December 30th on a wet and very windy days perching

I was supposed to be piking with Trevor and Archie today on the upper Bristol Avon however the weather forecast was for more wind and rain. So with the river being high any further rain would increase the height and colour very quickly. So as it was a birthday present for Archie we decided to postpone it until the river becomes fishable again. There is nothing better than seeing a big pike chase the deadbait and engulfing it and this is what I wanted Archie to see as it’s such a thrill.

Now it had been ages since I have ventured out I still wanted to make use of the day. I phoned a mate Steve to see if he wanted to go perch fishing. He didn’t take much persuading.

So here he was at my door 6.20am on a a very wet and extremely windy morning. I had already loaded the car and soon his stuff was transferred from his to mine. The journey time is about 1hr to the lake and as we went over some of the hills it was very noticeable how strong the wind was.

We arrived at 7.30 and it was still dark but the light was gathering pace as we put on our thermals and wet weather gear. It was really raining hard, which is not too much of a problem however the wind was increasing in velocity. We selected our swim with the wind at the rear of us which did at least help keep the rain off us. However the umbrella’s did take a hell of a battering. They were saying the winds would peak at 70pmh and at times we were hanging on for dear life as the wind did it’s best to rip the umbrella from the ground.

Then it happened Steve’s umbrella took off and landed in the lake, I was much too polite to have taken a photo of this. He did well to retrieve it.

Steve was float fishing using different cocktail baits of worm,prawn and maggots. He also had one rod out with prawn as bait. I was using a swim feeder with 4 maggots on a size 14 hook and prawn on another rod.

The bobbins were being blown around but there was no mistaking the carp runs that would come along. I landed 2 in the first hour then I had 2 bream and a tench. Then the tench moved in on the prawns and I was catching a steadily. Then a few more carp on the maggots.

This was not good. Then a small perch took the maggots, so at least they were feeding. I was catching carp, tench and small perch every 30 mins or so. Then Steve hooked into a good perch just as the wind eased and the cloud started to break up. It was on a worm maggot cocktail. We decided to weigh it and put a number on the fish. 2lbs 7oz, no where near Steve’s pb of 3lbs 10oz, but still a nice fish.

2lbs 7oz

Then the owner of the fishery came around to see us and promptly told me that the previous days match was won from my swim. Apparently it’s full of carp. Yes and tench too. I must have caught about 10 of each plus a couple more bream. I lost one fish that felt just like a perch fight, but that happen’s.

As the afternoon wore on the conditions improved and finally the prawn rod was away and a lovely perch of 2lbs 8oz was landed.

2lbs 8oz perch

Now as the late afternoon grew darker I had another couple of small perch as did Steve. Another Perch fisherman Mark came around for a chat. We talked about the everything fishy and what we had been up to in the summer and autumn. I missed a couple of runs on the prawn rod which I think could have been line bites. Then the bobbin lifted for the last time and sure enough a fish was on but a much larger carp and while I was playing this the other rod went off. The hook came out of the carp and I missed the other fish. The only thing I had on the hook was a big scale from a carp. Never mind.

Mark had seen enough and I had had enough and I packed away for the day. Not the best session for perch and at least I didn’t blank.