During the final weeks of the season it is probably easier to catch a big river perch than at any other time. Why? Because location is easier and feeding times are predictable.
Big perch are nomadic in summer, as eager to swim in the fastest current as haunt the deepest eddy as they seek out shoals of prey fish. In winter they will invariably be found in quieter water and this means swim choice is much easier.
If you can find an area of steady water below a bend with features like rushes, overhanging bushes or better still a fallen tree branch, chances are a big perch will be nearby. Ignore the swirling eddies, seek out areas where the flow is sedate close-in and picking up pace as you work a little further out. Depth isn’t too important. I’ve caught big perch in less than a couple of feet of water from right next to the margin rushes but four to eight feet is better.
Big perch tend to shoal in swims like this and whereas you may need to adopt a mobile approach in summer, taking a fish here and a fish there, multiple catches of big perch may be taken from one swim in winter.
Unlike many river species, perch don’t appear to like coloured water. When levels are high and the river is carrying sediment I suspect their gills become irritated and they can be near impossible to tempt, which is strange in some ways because experience shows that winter perch are more likely to be caught during the last hour of daylight or on those gloomy, dull days when it never really gets light.
One reason why the same old anglers catch really big perch in winter is because they are the only ones who are determined and sit it out until the magic hour. I’ve lost count of the times that I’ve sat with a dry net until late afternoon watched the feint hearted pack up and leave, one-by-one Sometimes the final car has hardly left the car park before I bend into my first lump of the day.
It’s not easy to stick it out on bitter cold days, especially when you’ve been on the river since daybreak, and that’s why I normally have a lie-in on the days when I target winter perch. There is little point in rising early and thrashing the water to foam only to lose interest when you need to be completely focussed.
Float fishing allows you to impart movement of the bait in a way that is simply not possible with a leger. I never just cast out and let the float swing round. Instead I keep working it, lifting the worm six inches and allowing it to flutter down enticingly, drawing it back towards me in jerky pulls, inching the bait sideways and constantly altering depths from hard on the bottom to just off.
Although my main feed will be chopped worm with a few casters, introduced a little way short of the crease, I’ll work the whole swim with my float, anywhere from underneath my feet, alongside any nearside features and out to the point where the main current kicks in. Sometimes I’ll trot at the full speed of the current and then slowly edge the bait back towards me along the margin.
So, stick it out to the bitter end and you could well be rewarded with a personal best perch.
Five Tips
1. Make sure everything is prepared, have spare hooks tied and ready as you approach the magic hour
2. Step up the hook link and hook size if there are serious snags about
3. Keep working the bait because you can provoke a perch into snapping at it.
4. Search the whole swim until you locate a fish and then concentrate on the area
5. Big perch are deceptively powerful and the swims you need to fish can be quite snaggy. I regard 3lb hooklinks as the absolute minimum and will frequently fish with 5lb line straight through to the hook.
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Five Big Perch Rivers
1. River Derwent, Derbyshire
2. River Trent, Nottinghamshire
3. River Thames, Oxon
4. Upper Great Ouse, Bucks
5. River Stour, Hants
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can anyone please tell me what if any is the current perch record?i was recently fishing for perch at kingston upon thames and landed a perch of 7lb 5oz.on 5lb line and a size 10hook.i caught the perch on a whole lobworm.and soaked cotton wool in predator blood.i used fox digical scales and was shocked to see it tip over 7lb.yours jim new malden surrey.
Jim, drop me an email ben.fisk@bauermedia.co.uk. I work for the angling times and can tell you all about the current records etc and would love to see a picture of the said perch. Ben
i recently sent a photo of the big perch to the angling times so you should recive the photo very shortly.jim.
Jim please please please post your photo of this perch so we can all see it
What’s the best bait for perch?
The best bait is undoubtably a whole lobworm. I fish the Llangollen canal very frequently with whole lobworm and once the magic hour arrives perch seem to go beserk. I must say that winter months are graet for large specimen perch, but, im a fan of late august at dusk having landed perch of 3lbs+ Regards. Rob
where is this elusive photo!!!???
Hi guys… wonderfull pics of Perch, iam a Carper but trying my luck at Perch fishing when the going is tuff, living in Belgium now and miss the UK’s best Perch rivers, here they are also big but very hard to find and difficult to catch,and not in every river, i would like someone to kindly post some photos of there rigs please so i can try some new ways and see where iam going wrong, i have for the moment only tried float, but maybe i missing important info, Matt Hayes video is awesome and have yet to try leger,whats your thought on spoons and spinners ?
Small spoons and spinners are a great way of finding elusive fish in my opinipon, especially when trolled from a rowing boat. And makes a great way to spend summer afternoons- although this is i distant thought in the depths of Winter. And I have caught perch on some really big lures before when fishing for pike, although smaller lures are best.
send me cold perch caching tip.s
are scotish perch just the same as other ie bait
thanx for the info…..another question… will a small 8g Toby work….i lost mine years ago and a picture in my book with same spoon with a nice size perch…. where can i get this old Toby…it was just metal colour with two red fins….only the new classic pack from Abu exists but not the same …
I agree with the lob worm teq and do understand that most feel the traditional approach is the way forward.
But as an animal behaviourist and an extreemly addicted angler for over 30 years one thing has taught me regarding behaviour. Fish ie PERCH are a preditor and as such they have grown large in their respective habitats due to one thing. The ability to be sucssesful hunters.
Perch will readily take dead or even if I can say live baits. Even up to 4 to 5 oz baits resting or moving tantalising two or three inches from the bottom, perch Will investigate.
Forget the old school of not shareing tips. Please try just three.
(1) Use light tackle, any resistance and the larger Fluvalis will reject the bait.
(2) In deep coloured water use a micro star light 3 to 5 inches up the line, in shallow water up to 8 inches up the line.
(3) This is the true gift. Little known, the humble mountain minnow that are numerouse on rivers are an excellent choice. Why? The minnow when in distress release an hormone into the water that predators are attracted to like a moth to a light!
Try these, if you think they dont work I can say only one thing. Try and actually putting a hook on. Perch can be predictable if you look at there natural behaviour.
personly I do not bleve you landed a perch of that size but that would be a record.
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