Page 32 - RIFFLE4-flip

P a g e | 31 The weeks of the closed season of 2013 dragged Next visit, I fished the same pool with the same on and on as they always do. I had sorted my tackle but decided on a change of bait, which bait and my tackle ready for the big day, and I were to be prawns whilst still feeding red was bored stiff. maggots with a bait-dropper. It proved to be a good choice, as six perch over 2lb’s came to the I decided that I must do something to pass the net, with the biggest weighing 2lb12oz. time away and that was to have a try for some Perch at a local commercial. I had heard I paid several more visits, trying different pools rumours of fish nearing 4lb’s, but my target was with the same tactics and, although I blanked a to be to try to catch a 3lb fish. I visited the couple of times, most times fish over 2lb’s were fishery a couple of times and talked to any caught but never anything bigger than the 2lb anglers that were fishing. I finally settled on 12oz perch caught on the second visit. which pool I would fish after getting some good Therefore, I never got to achieve my target of information from some of the anglers I had 3lb’s, but had learnt some things about perch spoken too. and enjoyed passing my time, waiting for the First visit bait was to be lobworm, fished under a river season. float with 4lb’s line straight through to a size 10 The 2013/14 season finally arrived. First session hook, feeding dead red maggots using a bait was to be on the Derbyshire Derwent, a river dropper to try to draw some small fish in, that I have fished for the last three years. It is a hopefully followed by some large perch. It was a lovely river with shallows, deeper water and very cold day when I arrived at around 10 o’ plenty of bankside cover. There is also plenty of clock and to be honest I just was not confident. weed growing on fast gravel runs, unfortunately That feeling soon went away when, after half an the weed growth at the start of the season was hour, the float sailed confidently away and I to prove to be a problem. Huge beds had grown knew from the jag-jag of the fight that I was into out halfway over the width of the river and it my first perch. After a short, unspectacular fight had also reached the surface. It looked the fish was in the net, a good start at 2lb 8oz. impenetrable and so it proved to be. Bait was to Unfortunately, that proved to be the only fish of be 12mm boilie and loose feed of different sizes the session. of pellet, mixed with some of the boilie that had been crushed. The 12lb sensor main line was also used for the hook length; hook was a size 8 Mustad Super Specimen. This is a hook that I have a lot of confidence in, as they are very strong and cheap ensuring they can be changed regularly. My usual early season swims being unfishable, I spent the first morning of the new season walking the river being in no hurry to wet a line. I find that time spent walking the river wearing a pair of polaroid sunglasses is never wasted and after a couple of hours of walking and looking, I located some barbel on a gravel run with some nice gaps in the weed that the A 2lb 12oz perch fish were drifting in and out of. I put some free