The biggest of all fishes... and the most frustrating!

THERE’S something special about perch. Those greedy little stripeys are often the first fish we catch as we begin our angling journey, but they can give even the most experienced angler a welcome boost too.

With bristling fins, huge appetites and bags of attitude they’re the bad boys of the waterways, and there’s no doubt their popularity has increased exponentially in the last decade. I reckon they’re perfect – fabulous sport without the aggravation of a mouthful of sharp teeth to negotiate.

In the late 1960s and 1970s they were on the brink, due to the devastating perch disease. But nature has an amazing way of repairing itself and now it’s difficult to think of a venue without stories of a big perch, or talk to a fishing mate who hasn’t fluked an absolute whacker at some point when fishing for roach or chub.

It was one such hushed tale which saw my daughter and me head to a little-fished stretch of the River Nene a few winters back in search of a new personal best each.

We quickly found a nest of tiny perch and the pair of us had a fish on almost every cast. Even scaling up lure sizes didn’t dampen their spirits, so a move was needed.

Finding an old sluice jutting into the water, we dropped a rig into the edge and it was met almost immediately with a solid thump. A few minutes later a near-2lb perch was near the surface and she shouted “look at the size of that perch!”

Sadly, she wasn’t talking about my hooked fish, but the two that were just a foot or so below in the clear water, flaring their gills and trying to eat or mate with mine. Both were almost twice the size, certain PBs, and a pair which evaded our baits for the rewst of the season.

There are some proper monster fish out there at the moment… go catch yours!