Swithland reservoir perch - in at the deep end

After the pb barbel I flitted on a few different stretches of river for the same species over the next week or so but in reality thought it was time to move on to other things, namely perch. This season i've joined a new water with the potential to produce 4lb plus fish, I've had ta few sessions with lures during the summer months with only a few jacks to show for my efforts but it was always my intention to start fishing for them seriously during the winter.

Saturday the 26th of November
With the wife away for the weekend this was the perfect opportunity to start my campaign for a 4lb stripey, the plan was to fish dawn to dusk on both days and I was to be joined by fellow Soar Valley group member Steve.
I was all set up and fishing as day broke, 3 rods fished with legered lobs in conjunction with maggot feeders cast maybe 25 to 30 yards out into about 18 feet of water, the weather was a it bright for my liking but with the depth of water being fished I thought there was a chance, but this was a new experience and time would tell. 3 rods for perch you might ask? Well yes! The general consensus was that this wasn't going to be an easy ride, the water is over a hundred acres in size and the complete lack of perch on my lure fishing visits proved that a bite was my first target, I fully expected to wait some time to receive it. And so when one of the bobbins twitched and shot up to the rod at midday it came as a complete surprise, not a particular good one either as I missed it, never mind that was a big confidence boost and also came in bright sunshine about as far from "perch o'clock" as was possible.

As usual my confidence grew as the light started to drop and the witching hour approached. Sure enough at 3.30 the same rod was away again with the bobbin doing a little dance before climbing slowly to the rod and this time I managed to do the job properly although it was obvious straight away that this wasn't my monster, in fact it was about a pound, but nevertheless a result.

Full darkness was upon us sometime just before 5pm I'd say as I know that at ten past I was taking photographs for Steve and that it was certainly completely dark when he received a bite that I didn't hear though I certainly heard his clutch! I walked down to see what he'd got just as he netted it, not bad he said but not that big, he swung the net around towards me and I lifted the fish through the bottom of the mesh and told him in no uncertain terms that this was a bit more than not bad! The biggest perch I'd clapped eyes on up to that point was 3lb 11 and I was certain that this one was going to pass the 4lb mark, good job I was there too as Steve had forgotten his scales and that really wouldn't have been good as my Avons spun around to 4lb 2oz's! Absolutely stunning, I was as gobsmacked as Steve it was a privilege to witness such an incredible creature.

Sunday the 27th of November
I was back in the same swim before daybreak, the image of the previous days events was better than any alarm clock, I was raring to go. Steve had other ideas and arrived mid morning and who could blame him, I know that if I was in his position I would have probably have been suffering slightly that morning!

I had pretty much an identical day to Saturday, a missed bite early afternoon (bright sunshine again) and one that I managed to connect with at 3.30, this time the bobbin cracked into the rod and i'm pretty sure that the fish was hooked before I struck. This was in a different league to yesterdays little fella and gave me a good old scrap in the deep margin before I showed it the back of the net, a lovely looking fish and of a very respectable size although after the monster it looked almost average, in fact it was 3lb 2oz's and in mint condition.

No one could be disappointed with a cracker like that.

No more activity came my way before darkness fell though I'm sure that we both agreed that it was a great start and I couldn't wait to get back