Plugs and Jigs for Winter Perch

The cold months of November and December are one of my favourite times of the year for targeting big perch. At the beginning of November we continued jigging for zander on Grafham. In two trips we landed fourteen fish, mostly Zeds, plus the odd Pike and Perch too. However, as the month progressed, the sport got slower, so we decided to have a change of scenery and have a trip to the River Thames instead, all out lure fishing for Perch.

It was the first visit to our boat in over a month, and during that time plenty of rain had fallen. What with the leaves too, it was in quite a mess! After a thorough clean though it was ready to grace the water once again.

Trying a couple of weirs and other fishy-looking areas, Dad and I managed to boat four jack pike, but it was the perch we were really after. As the light began to fade, we moved on downstream near a couple of moored boats, an area where my Dad had caught his P.B 4lb 6oz perch in the past. Here we were lucky to encounter a huge shoal of silverfish, jumping and splashing - a sure sign that Perch were attacking them from beneath. Using a variety of jigs and plugs, between us we caught 120 by the time it was pitch black! Many of the fish were only small, between 6-12oz, with the odd 2lb'er to 2lb 11oz, but it was incredible sport!

Once it was dark and the sport had slowed up, both tired, we tied the boat up to the bank, got out some tomato soup and heated it up on the stove. Sausage rolls and Tomato soup - not quite a gourmet meal but it's amazing how nicer things taste when you're sitting on the bank! After warming ourselves up with our hot soup, we got our sleeping bags, laid them out in the boat and rested there through a fairly warm November night.

Up again at 5am, we returned to where we'd caught the perch just a few hours before. Unfortunately, it was pretty quiet, maybe we'd hammered it the day before. So we headed downstream to another stretch of river. After casting around for a good half an hour without a bite, I hooked a good fish which felt like a big Perch. Unfortunately it threw the hook - Damn! We decided to do a drift through the same spot, and this time Dad hooked up, which also felt like it could be a good fish. As Dad's fish approached, dark green stripes began to show in the crystal clear water. A 3lb 9oz perch had taken fancy to a 5.5 inch shad Dad was using! Maybe that was the perch I lost! Even in the net, the perch still kept kicking and flapping in the hope of escaping. As my Dad held the fish up for a picture it finally got it's way! It flipped out of his hands and back in the river! We didn't even get one shot on the camera.

Ignoring his moaning about not getting a picture of the Perch, I cast straight back out in the hope we'd bumped into a school of good fish. Instantly I had a bite on the drop and I was in! Please be a big Perch! However, it turned out to be a pike of around 8lb. About 20 minutes later, Dad followed me up with a Pike of a similar size. We'd fished really hard, and had a really good time, but feeling very tired, we decided to call it a day and head home.

Closer to our doorstep, we've had a couple of trips on our local River Lea, again with jigs, but from the bank instead. Not long ago we had an excellent day fishing. On his first cast, Dad landed a beauty of 3lb 11oz.

It gave me the chance to try out his new digital SLR camera, just a day after buying it! Trying different areas and covering as much water as we could, we caught a few more nice Perch, including four Pike. But, as the day was just about to end, I hooked into a real clonker. When we landed it, we thought it was 4lb+ but the scales read 3lb 14oz - what a stunner!

I wrote an article about the day which has been published in the Angling Times today (7/12/10). My Dad is on the front cover holding a fish of 2lb 9oz - which was a big surprise, that he caught during the snow. Hopefully, the fishing will 'hot' up, after a freeing cold spell throughout the festive season, and I hope you have a great Christmas and New Year!

Angling Times have kindly sent me the two pages which are pictured here...