Mine were a bit plumper (Claudia's looks strangely
"Dali-esque"
(The red maggot lips in Claudia's photo are a slight distraction ;-) ) and very spiky .. almost pure silver, with golden "freckles" - no brown ... the dorsal was permanently erect and had no freckles .. yes, Steve, it had spikey gill-covers and puffed itself up ..
Not shaped at all like big zander, distinctly more rounded than a perch .. more the shape of some
"Long Spined Sea Scorpions" I caught in Weymouth harbour as a kid.
It's two weeks before I hit the river, so hopefully I will catch another one, or see someone else ...
The same chap who called them "baby perch", swore he'd caught 5 rainbow trout further along the canal ..