Perch, spines and strop

      An afternoon fishing for perch, and definitely not fishing for perch while pike fishing, the pike rods and tackle were left behind so there were no extra-curricular distractions or temptations to spoil the concentration. The afternoon was just beautiful, mild with a breeze and the only thing that disturbed the peace of the fenland drain was the 'afterburner chorus' from Uncle Sam's finest from the 48th Fighter Wing dog-fighting way up in the clear blue sky.
      A good supply of lobworms had been gathered in the morning and the kind offer from the houseboat owner to allow me to fish off the stern of his residence was gratefully accepted: under the houseboat and out into the drain were thousands of fry too. Very promising. The whole environment was a little bit of angling luxury, well it was once you got your 'sea legs' because the boat was gently moving in the wind and also on the ever so slight swell on the drain.

      What is it about perch? Although there were no large perch around, the biggest caught was probably twelve ounces, the smaller perch were managing to down two lobworms on a size six barbless hook, pretty impressive. You have to admire their pugnacious nature and their tenacity. They come out of the water and act like a truly stroppy Jack Russell Terrier, they're all fins, prickles and spikes and I think their colours are almost like a form of fishy warpaint and they always act and seem far bigger than they are actually are.
      The afternoon turned into a truly enjoyable fun session with over twenty perch caught, none of them were large and in all probability just as many bites were missed. In truth none of that mattered, just to see those beautiful marked and coloured fish was a treat and a privilege.
      I do like perch and I don't care how big they are, even small perch seem big and it's no wonder small boys love catching them and start their angling career and angling obsession because of them.
      A great choice.