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Perch - Stret Pegging

For the last few hours I had experienced a typical perch trip. I had caught absolutely nothing! Hidden within a mass of tangled branches and reeds was a shoal of stripeys, of that I was sure, but alas nothing I could offer them would provide a temptation. So what was wrong? Did I need to go back to the classroom? No, the tactics I was offering were sound and patience would be my saviour in the end.

You see perch have a knack of switching off when a winter sun hangs bright in the sky, combine this with a degree of water clarity and you're likely to see more movement in a graveyard! No matter what you do a response will not be forthcoming. A common mistake during such unproductive times is to convince yourself that there is actually no perch present. This in turn can see you then move out of the swim into one that truly is empty which you only realise when nights falls and it's too late. Never ever write off a swim until you've fished it at dusk, the prime time to tempt a perch.

As if by magic when day is merging into night a shoal of striped warriors awaken realising it's now or never for a feed before the long hours of darkness entomb the river. The Perch's vision is badly affected during this period hence the sudden urge. But why at the last moment, when the trigger could have come at any time of the day? I believe dusk is when feeding can take place with minimum effort or energy loss. Eight hours of sunlight has seen the water temperature rise allowing the perch to very slowly increase theirs, then like a solar panel once an optimum point is reached energy can be expelled hence the time to eat. During summer it's the complete reverse with dawn being the time to fish, the Perch now doesn't want to warm up, in fact he wants to cool down and the night allows this to occur, meaning he's raring to go when the sun comes up. Understanding this equation will lead you to far more success with Perch.

So we've established why I hadn't caught anything but the time invested hadn't been wasted. It had allowed me to get the tackle fishing correctly and also introduced a quantity of chopped worm caster and red maggot into my chosen swim. This combination is as attractive to perch as a Sunday roast is to me and I felt sure the juices would waft off downstream alerting the perch to my presence. Instead of introducing the concoction by hand I prefer to use a bait dropper as its accuracy is key in maximising my chances.

Perch hate resistance and I had no intention of giving them any, so rigging up with a long 17 foot rod I slipped a loafer float up the line to form the basis for the little practised art of stret pegging. My bait would be static on the bottom but I could enjoy resistance free bite indication via the float. A double swan shot would hold station on the river bed and then by allowing a bow to form from slack line between this and the loafer I could make the float lie flat. A tug on my hookbait would in turn see it cock and sail away. The bow though is vital in this procedure as too little will see any bite manifest itself via a tug on the rod tip, exactly what you want to avoid. The key is not to be afraid of fishing well over depth as it's not uncommon for me to be 6 feet over at times.

My loafer float also carried an attachment to support a starlight, as although night fishing wasn't on the agenda the period when you lose contact with your float tip and are foiled by darkness can be the best time of the day. Indeed the colder the conditions the closer the bite will come to night fall. On many occasions without an illuminated float tip I would have missed out on catching a 3 or 4b fish.

To create such a tool is simple, I make a tiny hole in the top of the loafer and insert a standard betalight which is held in place with Araldite. This will actually glow and acts as a back up should I forget the starlight. A piece of silicone can then go over the betalight and the starlight once cracked inserted into this. I find that these are far easier to see in the semi-darkness than anything else.

With everything now at hand I could begin my fishing in earnest. The horizon had begun to take on a warm orange glow and the light levels fell a couple of stops in a matter of minutes. A size 10 hook had been connected to 5lb line and to this arrangement I was going to nick on a lobworm tail. Snapping the worm in half I passed the hook through the broken end before slipping on a single red maggot. This grub would not only provide a dash of colour but also help to prevent the worm folding back on itself and masking the hook point on a strike.

A gentle underarm lob saw the bait, followed by the float, land in the centre of the stream flanked on either side by a reed bed and overhanging bush. Both offered cover for the perch until the bewitching hour arrived, which I hoped was imminent. Slowly the float moved from side to side in the flow, its body though uncocked giving a perfect presentation.

We had reached the time of day when night arrives abruptly, a time when the sun seems in a rush to leave. It was only now that the float keeled over before sinking from view. Instantly I swept the rod back and felt what I had waited for - a series of savage thuds which could only ever belong to one species. The perch's response to my reaction was to raise the dorsal fin in defiance and surge away attempting to reach a set of sodden roots. Alas for him I stopped this manoeuvre and with a splash of his red tail I rolled him over and scooped up my prize.

I estimated his weight to be around 3lbs but the vital statistics would have to wait for experience has taught me that once one fish has been captured more would follow. As if to confirm my theory the very next cast failed to see the float settle as it was immediately dragged under. Another perch, perhaps a touch smaller, joined his companion in the net.

Two more were to follow as I raced the sun but as always its disappearance was closley followed by the perch. Once again I had witnessed that dusk is definitely the time to make contact with specimens.

Top 5 Tips
1. Your float must lay flat or a taking fish will feel resistance.
2. Put a starlight on your float or you will miss out on a prime feeding time.
3. Your float must sit directly downstream of your rod tip - you can not stret peg on the far bank.
4. Place your rod on rod rests to hold it steady and raise the front to keep the maximum amount of line off the surface.
5. You can only stret peg with a float fixed by silicone at both ends.

Martin's Tackle
Rod: 17 feet Drennan prototype - a long rod helps you to keep line off the river's surface
Reel: Okuma Aveon 30 - a reel with a clutch good enough not to worry about using
Line: 5lb Drennan double strength - when knotting this line use a palamor
Floats: Drennan loafer - 1 swan

Martin's Bait
25 lobworms
½ pint red maggots
½ pint casters

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