Something to write about!

After my last blog entry over 3 months ago the fishing has been tough to say the least. Ive put a lot of time and effort into fishing my local stretch of the Ouse and only managed one more barbel since my last entry back in July along with a few token Chub (Even they've been hard to come by recently). After blanking my local ouse to death in search of Barbel conditions seemed perfect for some Perch Hunting.

I was joined by Spack, the serial blanker and we decided to have a go at live baiting for Perch in Olney. Most of the summer weed had started to decline and the river looked in reasonable nick. I used the same setup as usual, 10lb mainline on a light running leger rig with a 15lb trace and size 8 single. The live baits we managed to catch were mostly bleak as well as the odd small chub and roach of around 3-4 inches, perfect for Perch as well as being big enough to tempt the odd Pike.

As Spack was collecting more livies I had set up and had a small dace positioned close to a weed raft on the far bank of a proven Perch lair. I didn't have to wait long as 30 seconds after the bait hit the water the rod wrapped round and I somehow managed to miss the bite, the dace was still on minus a tail and looked like the work of a hungry Perch. Next cast the same fish was taken even quicker and this time managed to get a good hook hold. After a short bullish scrap I managed to slip a good perch of around 2lb into the net.



The next cast resulted in another Perch just shy of the 2lb mark, which took a couple of minutes longer than the others to find the bait.

Casting in the same spot I had to wait a little while longer for the rod to start twitching followed by a slack line bite, which was hit immediately. It felt big the second I struck and knew this fish was a little special, when the perch surfaced 10 yards or so out my heart beat a little faster as the last two perch had been hooked just on the lip and as the big Perch turned and splashed I was convinced it wouldn't end up in the net. Luckily the hook held on and I knew instantly this fish had smashed my PB and achieved my Perch goal this season of as 3lber.



at 3lb 8oz it smashed my previous pb by 10 ounces



I managed a few more good sized Perch in the same swim before the action cooled down and decided to try a few other swims. We added a few small Pike trying to stay as mobile as possible by giving every swim 20 minutes or so and opted to return to the "super swim" for the last hour or so. Spack managed a decent Perch of just under 2lb as well as a couple more pike.

The drop in temperature seemed to make all the difference and the Perch were really switched on and look to be fattening up before the cold weather really kicks in and the fry and small fish populations find their hideouts for the upcoming winter.

I'm convinced there are a few 4s in this stretch and maybe even the odd 5lb lunker lurking in the depths somewhere and will no doubt have a few more tips to Olney for these beastly stripeys in the coming weeks.

Botchomania Self Take Pics

Went fishing in Olney Yesterday, had a pretty good day catching mostly small Pike and Perch using small Livies. I then managed to land a more substantial Perch weighing a few ounces under 3lb. Camera time, trouble was I was on my own and couldn't see any dog walkers or joggers to see if they could take a pic, I also forgot my Tripod. Taking a half decent Pic was a nightmare, I tried to use a Bank stick as a focus point on a nice back drop of the river, with my flimsy fishing bag to support the camera.

1. Bit of bag in the way, focus is nice, but could do with a fisherman and his fish.


2. Nice focus, Nice shot of the bank stick and more of the bag in the way.


3. Out of focus and looking like a grumpy knob


4. The bank sticks back and im back out of focus


5. Settled with this one, didn't want to mess the fish about too Much, not toooo bad, had to sharpen the image on the Computer and was a little too close to the camera. Nice fish though.



I also went lure fishing the day before around Oakley, the fish are definitely back on. had loads of small pike and a few perch.



Then to my surprise I hooked into a nice chub, which is my first on a lure for some time, caught it on a 2 1/2" Yellow Kopyto Shad.

Big Perch!

Went out a couple of weeks ago to explore a few new areas of the GUC between MK and Northampton, although I had some success last year on the inner city MK GUC its not the nicest place to fish, Pikeys Peeing off their Barges and Chavs asking you for 20p for the phone box is all part of the experience I could do without.

Went to Stoke Bruerne in search of the Perch, I originally set out to live bait for a nice stripey but after 2 hours of not catching any bait I whipped out the Lure Rod, few casts later with a pink curly tail grub, Fish On!





Only managed the 1 fish, not sure how much it weighed probs around the 2 1/2lb region.

I also visited a stretch of the ouse that I haven't been to in years a few days ago. Due to the long walk its pretty much never fished and its the first place that I ever fished on the ouse when I was about 10, I remember I caught 2 Perch and a Roach!

The river was in perfect nick and in the two short hours I was there I managed 6 pike, which came as a surprise because I didn't think this was a good Pike water. Its also a good place to fly fish for pike so will try a bit of that soon.

Red Letter Day

Haven't managed to get out fishing for a while due to work and other commitments but I'm glad I made time today. Took a trip to a nearby stretch of the Ouse with Spack for a spot of Perch fishing. We arrived at around 11am and the conditions couldn't of been better, the river was in perfect winter condition and at around 8c and slightly overcast things looked promising.

The river has an abundant population of bleak and 30 minutes with a small hook and a few maggots resulted in 20 or so decent sized baits. Using 10lb line with a 1/2 oz leger and a light trace with a size 8 single hook on the end we were ready to go.

It wasn't long before Mark had the first hit, which resulted in a nice 12lb Pike.



After a few missed bites my rod bent round and I struck into a good fish, as Mark attempted to land it his rod started to go, this resulted in a nice brace of Perch, with Marks going over 2 1/2 and mine 2lb and a few ounces.





Casting into the same area I had 3 more 2lb plus Perch in the space of an hour or so.





Spack then added another Perch of around 2lb as well as a small Pike, then when he went off to replenish our live bait stocks.I managed an extremely greedy Perch of a around half a pound.



Just before packing up I managed my first and only Pike of the session.



At around 3pm the swim quietened down and we decided to call it a day. In total we had 6 Perch over 2lb and a couple of nice Pike, not bad for a few hours fishing.

Something New

Went out today for a spot of live baiting, which Ive only ever done once, which happened to be yesterday and I somehow managed to catch a 1lb Perch and a big Blunt Headed Chub at around 4 1/2lbs.

Decided to head off to a different stretch of the Ouse with Spack in search of some monster Stripeys. Catching the live baits proved a lot harder today than they did yesterday and after a couple of hours hard grafting only had 3 or so fish to use.

Spack was the first to get a hit, not the type of bite we were expecting more of a twitching on the line than a full on bite. Fish On, it was only after the reel started to scream that we knew this was a good'un, it put up one heck of a scrap and turned out to be a new PB of around 16lb (Left the F***ng scales at home)





I managed to miss a bite in the same swim and after the last of the live baits were used decided to move.

The live baits became easier to catch in this new swim and I'd soon managed to catch 5 or 6 small dace and a roach in 30 minutes or so, Spack also added another small pike of around 6lbs. I managed to break my Duck with a small 3lber, which nailed my roach on the way in to recast. Spack then Lazily hit into his 3rd fish, thinking a small pike had took his bait, we were both shocked to see a BIG Perch. Into the net it went and without the use of scales estimated it to be a high 2 maybe even a 3, the photo doesn't do it justice as it had a big porky belly on him, either way it was one heck of a fish.





Awesome day in all, although I didn't catch much its always a buzz witnessing big fish being caught, whether its yourself or or a mate (Jammy ****)

A nice Perch

Had a few hours out today in search of Barbel. The weather looked lovely driving to the river only for the heavens to open 30 minutes later and didn't stop until nightfall. Fished a proven stretch of the Ouse on the Olney ticket. Sadly the Barbel didn't put in an appearance but did manage to catch a nice Perch.



This was caught on double dendrobaena, which also resulted in a couple of small chub on the same bait. The Perch was Estimated at around 1 1/2 - 2lb.

Received nothing but crayfish bites on the other rod. Fishing with Halibut Pellets or spicy Tuna Boilies in conjunction with a large Pellet feeder rig. Last cast of the day a large pike decided to attack my feeder and saved me the hassle of packing up as it took the lot with her, who needs expensive lures when they'll just as happily attack a swim feeder.

Also tested out my new crayfish net bought from ebay for a fiver. I Managed to trap 4 crayfish and a confused Perch! I baited the Trap up with a dead Smelt and a few pellets, needless to say the smelt was left unharmed and they gorged on Halibut Pellets all day. They are just this minute chilling in a tub of water in the shed getting ready for a warm...Boiling bath at around 6pm tomorrow night!

Bring on the Perch

Haven't posted much on here recently mainly due to the fact that I haven't caught much to rave about in the last few weeks. Ive put a lot of time and effort into Barbel fishing this year but with very few results (although the chub have been very obliging at times!) I've been put off by the challenge and inactivity opting to whip out the Lure rods on a more regular basis.

Leaving the rods in the boot means whenever I'm out n about and fancy a quick session I don't have to mess about preparing baits, rigs and carrying a load of muscle burning chairs and buckets, its all there set up ready to go and helps burn off a few calories with all the walking involved!

Managed to track down an online supplier of Kopyto shads in a variety of colours and sizes(www.luresplus.co.uk), they also sell Mikado shads, which are very nice lures indeed having bought a few in various colours and sizes found them to be great Perch Lures. P&P charges are reasonable and delivery was very quick indeed :)


The Mikado Shads are nice and slim and have a very enticing action.

Tried an area of the Olney stretch a few days ago and conditions were perfect, 17C, slightly overcast and the water clarity was ideal. Armed with a bunch of new shads to try purchased recently from AGM and Luresplus and my 2-10gm UL rod I was ready to go. Managed 6 or 7 small perch with the biggest nudging the 1lb mark also had loads of mini pike one of which being the smallest Pikelet I've ever seen.



The killer lures were the 2 1/2" Kopyto shad in Orange and black and the 2" Kopyto shad in red and yellow. These lures have resulted in multiple Perch Catches for me recently and hopefully will result in some biggies in the very near future.




Orange and Black 2 1/2" Kopyto


Red and Yellow 2" Kopyto

Will be bringing my camera and scales on future excursions so hope to post some pics of monster Perch in the coming weeks and fulfil my goal of a 3lber this season.

Pike and Perch on the Grand Union Canal (First Post!)

Thought I'd Christen the new blog with a catch report! Went to the GUC today in Milton Keynes armed with my Ultra light setup, hoping to tempt some large Perch I've spotted recently. The Canal had just thawed after some horribly cold weather and looked good. Visibility was good, being able to see the bottom on most swims.

Got to the car park to realise I'd left my digital scales at home Doh!

1st fish a large Perch definitely over 2 1/2lb and a new pb, on this stretch, pity I couldn't weigh it or take a decent photo coz I was on my own. Caught on a 2 1/2" Pearl Kopyto



Had a few follows, one was from a low double figured Pike on a 2" shad, kinda glad i didn't take the lure as I was only using 10lb Powerpro and would of struggled landing it.

Next on the hit list was a 7-8lb Pike, which took a 2 1/2" Kopyto shad in yellow, took it right next to the bank when my mind was elsewhere, gave me quite a fright and a hell of a fight, quick photo and went back with Vengeance giving me a nice canal shower!



Had a couple more bites but failed to connect, lots of follows though, which is a good sign on another day could of had 6 or 7, only fished for a couple of hours but just good to be out again after the PANTS weather, hopefully give the ouse a go next time when the water clarity improves.

Kopyto Shad does it again, the pic was taken after retrieving the lure from an underwater snag (Nice bent hook!), probably a bike or shopping trolley!



Tools of the Trade, I also bought a backup, heavier Ugly stick lite with 20lb Powerpro just in case the bigger girls were on the feed. Small bag for lures, tools, bits n bobs and camera, also unhooking mat, which is very important on this stretch of the canal as there's not much grass about and a large landing net.



The GUC in all its glory, this stretch had quite a few nice features, weed beds, overhanging tress, sunken logs and Barges all likely looking spots.



Hopefully next post will see a bit more action, thanks for reading!