Perch on prawns – Coarse Angling
Today Dec 2013
Just over a decade
ago I remember a friend of mine telling me of a small series of day
ticket waters that contained big perch. At the time I was perch
fishing on the mighty river Thames and although catching, found the
venue unwelcoming at the best of times. Needing a venue closer to
home and more comfortable I found myself taking a look at the venues
and to say I was amazed is an understatement as these ponds were
tiny, so small I could easily underarm a small bomb from one bank to
the other! If these ponds did contain monster perch then it shouldn’t
take very long to extract one I thought. A few days later on a frosty
morning I cast two prawn hookbaits into position, one close to a
small island, the other under the rod tip close to a submerged tree
stump. Within five minutes both rods had produced bites, the first
was from a three pound chub, the other from a perch that smashed my
personal best at the time, it weighed 4lb 1oz. The bites had come
that quick that the perch was landed whilst the chub was still in my
landing net!
It was the start
of a campaign that spanned a couple of years, on and off, mainly in
the winter. The reason I continued was the onsite bailiff had
informed me that bigger perch existed. To say the action was
incredible is an understatement and three pound plus perch were
commonplace, we even started retuning these without photographs! I
did manage to catch the biggest in the pond, however it did take me a
long time. She weighed 4lb 10oz; I also had one off 4lb 4oz, all
different fish! The reason I was using prawns is that I had taken
time before fishing the ponds to find out a few things about them.
Firstly, like most commercial fisheries, the use of live bait was
forbidden, so were spinners and with loads of other fish including
carp and roach, using lobworms wouldn’t be very selective. The
lakes also contained signal crayfish and as soon as I knew this then
a king prawn seemed the obvious answer as its thought that the reason
perch have grown to huge proportions in this country is due to them
eating these. I have to admit that I very nearly started to use the
white flesh of one of the signals, a sure bait for a result, yet
after checking the environment agency legislation on these I found
that using these was illegal.
Moving on ten
years or more I now smile as every time I buy one of the weekly
angling magazines they show anglers displaying big perch caught from
a commercial, and their new found wonder bait, prawn. I would say
that captures of four pound plus perch on commercial fisheries are
now at an all time high and anyone wanting to catch a monster
realistically needs to look at these. Commercial venues are
everywhere; in fact I have one no more than three minutes drive from
my home that offers a very good chance of a four. I personally prefer
the vivid shades of colour gravel pit and river perch offer and as
size isn’t so important these days and getting away from the crowds
is, then it’s these that I prefer.
Whether it’s a
commercial, gravel pit or river, timing your arrival at the venue is
crucial and if allowed I will be found setting up in the dark just
before dawn. Rods will be already made up and baits positioned before
first light as this is the best time to catch perch.
Locating where the
perch are comes with time, often quite a few sessions but once they
are found, expect them to be their next time as perch rarely move on
a daily basis due to weather conditions. The reason they are in an
area is because this is where the food is, normally small fry that
they have herded up into a corner, or next to a feature such as an
outlet. Low light conditions are best, days that are overcast and
mild, yet the four pound perch I caught within minutes of starting so
many years ago came on a frosty morning, when blue skies and high
pressure was forecasted, proof its always worth a go. If you don’t
have prior knowledge of the best areas for perch I will watch the
water at first light for small fish, maybe even a perch attacking
these. If I am fishing blind then I will never sit in a swim for more
than half an hour as if perch are in the swim and feeding then a bite
should come well within this time.
Rigs are again
simple with attention paid to keeping resistance to a minimum. In the
past I have used a small maggot feeder, yet these are tangle prone,
so now I prefer to use a small 1oz lead, one with a big eye or better
still attached to a run ring. This runs freely on 6lb mainline and is
buffeted by a Quick Change Bead onto which a 0.16mm Fluorocarbon
hooklink is attached holding a size 8 barbless hook. On the hooklink
I add two float stops as if I feel I want to pop a prawn of the
bottom I can. This is achieved by adding the tail of a lobworm next
to the prawn and air-injecting it, then counterbalancing this by
moulding putty around the stops. The float stops allow the height of
the prawn to be altered easily and believe me, this can make all the
difference. I also add a small PVA bag of red maggots and chopped
prawns to the hook. Once cast into position I will then catapult
maggots over the top on a regular basis, as these will get the fry
feeding right over the top of my bait. Using two rods, I will always
pop one bait up a few inches, the other will be fished directly on
the bottom and again this will have the tip of a worm added to it.
Its this that I feel gives me an edge, as perch are inquisitive and
react to movement so the worm does this, as do the red maggots in the
bag, and the prawn is a substantial meal for a perch that is as close
to a crayfish as I can legally get.
Rods are 1.25lb
T/C and if possible positioned on separate bank sticks pointing
directly to where I have cast. This reduces resistance and as for
bobbins I use the old fairy liquid bottle tops. I could write an
essay on bite indication, yet all I will say is that if you choose to
use carp style heavy chain hangers and wait for the bait runner to
go, then you will be waiting for a very long time, and when you do
get a bite, well the perch most probably will be deep hooked!
Well their you
have it, the simplest of rigs that will catch the biggest of perch.
The key to success is to fish at the right time of day, dawn and
dusk, find where the perch are, then reduce resistance in every way
possible and by adding the tail of a worm next to the a prawn will
increase your catch rate considerably.
Images –
- 4lb 2oz taken within seconds of casting a prawn out on a new venue.
- Rods high with bobbins on long drops.
- The old faithful washing up bottle top indicator.
- Isotopes and light bobbins for after dark perching.
- This was my last four pounder taken after taking a big gravel pit apart.
- Link ledger still has a place today.
- A brace of cracking perch.
- Keep spraying maggots over your hookbait.
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