1PERCH
USUALLY I fish alone, and I enjoy it immensely, but now and again it’s fun to spend time with friends.
A morning with Steve Rowley and his son Luke on a local gravel pit was high on the agenda. We took to the boat and glided across the surface. Trout were on our minds, hence the fly rods – but that all changed when, in a quiet corner, a shoal of perch hove into view. They looked magnificent as their stripes and blood-red fins slipped by.
Alas, we were unprepared, but we stopped in the margins while young Luke tied on a silvery fish-style imitation that I’m sure had never before seen the light of day.
Full of hope now, we rowed back
into the bay and I watched the water intently for a sign. A sandy patch on the lakebed was clearly visible a few yards away, and from the right I watched a series of silhouettes pass over it.
“Cast there!” I cried, pointing frantically, and Luke did just that, then paused to allow the fly to sink. The moment he began the retrieve the line pulled tight and a lovely big perch was the result.
We never did see those perch again, let alone catch one, but that didn’t matter as father and son had a lovely autumnal fish to enjoy.
It just goes to show that in this sport of ours you can always expect the unexpected!