Catch fish with Mike Ladle.

Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

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Freshwater Fishing

For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over several years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish. The Freshwater stuff is also up to date now. I keep adding to both. These pages are effectively my diary and the latest will usually be about fishing in the previous day or two. As you see I also add the odd piece from my friends and correspondents if I've not been doing much. The Tactics pages which are chiefly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science are also updated regularly and (I think) worth a read (the earlier ones are mostly tackle and 'how to do it' stuff).

Perch and nuisance salmon.

I decided to try a livebait for perch the other day so, armed with a few maggots, a float rod and a spinning rod with a paternoster rig I went to the river. It didn't take long to catch a few baits and most of them were six inch dace - ideal! I stopped float fishing and lip hooking one of the dace on the circle hook I lobbed it out. Almost at once I had a bite and tightened to find myself playing a three pound pike. As I was about to take its picture the pike escaped so I baited up and tried again. Once more I was into a fish, this time it felt bigger but it wasn't 'bumping' like a perch and sure enough it turned out to be a larger pike. As before it managed to unhook itself before I could take its picture.

Now I know from past experience that catching pike in a spot doesn't men that there will be no perch there so I tried yet again. The next two casts were biteless then I felt another knock. This time I hooked the culprit and could feel it banging about on the end of the line - obviously a decent perch. I reeled it in and took its picture thinking that this would be the prelude to some good fishing but no - that was the last bite I had. My other baits were released unscathed.

On the following day I thought it might be worth a last go for a seatrout so I clipped a size 4 silver Mepps onto the wire trace and set off for an afternoon of spinning. Despite recent heavy rain the river just had a tinge of colour and looked perfect. To cut a long story short within ten minutes I'd hooked, played and released (without landing) three out of season salmon. Two male fish in the six to eight pound class and a female of perhaps fourteen pounds. Not wanting to spend an afternoon catching red salmon I packed in and went home to do some gardening.

If you have any comments or questions about fish, methods, tactics or 'what have you!' get in touch with me by sending an E-MAIL to - docladle@hotmail.com

Nice perch.

My guesstimate is about a pound-and-a-half.  The bait is still on the trace.

Red salmon 1.

With the trace wrapped round its snout.

Number 2.

Another male fish of similar size to the first.

And another.

A bigger female fish, also with its nose wrapped in the trace.

Again ---.

A better angle to see the lack of a kype.