest big fish catches and exclusive Drennan Weekly Award winning specimens.
Huge Yorkshire barbel landed just in time!
Patrick Olding caught this cracking 12lb 8oz barbel during a recent session on a flooded South Yorkshire river. Amazingly, after a strong tussle with the fish, he landed it, only to see a large tree float through his swim moments later.
“I would have been wiped clean out”, he said.
Patrick used a 4oz lead fished in a tiny nearside slack, with three Robin Red pellets on the hook.
Patrick Olding and his 12lb 8oz barbel
First time barbel fishing and five doubles landed!
Lift engineer Ben Berry (24) is a regular carp angler but decided to have a go at barbel fishing with a friend on the River Trent. This turned out to be a great decision as he went on to net five double figure barbel over a 48-hour period.
Ben’s fish weighed 13lb 3oz, 14lb, 13lb 5oz, 10lb 10oz and 10lb 3oz.
He used a 6oz feeder rig and baited his spot with a mix of maggots and pellets. On the hook he used a Vortex Cocoon.
Not bad for one of your first barbel!
Spot and rig change brings pb barbel
A complete change of spot, rig and bait brought a new personal best barbel of 10lb 7oz for Ollie Arnold. Fishing the River Avon at Fladbury Weir, Ollie endured a blank first three hours and was contemplating going home before moving to the hotspot.
“I cast in and within a minute my rod tip bent round into a hard fighting fish”, he said.
After landing his new best, Ollie went on to catch five chub on Sticky Krill boilies before heading home a very happy man.
Ollie Arnold and his new PB
First barbel beats a 30lb carp any day!
“Hi guys. I hung up my carp rods for a few weeks as the lakes are all so rammed. So, I took advantage of the Thames on my door step and have had unreal results.
“Chub up to 5lbs 14oz. But on my first late evening/night session (Friday 3rd), I landed this 10lbs 10oz barbel.
“My first ever barbel. Sat through four and a half hours of rain.
“One hour into darkness, the rain finally stopped and the rod went. Beyond buzzing to get a Thames double.
“Beats any 30lb carp I’ve caught from lakes. Thank you Father Thames!”
Thank you Father Thames!
PB carp stalked on classic method
Peter Burton returned to angling after a 7-8 year break in fine style by catching this 19lb 8oz mirror carp. Using the all-time classic method of floating crust, Peter stalked the fish under an overhanging tree from a small lake just south of York.
Welcome back to fishing Peter!
Free fishing stretch produces three quality barbel
Fishing a little known tributary of the River Trent, James Sutcliffe caught three fine barbel - including a new PB of 11lb 4oz.
He used simple tactics of free-lined Spam and kept mobile to work the stretch. Even better, the fishing was free!
It pays to keep things simple and explore
Perch campaign gets off to a flyer
“I’m having a full season after perch this year and this is my biggest so far at 4lb 2oz.
It was caught from a local day ticket water on a large prawn with 6lb mainline and a 5lb hook link.”
Paul Bailey is having a full season targeting big perch
Unexpected eel for Rob Harris
“I fished BAA owned Coppice Lake in the hope of hooking into one of the many large carp in there.
“After patiently waiting all day and trying various hookbaits, I was on the verge of drawing a blank.
“Much to my excitement, the rod ripped off twice in the final hour of the session and produced two awesome specimen silver eels!
“The fish was caught on Dynamite Frenzied Luncheon meat using a simple bomb and hair rig and I couldn't be happier.
“Unfortunately, I didn't have my scales with me, so I can't be certain of how much it weighed but I'm guessing it was a good 6-7 lbs or more!”
How much do you think Rob’s eel weighed?
Hectic session on the Severn
A short overnight session on the River Severn near Shrewsbury resulted in 12 barbel for Ben Evans.
Five of these fish were over the 9lb barrier, which is a great average stamp for the prolific Midlands river.
One of the better Severn barbel caught by Ben Evans
Near miss for 2lb canal roach
“I went fishing with my uncle on the New Junction Canal as we are both from Doncaster.
“During our session I caught this beauty of a canal roach.
“ I caught it on the pole on a caster and tip of a worm. Thought it was a bream hybrid till I netted it, as it took my elastic all the way out!
“I was sure I hit my 2lb target but unfortunately was under at 1lb 12oz - gutted!”
See more of my results here: https://www.facebook.com/Naturalvenuefishing/
Monster perch on the fly! - Matt Roberts
“Over the winter I spent lots of time targeting specimen perch from southern reservoirs with flies, although my trips were mostly unsuccessful, with plenty of blanks. Beating my long-standing personal best of 4lb was the goal I wanted to achieve and I was determined not to be defeated.
“With the arrival of milder spring weather, my friend Tim Marks and I booked on to a reservoir in Oxfordshire which we knew held some very big fish. We arrived early and eventually left the dock on our boat at 8.30am, planning to fish until 5pm. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect with overcast skies and a steady breeze, which really helps drift your boat across the water while searching for shoals of prey fish.
“Usually, when I’ve found the prey, the big perch are never far behind. From past experiences, though, I’ve discovered they can also be caught around the jetties, towers and ledges here, so if the drifting didn’t work we had a decent Plan B.
“With the help of an electronic fish finder, it didn’t take long to locate the prey fish so we targeted the shoal on the bottom in around 13ft of water using di7 sinking lines and four-inch baitfish imitation flies.
This 4-inch baitfish fly didn’t do the business on this occasion
“Despite countless drifts and casts, we hadn’t had a single bite by 1pm and morale was low. We racked our brains to figure out what we were doing wrong because these tactics had worked for us before. Tim suggested trying a smaller, 2ins Grey Minkie fly or a Small Grub, whereas I persevered with the longer 4ins versions, thinking big lures would equal big perch!
This 2-inch Small Grub fly worked a treat!
“A few casts later, Tim shouted: “I’m in!” and after a proper good scrap his new PB of 4lb 8oz was safe in the net. Just a few casts later he had another four-pounder! I was over the moon for him, but I was worried that I hadn’t had any success and the day was getting on.
“It was clear now that the perch were feeding on small fry in the reservoir so I tied on the same pattern that Tim was using. By this stage we’d clipped our boat on to a buoy in the area where the bites occurred. It was quite close to a near-bank jetty which featured a ledge that sloped to depths of 15ft.
“I made a long cast towards the jetty then counted my fly down for 15 seconds before adopting a strip, strip, pause technique with my line. I got three cycles in when something powerful engulfed my fly on the pause. The take was delicate but the fish immediately shook its head, stayed deep and my light six-weight fly rod locked up.
“The fight was super-strong but after 45 seconds this perch, which was fat and as round as a football, surfaced and my nerves kicked in! I was only using a size 12 hook and perch are known for shaking them out, so when I watched it slide over Tim’s net the weight off my shoulders was insane. We both knew it was a high-calibre perch and when the needle on the scales went closer to 5lb than 4lb, I knew I’d finally done it.
“We ended the session with three 4lb perch, a 7lb pike and a handful of trout, which were all taken on those 2ins-long Minkes. Needless to say, I’ll be packing those smaller flies with me whenever I go perching now!”
Giant commercial perch banked just before lockdown
KRISTIAN Thomas caught this enormous perch from White Springs Fishery in Wales, just before the UK went into lockdown to battle the Coronavirus pandemic.
The fantastic fish spun the scales to an impressive 5lb 8oz, one of the biggest perch Kristian, his friends and the fishery had ever seen.
He told Angling Times:
“I was at White Springs trying to catch big perch from the margins on maggots, worms and prawns.
“By lunchtime I’d had two perch to just over 2lb, but then my float slowly pulled away again so I lifted into the fish. My first reaction was that it was a small carp but then I saw it top around 20 yards out and I was shocked to see it was a massive perch. It then stayed deep and I couldn’t lift it because I was fishing with light gear.
“My mate Jordan was standing behind me with his small landing net and when he saw it he dropped his net to go and fetch a bigger one! I already had the perch on the surface so I screamed at him to hurry up. He was soon back, though, and managed to scoop it in first time.
“The weight instantly fell off my shoulders, but I was in shock at the size of the fish. At this point, five other anglers had come over to look at the perch as I was weighing it. They all said that they’d never seen a perch that big!”
Big perch pulls like a tench!
DESPITE not knowing the perch stocks in his 40-acre syndicate lake, Simon Ashton still banked a quartet of specimens weighing 2lb 8oz, 3lb 15oz, 4lb and 4lb 6oz.
The specialist from Durham fed two spots with maggots, chopped worms and groundbait, before fishing lobbies over the top.
He says:
“The big ’un was a new personal best and fought like a tench as it kited about 20yds before surfacing. I couldn’t believe my eyes when it went in the net.”
Dream end to greatest ever river season!
ANGLERS around the country enjoyed a prolific end to what may go down as one of the best seasons ever on the country’s rivers.
There was a host of big fish landed in the last couple weeks of the season, including these specimens reported to the Angling Times News Desk…
Robin Cave 9lb chub
WHEN Robin Cave embarked on his final session of the river season he had no idea he was about to catch a near British record chub weighing 9lb on the nose. The 59-year-old builder from Oxford latched into the clonking chevvin on a paste-wrapped boilie, which was fished next to a snaggy tree on the River Thames.
“I’m still buzzing now – I thought my 8lb 1oz chub from earlier in the season was special, but this was something else,” Robin told us.
Warren Hammond 8lb 1oz chub
NOT many anglers can claim their first chub on a new rod weighed 8lb 1oz, but Warren Hammond can! It was a personal best for the 51-year-old electrician, who trotted red maggots on his 15ft Drennan Acolyte set-up during a visit to the Dorset Stour. Warren says:
“I can’t think of a better end to my season than this!”
Garth Sykes 18lb 3oz barbel
IMAGINE smashing your barbel personal best twice in a single session – well that’s exactly what Garth Sykes did during his final visit of the season to the Tidal Trent. Using boilies to target a slack area of the river over a 48-hour period, the Leeds-based rod hooked and battled specimens of 15lb 10oz and 18lb 3oz. He says:
“When I saw that the reading on the digital scales had gone over 18lb, my legs started shaking!”
Phil Smith 30lb barbel brace
“Fishing boilies next to a tree at Castor on the River Nene, I managed to catch barbel of 15lb 1oz and 16lb 5oz between 10:30am and 3pm.
“I normally stay on the river until last knockings, but I drove home at 5pm with a huge smile on my face! Former PDAA bailiff Mark Smith got in contact later that evening to tell me that at 31lb 6oz, my barbel brace was the largest ever recorded from Castor. I was truly over the moon.”
James Champkin 4lb 3oz perch
“I’d been catching some nice 3lb perch on the River Lea, but a four-pounder eluded me for months. With a couple of days to go before the end of the season, I decided to have another crack in the area with lobworms fished over maggots and broken lobs. Within an hour I had lost a big fish, but just a few minutes later I received the all-important bite that resulted in my longed-for ‘four’.”
Canal sessions don't get any better than this! - Adam Jones
“On Sunday I had a ridiculous lure fishing session on my local stretch of canal.
In an hour I hooked 11 perch over 2lb 6oz on a Junebug TRD lure of which five were over 3lb, but the best fish by far was a new PB and an absolute beast of 4lb 5oz.
In the first six minutes of my session I had four casts and caught three perch all over 43cm long, with two of them weighing over 3lb, including the 4lb 5oz fish.
I remember the excitement I felt watching her surface and roll into my net. It’s a fantastic memory that will never leave me. Not wanting to hold the fish in the net and stress them out, a mate and I took some photos and watched them swim off.
Over the rest of the hour, I managed about 20 casts and ended up landing a fish every other chuck. I just thought canal sessions don’t get any better than this.
I was truly over the moon – firstly to break my PB but more importantly to have witnessed this unreal fish and also her entire extended family in a crazy, beautiful and completely mad hour of fishing!”
Short session success with a 4lb 12oz perch - Mark Austin
“To get my fishing fix I’ve been nipping down to the Great Ouse before work and despite only fishing for an hour on each occasion, I’ve enjoyed the best perch sport I’ve ever experienced in my life.
In two previous sessions I banked a string of specimens on lures ranging between 2lb and 4lb, but nothing could prepare me for my latest trip.
I arrived at the stretch and began my usual routine of combing the far bank with the lure to try and find where the perch are lying.
I’ve found deep water behind trees to be good spots and this was again proven true when I struck into a 2lb fish almost straight away, and another on the following cast!
I slipped these fish back, flicked the lure back out to the spot and whack! – fish on, but from the way my light 1g-9g rod arched over I thought it was a pike.
Halfway through the fight it started to head-shake more and it stayed deep for about five minutes before finally surfacing just feet from the bank…
I couldn’t believe it – I saw its giant white belly and knew it was a special perch.
It wasn’t the longest stripey in the world but it was incredibly fat and smashed my previous best of 4lb 2oz.
I’ve fished the Ouse my whole life but for me this season has by far been the best for big fish.”
"I couldn't get the net out fast enough" - Graham Stevens
“I’ve caught several big perch to 3lb 14oz but that four-pounder kept eluding me – until now!
With the River Thames still flowing hard, I knew there would be some fish holding up in the slack areas, so I fished into a 10ft deep area off the back of my boat.
I cast out a small roach on a fixed paternoster rig, but I didn’t have a bite until the sun started dropping below the horizon.
Catching a glimpse of this huge thing with stripes, I couldn’t get the net out fast enough!”
"Hooking this 4lb perch was a heart-stopping moment" - Martin Paget
“It was a cold and blustery day on a stretch of the Thames where bites were hard to come by, so I was shocked when I hooked this perch.
It came up to the surface and rolled in the nearside weeds before diving deep again – giving me a proper heart-stopping moment!
After a few more jagged lunges it was finally safe in my net. I also managed two more perch at 3lb and 3oz on big lobworms.”
Bumper perch haul result of twist on a popular tactic
Andy Lewis had a day to remember when he banked no fewer than 80 perch during a recent session, including numerous fish over the 2lb mark topped by a new personal best at 3lb 9oz.
Location was key to his success and searching around throughout the day kept the fish coming.
A twist on a popular tactic proved too much for the perch to resist:
“All fish were caught on a dropshotted lobworm,” Andy revealed,
“using a fluorocarbon leader on the end of my braided mainline.”
Squirm lures massive stillwater perch
ED Matthews admitted to being ‘blown away’ after he slipped his net under a perch he’d been trying to catch for years.
On the scales the fine stripey weighed 4lb 2oz and was a new personal best for the Korum-backed predator expert, which smashed his Cheb-rigged Squirm lure during a visit to a Shropshire Stillwater.
Ed said:
“From the off I caught perch but none of them weighed over 8oz!
“I persevered however and played the numbers game, and just before midday my lure was picked up and I was connected to a sizable fish.
“On the scales she went 4lb 2oz which is a new PB for me and a goal I've wanted to achieve for some time.”
Big perch brace for father and son
John Walker and his son Ewan were enjoying a day on the Grand Union at Harefield, London, when they simultaneously hooked two monster perch.
Weighing 4lb and 3lb 10oz, the fish are new personal bests for both John and 11-year-old Ewan.
John said:
“The fights were pretty tense! Both fish took line and they were hooked near some dense cabbages on light dropshot rods.
“We had the only net between us and had to play my fish out first. Ewan ended up landing his by hand!”