A couple of weeks ago on a fine Saturday afternoon with the sun shining, I decided to go for a quick session along my local river with the idea to have some fun targeting perch.
As I pulled into the car park near my little honey hole I remember having a good feeling for the session ahead, I remember sitting in the car thinking to myself ” today is going to be a good day” Normally when I have this good feeling it turns out to be the exact opposite and with my first cast of the afternoon this seemed to be coming true…..
HEY ! I heard a voice shouting over to me as I watched my battleshad landing in the margins of the opposite bank. I could not believe it ! on my first cast I had managed to cast directly over another Fisherman’s line, who I later found out had spent most of the day in that spot with his feeder and maggots. I apologised profusely and moved down river, away from any static lines and further verbal abuse. In all honesty I was a little annoyed as I was looking forward to having some peace and quiet at my spot.
After a 2 minute walk I found myself in a good looking spot that gave me plenty to cast at, a nice bend in the river, reed bed on the opposite bank, a few over hanging trees and patches of partially submerged oxygen weed. I had fished here before but noticed the water levels were as low as I had ever seen them in the last two years. I set myself up and started filming with my GoPro. It could have only been my second or third cast when I had that familiar “thump thump thump” my adrenaline kicked in and I had a fish on the end of my 7ft Quantum Specialist Shotgun rod. Initially I thought that this was a jack but when I reeled the catch closer to the bank I could see it was actually a Giant Perch. Now my adrenalin was really going as I scooped up the fat lug in my net and put the beautiful stripey on the scales….. 1lb 9oz….. Ok so not the Giant Perch I thought it would be but all the same a cracking fish for me with a kiss for luck the perch was back in the water. At this point I would have considered my day an absolute success and could have gone home with a feeling of accomplishment.
I carried on casting for a further 10-20 minutes changing my lure every five or so minutes as I really do believe that having the right lure for the right conditions can and will make the difference between being successful or not. I had just put on my trusty 8cm battle shad in Salt & Pepper pattern and was thinking about moving spot when on a cast over to the reed bed on the opposite side of the river I was reeling in the shad with what I like to call the “jerk jerk reel” action when I thought Ihad snagged some of the oxygen weed as the rod just went heavy. There was no definite indication of a bite until a few moments later when I felt the rod being pulled away from me. BOOM I had another fish on this time I was sure it was a jack. This fish felt much better and gave me a great little scrap I could not believe my eyes when I saw what I had onthe end of my line. Weighing in at 3lb 20z I had just landed my PB perch. What a beautiful fish I was saying out loud, at one stage during my admiration I remember thinking is there anyone around that I can share this with, other than the grumpy old man I had annoyed earlier. After some deliberation I made up my mind to do as best a job I could with my GoPro to capture this fish in all its glory and get him back in the water. That is after a customary good luck kiss.
What a great day it turned out to be I managed to capture this all on my GoPro and have shared this on my you tube channel the link to the video is below. My good feeling turned out to be true on this occasion and gave me A Fisherman’s Tale to share with you.
The winning lure Quantum Battleshad Salt&Pepper pattern.
You tube link
