Massive perch! Pics of giant river fish
Hornegold’s River Lea best goes 4lb 11oz
“I’ve caught big perch, but this was on another level”
RESPECTED specialist Bob Hornegold proved there is no better time to catch a huge perch than now when he banked the biggest from a river this season.
The mint-conditioned stripey weighed 4lb 11oz and topped another impressive week for the species with several huge fish landed across the country.
Bob described his new personal best as ‘unlike any perch I’ve ever seen before’ on returning from a memorable day on the Lea Navigation in Hertfordshire, where he presented a small livebait in conjunction with a simple leger rig and 6lb mainline.
The capture comes just a few weeks after the chairman of the Osprey Specimen Group began his river perch campaign with fish 4lb 1oz and 4lb from the same venue.
“I’ve seen and caught some big perch in my time, but this was on another level…an incredible creature,” Bob told Angling Times.
“I was fishing with a little gudgeon as bait as they are cracking for big perch and it took the bait that I fished close to an overhanging bush.
“I always head for a feature like
this when I’m after perch, often at first light because early mornings are by far the best.
“Who knows how big this fish will be when it’s carrying spawn?”
Another angler to beat his perch personal best on running water was Scott Hamilton.
His impressive 3lb 12oz fish was the third perch over 3lb that he’d caught in seven days and again it fell from the River Lea.
He baited-up heavily with broken lobworms and he legered the same bait over the top, which also fooled another fish weighing 2lb 14oz.
“I had to wait two hours for a bite, but then they came thick and fast,” said Scott.
“When I struck into the big one I thought I was snagged and then
it just burst into life and it fought that hard that I really thought I’d hooked a small barbel.”
Cambridgeshire’s Grafham Water has been in great form for predators so far this season and Norfolk’s Jason Davis had a session to remember when he
banked 10 perch over the 3lb mark in addition to several 2lb-plus fish. The biggest tipped the scales at 3lb 10oz and all his fish were taken using drop shotting tactics.
Meanwhile, a reservoir in the south saw Durham’s Simon Ashton and friend Shaun Fox
share in the capture of 28 perch, with six over the 3lb barrier. The fish shown here by Simon (above) weighed 3lb 8oz and both specialists used drop shotting tactics with bounced Drennan Esox baits. So what are you waiting for? Go out and catch a big perch now!