After catching an impressive 2lb-plus perch whilst pike fishing on a stretch of the Yorkshire Ouse a few years back, Darren Roberts planned to return to the stretch but it slipped his mind until recent match reports pointed him towards the venue.
Contests were often being won with bags of perch, including fish to over 3lb. This reignited his interest in the area and, in between floods, he's been fishing it.
"Initially, I caught lots of smaller perch, before figuring out where the larger specimens were," he told us.
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“I’ve had my best results on lobworms, but I fish them slightly differently. Sometimes I’ll present them on the bottom, but injecting them with air through a fine-gauge syringe, which pops them up, then twitching them through the swim, is my preferred way to do it.
“Using a link leger set-up, I’ll pop up the worm between six inches and a foot off-bottom, straight off the link. This could hold anything from a single SSG to a quarter-ounce bomb, depending on the flow, but I’ll always go as light as I can get away with.
"Hardware is a 4lb mainline down to a Kamasan B983 hook, between sizes 4 and 8. Crucially, I use a light glass quivertip, which minimises resistance to a taking fish."
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Fishing these tactics, on a recent session Darren had his best result to date, landing a 4lb 10oz giant and two backup 2lb-plus specimens.
"I’d arrived at first light and found the river just about fishable," he said.
"After casting out, I twitched the worm every minute, and bites often came straight after moving the bait. These were very positive, with my light quivertip wrapping round confidently."
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