Matt Hayes & Pike Fly Fishing

[David Will]

Paul has hit the nail on the head. You have to look at the lowest common denominator , ie the clowns out there for whom fish welfare rests bottom of the league of concerns. Summer- Pike fight harder , clown with inappropriate unhooking gear takes longer to unhook - dead Pike. That is the way it is. Please consider that we all do not live near the Broads or Scottish lochs. Some of us rely on gravel pits and lakes for our Piking. It does not take long for a couple of clowns fishing in summer to ruin a reasonable water.

 

[Rob Brownfield]

David, fair comment. Would this not go for any big fish though? I have certainly seen some antics with "holiday" anglers in the summer struggling with carp, tench and Barbel.

MAybe we should go down the German route and have an Exam before we are allowed to fish.

Certainly, there is one Scottish water i know of where you cannot become a member until you have proved you know what u are doing.

 

[Gary Knowles]

You not fishing that one then Rob ? )

 

[Rob Brownfield]

Gary..cheeky sod!..Nope, i am not fishing that one..lol...i live too far away although I have been a guest several times. It holds HUGE Perch, and if I said I thought there were 6 pounders in there, I would be underestimating its potential!!! I've only had Pike up to doubles, although i had a Perch follow a Rapala that was massive...still...one day )

 

[Paul Williams]

Rob,
6lb Perch? mind bogling!!!!!......don't forget my invite mucka!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Rob Brownfield]

Paul, if only I could! I am telling u though, within one hour of me I have 3 waters where i have seen 4 pound plus Perch caught by accident!! Not bad huh?..an no one fished for them. I will be giving then a serious go when i can get a supply of small enough livebaits.

 

[Steve Burke]

Rod, I don't know whether you're aware of it but perch will take surprisingly big livebaits. The main reasons why more perch aren't caught by pike anglers are firstly that they rarely take seabaits and secondly that they hate wire traces.

My "standard" size livebaits for perch are 5 inches. I would go bigger but with as I'll only use just one single hook I find I have problems timing the strike. Even with 5 inch baits I catch perch of under a pound!

 

[Chris Bishop]

I usually get a couple a season on 4 - 6oz baits. They just steam into it like a pike, despite the fact I often use stiff wire traces.

 

[Rob Brownfield]

Steve/Chris...this particular water seems to only produce to small plugs and small livebaits. Might be because because it is so shallow, ie, under 4 feet deep. I really dont know.

I once has 11 Perch over 2 pounds, with two of them topping 3 pounds from a deeper loch, all on live brownies ment for Pike. They were hitting them on 30 pound wire traces...mental!..lol

 

[Steve Burke]

I doubt that the depth is the key factor here as many of the waters I fish are only 6 foot maximum. A lot of my big perch come from just 2 feet of water. It might just be that there's lots of small fish that your perch get preoccupied with, and not so many in the 5 to 6 inch range.

It might be interesting to try a bigger bait (live or dead) on one rod to see if it's more selective and if it avoids the smaller perch.

What a brilliant catch! I bet you won't forget that day in a hurry!