Improve Your Coarse Fishing (UK)
Giant perch for everyone – Dan Jones
For a limited time, Viaduct Fishery’s match-only water has been opened to day-ticket anglers... and it’s full of huge perch!
YOUR face lights up as you spontaneously plan a trip to a prolific fishery that is showcased in a magazine only for your hopes to be dashed when you discover that access is restricted. Waters holding huge specimen fish are often responsible for creating the ‘closed shop’ mentality and numerous commercials have also reserved pools solely for match anglers. In fairness to the owners of such venues, almost all of them make sure pleasure anglers have plenty of other options where the action is just as good, but that won’t entirely dispel the feeling of discontent if your appetite had been whet by a particular lake you cannot fish. Somerset’s Viaduct Fishery is made up of six beautifully landscaped waters, with Campbell Lake put aside just for competitions.
The 200lb-plus carp hauls are what many anglers are after but the lake has revealed a very special secret that pleasure anglers are able to enjoy for a limited period. Garbolino and Spotted Fin’s Dan White enters numerous events on Campbell each year and while carp make up the mainstay of the action, there is another species that makes a surprise, yet very welcome, appearance. “You can be catching lots of carp and then all of a sudden the float will dip and a giant perch will be in the net minutes later,” explained Dan. “Fish of 2lb are caught in most matches, 3lb specimens are not out of the question and the biggest ever landed was over 4lb!” With fewer match bookings in the depths of winter, fishery owner Steve Long has now temporarily opened up the water up to budding perch anglers on weekdays when no competitions are taking place. To celebrate the decision, Improve Your Coarse Fishing caught up with Dan to find out just how special the untapped perch fishing is.
Avoiding the carp
Rectangular in shape, many of Campbell’s pegs have a similar feel although there are a few that will probably catch your eye. These likely looking spots are either in the corners or have shrubbery protruding into the margins. There is also a large ‘spit’ on the far bank that extends out several metres into the water and it’s easy to see why you’d think large perch would linger close to the vegetation at the end of it. But the best way to pick a peg is to look at the match results… and then head to the pegs where no fish are being caught! “If you fish a peg that holds lots of carp you won’t stand a chance of catching any perch because they get bullied out of the area. “The perch tend to sit in areas where there are no carp so a peg that looks like a ‘nohoper’ on paper will have more potential for your target species.” With most of the carp tightly shoaled at the end closest to the entrance, Dan deciding to get as far away as possible and headed to the final swim at the bottom end. Weeds and branches congregated in the corner making it look ideal for predators but this spot would only come into play later in the day. In many waters perch would permanently hug any overhanging cover, but in Campbell Lake they have developed a completely different routine driven by the habits of match anglers. “Most matchmen would start fishing either on a long pole or feeder and then work their way in as the day goes on, finishing in the margins late in the session. “As a result, the perch have worked out they have to sit further out in the lake during the day if they want to feed and come into the margins from 2pm or so which is usually within the final hour or two of a competition.” Three lines would be attacked on the day – a maggot feeder, long pole and the margins – and Dan expected to taste action on at least one. “You have to remember that it isn’t going to be a bite every chuck. There are maybe a couple of hundred big perch at best so you need to be patient and wait for them to turn up.” A small maggot feeder packed with casters, maggots and small pieces of chopped prawn was launched to the middle, the rod went on the rest and Dan sat back, almost certainly daydreaming about what he could add to the net in the coming hours. Despite being confident that he could perform for the cameras, the early stages provided little encouragement. In fact, his tip did not even tremble in the first hour. Chucking to a few different spots with half
a prawn hookbait didn’t work and neither did switching to maggots or caster hookbaits. Surely a change to the long pole that had been primed with a few freebies would kick-start things? Nope, not a sniff! “It’s challenging today but when it is like this you just have to keep in mind that one bite can bring a very special fish,” said Dan. Three hours in and he was staring down the barrel of a blank. But he still hadn’t enquired what was down the margins. Shipping 13m down to the snags, he dropped in his rig. The instant bite we had hoped for also failed to materialise. The grimace on Dan’s face suggested even he thought we were bang out of luck. “I’d have bet money I would have…..” But before he could finish the sentence his float dipped and 5ft of Garbolino 1.8mm Fighter elastic zipped out of the tip. From my vantage point at the top of the bank, I watched as Dan tentatively shipped-back, fully aware that a big perch was on the other end. “I think this could be a real lump – let’s hope everything holds in place.” As it rose to the surface with the pole almost at full length, its size became clear. A few expletives exited my mouth before I uttered: “Please don’t lose this mate”. It’s head nodded side to side, doing its best to rid the hook. But Dan’s rig was more than up to the test and a full-framed stripey was beaten. “What a relief!” exclaimed Dan. “I had a horrible feeling we were in for ‘one of those days’ but this fish is typical of what the lake can produce.” Weighing in at 3lb 1oz, it was followed by three others around the 2lb mark in an action-packed half-hour, with the fading light seemingly switching the fish on to the feed. “We’ve gone from absolutely nothing to having four big perch in no time at all. “A lot of pleasure anglers thought they would never get a shot at Campbell Lake but now is the time to take advantage and catch some amazing fish that other venues can’t provide,” concluded Dan.
“We’ve gone from absolutely nothing to four big perch in no time at all”