13lb-plus of perch in just three bites!


by Freddie Sandford |
Published on

Scaling down his lure fishing tackle helped Darren Goulder land a remarkable trio of specimen perch during a tricky session at a popular reservoir.

Understanding the fish had seen heavy angling pressure and the water clarity had improved significantly, he decided to drop from a 14lb fluorocarbon leader down to 4lb one, he then combined this with smaller size 6 hooks, natural coloured lures and the smallest dropshot weights he could get away with.

"The idea was to add a little finesse to my approach, and over the next few hours, it certainly paid off!," he told us.

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"I soon hooked a good fish and, as I landed it, I knew it was not only a new PB but close to 5lb.

"I dropped the rig down again while that one was resting in the net and hooked another fish, which gave a great battle under the boat."

Darran's superb brace weighed 4lb 13oz and 4lb 3oz, but he wasn't done there, as just hours later he landed a third 4lb specimen of 4lb 2oz.

"To be honest, the whole session felt surreal and the magnitude of the fish I'd caught didn't really hit home until a couple days later when I was at home looking back at the photos."

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Darren Goulder and the two biggest of his trio of 4lb perch.

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