VENUE INSIDER

Specimen hunter and venue expert Phil Taylor says... Tackle: “I use 0.08mm braided reel line tied to a 6lb flouro leader 1ft-2ft long. Attached to this is a size 4 E-S-P Dropshot hook with a worm nicked on. Below this, at the bottom of the leader, is a DAM rolling drop shot lead usually around 5g-7g in weight, depending on flow and depth.” Bait: “Rather than use a small lure for drop shotting, I hook a lobworm straight on. Twitching the rod as you would when drop shotting will cause the worm to move erratically, and this is almost certain to draw the attentions of nearby big perch.” Tactics: “Big perch are opportunist feeders and will snap up a bait in an instant if it is placed nearby. If you don’t get a bite within five minutes it’s time to move on. Be prepared to try upwards of 15 different swims in a day in order to find the fish and keep the bites coming.”