GAME CHANGER How a switch to a smaller fly led to the capture of a monster perch
MATT ROBERTS – 4lb 10oz PERCH
“OVER the winter I spent lots of time targeting specimen perch from southern reservoirs with flies, although my trips were mostly unsuccessful, with plenty of blanks. Beating my long-standing personal best of 4lb was the goal I wanted to achieve and I was determined not to be defeated.
“With the arrival of milder spring weather, my friend Tim Marks and I booked on to a reservoir in Oxfordshire which we knew held some very big fish. We arrived early and eventually left the dock on our boat at 8.30am, planning to fish until 5pm. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect with overcast skies and a steady breeze, which really helps drift your boat across the water while searching for shoals of prey fish. “Usually, when I’ve found the prey, the big perch are never far behind. From past experiences, though, I’ve discovered they can also be caught around the jetties, towers and ledges here, so if the drifting didn’t work we had a decent Plan B.
“With the help of an electronic fish finder, it didn’t take long to locate the prey fish so we targeted the shoal on the bottom in around 13ft of water using di7 sinking lines and four-inch baitfish imitation flies.
“Despite countless drifts and casts, we hadn’t had a single bite by 1pm and morale was low. We racked our brains to figure out what we were doing wrong because these tactics had worked for us before. Tim suggested trying a smaller, 2ins Grey Minkie fly or a Small Grub, whereas I persevered with the longer 4ins versions, thinking big lures would equal big perch!
“A few casts later, Tim shouted: “I’m in!” and after a proper good scrap his new PB of 4lb 8oz was safe in the net. Just a few casts later he had another four-pounder! I was over the moon for him, but I was worried that I hadn’t had any success and the day was getting on.
“It was clear now that the perch were feeding on small fry in the reservoir so I tied on the same pattern that Tim was using. By this stage we’d clipped our boat on to a buoy in the area where the bites occurred. It was quite close to a nearbank jetty which featured a ledge that sloped to depths of 15ft.
“I made a long cast towards the jetty then
“This perch, which was fat and as round as a football, surfaced and my nerves kicked in”
counted my fly down for 15 seconds before adopting a strip, strip, pause technique with my line. I got three cycles in when something powerful engulfed my fly on the pause. The take was delicate but the fish immediately shook its head, stayed deep and my light six-weight fly rod locked up.
“The fight was super-strong but after 45 seconds this perch, which was fat and as round as a football, surfaced and my nerves kicked in! I was only using a size 12 hook and perch are known for shaking them out, so when I watched it slide over Tim’s net the weight off my shoulders was insane. We both knew it was a high-calibre perch and when the needle on the scales went closer to 5lb than 4lb, I knew I’d finally done it.
“We ended the session with three 4lb perch, a 7lb pike and a handful of trout, which were all taken on those 2ins-long Minkes. Needless to say, I’ll be packing those smaller flies with me whenever I go perching now!”