Spring tenching continued..

Whilst waiting for my syndicate ticket to start and with other venues shut due to the close season I was lost on what to fish for and where to fish. There's a lovely estate lake on my club ticket which held some tench. The tench stock is pretty un known as is there size. With 90% of anglers who fish there being carp anglers it's always hard to gauge the size of tench as you always get.. How big was the tench you had mate "easssyyy 10lb the thing was massive! I didn't weigh it but it was massive" classic carpy's always the way! Still I had no real plans or venues I wanted to fish so I decided to drop onto the venue for a couple of nights. I arrived at the lake and was amazed by its beauty! Only a few acres in size but so beautiful! Every swim closed in by pads so no one can cast over you! Just what I like! It didn't take me long to see some tench rolling in a corner bay away from all the pressure from the carp anglers. I dropped in the swim and set up base. 

I had a quick lead about to find the bottom pretty uniform. Mainly soft silt with a couple of harder areas. I chose my spots which were tight against the pads and introduced a few balls of my ground bait mix which consisted of sticky baits krill active mix, maggot, hemp and sticky baits pure krill liquid. As the bottom was silty and there were a lot of nusance fish I decided to fish two Drennan 2oz open end feeders. I fished these helicopter style with two 8" 15lb supple hook links with size 10 specimen barbel hooks. For the hook baits I used two sticky baits krill Wafters perfect for tench! With the rods deployed I could sit back and take it all in. Sadly nothing happened through the night but at first light the dawn chorus was interrupted by one of my alarms and I was into my first fish from the venue. It felt like a good sized tench and I wasn't half wrong. After steering the red eyed tinca clear from the pads she was soon in the back of my net! What a beautiful specimen to! 

I was soaking in the moment when the second rod disrupted the silence once again! I was on a roll here! Again the fish felt good and it felt like a tench, this time this tench put up a very good account of itself nearly snagging me up a few times! But luckily it wasn't long before I was sweeping the net under her! Another beautiful tench lay in the net awaiting pics! The other tench was still in the net resting up! It all happened so quick! After a few special shots both tench were released and I sat back with a tea with a cheeky grin on my face! 

I was buzzing! It's always good when a plan comes together especially a last minute one! My times very limited so it's always a extra bonus when I catch. The morning was slow with no signs of tench showing in my swim. I'm not one for sitting on my hands and waiting for a bite so I was looking to move, with it being a weekend and the lake being busy I didn't have to many options. I know that tench are classic first light feeders so I thought to myself I could just sit it out.. Before I had the chance to pack up and move another bite fell to the right rod and again I was playing a tench! And it felt a lot better to! At one point I thought it was a carp! After a hairy fight the tench was in the net! I unhooked the tench and got the rod straight back out onto the spot. 

I prepared the scales and the sling and had a quick tea before doing the shots. This tench was a lot bigger than the first two! 

I was over the moon! A lovely plump long female! Elated with the session so far! 

After a few shots I returned the lovely tench back to her home and got some more bait out onto the spots. With bait out and the rods re positioned I sat it out and waited. Sadly no more bites fell that session but I was over the moon with the three beauty's I caught! I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. Thank you 

Spring 2016 crucian fishing

As much as I enjoy my autumn and winter angling the spring and summer are equally as exciting with the transition of colours with every thing coming back to life as the days are longer and warmer and of course With it the lilly pads which means to a lot of us.. Sitting back eagerly watching a float hoping for it to disappear with a hopefully a bar of gold on the end! Yup spring and summer mean crucians to me! I try and mix up my angling and challenge myself by targeting different species keeping my angling exciting and keeping me on my toes! My first crucian session fell on the end of April, with the warm days firmly set in and the pads slowly on the rise it was time to target the crucians. I arrived at my chosen venue to find the water tap clear.. Which didn't bode well for the fishing as the crucians in this venue are finicky as it is! So fishing the float will cause the crucians to spoke off of the vertical lines. I had a small walk around the venue and decided to drop in a swim where i saw some crucians rolling out in the middle of the channel. I decided to set up two feeder rods. A method which has helped me to land lots and lots of crucians to 4.1lb

My set up consists of two Drennan 1.25 test curve Avon rods, two Drennan 25gram flat inline feeders, two 3" 7lb Drennan supper Specailist micro braid hook links with two size 16 super Specailist wide gape hooks. On the hair I like to fish white buoyant imatation casters as the rig is critically balanced improving bites and putting more fish in the bank. I mixed up my ever faithful mix which consisted of a sticky baits krill ground bait mixed with sticky baits krill micro pellets. With the fish being finicky feeders the only bait which i introduced to the swim was the feeders so I was just fishing a bite at a time. Also a method that proves very effective and which usually helps me avoid the numerous tench in the lake. I fished one rod in the centre of the channel where I saw the crucians rolling and I cast the other tight to the island which also has produced crucians in the past. With both rods out it was time to sit back and wait! 

It didn't take long for the bobbin on the left rod to crack the blank of the rod and I was into my first fish of the session! After a spirited fight a golden crucian rolled on the surface and it wasn't long before it was in the back of my net! No matter the size of crucians I just love angling for the species! There such a beautiful species! I didn't even have time to get the crucian out of the water to unhook it and the second rod was away, again to another crucian! It wasn't long and I was looking at two lovely crucians in the net! 

After a few shots the two beautiful crucians were slipped back to there gin clear home. 

I recast the rods to the same positions which the previous two bites came from. It took a while for the next bite to surface but eventually the left rod was away again. And another crucian was in the net! Another lovely specimen to! I re cast the rod back to the spot which was obviously a spot the crucians favoured and it wasn't long before the bobbin again was cracking the blank of the rod! 

This fish felt had some weight behind it and fort a lot harder than the previous three crucians landed so I didn't want to loose this fish so I played it very gingerly.. The crucian rolled on the surface and looked bigger than the previous crucians! Eventually the crucian was in the net! And what a big framed crucian it was to!

After carefully weighing the specimen a few shots were taken and I released the crucian back. I was very happy with how the session was going! 

Sadly no more bites materialised that session! But I was still happy with the four crucians landed! It was mid May before I had returned to the venue but the pads were well and truly established so I was hoping to catch a few on the float this session. With nothing to go by from my walk I droped in a swim I've had luck from in the past. I set up my Drennan 14ft match pro float rod coupled with my Bob James centre pin loaded with 4.1 Drennan float fish line. I fished a .8 gram delicate pole float with a size 18 Drennan super specialist wide gape hook. I like to fish dead bottom but if the crucians prove to be finicky I use the lift method. I plummeted a spot close to some pads. 

When fishing the float method I like to bait with small amounts of bait which consists of my usual ground bait mix. I like to introduce small golf ball sized balls of ground bait. I start off with one and go from there. As you can over feed the swim and attract the tench. I always fish a sleeper rod which is my ever faithful feeder method. I fished this rod out in open water. Fishing this rod as a sleeper allows me to concentrate on the float. Also if one of the method produces more than the other I'll switch both rods to the same tactics. 

It was very very slow going on the float but it didn't take long for the feeder rod to rip off and a crucian being the culprit. 

Bites were non existent on the float so i put out a second feeder rod. Frustrating as it is as there's nothing I love more than to catch the crucians on the float if there not having it close there's no point blanking. I cast this feeder tight to the island where I saw some crucians roll. Again it didn't take long and my left rod was away and a lovely crucian laid in my net. 

The crucians are really loving the middle of the lake at the moment with the clarity being gin clear I guess where the middle is the deepest it's where they feel safer. I positioned both rods out into the middle of the channel and kept just the bait on the feeders are they were feeding finicky I just wanted to fish for a bite at a time. Fishing the feeder method isn't at all traditional but it makes a finicky feeding fish easy to catch. And using the feeder method certainly puts more fish on the bank! My session was drawing to a close but one more 2lb+ crucian made an appearnce making it a enjoyable mornings fishing with a few crucians landed. 

I'm unsure as of when I'll return to fish for the crucians as I've got tench firmly in my mind so I'll try and target them for a few more weeks for sure! I hope you've enjoyed my latest blog entry. Thank you for reading, be lucky out there. 

Spring tench'ing

As the temperatures on the rise and the water temperatures with it, it's time to start targeting them tench! To me there's nothing more special than to be sat behind a float or a watching a tip or even waiting for that Bobin to crack the blank! There's something special about tench, a species which I've loved fishing for since I was a youngster with my grandfather. Nothing's really changed over the years with my angling for the tench apart from now I seek the larger species when targeting my quarry so I do more digging and information finding before fishing a lake. What I look for is 100% proof that big specimens live in the lake I'm going to target as you can waste valuable angling time fishing for ghosts. So I trawl the Internet for photos and read the mags to. Word of mouth is also good as there's a bit more mystery by it. This spring I started on a water which I've had previous luck on catching tench to 6lb+but seen much bigger landed! Here's a lovely specimen from last summer. 

This year they'd brought in a close season and the lake was due to close mid April. I booked a few days off of work and planned my 48 hour session. I knew it was still early but there were the odd days which were warm but the temperature was still dropping through the night. Not phased by this I still looked forward to my first session. The time had come and I'd finally arrived at the lake. On this trip I'd also be targeting the big crucians so both my rods were set up the same as both the tench and crucians loved my chosen set up. My chosen set up consisted of two 12ft Drennan Avon 1 1/2 test curve rods coupled with two little daiwa ss1600 reels loaded with 6lb mono. Rig wise I use a Drennan inline 25g flat method feeder and four inches of 7lb Drennan micro braid with a size 16 Drennan super Specailist hook. For the hook bait I use a single white buoyant caster which sits proud over the feed and will shoot into the fishes mouth with ease increasing your bites! I've used this set up time and time again and caught lots of tench and lots of big crucians to 4.2lb it's always good to have confidence in what you use as personally I feel confidence plays a big factor in your angling. On this particular lake I like to attack the swim with plenty of bite via spombing regularly. I use the smallest spomb as I don't like to over do it. For my spomb mix I use a mixture of hemp, sticky baits krill active mix and sticky baits micro krill pellets and some casters added for good measure! I want the fish to stay feeding on my spot for as long as possible so these food items will hold the fish in your swim. For bait around the feeder I simply just use a krill ground bait as when the fish find your feeder the only food item they encounter is your critically balanced hook bait again increasing the chances of a bite.

I always spend time leading my swim trying to find firmer spots within the silt or gravel spots if there is so. I found a lovely spot at around 30 yards I clipped both rods up and both went out lovely and introduced 10 spombs to start the session off. I ended up fishing a swim with not a lot of depth as I thought with increasing temperature the fish might move around the area I was fishing. Sadly I didn't have a bite that day so as the sun moved behind the tree line i to moved swims into an area with a bit of depth. I got into the swim at around 9pm and calmly went about sorting the rods and finding a spot! It didn't take long and the rods were both out fishing. And it didn't take long for the tench to insterupt the silence of the night sending my little micron m bite alarms into melt down! The culprit was a 4lb male tench! Promising and goes to show how moving swims can be valuable after blanking all day! I went on to land thirteen more tench through the night to 8.1lb! It was a very restless night indeed but a enjoyable one!

First light I topped the swim up with ten or so spombs and the action began right from the off! I ended up landing two crucians to 2.8lb and a total of twenty seven tench to 8.1lb! What a 48 hour session that was!

Sadly the fishing had come to an end on that water due to the close and I doubt I'll be returning until late August early September to have a proper go for crucians! A bit lost as where to fish for the tench I began doing some more research when a savour came to call my call! A good mate of mine txt me inviting me to have a go for the tench on his syndicate! After a few texts I was buzzing as it seemed the low numbered syndicate held some cracking tench and are never targeting by the carp anglers only caught by mistake whilst targeting the carp! And some lumps have been caught to! The session was a few weeks away and time seemed like it stopped! But gave me plenty of time to ask as many questions about the water as possible so I could make a mental map of the place and have a plan! I always have to have a plan in my head or I go to bits on the bank and make mistake after mistake so I like to think my angling as methodical ha ha! A bit Ocd if you like? But every one has there ways and methods! Gathering that the lake was very very weedy gravel pit I decided to pack inline maggot feeders and block other feeders so on the day I could lead about and take course of action from there. Slowly but surely the day arrived and I was buzzing! Better than any Christmas! What a lucky git I am I thought! We arrived at the lake and I was taken back! What a epic epic lake! Heaven! Was i in it? After a quick walk and some observations we decided to drop at one of the lake which had some depth as the temp had dropped a bit and the wind had picked up. But I'd seen a few tinca so I was happy! I went about leading trying to find a clear spot. After a while I found a lovely hard spot behind a weed bed! I clipped up and introduced ten big spombs of hemp mixed with sticky baits krill active mix, sticky baits krill pellets and some red maggot! 

Next I set up the rods! As I knew the lake was weedy and snaggy I didn't want to take any risks and loose fish or worse case scenario get cut off by snags I used light 2lb test curve carp rods, rods which had enough back bone to keep control of the fish and hopefully land them! Reels I used my trusty ss1600 this time coupled with a 10lb mono! Again to withstand the casting of the 2oz maggot feeders I was going to use and of course to withstand the tench possibly carp and the weed! Rig wise I used the 2oz inline maggot feeder with a four inch 10lb Drennan supplex hook link with a size 8 super Specailist barbel hook, hook bait again I used three plastic casters. Again for confidence knowing I could leave the rig out there until I get a bite and to stay in the rig to evade the other smaller species of fish. 

With both the rods set up and a genurous bed of bait out there it was time to cast out! Both rods went out sweet! I was fishing! Finally! It was time to sit back take it all in and have some teas with my mate! And it wasn't long before my left rod went into melt down and I was into a fish! After a hairy fight I landed a very weeded up 4.8lb male tench! A great start! 

I was more than happy that I caught my intended target! I re did both the rods. I like to cast every hour when tench fishing just to keep the swim topped up! You don't want them feeding and moving off! Sadly the wind picked up and the temperature dropped with it! And so did the signs of activity! I knew the odds were against me now! Time went on and I finally got my head down to be awoken by liner after liner at 3.30am! I woke up and just sat drinking tea awaiting for one of the rods to rip off but it didn't happen! I waited for first light to re clip up the rods and refil the feeders with Maggots as I was sure there were fish out there! Tench to! So I re did both rods and got them both out with no drama! I sat down with a tea feeling much more confident! The Bobin on the left rod cracked the blank and the line pinged out of the clip! Here we go! Again the fish weeded me up and luckily I got the fish out and half way in it must or shrugged the weed off its head and started really going for it! I knew this was a decent tench so I hung on for dear life and prayed I landed it! The tench rolled over the net and she was a big girl! I composed myself and got out my Mat and other weighing bits and bobs! Awoke my mate and weighed the beautiful tench! 

The needle rolled over to 9.8lb a new personal best for me! I was overwhelmed by the big framed beauty! Such a epic epic tinca! My mate took a few shots for me and I released her back to her home with a big grin on my face! 

 

Sadly We had to pack up, and every one hates packing up! But I didn't that morning! Buzzed by what I caught I was in love with the place! I knew I probably wouldn't get a ticket for the special syndicate so I didn't even think about! But whilst at work I received a call from my mate offering me a ticket!?! You can all guess what my answer was! My fishing won't start on there until June 16th which is when the new members can fish but I'm allowed to squeez in another guest session before hand! So I'm eager to get back! Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog I hope you enjoyed it and didn't get to bored.

Be lucky out there 

A lovely encounter with a special lady before the close..

Me and Si Hartop have been arranging a roach session on the itchen for a while now and with the close drawing in we finally pencilled in a day in the diary! After counting down the days and exchanging texts about tactics and swim choices the day was finally upon us! With the rivers due to close for the season it was make or break for that magical 2lb river roach! The forecast couldn't of been any worse bright conditions and not a cloud in the sky.. Not ideal for the roach! But we set out at first light anyway! We started off my favourite roach spot. I put si on a likely spot and I started above a snag. I baited gingerly as I knew the roach have been fished for and have been very finicky so I kept the bait going in at a minimum. After half hour or so of baiting with a pinch fulls of maggot I decided to have my first trot through. Again I was using my 13ft acolyte plus coupled with my JW YOUNGS pin loaded with 3lb Drennan float fish, I used a 3bb wire steam Drennan float and a size 18 super specialist hook with a single red maggot as the hook bait. After a few few fruitless trots I decided to move up stream and rest the swim. Neither si or I had any bites.. With the sun rising and the mist burning away rapidly I moved back to the snags.. First trot down I was into what felt like a roach and it wasn't long and I had my first Redfin in the net! Quickly followed by another about the same size! Confident I'd found the shoal I concentrated on that area. Si asked if I ever get plagued with trout.. I wish I didn't answer as I well and truly jinxed myself as a super charged browny turned up and ruined the party.. Quickly followed by one of his mates.. That was it! The icing on the cake! No more bites fell to me in that swim so we decided to move down stream. We started off at the bottom of the stretch. I carried on trotting and Si carried on with his bread flake feeder tactic. I had several grayling to the pound mark but sadly no roach.. We both started working back on our selves but the majority of the swims proved to be fruitless. With the sun high in the sky by this point we knew the odds were against us! I decided to try and target the grayling in one of my favrioute swims. This swim was deep wide and the river flowed very fast through it an area you wouldn't expect the grayling to hold but.. There's a lovely slack that ran off of the bend and I loved using the maggot feeder in this slack! My tip rod set up for the river is a Drennan match pro feeder and a 2oz tip, tip depending on the flow, 4lb mono on a small daiwa ss1600 reel, a small maggot feeder and a 2lb hook link with a size 18 hook with a single red to tip it off.. I never bait when using the maggot feeder I just count on the maggot to do there job in the feeder and not over feed the feeding fish for there were any. I lowered the feeder into the slack and the finicky bites began.. Usually with the set up I use the grayling hang them selves on the rig but today the bites were extra finicky.. It wasn't long before the tip hooped around and I was into a hard fighting grayling! 

Securely in the net I put the feeder back out and again it wasn't long before another grayling was in the net falling to the deadly maggot feeder method! 

The bites soon dried up so I decided to try trotting through the faster water as I thought the grayling could of dropped back due to spooking from the disturbance from the previous landed grayling landed. First trot through and the float dipped.. Striking instantly I was into a fish.. At first I thought it was a trout by the fight! But I saw a glimpse of a big sail from a big grayling! I knew this was a big fish! I clamped down on my pin and gained what line I could guiding the grayling out of the flow back into the slack.. It wasn't long and the special fish was in the net!! After weighing the grayling and getting a quick snap I rested the fish in the net and waited for si to do photos.

With a new personal best in the net I couldn't wait to do the photos! Si was just as happy as I was and he took some epic shots for me!!! 

After a few snaps I released the grayling back to the chalk stream watching with a big smile on my face! What a way to end the river season.. Until June 16th.. 

Thanks for reading! Be lucky out there 

After work Redfin session..

I'm lucky enough to finish work early on a Friday afternoon so it gives me the advantage to get on the bank early and miss the weekend rush. On this paticular afternoon I decided to have some lunch and head down my local stretch of river the itchen. My set up for this occasion was a 3lb mainline straight through, a 2BB Drennan stick float and a size 20 Drennan super specialist hook. The reason why I used a light stick float is the flow is nice and slow and the stretch is nice and deep. So With only my light acolyte rod and centre pin a net and tackle bag I set off down the itchen.so 

I always start off at the bottom of the stretch and work my way up. I fished a few of my favourite spots sadly only producing small grayling and a few trout. With time getting on i decided to get to my main roach spot. There's been a few other anglers targeting the roach at this location so I knew it was going to be tricky. I baited a few areas with maggot and let the roach "if" they were about have a few free offerings and gain there confidence. After baiting for an hour I decided to have a trot on my first favoured area. After a few trots the finicky roach began to bite! Glad I'd found them in quite quick time i baited with a pinch of maggot and trotted down with the free offerings. I was getting bites along side a big set of snags.. As the float maruded past the snags the float disappeared and I was Into the first roach of the season! After a spirited fight the first roach was in the back of the net! After baiting and resting the swim shortly I trotted through again and the bites began again.. After a few trots through the swim and a few finicky bites the float disappeared once again and I was into another Redfin! The bites continued and I ended up landing six lovely Redfins to 1.4lb, five where also  over 1lb, sadly I lost two good fish. But I was happy with catching six roach in such a short time! If you fish for roach you'll know how finicky they are. 

After a few photos memories were made and I slipped the beautiful roach back to there chalk stream home. 

The season is drawing in and I'm hoping to have one or two more roach sessions and I'm praying that magical 2lber slips up.. 

Thanks for reading my blog and be lucky on the bank! 

First river session of 2016

With the temperatures plummeting and the majority of the lakes freezing I decided to hang up the perching gear and get out the river gear! With a week of cold weather dropping down to -6 and no rain I knew the river would be prime for a grayling or two! Maybe even a roach or two! Like normal I set my rods up the evening before. My first set up consisted of my 13ft Drennan acolyte plus coupled with a JW YOUNGS BJ centrepin loaded with 3lb Drennan mono. I know the river was a bit pacey and up so I opted to use a 3BB stick float not to heavy and not to light. Perfect for the long trot on the spots I had in mind! I always fish 3lb straight through due to the number of trout in there and snapping up numerous times gets very iterating and expensive. And I don't like the thought of a trout swimming about with a hook in his gob. I use a size 16 Drennan whisker barbed super specialist hook to obtain a good hook hold. For my second rod and set up I use a 12ft Drennan medium match pro feeder rod with a small reel loaded with 4lb Drennan feeder mono. I use a small 1oz maggot feeder tied on a double not system so it acts as a bolt rig system so the grayling in particular don't gut hook. I use a 3lb hooklink with a size 18 spade end hook. With both rods set up and my maggot lightly dusted in some pure liver powder I was ready for the days fishing ahead. It wasn't long before I was on walking the river bank. I stopped off at my first spot where I like to use the feeder fishing in a nice slack In about 6ft of water where the grayling usually like to hold up in this particular swim. The water was higher than normal and slightly coloured so I knew it wasn't going to be easy! After a few casts around the swim I finally started getting a few line bites. And soon enough the tip hooped over and I was into my first grayling of 2016. And it was a lovely one at that!

After a few shots in the mist she was realeased back to her home. The swim went on to produce a few more grayling around the same size. I moved onto the next swim where I knew there were usually some roach about and of course some grayling. This swim was ideal for trotting. I baited the swim for a little while with a pinch of maggot encouraging the fish to feed without any angling pressure. After baiting for half and hour I trotted through the swim and immediately started getting finicky bites which to me looked like roach bites! After every trot I baited and left the swim for five or ten mins getting the fishes confidence up, on the next trot I struck into a finicky bite and I was into a good fish! Yup it was a roach! Which half way in decided to drop off! Classic roach! I left the swim for a while and began baiting again. And it didn't take me long to hook into another fish and loose it! These fish were being very finicky! I went on to catch a few grayling before the swim dried up and the fish moved on or just stopped feeding.

I spent the rest of the morning into the afternoon trotting through various swims catching lots and lots of different sized grayling but nothing massive but brilliant fun all the same! I ended up catching some nicer sized grayling whilst trotting which brought the tally to twenty plus grayling landed! 

I ended up in the swim I first feeder fished and started again by using the feeder and wasn't long before I had another nice sized grayling in the net. The bites were longer between and much more finicky. But I stuck at it and caught a further more three grayling. 

Eventually that swim dried up to! And by this time it was getting late into the afternoon.. Time for some roach! I spent a good few hours trotting some swims but no luck. Eventually I found some roach and was lucky enough to catch and land one before calling it a day. 

It was a enjoyable first session on the river with conditions not being the best and the river flowing very high and coloured but I caught some lovely fish and had a lovely days fishing. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog I hope you enjoyed it. 

Commercial perch fishing

Commercials have become very good perch venues due to the neglect to other species and I think specimens such as perch, roach and Rudd get ignored by the day ticket anglers in search of a quick bite from the many carp stocked in the venues. I've fished a particular commercial a couple of times now which is hordle lakes near the forest both Jim and rich the owners are lovely blokes and are always on hand to offer great advice. I've had some good results each time I've visited the venue. Although commercials have become very popular in the perch fishing scene there hard to ignore. my first session was more of a taster but on my second visit I knew the zones where the perch liked to hang about. Swim choice was quite easy really, you just look for any cover or snags or any other features such as monks or aerators which provide cover and good ambush points for the perch. Me and my mate ended up fishing next to each other with snags either side of our swims. On one rod I fished the classic running rig set up on a drennan Avon quiver 1 1/4 test curve rod and a small daiwa SS1600 reel loaded with 6lb mono and the rig itself which consisted of a size 5 ESP barbless raptor hook, a 12" 4lb drennan supplex hook link and a one once lead.

For the Hook bait I started with a king prawn soaked in pure krill extract to give the hook bait that extra pulling power over the free offerings which I scatter around the hook bait. This rod was tucked right under the snag and placed on my alarm. For the second rod I used a waggler set up with my light acolyte float rod coupled with a centrepin reel loaded with 3lb mono. I fished the waggler further out with a nice juicy lob worm.

I sprayed maggot over both rods regularly to attract any small fish which in turn would attract the perch. I also mix up a ground bait consisting of chopped prawn, worm and red maggot mixed with a blood worm mix and ball it up and introduce it to the spots.

It didn't take long for the bobin to hit the blank on the prawn rod! And after a spirited fight the first perch was in the net and weighed 2.8lb! A lovely specimen perch and a good start to the session!

I carried on fishing the waggler but only to get plagued by roach so I moved the float closer towards some snags to my left. And balled in some more ground bait in hope that some more stripeys may come along...

Feeling more confident with my approach with the waggler I was happy! But sure enough it was the prawn rod again which was away! With the bobbin hitting the blank and another spirited fight on the light tackle and  a lovely 2lb perch was again sat in the net!!! And a angry one at that! 

I persisted with the waggler and lob worm approach by roaming it around but no bites fell to the float method. But More bites fell to the King prawn rod! And I ended up landing a further three perch and loosing a couple to! Another good session! 

I returned to the venue after Christmas this timed with more king prawns soaked in pure krill extract and four pints of red maggot and some juicy lob worms. As no bites fell to the waggler on previous sessions I fished two rods on the running rig both mounted with King prawns. I fished one down to the left tight to a snag just off the marginal shelf. The second rod I fished it a little further out as I saw lots of small fry being chased by perch. 

I regularly topped up both spots with red maggot and chopped worm and King prawn soaked in krill extract. 

It was a very slow morning resulting in a few aborted takes and loosing a couple of fish which was really frustrating. By this time it was 3.30pm and the venue shuts at 4.30pm I knew time was running out and I hate blanking! So I upped the amount of chopped bait mix I was feeding into the swim. Anxiously I kept looking at my watch knowing that it'll be soon time to reel in and begin the dreaded pack down! I hate blanking as I rarely get out these days so a blank leads to fustratation but also makes me more eager to up the Anty for the next session. But.... Out of no where my left rod which was placed close to a snag just went into a melt down and line was peeling off the spool at a alarming rate making me think a rogue carp could be the culprit. So I lifted into what I thought was a carp! My mate heard the take and came over into my swim and asked if I knew what was on the end? My reply was if its perch it's a big perch! I knew deep down it was due to the viscous head shaking and sharp lunges! The fish stayed deep! I didn't want to give the fish any slack! Eventually the fish rolled on the surface and the Dorsal gave its identity away! My mate went silent as did I both knowing this was a good specimen! I didn't want this perch to drop off!!! After a few more lunges eventually the perch rose to the surface and My mate swooped the net under her and in the back of the net was a rather festively plump perch! This fish was 3lb easy and a possible new personal best! I was overwhelmed as I didn't blank! We unhooked the perch and let it rest whilst I got the rod back onto the spot and again baited with a generous amount of maggot hoping for another last minute take! We got every thing ready, sling, scales and the camera, my two mates helped with the weighing... The perch spun the needle round to 3.4lb I was overwhelmed and overjoyed! A new personal best! A brilliant late Christmas present! My mate took some beautiful shots for me to! So big up! 

I returned the perch with a big smile on my face!!! and it was a good late Christmas present! I had some really good fun fishing the commercials with some mates who were also lucky enough to catch some lovely perch. I hope you enjoyed the blog and maybe learnt something new on how to target perch. Be lucky out there. Here's a link to the website for hordle lakes. A venue well worth fishing if your after big specimen perch. 

http://m.hordlelakes.co.uk

Commercial perching to be continued....