The "Wanderer" returns...

Hi folks, well I was back down south in Wakefield for Easter and I managed to get another year's membership to Wakefield Angling Club.

This gave me access to fish the nearby canal and I spent two or three days fishing it mainly with dropshot techniques. I ended up having some great sport with perch up to 1 1/4 lbs, I also had 10 mini pike and a common bream weighing 4lb! I was dropshotting with various lures but the top three were:

3" tail section of Gulp Sandworm in natural colour

3" Fish Arrow Flash J split tail

2.5" Evergreen C4 shrimp

I knew there were some good bream present in the canal but I didn't think I had much chance of catching one on a lure, I was secretly hoping for a chub though. It was the thought of various coarse species that made me stick with the gulp sandworm as I have had some great coarse fish on it before. What I found interesting about the bream was that it struck just after a barge had gone past and the ship's passage had really kicked up a big cloud of sediment. I was working my lure slowly through the muddy water when I was walloped by a fish, which nearly wrenched the rod out of my hand such was the ferocity of the take.

I was sure it was a pike as it hit so hard, then tore off up the canal on a blistering run. When the fish breached the surface I was shocked to see a large and feisty bream which fought hard all the way to the bank. I have caught bream before with carp gear but never on LRF tackle and it really was excellent sport. I weighed the fish which came in at 4lbs a new PB as well as being my first lure caught bream.

The perch fishing was wonderfully consistent and although I only manged a couple of fish above 1lb it was really fun fishing.

I will be back for a chub later in the year I hope!

Here are a few pics from the sessions

Mini Pike were present...

And they liked Gulp sandworm...

Who ate all the pies?...

The fattest perch of the trip...

Evergreen C4 shrimp at work...

A nice size for a surprise...

The Bream took Gulp! Sandworm in natural colour...

As did the biggest perch of the trip...

Evergreen C4 shrimps were utterly devoured...

As were dropshotted Ecogear Aqua Bream Prawns...

They loved 3" Fish Arrow Flash J split tails too...

The weirdest catch goes to this swan mussel, I must have dropped my weight right into its shell, which promptly closed onto my weight!

I made a short film while I was there too and this time I had no problems with the editing software!

Tackle used -

Rod: GraphiteLeader Corto EX 7'9" 0.5-8gram Tubular tipped.

Reel: Shimano Technium 3000

Line: Pontoon Exteer braid PE. 1

Leader: 6lb Greylon Fluorocarbon

Thanks for watching!
Tight Lines
Jake

Car Topping, Cherry popping, Perch fun!

After the first loch session on the boat, I had been itching to get back and so I made plans to fish the following weekend with Ritchie Bewsey. Ritchie had never tried for perch before and he was keen to try to get his first one. I had also managed to get a 30lb thrust electric motor for the boat so was looking forward to some powered perching.

Ritchie met me at my house in town bright and early and together we loaded the boat into his van. The forecast was cloudy but otherwise fine, although the wind would get up a bit in the afternoon.

An hour's drive later and we were at the loch after buying our permits and getting the key to the slipway. We unloaded the boat, got our gear stowed and launched into the loch. The old engine, which is held together mostly by gaffa tape, performed perfectly and we silently cruised to our first destination.

Tackle-wise we were both using our LRF gear and mine consists of a 7' 9" GraphiteLeader Corto EX rod, Shimano Technium 3000 reel, PE 1 Pontoon Exteer braid. On the business end it was my standard drop shot rig 3' 8lb Fluorocarbon leader and about half way up I tie a #8 offset worm hook via a palomar knot and I clipped on a 7g dropshot weight 30cm from the hook. I went with my go to lure, a Lake Fork Live baby Shad in watermelon red flake.

We anchored and began to cast 360 degrees around the boat. I worked the lure back very slowly with little twitches, hops and pauses. Our first couple of spots yielded nothing but it was easy to engage the engine and silently motor to our next spot.

After about 30 minutes of fishing we started to get interest from the fish and Ritchie managed to bag his first ever perch. The fish gave a good scrap and as he played it towards the boat . I duly did my landing net duties and a very happy Ritchie held his first ever perch, a nice fish of around three quarters of a pound.

Job done! Ritchie displays his first ever Perch.

I was quick to follow suit, all be it with a smaller fish which was quickly unhooked, photographed and put back. We managed a few more before the action dried up and we had to motor off to find them again.

Mine was considerably smaller!

We silently cruised around to a point where a burn entered the loch and began our casting around the boat. Yet again Ritchie was first into a fish and it was another nice perch again nudging the pound mark. I managed a couple of smaller ones before we decided to head out into deeper water.

Ritchie's new PB a beautifully marked one pounder

I was enjoying some great fishing too

The moved proved ridiculously successful. I had cruised out to maybe 100 meters from shore and anchored up to stop us drifting. First cast was nailed by a perch as the lure dropped to the bottom of the loch. It was not a big fish but was very wild and I had to play it back some distance to land it. Meanwhile Ritchie was also into a fish, again not big, being around the half pound mark but likewise was great fun on our light rods. We quickly unhooked the fish and recast to exactly the same result, double hook up and a fun fight.

The fishing went silly at this point and we caught perch after perch after perch. Ritchie and I were really having a laugh, it was just like coalie bashing with hoards of ravenous perch mercilessly attacking our lures.

We began to have fun by trying lures that we had never caught on before. These consisted mostly of creature-type baits and we whipped through a fair old selection, all of which were getting hammered by the perch.

Fish Arrow Flash J pintail, the perch loved these!

 Ecogear Bug Ants were also readily attacked by this golden mouthed specimen.

As the weather began to deteriorate we began to prepare ourselves to motor back to the slipway, having a goodly number of " last casts" before we upped anchor and headed back. The short run back was rather unpleasant with a squally head wind making it quite choppy and cold. The engine was running low on battery power and this and the headwind combined to make it a slow, arduous journey. Instead of taking 15 minutes to do the run back it took an hour, with swans overtaking us such was our slow pace.

Eventually we got back and got the boat loaded into Ritchie's van and, although cold and tired, we were both completely blown away by the number of perch caught. As always the perch were pristine and although we caught nothing larger than a pound the non stop action had us buzzing all the way home. One thing's for sure, I do need to get a petrol outboard for the boat as it will open up more of the loch to us and make the journey back to the slipway bearable!

Tight Lines
Schogsky

Loch sessions: The big and the crooked.

A couple of weekends ago I had a job which involved me heading over to Glasgow for the afternoon, needless to say I took the opportunity to hit the big loch while I was there! I had one thing and one thing only on my mind and that was Perch. I would only have three and a half hours at the loch before I had to leave so for once I travelled light. I stashed my little Sakura leg bag with a few packets of Lake Fork Baby Shads and a packet of 3" Fish Arrow Flash J Pintails, dropshot leads and hooks, net, and landing mat and after getting my permit I was fishing within five minutes of leaving the car. I rigged my ever faithful GraphiteLeader Corto EX with dropshot rig comprising of a #6 offset worm hook tied via a palomar knot, clipped on a 7g dropshot weight and began to fan cast around. The wind was coming nicely over my right shoulder and it aided casting distance considerably allowing me to search a wide area of water. I hopped the lure back twitching and shaking the rod tip and as it came past some lilies I felt a couple of plucks before the rod bent into the fish. I felt the jagged, scrappy darts and shakes of a perch and after a brief fight quickly brought it to the net.

Within five minutes of fishing I had my first perch.

Brilliant! It had taken an age to find the perch on my last trip and this was a classic wild perch, with wonderful markings and about 30cm in length. After putting the fish back and I quickly recast to where the perch had been lurking. Again as the lure came past the lilies another perch seized the lure, this one was a better fish and kited hard for any cover it could find. I managed to guide it past the weed beds and into my net. This fish had really wolfed down the lure and I had to use my forceps to unhook it. It measured 33cm and was well over a pound in weight. I released the fish and made another cast with the same result, another chunky perch of around the same size.

This 33cm perch fell for a 3" Fish Arrow Flash J Pintail minnow.

With the perch coming thick and fast I had some fun taking one handed pics as I landed the fish.

These loch perch are absolutely fin perfect.

I was in heaven, the sun was shining and every cast was getting attention from the big hard fighting perch. These big loch perch are in really prime condition, lean and well muscled with beautiful markings and lots of stamina.

Another gorgeous wild loch perch comes to the net.

Another big perch falls for the black and gold Flash J minnow.

After I had caught four or five fish from the honey hole it went quiet for about fifteen minutes then they were back and were violently attacking the Flash J pintail. Another four or five perch followed including a cracking 36cm beast which went to nearly 2lb and really gave me the run around. I had to change the flash J a few times as the Perch were ripping it from the hook and their teeth had made it look like the lure had been assaulted with rough sandpaper.

This was the biggest fish of the session. A lean and well muscled 36cm perch.

Sunshine and another perch on the mat, I couldn't have been happier!

With the majority of perch being between one and two pounds and landing nineteen in total  it was a bit of a red finned, red letter day.

The fishing continued in the same vein and when the time came to leave it was very hard to do so! What a day, nineteen perch in three and a half hours with the majority being between one and two pounds, I was deliriously happy. The only cloud was that I had managed to lose half my line on a long cast when I snagged and the line went at the reel, which was the result of a previous wind knot. The journey home was spent in a happy daze, I had been utterly spoilt and I could have stayed there fishing forever!

That wonderful few hours had not cured my desire for perch, in fact it had made it worse and I spent the next couple of days desperate to get back. I ordered some new Line from Art of Fishing, going instead for some new line Pontoon 21 Exteer braid in PE 1. The line arrived and with it my opportunity to go fishing, such was my perch fever that I opted to go back to the big loch on my birthday even though it meant only having 3 hours there, well it had been enough last time! On arrival I noticed the water clarity was much worse and the rain had raised the water level quite a lot. Unperturbed, I grabbed a permit then went straight back to my honey hole. Unfortunately after an hour or so of fishing I hadn't even had a bite, a bit of a reality check compared to last time. I went in search of the perch wading around reed beds and lilies and while there were a lot of little perch the lunkers had moved on. I managed one smallish perch on a dropshotted Lake Fork Live Baby shad in pink and also had the opportunity to test the line.

Not big but a birthday perch is not to be sniffed at!

The line was good, strong, supple, thin and gave me great feedback from the lures. It may be ever so slightly rougher than the Sunline Super PE, which is my go to line, but it performed just as well. Although I was disappointed I still found it very interesting as to how the water level rising had affected the perch's behaviour and vowing to come back again soon I headed home.

Again after a couple of days the perch fever got too much and I had to get out again, this time it was up to the crooked Loch Lubnaig as I didn't want to waste time hunting new areas on the big loch. I bought my permit and when I got to the loch I could see the water level was up. Visibility was crystal clear as always and I rigged up a 3" black and gold Flash J on a dropshot rig. I began to fish along the weed beds and across a rocky bay.  It must have been twenty minutes or so before I got my first perch, another vibrantly coloured  denizen of the loch. I took a couple of pics and released the fish and was quick to recast to the same spot.

A classically coloured crooked loch perch,

Normally this would have resulted in more fish but yet again the increase in water level had changed the perches behaviour. They seemed to be much more spread out and I had to really search the loch to find them. When I did I could only winkle out one from each spot before they moved on. I carried on fishing for another couple of hours and manged nine in total with the biggest going around 30cm and just under a pound.

Flash J does it again as another fine perch is guided to the net

They were really nailing the lure.

Another nice perch comes to the net.

The final perch of the session came to me bathed in golden light.

Beautiful.

Then it was time to leave and as I headed home I mulled over the perches change in behaviour, I love the fact they always keep me guessing and just when you think you have them sussed, it changes and you have to rethink. The perch fever has returned and I am more determined than ever to get past my 2.5lb barrier, I can't wait to get out perch hunting again!

Tight lines,Schogsky.

A quick perch pick me up.

Work has been pretty dull since I returned from my ten day trip down south and whilst I've certainly been enjoying the hot weather during the day when I'm not there the last few nights it's been awfully hard trying to get to sleep. This meant I was in two minds about going fishing yesterday evening with Jake as I had a few things to do as well as feeling pretty tired. Despite this I decided to go anyway and after picking up Jake and driving west we were soon on the shore of Loch Lubnaig, our favourite perch venue and perhaps one of my favourite places to fish due to the stunning surroundings. We fished for a few hours and had a great time as usual catching lots of beautiful perch in the process.

I had a couple of perch from the weeds in front of these rocks on my go to Lake Fork Live Baby Shad in Golden Shiner fished on a 3.5g #4 jighead.

Jake was fishing a bigger Lunker City Swimmin Ribster on a 10g #2/0 football jighead in the hope of singling out some larger specimens. He also brought an unhooking mat. We talked about using them more often, even for saltwater species, as we believe fish care is important if you practice catch and release.

With the unhooking mat beneath me I figured out a good way to present my catch to the camera safe in the knowledge that should the fish fall it wasn't landing on rocks. Another good reason to use one.

Jake admires another beautiful Loch Lubnaig perch.

I prepare to land another feisty fish.

I figure out a one handed way to hold a perch to show it off in all its glory.

We released a few of our fish via a small stream that ran into the loch. This gave us the opportunity to take some cool "Jaws" shots. This one shows the power of the fish as with one swish of its tail it creates a wake and heads at speed back towards the loch.

Jake managed to resist the temptation to go smaller and lighter for a change.

No need really as the perch were loving his Lunker City Swimmin Ribster.

When he wasn't looking I stole a Fish Arrow Flash J lure in Black Gold out of Jake's bag. Cool lures that look like minnows and sit horizontally when fished on a drop shot rig due to an air pocket inside. That's exactly how I caught this perch.

Drop shotting a Lake Fork Live Baby Shad in Sun Perch also proved irresistable. You can just about see it in the back of this perch's mouth!

Catching a load of these pristine perch is hard to beat and to be honest we weren't even really trying that hard!

Jake got the heaviest catch of the night after bullying this lump up from the depths.

I caught this little chap on a Live Baby Shad in Pink & Pearl, again stolen from Jake, and whilst experimenting with a retrieve twitching pattern I'm calling "The Pink Panther". He bought these pink ones due to all the fish he's had with his Jackson Cymo in pink. The success of my new twitching pattern caused me to go a bit "Kenneth Williams".

As darkness fell and the moon shone in the sky we reluctantly headed home rather pleased with the evenings exploits.

It was really good to fish with Jake again as apart from briefly meeting up for an hour or two down in Cornwall it's been a over a month since we have fished together and I must say I had a nice relaxing time fishing, enjoyed a good chat about what we'd both been up to recently and it was just what I needed really. I was glad I'd made the choice to go.

Tight lines, Hutch.