to catch a monster

      Rumours are circulating of giant perch.

Giant gravel pit perch. The kind of stories that often do the rounds, frequently embellished, exaggerated or just plain untrue. 


Except that these reports are first hand accounts from some good friends of mine - dedicated perch anglers, and they have been making some exceptional captures.  
     
It is very generous of my friends to share their 'intel' with me, particularly as I know the vast amount of time they have invested in the venue to unlock some of its secrets. 

So I arrive at the water with A.D, daring to hope that one of us will connect with a monster. This lake is vast, much of it is out of bounds and there is no access by boat but we are able to fish a few of the known features from the bank.

This kind of water is very different from the intimate venues I often fish, with wind, undertow and distance to contend with. So I have tackled up accordingly. Gone today is the UL gear, replaced by a Greys G-lite Spin, a 3000 reel and 10kg braid. No fluoro, instead a fine Wolfram trace and 5gm jig head.


I'm trying a Lunker City Ribster on a size 1 hook. I love the versatility of this lure. It makes a great swimbait and is perfect for wacky and neko presentations, but today it's mounted onto a simple jig head. 


My sea trout rod has enough sensitivity to detect small knocks but enough grunt to jerk jigs and set the hook at range... or subdue a powerful hog of a perch should I be lucky enough to connect. And I'll not get messed up by the inevitable pike attacks.


It's 5pm and we are taking advantage of the pre-dusk feeding window. We both get lots of knocks, a few perch around the pound mark and a jack pike apiece. The perch here have the intense colouration typical of clearwater fish, fin perfect and pristine.


But no connection with the resident monsters of the lake. I do think I glimpse a big perch following me in but I can't be sure. The sun sets and that's it for today. Tonight and the next night, and the next, I will dream of giant perch.


So here I am, back at the next opportunity. No local help this time, I'm on my own from here on in. Today I will be fishing with a neat little lure that has been producing some big fish here. It's a silver and white soft 4play mounted on a 1/0 7gm jig head. A spinner blade is mounted onto the hook before the soft bait goes on. The blade gives a sharp flash on the drop, and pushes a bit more water, making the lure a great attractor pattern. It's very useful for searching big water and deadly when perch are up and chasing baitfish.  Given to me by my good friend D.P, it's a clever little dodge.

The sun is already dipping low as I make my first cast, hopping the softbait along the lake bed. A quicker retrieve mid water will get hammered by jack pike and pass too quickly, I think, over the perch. I have learned of a snag close in which rises up from a mussel bed, and I know some good fish have been taken here.



So I'm bumping my lure along until I can feel the change of texture that tells me I'm over the mussel bed. Now some bigger hops and longer pauses. After a few passes an aggressive  pluck and I strike into a solid fish which turns out to be a lovely perch in the two to three pound class. I'm careful to release the fish some distance away to avoid spooking the other perch I hope are bunching around the snag.

I recast but no more takes from the mussel bed so I search the surrounding area with my lure, but nothing. Nothing at all. The lake bed is fairly uniform in depth and with no other obvious features the draw of the mussel bed is strong. So I recast and pass by the snag once more. 



I'm fishing in around ten feet of water, right under my feet, when the take comes. Not really a pluck but a sudden weight moving off with my lure in the opposite direction to my retrieve, back towards the snag. For a second my heart skips before I realise that it's a classic pike hit. A good pike though and it's hit and hold to keep her from reaching the snag. She stays deep, the rod is well into its fighting curve but I turn her just in time. She ploughs back, the clutch is ticking and I'm not at all sure the hook can hold for much longer. Let's get this over with. Rod high, I force her up from the depths and into the light of the setting sun. And as she turns I see not the patterning of a pike but the stripes of a perch.


My eyes pop and my jaw drops, such a big powerful perch. The net is out and she rolls away from it twice but I sink the net deep and her third roll takes her in. On the unhooking mat I simply can't believe my eyes. 4lb 6 oz, 48cm and it's only early October! This fish could easily go 5lb in March and she's a young fish with growing still to do.






'Personal bests' are funny things. They come and they go. Actually sometimes they don't go at all. Sometimes they stay for ever. The thing is, you never really know. 

If you pursue big perch then sooner or later you may catch something really special. And then you will have to come to terms with the very real possibility that you may never in this lifetime catch another perch as big. If this is mine then I'll take that.