Met up with my mate Steve on the way, so we peddled off towards Moore. First stop was the Quarry. Ordinarily, this is where I go to dream about catching big tench, bream and carp, but today, a perch was the target.
The water was gin clear, and there was a thick layer of weed on the bottom. After a dozen or so casts fanned around the swim, I fired the tiny lure out to a patch of milfoil. A couple of feet into the retrieve, and a fish was on. Predictably, it was a stripey.
Cool. Mission accomplished. I was happy with that. I took a few more casts, but nothing was doing, so we hopped back on the bikes and headed to the canal.
First stop in Moore village. A couple of casts in, and a perch was banked.
Only a tiddler, but it's what we came for. Next cast resulted in an instant bite-off from a pike. I was starting to wonder whether I should up my trace, but that would kind of be missing the point. This was all about finesse. The hooks were barbless and the lures biodegradable, so shouldnt cause any problems.
We slowly made our way back towards Stockton Heath, getting eaten by midges along the way. There was lots of fish activity, the canal is full of fry. At one spot, the first cast resulted in a jackpike following the lure, and then it jumped right out of the water on the next retrieve as it tried to hammer the jellybait. The hook didnt set though, and after a couple of boats went through it all went quiet, so I guessed he had moved on.
Ended up with half a dozen perch, and about twice as many midge bites. Good fun though, and I'll be back for those pike!
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