on the hunt for pike and perch

[Guest]

well getting picked up in ten min and off to scotland on the hunt for pike and perch with my lures hoping to have some good pic of our catch hopefully stayed tuned in as they say

[OuTkast76]

Best of luck

[phill_itofish]

Good luck mate, am i right in thinking you don't need a rod license in Scotland

[Jimk2]

Good luck mate, am i right in thinking you don't need a rod license in Scotland

You are right, No rod licence or rod limits in Scotland.

[phill_itofish]

I fancy trying my lrf gear out on some perch, any ideas on where i could try, just north of the border preferably a free stretch?

[Jimk2]

I fancy trying my lrf gear out on some perch, any ideas on where i could try, just north of the border preferably a free stretch?

The best perch water I know is derwent water in the lake district, Most lochs hold perch but they are hard to find.
Loch Ken holds good perch but you would benefit from trolling with a boat then you would have more likely catching pike.
I've had a 2.8 lb perch from a loch in 2011 at the borders but it took some whittling out, maybe 20 visits with lures.
My mate had a 2.7 from Mill loch last year.

If I was going to target perch it would be Derwent water in the summer, We did 5 pike and 7 perch around July last year. Pike to 6lb and perch to 2lb all on lures.

[Piker]

Ken probably offers the best Perch fishing in the Northern half of the UK, but a boat is essential, as is a good fishfinder to find the prey shoals. My best result from there was 20x 3lbers, 40x 2lbers and 100 or so lesser fish in one session. Most of those were on bait though. Best lure catch was 7x 3lbers in less than 2hrs fishing. I`ve had good Perch (and Trout) from the Lakes, but when we fished it we were mainly concentrating on the Pike, so can`t really offer any advice on those waters.
Almost all of the SW Scottish lochs hold good Perch, but unless you have a boat, many are difficult to tackle from the shore, unless you can find a decent depth of water close in. I know of one untapped water up there which is day ticket, and which holds some huge Perch. Easy to bank fish too. If you and Si fancy a session when the weather warms we can sort something out

[Jimk2]

Ken probably offers the best Perch fishing in the Northern half of the UK, but a boat is essential, as is a good fishfinder to find the prey shoals. My best result from there was 20x 3lbers, 40x 2lbers and 100 or so lesser fish in one session. Most of those were on bait though. Best lure catch was 7x 3lbers in less than 2hrs fishing. I`ve had good Perch (and Trout) from the Lakes, but when we fished it we were mainly concentrating on the Pike, so can`t really offer any advice on those waters.
Almost all of the SW Scottish lochs hold good Perch, but unless you have a boat, many are difficult to tackle from the shore, unless you can find a decent depth of water close in. I know of one untapped water up there which is day ticket, and which holds some huge Perch. Easy to bank fish too. If you and Si fancy a session when the weather warms we can sort something out

Count me in, Those results are prolific, are they recent?
I fished loch Ken last month and I managed a pike and a 3 pound brownie. My pike came to a dead bait but my boat partener caught a jack on a lure.
It's a water I promised time to last year but never got there so will fish more this year as the coarse fish is very good too.

[Piker]

It was 10yrs ago when we fished it a lot Jim, but the Perch are even bigger now.....plenty of 4`s in there nowadays, and a lot of upper 3`s I know Gord Burton had a 4-7 the other year on a spinnerbait.
I took a mate on there last year, and first troll through our old hotspot produced a near 3lber....then the fishfinder failed and we couldnt get back on the mark and struggled after that. The problem with the bigger Perch is that you need to be right on the prey fish shoals to get them, even a short distance away and you can struggle.
Ken`s very hit and miss for Pike on lures, it`s always been a better deadbait water (apart from the Crayfish problem).
Not many Brownies from Ken these days I gather, so that`s a good result mate

[Jimk2]

It was 10yrs ago when we fished it a lot Jim, but the Perch are even bigger now.....plenty of 4`s in there nowadays, and a lot of upper 3`s I know Gord Burton had a 4-7 the other year on a spinnerbait.
I took a mate on there last year, and first troll through our old hotspot produced a near 3lber....then the fishfinder failed and we couldnt get back on the mark and struggled after that. The problem with the bigger Perch is that you need to be right on the prey fish shoals to get them, even a short distance away and you can struggle.
Ken`s very hit and miss for Pike on lures, it`s always been a better deadbait water (apart from the Crayfish problem).
Not many Brownies from Ken these days I gather, so that`s a good result mate

I was more than happy with it Mark, It took a lure in 27' of water on my light lure rod.
I'd definately be interested in a session on this water you mentioned does it hold pike?
The cray fish are a problem on Ken and from my very limited experience we found the pike only feed (dead baits) after dark. So we would boat fish the day, then dead bait at night.
I've never had pike into double figures on Ken although September 2011 was a case of the one that got away.

[Piker]

It did hold Pike Jim, but I don`t know what the stocks are like nowadays. Should be a few decent fish in there. It was never a big fish water as far as the Pike went, but always gave us a few fish, even when it was half frozen over. I don`t think it gets much attention at all these days, so it may hold a surprise
My mate even had a Cray on a rubber shad from Ken last year, and any old baits chucked in the margins had Crays swarming round them within minutes. I think it`s a problem that`s here to stay, unfortunately

[Jimk2]

It did hold Pike Jim, but I don`t know what the stocks are like nowadays. Should be a few decent fish in there. It was never a big fish water as far as the Pike went, but always gave us a few fish, even when it was half frozen over. I don`t think it gets much attention at all these days, so it may hold a surprise
My mate even had a Cray on a rubber shad from Ken last year, and any old baits chucked in the margins had Crays swarming round them within minutes. I think it`s a problem that`s here to stay, unfortunately

Sounds exciting,
We used mostly pollen, ledgered on long traces to overcome cray fish problems, We still caught a few (cray fish). I had one take my float under with a suspended bait fishing from the boat.

[Piker]

Launce always outfished everything else on Ken, as it did on a lot of other waters in that area.
We`ll certainly sort a session out on that other place, but best to wait until early May when the spawning`s over...always the best time up there, when the fish are feeding up

[Philysafc]

If ya after some good lure sport with jack pike and perch try castle Douglas , its easy to fish and the jacks are great tail walkers , nothing massive but plenty action also try spinning dead baits slowly , I find smelt and small whiting fish well , good luck

[Wreckingball76]

Ken probably offers the best Perch fishing in the Northern half of the UK, but a boat is essential, as is a good fishfinder to find the prey shoals. My best result from there was 20x 3lbers, 40x 2lbers and 100 or so lesser fish in one session. Most of those were on bait though. Best lure catch was 7x 3lbers in less than 2hrs fishing. I`ve had good Perch (and Trout) from the Lakes, but when we fished it we were mainly concentrating on the Pike, so can`t really offer any advice on those waters.
Almost all of the SW Scottish lochs hold good Perch, but unless you have a boat, many are difficult to tackle from the shore, unless you can find a decent depth of water close in. I know of one untapped water up there which is day ticket, and which holds some huge Perch. Easy to bank fish too. If you and Si fancy a session when the weather warms we can sort something out

Deffo fancy that! Count me in!