Mark Woodage has certainly had a winter to remember, breaking his personal best for perch – twice! Here’s his account of a breath-taking couple of months for the Swindon-based angler.
The first trip was late January and with little rain and freezing conditions the River Thames was running very low, clear and cold. I opted for a mobile approach dropshotting and lure fishing. After walking what seemed like miles of river, I had two fish in very quick succession weighing 2lb 14oz and 3lb 2oz. I was made up!
As we entered February, the rains came, bringing with it a warmer river with some colour. I decided to return to the same spot as the previous captures, but to sit it out with chopped worm and a lobworm as hook bait. A great little tip I found when fishing the worm is to tip the hook with a Drennan Buoyant Fluorescent Maggot. They serve two purposes, firstly they help in preventing the worm from wriggling over and covering the barb of the hook, and secondly they add a great visual aid.
Out of the blue, the quivertip on my MatchPro Medium Feeder rod pulled right around as something had obviously shown an interest in my paternostered lobworm. What followed next can only be described as heart stopping as, after a good few minutes, the obviously large perch became snagged on an underwater obstruction. All went solid. Thankfully, after taking the bail arm off and waiting for what seemed an age, the fish headed back out into open water. My 5lb Supplex was none the worse for it’s ordeal and a beautiful new personal best of 3lb 15oz was mine!
Typically, after this trip the rain didn’t stop so, cussing the flooded rivers, I headed for a lake I had not fished for some time. I started jig fishing but with the weed growth still very much in evidence it became apparent that drop-shotting with a longer tail between my 16g E-Sox Dropshot Bomb Weight and hook would allow me to present my bait clear of the weed.
What followed during the next couple of hours I will never forget. I landed four perch going 3lb 1oz, 3lb 9oz, 3lb 13oz and 4lb 1oz – one hell of a red letter day and a new personal best!
