It is one thing catching a monster perch from a stillwater, but to catch a fish over 5lb from a river is an achievement very few anglers will ever achieve. Mark Pillay realised his own dream when he managed to land this enormous stripey from the River Thames at a staggering weight of 5lb 7oz.
"Having caught a 4lb perch from a lake, I decided to try and catch one from a river, so headed to a stretch of the Thames where I’d heard rumours of big perch being caught," Mark told us.
“My tactic was to fish a bleak livebait, and within three minutes of casting out, I had a lovely fish of 3lb 7oz."
“To my amazement, 30 minutes later I had another take from a huge perch, bigger than anything I had ever seen in the flesh before.
“I downplayed my mate’s estimate of 5lb, but was proved massively wrong when the needle of my scales swung round to 5lb 7oz! I never dreamed I’d catch a perch over 5lb.
“I fished the bleak on a quivertip rod, using a soft 2oz tip. It starts going wild as the bait is worked by a predator, before being slammed round when a fish takes!
LURE FISHING IS AN EXCELLENT WAY TO CATCH PERCH, CHECK OUT OUR BUYER'S GUIDE FOR THE BEST RODS TO USE.
