Fly fishing for coarse fish is a branch of angling that is becoming increasingly popular, especially among predator fishing enthusiasts. They've discovered that their target fish, such as perch, pike, and zander, are often more than willing to take a fly adding a bit more excitement and an alternate way of targeting these fish.
Ryan Dolby had planned a trip out with his good friend Karl Bird with the pair choosing to target Grafham Water in Cambridgeshire, with the plan was to use the fly to target the large numbers of perch and zander.
LURE FISHING IS A GREAT WAY TO TARGET PERCH TOO, CHECK OUT THE BEST LURES IN OUR BUYER'S GUIDE.
"This session was planned as a chance to catch up with my good friend Karl Bird after he returned from five months away with the RAF in Romania," Ryan told us.
"We typically avoid fishing the big reservoirs on the fly after mid-July, usually shifting our focus elsewhere until the lure season opens in September. But since we hadn't been out together for five months, we thought, why not, with Grafham about halfway between us," he added.
"We headed to our second area and found that the water inlet was on. We could see plenty of fish and activity in the areas on the fish finders, with the area is known for holding perch in numbers all year round."
After a couple of hours fishing the area without any bites, despite seeing fish, the pair decided to move on. With the reservoir being so large, there were always other opportunities to explore.
WANT TO START FLY FISHING? CHECK OUT OUR EXPERT GUIDE FOR ALL THE TACKLE AND TIPS YOU NEED!
"We eventually moved to the dam wall shelf, and there they were! Shoals of 3-4 inch baitfish, with predators darting into the shoal and breaking them apart right before our eyes," he said.
"Knowing the size of the baitfish made it easy to choose the right fly. I tied on a Kato Jigfly Baitfish in a bright Mahi Mahi color."
"On the first cast, I got a strong pull and set the hook on a fish that put up a fantastic fight. It turned out to be a nice, lean 80cm zander, which I estimated to weigh about 8 or 9 pounds."
They continued to explore different areas, working various shoals, but had no further success. Eventually, they decided to return to the original spot where they had found fish.
"I switched to the same fly in a different color pattern, something Pete Kennet (Kato) and I dubbed 'Bruised Banana'—brown on top with a dulled yellow on the bottom."
"I'm a huge fan of contrast baits in both my fly and lure fishing, and I have complete confidence when using them."
THE BEST FISHING GADGETS CAN HELP YOU FIND FISH ON HUGE WATERS LIKE GRAFHAM!
Whether it was the change of location, the different fly, or simply the time of day, something clicked. After a few casts, Ryan hooked into a fish that would make his year.
"I had an absolute bang of a bite. Everything just locked up, and I set the hook with a positive strip strike," Ryan recalled.
"Right away, I felt a few head shakes, and when the fish broke the surface, my knees went weak. As Karl moved to net it, the fish made one last dive."
"When it surfaced again, Karl slipped it straight into the net, and I just sat down. He looked at me and said, 'You're shaking.' 'No bloody wonder,' I replied."
"On the mat, the fish measured 49cm+ and weighed in at 4lb 12oz, beating my personal best by 2oz. It's a fish I will never forget as long as I live," he concluded.
IF YOU ENJOY LURE FISHING FOR PERCH, MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING ONE OF THE BEST FISHING REELS!
