Specimen Perch From Commercial Lakes

26/01/14 - As you may be aware from the lack of posts on my blog I have not been fishing for a couple of months. I have had to concentrate on work and other commitments but I am now back and ready to catch some monsters. My target before the frost arrives is a large perch over 3lb. Ideally I would target this fish from a river but with the current flood issues I decided to fish a lake I know holds some large perch to over 4lb and possibly 5lb.  

The lake is one that I used to fish for carp over eight years ago and is a lake that I admire both for the memories and the great scenery that it is set in. The lake in question is ten acres and located in Sussex. From the pictures and my description I am sure some of you are aware of the fishery but for now I will not name this venue as it holds some real gems that not many are aware of.

 

After a thirty minute drive down the motorway I arrived at my destination. I decided to take the "logical" approach associated with specimen perch fishing and set up two rods complete with free running feeder rigs. The bait was lobworms presented on a size 10 long shank hook fished over a bed of red maggots. Unfortunately for me there was a crack in my bait bucket and two pints of maggots escaped into my car. I managed to track most down but inevitably I will be squatting flies for the next year!!. The other problem I had was the lack of an umbrella and this mistake considering the weather was a school boy error. It rained heavy non stop all day and I was soaked.

The session produced around seven perch up to 1lb 14oz including another over a pound. I also caught a bream of around 5lb and a large roach approaching a pound. I was actually quite happy with the results of the day due to the terrible conditions. I am confident that I can winkle out a large specimen and will be returning this week to give it another go. During this session I lost a fish that was no doubt over the magical 3lb so I am high with confidence. I will keep you posted.

 

2/02/14 - My second session began on a mildly cold but yet sunny Sunday. This time I was to be accompanied by my fishing mate Jamie (Also my partners brother) and so the session would be a great social even if the fish were not playing ball. I opted to begin in a swim I knew had produced some large specimen stripies over the years and so underarm cast my baits to the spots. Tactics were the same as my previous session except I decided to fish one rod on king prawn and bait up with some Sensas magic red groundbait. To this ground bait I added some dynamite baits liquid worm and a helping of red maggots.The fishing was extremely slow and both Jamie and I had caught nothing after fishing for most of the day. We tried numerous swims trying to locate the small fish as we knew the Perch would not be far behind but still no action fell to our rods. It was only until the evening arrived that the fishing picked up. Perch as we all know prefer to feed early mornings and late evenings when the light begins to fade however, this can only stand true for rivers and clear waters (or so I thought). I was under the impression that on a commercial lake where the clarity of the water is cloudy the Perch would feed in spells throughout the day. I believe this theory is true when the conditions are overcast but today was sunny and we could not buy a bite for love or money until the evening.

 

At around 4pm after an intense days fishing my bobin finally pulled up tight and I was in to a decent fish. I didn't weigh the Perch as it wasn't anywhere near my target of 3lb but was around 2lb so I was a happy man. The fished had saved a blank and they kept coming. We ended the session with around seven Perch with four falling to Jamie's rod up to 2lb. I will be back for that elusive three and have learnt the valuable lesson in Perch fishing. I will carefully select an overcast day for my session even if I am fishing a cloudy lake with low visibility. Until then tight lines.