It is only in recent years that I have started fishing for perch. For one reason or another, to me, they were classed in the same bracket as carp, bream and eels. Something I never seriously fished for but if the weather conditions were bad and I could not fish for barbel, chub or roach, I would make the occasional trip for my less than popular species.

Suddenly about four or five seasons ago, the Times and Mail were being flooded out with photos of huge perch from the upper ouse. It was about this time while barbel fishing at the mill, that I bumped into Martin Bowler. We got talking and he offered me a days fishing on a small syndicated stretch of the Ouse, which was coughing up some three-pounders and the occasional 4lb-plus monster. I gleefully accepted his invite.

So on a cold wet, windy September morning Pete Reading and myself met up with martin and his brother and we set off on a walk that can only be described as not short, it was bloody miles and we had the never-ending rain cascading into our faces. Eventually we overcame the last fence and squelched our way to the river. There before lay the most beautiful stretch of Upper Ouse imaginable, no muddy banks just big sweeping bends, leading on to lovely long glides, any fish caught from this wondrous place would indeed be a bonus.

The incessant rain never stopped and within a few hours a tiny side stream that ran into the river had turned into a torrent of muddy water. This eventually in turn coloured up the river and made it impossible to fish. During those few hours Martin had truly excelled himself in an effort to catch me a fish or two. And the 3lb 6oz and the 2lb 9oz, which I caught, were both down to Martin, showing me where to cast. To be honest if I hadn't fished like a drain, others would have been landed.

Quiver or bobbin?
Anyway, due to the rain spoiling our day we made a vow to return in a few weeks time, once the river had finally dropped to its normal level and the colour had returned. Tactics on the day had been quite straightforward, quivertipping lobworms with either one or two swan shot, depending on the distance you needed to cast. One point worth mentioning is that the quivertip was banged on more than one occasion and the perch would then drop the bait. So to my mind a light bobbin would have been better employed but only if the flow could accommodate one.

The day for the next trip soon arrived and I was hoping for a calm day, the reason being so I could dispense with my quivertip rod and use my one and a quarter Avon. Then just watch the line where it entered the river, this way there would be no resistance what so ever to any inquisitive perch.

Extreme feeders
Martin had informed me that the perch tend to feed early and late so it was imperative to be there by first light. The trudge once again about knackered me but in the half morning light, the river once again looked absolutely perfect. My 5lb line was oh-so-carefully threaded up the rod (only managed to miss two rings out this morning) A size 6 hook was quickly tied on, about a foot above the hook a water knot was put in place, this enables me to pinch one or more swan shot on without damaging the line in anyway, (an important point)

Before casting out, I ripped a dozen lobworms or so in half and scattered them on the other side of the river, the hot spot in this particular swim was tight as possible to the far bank. My front rod rest was placed fairly high, so I could watch the line hang down like a giant swingtip, as already mentioned, any wind would render this method useless but today thankfully the weather was breathless.

Two lobs were impaled through the head and the cast was made, which landed in a giant thistle on the far bank, after pulling for a break another hook was quickly tied on. The bait was shook off before the line broke, for obvious reasons the next cast landed a bit short but it would have to do. More chopped worms were liberally scattered to the left and right of my swim; my next cast was spot on. It hit the far bank reeds and sunk very slowly down.

Teased tip
I teased the tip to make sure the bait was free, after maybe 20 seconds or so the line twitched twice and started to run slowly up stream. I followed it with my rod top and just as it started to tighten I whacked it. There was a solid resistance as the fish turned and ran back down past me. What had I hooked? Was it a perch or a pike? All of a sudden a big dorsal fin came out of the water, as a huge perch just swam up and down on a tight line in front of me. What a magnificent sight. I did not that at the time as I was scrambling around in sheer panic, trying to get to my landing net. Still she went in all right and at 3lb 9oz, I was over the moon. She was quickly unhooked and placed into a sack. Martin had pointed out that the feeding spells could be quite short, so photos could be taken later on in the day. The trick was to get the bait back in the water as soon as possible.

Trying to cast while shaking like a leaf wasn't easy but eventually I got the bait somewhere near. More chopped worms were also thrown in. A hot cup of tea would soon calm me down.

An hour or so later, the sun was trying to break through and I was beginning to think that the morning session was over. When all of a sudden the line was once again on the move, I wound down and struck “Nothing!” Perhaps it was a crayfish? I quickly cast back in, using just one worm. The bait had not hit the bottom before it was intercepted, the line just went slack, and so I wound in and hit a fish that was swimming towards me. After a short but hectic fight, I hustled another perch into the landing net “Jesus Christ! That looks bigger than the last one!” And at well over 4lb my eyes had not deceived me, what a fish!

Later on in the afternoon another swim was fished and I hooked and landed a nice brace of two-pounders. As days go, it could not have gone better, though it was my rod and line that landed the perch, it was actually Martin that caught them for me and I will always be grateful to him. And for that one special day for me, it was my very own field of dreams.

Biggest brace
A couple of seasons ago, my old mate Kev Newton, was perch fishing, the spot he had chosen had produced the odd big fish, in fact I had once fished it myself and on a wet freezing day I managed to winkle out a couple of small fish. The river was in terrible condition, no way I thought, could you possibly catch anything decent in that soup, wrong! Kev who had been float fishing, had landed an absolute clonker of 4lb 12oz, Then a few weeks later, while on the same stretch he caught fish of 4lb 9oz and a 4lb 14oz, this I believe was the biggest brace of perch ever caught, quite stunning.

Kev and Martin are without doubt two of the most successful perch anglers in the country. They have both caught fish of such a size that other anglers, including myself can only dream about but dream we most certainly can.
 

Stef’s Perch Tips
Tip l: Try and fish early and late in the warmer months, although you can catch during the day, perch like roach are perceptible to light change.

Tip 2: When fishing lobworms try and keep the bait moving. Either by lifting your float or constant recasting, if you are free lining

Tip 3: Don't always assume that the perch are under the far bank cover; a lot of big fish have been caught in open water and also on a float.

Tip 4: When I perch fish the Ouse, I did not know about air-injected lobworms, but now I tend to use them all the time; it enables you to make the bait sink slower and keeps them out the way of the troublesome crayfish for that bit longer.

Tip 5: I have left the most important part till last. In my mind quivertipping is not viable for perch, if you must do it because of the wind, fish a light bobbin as well, it’s an old trick I used to use for tricky chub.
 

This article was originally published in Coarse Angling Today