As I mentioned earlier, perch of 3lb+ are not
very common. Even though the perch is beginning to make a come
back, they are definitely very scarce at this size. There are
undoubtably a few waters around that hold some individual large
perch, but there are very few that hold them in any sufficient
number to make them a worthwhile proposition. Hear in lies the
overall problem with locating and catching big perch, with any
degree of success.
It
is essential, to do research, and find waters that hold the perch
at the size that we want to catch. Finding them may not be easy,
but big perch do exist in surprisingly ordinary looking lakes
ponds and rivers, and are usually never seriously fished for by
perch fishing enthusiasts. So although big perch are by no means
common, the opportunities are out there to go and catch them if
you are willing to go out and find them! Analysing press reports,
finding out about captures in matches, and generally talking to
local anglers can often provide useful information.
If you know of a water within your locality,
that has a track record for producing a few big perch, or you’ve
read about catch reports in a local paper with details of big
perch, then you are half way there already! However, even if you
are definitely fishing THE venue that holds specimen sized perch,
they are by no means easy to catch, and very big perch can prove
to be extremely elusive, partly due to their very localised distribution
within a given part of a river.
Locating river Perch
Perch are very much predatory fish by nature,
and in many ways this predatory behaviour more or less effects
their location. Typically perch are found lying under bank side
cover, such as sunken trees, weed rafts, lily pads, bull rushes,
and overhanging reed mace. Perch will typically lie up in shaded
areas, so that they can intercept their prey more easily, and
it is these areas that will more often produce big perch. However,
many of these likely perch areas may also produce the smaller
fish as well, and it can be a case of trial and error when trying
to catch the bigger ones.
I have since discovered that this perch behaviour
of 'lying in wait', to intercept small fry, is also a common habit
of the Nile Perch, which in many ways have almost identical predatory
habits to the humble European Perch. I have seen Nile Perch on
occasion hunting in packs of three or four fish, chasing small
tilapia. I know that smaller European perch are also shoal fish,
who hunt in packs, chasing minnows, in exactly the same way as
their African cousins. The African Nile Perch on Lake Nasser also
has a habit of 'lying up' under shaded area’s, such as large
underwater rocks, and crevices, and behave exactly like our own
European perch!
Areas
where big perch are likely to be ‘lying up’ in small
rivers, would include, deep water, adjacent to lily pads, deep
water adjacent to bull rushes, weed rafts, overhanging willows,
and overhanging reed mace. Any of these type of features are worth
trying, especially if they are adjacent to deep water, and are
in slack, or lightly flowing water. Although perch are more tolerant
of fast flowing water in the summer months, their preference is
nearly always to be living within slack or lightly flowing water.
Therefore good big perch swims on a small rivers, can often be
found in areas such as far side eddies, away from the main flow
of the river. Also, these types of features often also contain
overhanging willows, and weed rafts, which are other likely features
to look for, as mentioned above.
Any
features that break the flow of the river, are also worth considering,
such as fences, or sunken trees. One big perch swim that I fish
on the River Ouse, has an old fence, that goes into the river
itself. there is loads of old tree branches, which have gathered
and been trapped by the fence, during winter floods, and this
has produced the perfect big perch swim.
Fig1,
2, and 3, illustrate good examples of typical big perch swims
on small rivers.
Fig. 1 Shows a swim where the
perch are always found tight under the nearside bank, and they
are typically tucked away right under the branches of an over
hanging willow tree. During the summer this nearside swim usually
has a weed raft, which further enhances its attraction to big
perch.
Fig.2 Shows another swim with
a dense patch of lillies on the right hand bank, and a clear patch
followed by a large over hanging willow tree. The Big perch in
this swim are usually found in the clear patch, between the lily
bed, and the overhanging willow. Perch can also be found in this
swim, slightly further downstream, again well under cover, under
another set of overhanging tree branches.
Fig.3 Is a swim, on a bend
in the river. The main flow is on the right hand bank, and on
the left hand bank is where the perch are usually found, in the
more slower sedate river flow. There is a small bush which acts
as cover for the resident perch. But the fish are usually found
slightly upstream, where the reed mace over hangs, which provides
more cover for the fish.
As stated earlier, big perch are nearly always
very localised, on any given stretch of river, and they can be
very difficult to locate and track down. My approach when fishing
a stretch of river for the first time, and a technique I have
adopted on the Upper River Ouse, is to take time to walk along
the whole stretch, and make a mental note of all likely areas
where big perch may exist, and then systematically fish each likely
area, ideally utilising the optimum feeding times, at the dawn
and the dusk periods. This can be quite a daunting task, and many
of the likely areas you choose may well be devoid of big perch,
and may only produce much smaller fingerling sized fish. But adopting
this approach will eventually produce the goods in terms of big
perch, if any exist on your venue.
Feeding Times
Early mornings and late evenings are by far
the best times to catch the big resident perch. You may be able
to catch their smaller relatives at any time of the day, but the
larger specimen fish are really only catchable just before sunrise,
and just after sunset. My favourite time to perch fish is always
in the evening, and I always start to feel confident as the light
levels diminish. I always fish with confidence during the dusk
period, as it has produced many big river perch for me over the
last few years. Also I always continue fishing for about an hour
after sunset, as big perch will continue to feed throughout the
rapidly decreasing light levels, and well into darkness proper!
On some days when the cloud cover is sufficient,
you may be able to fish for big perch during the day. This is
particularly true during those gloomy overcast winter days that
do occur sometimes. But having said that, my preference is always
to fish for big perch during early morning and the late evening
periods.
Methods For Catching Big
River Perch
Many anglers do not realise that big perch are
very delicate feeders. The specimen sized fish are particularly
resistance shy, and will drop a bait if any undue resistance is
felt. Most of my fishing techniques for this species involve resistance
free rigs, as I firmly believe this is important when trying to
catch large river perch.
Float fishing is probably my favourite method
for perch fishing, as it offers far less resistance than a typical
ledger set up, and the bonus of trotting a float fished lobworm,
around a back eddy, is always very effective because perch do
respond more to a moving bait! Also the added bonus with float
fishing is, that you can easily drift a float fished bait into
the perch’s lair, such as under an overhanging tree, or
next to lily pads etc, such places where it is almost impossible
to cast a ledger rig effectively. Fig.4 shows
a typical float fishing set up, with a stick float, and with the
vast majority of the weight beneath the float taken up with a
large lobworm. The rest of the weight used to supplement this
set up are two or three number eight split shots attached to the
line. This type of float set up is ideally suited to those very
slow flowing swims where big perch are likely to be in residence.
I
also sometimes opt for a ledger rig as well, and I use a Shimano
Technium Specialist rod, which has several very light quiver tip
sections. I always opt for the lightest quiver tip section I have,
to counteract resistance, and a typical ledger rig would involve
a two, or three swan shot running ledger, and a size 4 Drennen
Super Specialist hook. (See Fig.5)
Both of the above methods usually involve fishing
with lobworm's. Lobworm must rate as one of the best all round
baits for many species of fish. It is also very effective for
big perch. Chopped lobworm can also be used to attract perch.
You can introduce chopped worms, by hand, so that it drifts down
with the current, or with a bait dropper, to get the bait right
down where you want it. All of the above methods work well for
big perch, and on there day can produce the goods.
Live bait fishing is probably one of the best
techniques for singling out the bigger specimen fish. The perch
is, after all, very much a predatory fish. A minnow, or small
roach, or dace, will make an excellent bait, and has the added
bonus of singling out the better quality fish. The main dilemma
however with this technique, is whether or not to use a wire trace.
Using a wire trace will, I believe, inevitably result in fewer
chances, as it will give a more unnatural presentation. If no
pike are present, on your venue, then I guess that live baiting
without a wire trace would be OK, and would definitely be beneficial
with regard to catching the big perch. But if pike do exist, then
inevitably for ethical reasons you would have to adopt a wire
trace, to avoid getting bitten off by a pike and leaving hooks
in fish!
Lure fishing for River perch
There is no doubt in my mind that lure fishing
is generally speaking a neglected technique for perch fishing.
But it can be a very effective way of covering large areas of
a river quickly, and locating the whereabouts of localised big
perch, on a given stretch of river.
As mentioned earlier, big river perch can be
very difficult to locate, and will be vastly out numbered by the
much smaller fingerling sized fish. Often the only way of finding
the bigger perch is by trial and error, and fishing each swim
on a stretch one by one. You can use a lobworm, or small live
bait for this approach, but this is a very time consuming way
of finding the bigger fish.
Lure fishing however can be a much more quicker
and efficient way of locating bigger perch, as you only need spend
the minimum amount of time in each swim before you move on. You
can therefore cover much more ground, much more efficiently. Lure
fishing can also be a more selective method, because you do tend
to catch the better quality perch using this technique.
I have found that by far the best lures to use
are spinners, and the best patterns are usually the Mepps spinners.
These spinners are perfect for lure fishing in water over 5ft
deep. The Ondex spinners also work well, but I would only usually
use these in shallower water, less than 5ft deep.
When lure fishing, always look for the areas
where big perch are likely to be hiding, such as overhanging trees,
deep water adjacent to lily pads, deep water adjacent to bull
rushes, and weed rafts etc. Running a small spinner through areas
such as these can produce the goods, and you can always guarantee
that action whilst spinning is usually very instant!
Always try to vary the size and colour of the
spinner your using, and pay attention to the hooks which should
remain very sharp at all times. This kind of attention will ensure
that you do not lose any big perch!
Fig.
6, shows a typical Upper
River Ouse perch swim, which has produced big perch for me. This
example perfectly illustrates the type of areas where you are
likely to find big perch. The fish are nearly always lying right
under the overhanging reeds on the the near side bank, and the
sunken tree gives further cover for the perch.
A small lure cast out just before the sunken
tree, and wound in right underneath the overhanging reeds is very
likely to produce a take if any perch are present. This lure fishing
approach casting into areas similar to that illustrated in fig.6,
can produce some surprising results, and I have caught perch up
to 4lbs 6oz using this method.
At present there has never been a better time
to pursue specimen sized perch. Giant sized specimens are becoming
more and more common, and are appearing in the angling press on
a regular basis.
Perch
fishing has never been a popular pursuit amongst specimen anglers,
who say that the small size and unspirited fight of this species
makes the perch an unworthy species to target. However nothing
could be further from the truth. A large perch can give a phenomenal
fight on light gear, and the larger specimens are probably amongst
the most impressive looking of specimen fish! The perch is indeed
a worthy and impressive adversary.
Yes the news is out, big perch are back!!
So go out to the river bank, and go and catch em, and enjoy your
fishing!!
Areas
where big perch are likely to be ‘lying up’ in small
rivers, would include, deep water, adjacent to lily pads, deep
water adjacent to bull rushes, weed rafts, overhanging willows,
and overhanging reed mace. Any of these type of features are worth
trying, especially if they are adjacent to deep water, and are
in slack, or lightly flowing water. Although perch are more tolerant
of fast flowing water in the summer months, their preference is
nearly always to be living within slack or lightly flowing water.
Therefore good big perch swims on a small rivers, can often be
found in areas such as far side eddies, away from the main flow
of the river. Also, these types of features often also contain
overhanging willows, and weed rafts, which are other likely features
to look for, as mentioned above.
Any
features that break the flow of the river, are also worth considering,
such as fences, or sunken trees. One big perch swim that I fish
on the River Ouse, has an old fence, that goes into the river
itself. there is loads of old tree branches, which have gathered
and been trapped by the fence, during winter floods, and this
has produced the perfect big perch swim. 
Fig1,
2, and 3, illustrate good examples of typical big perch swims
on small rivers.
Perch
fishing has never been a popular pursuit amongst specimen anglers,
who say that the small size and unspirited fight of this species
makes the perch an unworthy species to target. However nothing
could be further from the truth. A large perch can give a phenomenal
fight on light gear, and the larger specimens are probably amongst
the most impressive looking of specimen fish! The perch is indeed
a worthy and impressive adversary.