Whilst fishing a river in Lincolnshire, Jonathan Holdsworth landed this superb perch of 4lb 13oz, which he caught on a lure during the hours of darkness.
Although the species isn’t best known for feeding at night, Jonathan has found that the larger, more solitary fish often will do, provided that a lure is presented in the correct way. Using a 7cm shad, Jonathan fishes the lure right on the bottom and gently ‘dinks’ the lure along. He believes that the fish take it out of aggression, rather trying to actively ‘feed’.
Whilst ‘lamping’ – searching for fish at night with a headtorch – he’s witnessed behaviour to support his theory, having watched big perch sat on their own, right on the bottom, which can be stirred into snapping at a gently moving lure or worm.
On his light lure rod the fish gave a great account of itself, and Jonathan knew he was playing something special from the off.
Well done Jonathan!