One to remember

Saturday was supposed to be a day on the boat with Neil but typically it rained heavily Friday and wasn't worth the risk transporting all the gear to find the river up and coloured. Instead we decided to play it safe and explore some canal spots.

Neil was in first cast and was off the mark with a small pike, he shouted over "I've got a warm pike" I said "Ya wa?" I went over to see what he was referring to and he told me to feel the pike, it really was a warm pike! just touching its skin you could feel as if it was burning up like when your ill and have a temperature, very strange.

We picked up a few small perch before moving about, I found a few small fish that were knocking my Kopyto as it was coming in, after a few casts without hooking one I was about to lift out when a big perch came flying up from the depths and hammered the kopyto. I didn't really even fight the fish as it was already thrashing about on the surface so in a hurry i bent down and netted it. A nice big framed 2.6lb perch glowing in the early morning sun rise.

 

We then went through abit of a quiet phase with not allot happening other than a few small perch and missed takes here and there. We walked a good length of canal before finding an area around structure where there was lots of small perch, we had a few of though before it dried up and again we had a walk to another area that had allot of structure.

On the way there was a little ditch that i had seen a few tiny pike in before, I joking said to Neil "watch this" and plopped my kopyto into the massive 3" depth that was actually the deepest part of the ditch! As soon as i moved it a tiny pike came shooting out of some weed and hammered it, unbelievable! Micro pike always have a little charm of there own, pike in miniature or in Neils words "Like a pike but smaller". Just to prove it wasn't a fluke i went and caught another too.

 

After reaching our next spot we soon realised the perch were not on it here and decisions were made to go fish another canal and try some new spots out, on the way we had a quick hour on a small river, and the first thirty minutes was abit action packed, we had follows and a few missed takes all in one small area. I managed three pike in total that were stunningly marked and coloured, they gave a really good account of themselves too on the ultralight gear and at time just wouldn't give in stripping lots of line. The water was slightly colour tinged so i opted for a black spinnerbait which they seemed to like.

 

 

We fished one last spot on the first canal before moving to 'plan B' I was stood next to Neil and we was both grumbling abit about a cruiser that had just been through at ridiculous speed, we nick named the captain 'Turbo Tom'

Neil was working his kopyto down the side of a wall when a small perch came flying up as he was about to lift out, it just about jumped out trying to get the kopyto, as it went back in in made a splash and as it did so we both spotted a big perch come up from the depths to investigate the commotion, Neil quickly lowered his Kopyto back in and both the small perch and the big one went for it, they both moved so fast it was hard to see what happened but we both thought the small perch got there first. The hoop in Neils rod suggested it didn't and after a battle he had a lovely 2lber and we were both chuffed to have got a decent perch each before moving onto our next canal spot.

 

On the next canal we had abit of a tour stopping off at various bridges and features, some of which we hadn't fished before. It was evident that the perch on this canal were well and truly up for it. Each time we moved area we found more and more fish and it wasn't too uncommon for us to get around 20 small perch in consecutive casts. Not only were they really going for the lures but they were really aggressive and fighting way beyond there size, they were even pulling the kopyto's off the jigheads and a few times we were getting fish hardly hooked just hanging on by the kopyto's tail it was that far down the throat.

We had a couple of odd fish, one of Neils had an almost red dorsal fin which doesn't actually show up well in the photo below but it was quite strange and a nice fish too. Not long after i had a perch that had a really strong pink colouration to it.

 

After the hectic action form the smaller perch we had another move and hit abit of a quiet patch, not many takes just the odd one here and there. All of a sudden everything locked up and i had that brief 'oh a snag' moment until i realised it was a fish. Another big perch and I was positive this one could have been close to three pound, it was a long and deep fish. We weighed it and it only went 2.6lb, it was certainly a 3lb fish frame wise it just hadn't packed on the bulk yet.

 

 

We moved again and had a good flurry of small perch before we decided to move to the last spot of the day, before we went we thought we'd have the usual 'one more cast' what happened next will be something to remember as we laughed so much.

Neil had his last cast and got a small perch, I was stood right next to him and thought i'd have one last cast to get one last fish, Neil also had yet another last cast and we drew the kopytos back through the shoal within a foot of each other, I purposefully tried to match Neils retrieve speed to see if we could get a double hook up at the same time from the same shoal. Neil hooked up then shortly after I did too, we laughed about it and tried to do the same again casting out and running the lines only a foot apart. Neil was in again, but this time i didn't get one, right at the end of the retrieve Neil was about to lift his fish out when we spotted a few big perch chasing in, Neil shouted "quick chuck you lure back in" In doing so, it was hammered straight away by one of the big perch, Neil quickly unhooked his tiddler and as i was netting my perch he chucked his kopyto into the melay. Straight away he was in and another big perch on! It all happened so fast and i netted both fish in the same net! What a brilliant result and we couldn't stop laughing about how it had happened, we made sure we got a photo together with our fish as its not often that kind of thing happens although saying that we have discussed it many times about the fact that the rest of a shoal follows the hooked fish and we should try and cast close to a decent fish to pick off a sibling, somehow it just never times right and until now we haven't had the chance properly to put the theory into action.

 

Onto the last spot of the day and we were both grinning and going over the double hook up thing, its something we will both not forget.

The last spot was pretty much the same with hectic action from smaller perch, by the end of the day we must have been close to 200 fish between us due to the fact it was like shelling peas fishing into the vast shoals of small perch we had found. The day wasn't over yet though and we had one flurry of excitement to come.

I flicked my Kopyto out along the margin and near to a boat, i felt a few good tugs as a perch was chasing and hitting my kopyto, it didn't hook up but i knew it was a good one by the feel of the powerful tugs. I cast back out and sure enough Another big perch was on.

 

Knowing they can be in shoals of same size i told Neil to have a chuck and sure enough another good perch took the kopyto.

 

 

 

We stood side by side casting into the area when Neil got one hell of a take that ripped his rod round, it was definitely the best fight of the day as it held low and we didn't see it for a bit. I wondered at first if it was a pike but Neil knew it was a perch by the feel of the head shakes. It surfaced and we knew it was the best of the day. Although we catch plenty of 2's and some 3's they still always look and feel like really huge fish, its true what they say about perch 'A big perch is the biggest fish of all'

The scales went round to 3.1lb which really made Neils day.

 

Within a few more casts yet again I was into a fish and again it looked a better one, at first I thought it was in the same league as Neils last fish but after picking it out of the net I could see it wasn't quite as big. Still at 2.7lb it was my biggest of the day, and what a day it had been, certainly one to remember for some time!