John Bailey – The Kingfisher Diaries
June 17th 2010
Perch Boom Coming?
I'll be quite honest with you when I say the perch stocks at the Kingfisher Lakes have been something of a mystery to me over the last couple of years. There have been quite a few reported good, even big fish caught but it's taken a long while for me to actually see them personally. Then, out with Geoffrey Palmer, his grandson and Sarah the young lad was lucky enough to hit into a stripy not that far short of a three.
Then, as the spring progressed, it has not been unusual to see perch hitting into shoals of fry on a pretty well constant basis. Watch where the grebes are and you'll find the fry. And the perch. Whilst we haven't caught anything particularly massive when actually fishing, plenty of perch in the twelve ounce to one and a quarter pound bracket have come along. And I've seen two or three on clear, bright days that have certainly topped the two.
Link all this with the very decent perch I was catching last autumn and winter in the Lobster Pot and you're beginning to get the picture. Holiday-makers, as well, have told me tales of very decent perch coming out of Lily Lake.
And what about that eternal mystery, the Willow. Well, apparently, only a few days ago a holiday-maker had a roach snaffled on the way in by a perch he said was enormous.
So how do you fish for these extremely enigmatic fish? I like worms...simply because perch do! Fish them on the drop, twitch them or just let them rest on the bottom over a bed of bait. It doesn't matter if the roach are pulled in by this because the perch won't be far behind.
Or try lure fishing for them. A Mepps number three perhaps with a bit of red wool on the trebles. Or little plastic jigs. Or anything that creates a bit of a splash. Work them under the tree margins. Around the lily beds. Close to the reeds. Anywhere small fish are lurking and perch are lying in ambush.
I'm beginning to fear that the tench are beginning to move of my radar this particular year and it could well be that investigations into the perch stocks will keep me busy for the next few weeks or months. I'll obviously let you know how I do.