Specimen roach quest

I had never managed a really big roach. Like many, I had caught some nice ones over the years but a 2 pounder had never graced my net albeit I had never made a concerted effort.

I was fishing with a friend in the summer and the subject of roach came up. It was then that we hatched a plan to catch a big roach. The Cotswold gravel pits would be the target venue in the first instance.

With some research and planning taking place over the last few weeks, the time had arrived. The plan involved two nights on a large gravel pit. For me, this became one night after an incident that resulted in a trip to A&E and nine stitches. Not a great start but I arrived the next morning. My fishing companion had drawn a blank overnight but we high hopes for the remainder of the trip.

The pit itself is over 30 acres so there's lots of places the roach could be. The mild weather meant there were plenty of anglers on the bank meaning that the areas noted for roach were not available. The swims we chose were not fancied for roach and had no previous. There was an element of finding a needle in a haystack. However, it was the cards we were dealt so it wouldn't stop us trying, especially with a southerly wind blowing towards our bank. 

Tactics were relatively simple. Two rods set up with helicopter rigs. A very short fluorocarbon hooklink tied to a size 16 hook. A heavy feeder would create a bolt rig with maggots as bait.  

A fabulous 2lb 4oz PB roach

My swim turned out to be weed free and presented a clean open area over gravel. I was fishing at about 40 yards in 12ft of water. It meant I would fish both rods very close to one another. I had one on an open end feeder with dark  coloured groundbait sandwiching maggots and some hemp. The other was just a standard blockend feeder approach. Casting would be every 30 minutes to keep a trickle of bait going in. 

There was little to report during the day. This wasn't a huge surprise. As light began to fade, the first fish was caught. A perch of about 8oz meant there was no blank and this was quickly followed by another of just over a pound. It then became dark and the action ceased. By 9pm, the alarms started to give some indications that there were fish in the swim. The weather was also pretty grim with Storm Ciaran putting in an appearance. At 9.45pm, the alarm screamed into life and up I jumped to find myself connected to a fish. You can imagine my excitement when the silver flanks of a roach surfaced. Using lighter tackle meant the roach was able to put up some stern resistance and I was really conscious the hook could easily pull from its soft mouth. The fish was safely netted. It was clearly a personal best roach and it looked huge. If you have never seen a big roach in the flesh before then they are really impressive creatures, likely over a decade old. The scales showed the fish weighed 2lb 4oz and it was a super result on my first attempt.

A specimen 3lb perch

Out went the rods again. I was continuing to stay active and trickle the feed in as the rain pelted down. Within the hour, another screaming run saw me connected to another fish. This felt better and made a dash for a nearside tree. I remember thinking, if this is a roach then it's going to be good. It wasn't a roach but it was a super looking fish. The stripey flanks of perch came into sight and having caught plenty of decent perch before, I could see this one fell into the 'decent' category. It went 3lb 1oz. 

It capped an amazing 60 minutes that saw me land a 2lb roach and a 3lb perch. I can tell you that this doesn't happen very often so it certainly exceeded my expectations for the trip. 

Nothing happened overnight other than the bivvy taking a battering from the wind and rain. The next morning saw a small roach landed and a huge roach spotted rolling in front of me. By the end of the morning it was time to leave but I did so with me planning my next roach trip and a potential 3 pounder. 

An afternoon down the canal

What a contrast to seven days ago. This time last week the UK was gripped by sub-zero temperatures and a covering of snow. Today was a glorious spring day and by far the warmest of the year yet. With some maggots left over from last week's perch session I decided to have a few hours in the afternoon sun. The Birmingham to Worcester canal was the chosen venue. In all honesty, I rarely fish canals these days but I fancied a change and was intrigued as to what might turn up.

I dusted the pole off, it's first outing for quite some time, and set up to fish down the centre of the canal. It was about 4ft deep. The single maggot was dropped into place and a little and often feeding approach was employed. Bites on the canal are not usually difficult to come by but today was different. After an hour, I was starting to doubt there were any fish present. However, in the warm sunshine with the sound of new born lambs not too far away there are worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon. I decided to go for a short walk when I noticed a 25 metre stretch of the margins was home to population of breeding toads (I think). As the afternoon wore on I was still fishless. In fact, still biteless. It had just gone 4.30pm and I remember setting myself a 45 minute target. I had still to register a bite I was going to call it a day. It was just so strange to have not encountered any fish after a couple of hours that I had begun to think the stretch was barren and maybe they had shoaled up somewhere else after the cold weather of the last few weeks. Then a couple of fish topped and restored my confidence.

The 11oz roach

At just gone 4.50pm my first bite of the day saw a dace landed. Only a few ounces but more than welcome given the circumstances. Then a steady trickle of roach appeared with the odd small chub and a solitary perch. Things were looking up at last. I then connected with a better fish which turned out to be an 11oz roach. It was in immaculate condition and much bigger then its predecessors.

The hybrid

It was heading for half past six now. The change to British Summer Time afforded me an extra hour of daylight. The sun had dipped now but was causing havoc off the water's surface meaning seeing my float was tricky. The bites continued. It wasn't frantic sport but a bite every so often kept my interest. The float dipped from sight one more time and this fish saw the elastic stretch from the pole tip with purpose. It was a much better fish but what was it? I caught a glimpse beneath the surface and it looked bream like but the fight was anything but bream like. Instead of coming to the net like a wet sack, this fish wasn't going to give up easily. Finally, it was beaten and it silver flanks showed it was a roach/bream hybrid. It was a bit of an ugly work of nature to tell you the truth but it did weigh 1lb 10oz so was a decent fish for the canal. I gave it another 40 minutes or so but the commotion killed the swim and I called a halt to proceedings on what had been an enjoyable afternoon.

Tales from the lower Severn

Having found a consistent supply of barbel this summer, I was keen to try and up the average size. Therefore, a trip to the lower Severn was the order of the day. I planned to fish two days. With conditions less than perfect I figured that darkness would give me my best chance of sport. I have already managed a couple of evening sessions on the lower Severn this summer packing up around 11.30pm and both have resulted in blanks. Would staying a night improve my chances?

I arrived at the river mid-afternoon and chose a swim that provided comfortable access to the water's edge. I was mindful I could be on the bank in the middle of the night and I didn't want any unwelcome surprises. With base camp set up, I finally started to bait up around 6pm. Out went 4 pints of mixed hemp and pellet around a third of the way out. I also catapulted a few pouches of boilies. It's a big river with a lot of hungry mouths to feed and I am certain the barbel are quite nomadic at times so I needed to give them a reason to stop if they passed.

The first barbel of the trip

By 7.30pm, I had two rods in position. To be honest the evening was quiet like my previous sessions. I had a few runs which I suspect were from chub with one fish dragging me to a snag around midnight. Tackling up is so much fun under a headtorch!!! With action slow I tried to get some sleep but found it difficult. An otter then appeared in my swim, it's piercing eyes staring straight at me as they reflected my torch light. At about 2.15am I had a screaming run which woke me from my slumber. Surely a double figure barbel? Not quite. A chub of about 3lb was the culprit but at least I was off the mark. It was just over an hour later when I was woken up by the alarm screaming as line peeled off the reel. My first barbel was on. Welcome as it was it was not a huge fish at around 6lb. And that was that. I didn't see anymore action for almost three hours. Another screaming run saw me connected to another barbel. It put up a good scrap but again it was not the big fish I had come for. It was a better fish though and was probably edging towards the 8lb mark. It was well built and has obviously been feeding well in recent times. I put the kettle on and took in my surroundings. Dawn is a great time to be out in the English countryside and fishing affords us an excuse to experience what many people ignore as they rush around failing to see what surrounds them. The next hour proved to be quite entertaining too as the fish began to move. I hooked and landed a couple of skimmers, and a beautiful looking roach, or was it a roach hybrid? At around a pound it certainly had lots of roach genes.

An early morning barbel

The mouth isn't quite roach enough for me

The downstream rod began nodding. Not enough to strike at but there was some interest. This intensified briefly prompting me to lift the rod. There was a small fish attached. As I reeled in a roach of around 6oz came into view. It had a gash on its flank and a number of scales were missing. It had obviously been attacked by one of the river's many predators. Unfortunately, on returning it to the water it became apparent that this fish was not going to survive. Therefore, I used it to try and catch the culprit. I cast it out on a trace attached to a single size 2 hook. It was picked up almost immediately but the hook failed to connect. This happened again next cast so I decided to use a set of trebles instead. There was no mistake this time as a fish was hooked. Was it a huge zander? It took line and gave a spirited account of itself. The resultant fish however was a pike. It was probably the same one that had attacked the roach originally. It was a lovely looking fish that again was well built with it taking advantage of the many juvenile fish that inhabit the river at this time of the year. It was carefully returned where it sulked for ten minutes before shooting off to leave a cloud of silt.

A welcome distraction

Most of the second day was spent sleeping and sorting out bits of tackle as the daytime fishing was pretty chronic. As evening approached I carried out the same plan as the previous day. I planned to fish till around midnight and then return to the comforts of my own bed. That evening saw a bream and a chub, both around the 4lb mark landed, but as with my other evening sessions on this river recently the barbel failed to show before midnight. As I packed away, a mouse appeared in my swim to take advantage of the grains of hemp that had been dropped. It was more than happy for me to approach it with my torch where I sat for 5 minutes no more than a foot away watching it go about its business. And that was that. An enjoyable 36 hours or so even if my search for the big barbel this summer continues.  

The rough with the smooth

I ventured to the lower Severn on Saturday evening. I was in no rush to cast a line as most bites have been coming late on. I eventually settled into a swim just as the rain began. For the next few hours it tipped it down. Meanwhile my downstream meat rod and upstream boilie rig lay motionless. I also discovered my umbrella had a leak to compound what was turning into quite a miserable affair. As 11 o'clock approached the upstream rod took off completely out of the blue. A powerful fish took off towards mid-river before the line parted. Gutted was an understatement. I gave it another half hour before a break in the rain saw me escape feeling very deflated.

I had agreed to take my son fishing the next morning . I have to be honest, I wasn't exactly feeling enthusiastic but a promise is a promise. We arrived on the Warks Avon mid-morning with a view to a few hours until lunch. We used a 4m whip and maggots to catch a selection of species including gudgeon, dace, perch, bleak, roach and skimmers. I had also cast a boilie baited rig complete with a PVA bag of offerings mid-river. This bait had sat undisturbed for hours when without warning it jumped into life. A barbel was on. It took me by surprise as daytime barbel have become thin on the ground in these low conditions. Although not a huge fish it offered me some redemption following the previous evening's disappointment. My son also had an enjoyable morning so it was smiles all round.

Around 6lb or so

Back for Perch

I can't deny it's been a tough few weeks. A couple of river blanks and some failed perch expeditions meant it had been a lean month or so. I was still looking to up my Perch PB so I was back on a small stillwater that holds some fish to over 3lb. .

A nice looking mirror

The weather had become mild after a cold week so I hoped the fish would be obliging mood. First task was to catch some live baits so a few sections of the pole and maggots were employed. The float soon shot under but instead of a small roach the elastic told me that I had connected with a carp. On relatively light gear I had no option but to take my time to eventually net a chunky mirror of around 7lb. The next hour was a little frustrating in so much that all the roach were too big for perch. One roach went 1lb 2oz which was a most welcome capture. Roach always look resplendent in the cold months when they take on their winter colours. Their flanks glistened blue in the low watery sunshine. After an hour or more I finally landed a roach of the intended size. This was

This roach went over a pound

attached to a paternosted float set up and cast not far from the feeding zone. The afternoon followed a similar pattern. The roach kept coming but the perch tackle remained unmolested. By now I had also set up a ledgered live bait which I had cast a little further out towards the middle of the pool. There was a tentative run that failed to materialise so I plugged away waiting for a feeding spell. Perch tend to feed in short spells but it's possible to catch several in a short space of time if they are really feeding positively. Another angler managed a nice perch of just under 3lb to keep me feeling optimistic. As late afternoon approach a peg was vacated by a carp angler and this gave me the opportunity to put a bait near some overhanging willow branches. I would have happily chosen this area on arrival had it been available. The cast was spot on as the ledgered roach landed just shy of the overhanging cover. Five minutes later and the alarm started to bleep as line was being taken in earnest. I felt the line to check the run was still positive and my strike was met with solid resistance as a perch was hooked. I could tell it was a low 2 pounder as it lay in the net and the scales confirmed 2lb 2oz meaning my modest PB had crept up by an ounce. It's been my first winter focussing on perch so to have managed several two pounders in the half dozen or so visits is a pretty satisfying outcome. I might manage one more visit for the magical three pounder before my attentions turn to spring and different species.

Target achieved

In search of specimen perch

The best carp was around 4lb

After blanking on a perfect looking Warwickshire Avon at the weekend, a change of plan was the order of the day. So a return to the pool that gave me a personal best perch a few weeks ago beckoned [here] and with a cloudy albeit a very windy day, conditions looked promising.

Tench in December!

A mixed bag

The first job was to set up and catch some live bait. As my last visit proved, this was not easy as a string of lovely roach, some of which were around the pound mark, came to the net. I did manage a handful of suitable baits so set up a perch rig and continued to fish maggots for whatever turned up. Apart from the roach, a few skimmers, a rudd, three inevitable carp and a December tench all put in an appearance in the mild conditions. However my target, a specimen perch, proved elusive. I did manage a few on large lobworms, the biggest going 1lb 3oz but with fish over 3lb present I fished on in hope as the light began to fade. As dark fast approached, I had no choice but to call an end to the day. The big perch had not been tempted and my live bait was no doubt please about that as it swam away. It was an enjoyable few hours spent catching several species with the only negative being I clumsily managed to step on a pole section.

It will probably be after Christmas before I am out again so Merry Christmas and thank you to all those that have visited this year.

Perch to 1lb 3oz but no biggie this time

A trip to the canal

My location for a few hours

With a week off work, I was determined to fit in a fishing trip. Apart from a failed tench mission a few weeks ago, it's been a quiet on the angling front. A new job, a pregnant wife and a host of other things have pushed fishing way down the pecking order. With all this mind, I decided that I would rather catch and stay busy than sit it out for one larger specimen and this mindset took me to the Birmingham-Worcester canal near Droitwich.

 It's been a few years since I last fished the canal in this style. Armed with some brown crumb and a £1 worth of maggots, I then took my pole out of its bag for the first time in years. I plumbed up to fish the bottom of the far shelf and then started fishing just after 4pm. Bites were slow to begin with and I lost a few fish due to being a bit rusty. However after about an hour the fishing became

Roach and what, I wonder?

incredibly easy with a fish every minute or so.This lasted for about 40 mins before sport tailed off again. Majority of the catch was made up of perch although roach, a couple of hybrids and gudgeon including a 2oz specimen also made an appearance. On the subject of the hybrids - they certainly contained some roach but their upturned lip made me question their true make up. They weren't bream-like in their appearance so any suggestions would be welcomed in the comments box.

I called an end to the session at 7.30 having lost count at 50-odd fish. Although none of the fish were big, it was an enjoyable way to spend a few hours on a deserted and peaceful stretch of the canal. As June approaches then my attention will begin to turn towards the opening of the river season. Meanwhile I cannot let a spring pass without a tench or two so my next trip will have them as my quarry.

A cracking 2oz gudgeon

The final catch

Tench campaign underway

Today saw my first proper fishing session since the end of the river season. It's been a busy few weeks for me and to be honest the break has done me good. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

It was my intention to kick start my spring tench campaign and with that in mind I set off enthusiastically to a Warwickshire reservoir. The venue reputedly has a decent head of tench but it is far from easy. On it's day, great catches can be had but more often than not it leaves you scratching your head in puzzlement and questioning if it contains any fish at all. Three visits last April saw three blanks! However, this year's weather has been a lot warmer and I was confident the deep cold water would have seen some increase in temperature and got the old tench on the munch. Conditions also looked favourable with thick cloud and a tinge of colour to the usually crystal clear water.

My main tactic would be a simple waggler float with maggots mounted on a size 16 hook to 4lb bottom and 6lb mainline. I also had a sleeper rod set up with some fake corn and loose offerings hoping this might pick up a tench or even one of the reservoir's elusive carp. After about 45 minutes of loose feeding 'little and often', the float buried. A spirited fight saw a lovely looking roach, well on its way to a pound, make its way to the bank. Almost immediately, a perch of similar size followed. I then bumped two fish which prompted me to change the hook. This seemed to work as another perch was netted. I ended up with eight perch with the best around the pound mark. Although I was enjoying more bites than I had mustered during my last fives visits combined, it was the venue's tench I had courted. I fed a little heavier, adding some groundbait and pellets to the swim. I then struck too early as the float dipped slightly, which made me think it could have been a tench. Tench are famous for playing infuriatingly with your bait before they finally take the plunge. I wouldn't make the same mistake twice and the next cast saw the float slip from sight and a good fish was hooked. It gave great sport on my through actioned match rod but I maintained control and before long a fine looking tench was lying in the folds of the landing net. It was a plump fish that went easily over 4lbs.

The first tench of 2014

The steady rain of last hour had now become heavy and bites began to dry up which couldn't be said about me or my belongings. The rain slowed for ten minutes and I made my getaway before the heavens opened up again for my drive home.

I really enjoyed the session even though it was limited to about 4 hours. Not only did I get my tench campaign up and running but I managed to add some cracking perch and lovely roach. It's also made me eagerly anticipate my next visit although the fickleness of the venue could well see me struggle next time.

Not bad for a few hours

A super roach

Season's end and a few fish

It's been a while since I last posted. A combination of poor river conditions and a hectic few weeks have limited my time. With the end of the river season fast approaching I am determined to get a few outings planned and hopefully a bonus of a decent catch or two.

Before our recent cold-snap, I did manage a few hours on a backwater to the Warks Avon. It was a reasonably mild day although the water was very coloured as a result of the high river levels we have experienced over the last few weeks. 

Drop shot debut

I have recently purchased the necessaries required to attempt the 'drop-shot'style of fishing. For those that don't know what I'm going on about, it basically involves a length of line attached to your braid. Tied to this line is a specially designed hook which is baited with a soft rubber lure. This bait is suspended off the bottom using a small weight to keep things straight and then action is imparted in attempt to lure a fish. As with most lure fishing tactics, it's best tackled in clearer conditions but I was eager to give it ago. Unbelievably, my fist cast resulted in a small perch with a few more following as I got the hang of it.

However, with conditions as they were my main attack was a 4m whip, fishing to hand with maggots. I knew the venue would be crammed with small fish sheltering from the high water so it didn't take long before I had fish queuing up. None of them were particularly large but 40+ fish later signalled the end of enjoyable afternoon on the bank with perch, roach, dace and skimmers all succumbing to my bait. The area evidently contains a large head of perch which I am determined to tackle when water conditions lend themselves to lure fishing. However, clear water seems a distant memory so I may have to wait until June before tacking them again. In the meantime, if you're river fishing in the final couple of weeks then good luck.

A mixed bag resulted in an enjoyable afternoon

On the bank at last

Where has August gone? It seems ages since I last blogged and it's been a tricky month. Fishing has been tough for most over the past few weeks although I've barely made it to the water's edge. A combination of a family holiday coupled with a bug that not only made the flight home a long one but kept me out of action for the following week. Last Thursday saw me finally feel well enough to make a fishing trip. My destination of choice was the middle Severn. I used to fish the Severn a lot between Bridgnorth and Bewdley but since moving to south Worcestershire it's a good hour's drive and I have the Avon, Teme and lower Severn much closer. However, I wanted some bites and decided the extra drive would be worth it.

A typical middle Severn stretch

 I tried to keep my options open. I would wander slowly to my target area, rolling some meat in the streamy runs in the hope of a bonus barbel or chub. Eventually, my plan was to settle in some deeper water and fish two rods. One with groundbait feeder with maggot hookbait and then a more specialist setup cast 20 yards further downstream. I tried several areas but could not tempt a fish on the rolling meat. I must admit this surprised me a little as it's been a good method for me this season and I'm sure the swims contained a few of my target species. However, this was only a pre-cursor for the main event so I finally settled in an area that I fished before. As mentioned, my main attack would be three maggots mounted on a size 14 hook to 6lb hooklink to guard against any possible barbel breakages. My usual barbel setup was prepared on my other rod with a pva bag to entice any wandering fish hanging away from the main feed towards my bait.

I started to get indications quite quickly that some fish were present and after a few missed bites I eventually started to connect with some small roach. This fish were in absolute mint condition and I

A pristine roach

Variety in the shape of a perch

very much doubt they had been caught before. It was quite pleasant to get amongst some fish rather than wait for one wrap around bite that may never arrive. Although the roach were not huge, probably in the 4oz range, they kept on coming before all went quiet. Quite often this can be as a result of a different species muscling in on the feed and pushing the smaller fish away. I also suspected a predator was in the area as I had seen small fish jumping for freedom on a few occasions. Soon after a much more positive pull registered on the quiver tip. My strike met with something bigger than the roach I had become accustomed to, before a nice perch just shy of a pound was drawn over the landing net. A few more similar sized perch followed before the roach returned together with a few dace and gudgeon.

Meanwhile, my barbel rod had not returned anything other than the occasional tremble. I changed baits to two 8mm Source boilies. The bait was recast with another pva bag of pellets. An angler on the opposite bank, some 100 yards downstream had been enjoying some barbel action with four fish already netted. I had to hope that my regular feeding would bring some fish to my swim. Eventually, without warning the rod hooped around. The unmistakable run of a barbel commenced with the fish surging some 30-40 yards downstream despite a tight clutch. Finally, the fish was forced to turn and I was able to gain some line and bring the fish towards me.  An exhilarating battle ended with a fine looking barbel of 7.5lb gracing the bank. It looked a deep fish that I thought may have been a little larger but it was most welcome as it was the only barbel to come my way during the month of August. The next cast saw another positive bite with a nice chub of 3-4lb safely netted. This two larger fish capped an enjoyable session that saw lots of bites and no less that six species caught. Perhaps I should make the effort to drive that bit further more often?

Taking the biscuit

Friday saw me set foot on the bank for the first time since the river season closed. I have to be honest when I say I needed the break following my post-Christmas run. So with some respite and a trip to Dubai to warm the cockles I set off for a local pool.

Some of the roach were nicely sized

My plan was to float fish with maggots for whatever turned up while a carp rod would deposit a bait close to the island in front of me. Unsurprisingly, the maggot setup attracted lots of attention and saw me build up a steady stream of roach and perch. Some of roach were reasonably sized and provided good sport on light tackle.

I had been aware of carp activity near the island since my arrival and this obviously had a bearing on my swim choice. However, what came as a surprise was the fact they were up on the surface despite the lack of warm weather we have experienced this spring. Experience has taught me to always take dog biscuits with me when carp fishing as I find surface tactics for carp one of the most enthralling ways to catch a fish. Although the carp showed interest, catching them proved to be more difficult than I had first imagined. This was further compounded by the indifferent weather, which seemed determined to wreck my plans. Almost as soon as the carp were feeding the heavens would open and make spotting my bait difficult or send the fish back down towards the bottom. I switched back to my float tactics but despite continuing to feed this area throughout the rain seemed to kill sport and bites were very hard to come by.

At last, this carp finally took the biscuit

The afternoon wore on and with it my window of opportunity decreased, especially since I had to be home by 6pm. It was during the final heavy downpour that I decided to pack everything away except my carp gear. I was determined not to go home empty handed and when the shower cleared I once again tempted half a dozen carp to the surface. Finally a carp approached my bait but with the pressure on I struck too early and my chance was gone. With time almost up I had one last cast. A minute or so later saw a dark shape approaching my imitation biscuit and this time its lips closed around the bait and I was into a carp. The fish put up a spirited battle but was eventually beaten. At 7 ¼lb it was hardly a monster but it had not been easy to catch and to take a fish from the surface in unfriendly conditions was pleasing. Hopefully we will some rising temperatures and tempt something bigger.  

As always, comments and new followers are welcomed.

A change of scenery

I’d been lining Thursday up for a fishing trip all week but I was facing a dilemma with where to go and what to target. The Warwickshire Avon came up overnight and has continued to rise sharply throughout the day. Normally, this would have me thinking of Barbel however I’m not convinced that any water entering rivers at the moment is going to cause an increase in temperature, probably the contrary given the chilly nature of the weather recently. The water temperatures are around 8°C at the moment and I just cannot see any rain being warmer than that, I hope I'm wrong and can get a Barbel or two in the net. Therefore, I decided to visit a local pool reputed for decent Perch and in doing so making my first Stillwater trip since May.

The plan was simple, one rod set up with a waggler and another with a low resistance, free running lead, baited with worm. The logic was that the waggler/maggot setup would give me some sport while attracting some silver fish that in turn would bring the larger Perch to the area and hopefully to my worm bait. How could it fail? Well it did in so much as I didn’t manage the specimen Perch I was hoping for. As you would expect, the waggler approach kept me busy with Roach, Perch and a Silver Bream showing up. None of the fish were huge although some of the Roach were nice fish, especially the ones caught towards dusk. I did have one run on the worm rod but my strike met with thin air suggesting it was either a small fish playing games or a Perch that dropped the bait, perhaps my rig wasn’t as low resistance as I thought. If anyone has any ‘big Perch’ tips then please feel free to share them.

I must say that it was pretty chilly this afternoon once the cloud cleared and I could barely feel my hands. Hopefully, I will be able to manage one more trip before I return to work on Monday so I’ll be keeping an eye on what the rivers are doing although the extra coloured water may have ruined the chances of a Pike trip. All the best.