Perch

Still in search of a barbel, the Sunday before last I fished the Anker on the very day winter decided to snap into action. The days running up to my window of opportunity were balmy for the time of year and yet when my day came, baltic. I sat biteless for the duration.

It's the sharp change in conditions that fish don't much appreciate and a cold snap is amongst the worst of them. Give them a while to acclimatise and adjust and they'll once again think about food. Their appetites and metabolisms may well be reduced but by fining down on the amount of free offerings and size of bait you're at least back in with a chance. A chance I wasn't afforded last weekend.

So for this session I was thinking perch. After a week of solid cold I figured all that swims should have by now got the memo about the weather. A decent river perch is another aim of mine as I've yet to break the three pound barrier from running water. I'm limited when it comes to specimen perch fishing though as the rubber-chucking thing has passed me by without inspiration and I've never been a willing proponent of live-baiting. My true soulmate is a four pound perch who shares my love of worms and/or large North Atlantic prawns from Aldi. My search continues.

Rather than head straight to the river and nail one first outing (!) I felt a little limbering up was in order. From here until at least next March perch will be firmly on the menu and as commercial style venues for perch is something I'm familiar with I would start there, as a confidence builder.

There was something I was wanting to try out too...

Whilst reading an article on perch fishing by Archie Braddock he described how he suspended a worm via a piece of rig foam on a hair. The mouse dropping you can see in the video is to anchor the whole thing down. I think it looks fantastic and so my plan for the session was firstly to fish for a bite from anything and then if I found fish to give it a whirl.

To Brookfield Fishery then. Something of an unknown quantity as far as perch go for me but with all the hallmarks of good potential.

I was greeted by cat ice along the margins and at the windward end of the pool first thing. Just thick enough to hold the weight of a seagull as it happens. I chose the south facing bank which was sheltered from the wind by some trees behind, my reasoning being that with the bright start the water in front of me might preferentially warm slightly and also would not have had an icy blast over it all night.

Here's me doing some fishing.

I gave it an hour or two but nothing stirred. As luck would have it I'd left my coffee in the car and so when returning to retrieve it took a rod and plummet with me and measured up on the far bank swims - maybe a foot deeper. And so for my remaining time I moved there and promptly remained biteless, my new-fangled rig not seeing the light of day.

I packed up when the first snowflakes began to fall early afternoon and was glad I did as by the time I was home...

  

Spanked again then. Until next time.