Fly fishing for perch on the river stour

[@soultrader57fishingandmusi25]

Hard luck with the Perch, Charlie! you've prompted me to give the local canal a go with an "in between" fly of about 3 or 4 inches, on 6lb bite wire. There's a shoal of Perch under a railway bridge. The pike fought hard on the 6 wt, great rod, I've a 10ft 4wt agility 2 that I use for my trout and grayling fishing on larger rivers, Lochs etc. often wondered about a 6wt 9ft for streamer lure fishing. At least you've found another hot spot! great entertaining vid as ever 👍👍

[@Fishwish]

@@soultrader57fishingandmusi25 Cool! Hope you manage to get them. Let me know how you get on. The thing that started this mission was my friend Sam targetting the pike with big flies and discovering big perch that took a liking to them. I’m really not sure what to do next, but I’ll definitely be giving it another go. Probably with heavier jig flies.

[@otamaJackson]

Thanks for the cool fishing video, my friend.👏

[@Fishwish]

@@otamaJackson thanks for the kind comment 👍

[@johnbruce2868]

Brilliant. Good to see someone fly fishing for coarse fish in the depths of winter. I started much by accident when chub and rudd (about everything other than trout!) were taking small nymphs, buzzers, and even Black Gnats, intended for trout. On canals I like to fish a jig fly (roach / perch imitations) on an intermediate line. You can go along the bottom with less chance of snagging. Great video. Thank you.

[@Fishwish]

@@johnbruce2868 thanks John - I was in two minds about daring to call it Perch fishing but we tried our best and will definitely be going back to give it another try with some better suited flies. Think I’ll ditch the sink tip too if I can. Fair bit of flow so intermediate will probably get pushed about a bit too much. Good for my local Bristol Avon though. Which canal are you fishing? Can’t wait to get on the Chub and Rudd once it warms up. Lots of chub in this particular river but they seem a lot less inclined to hit small lures compared to spring and summer.

[@samuelpitcher4680]

Great video Charlie. It was an enjoyable yet difficult day. Like you said a lot think about, till next time...

[@Fishwish]

@@samuelpitcher4680 thanks sam great to see you and thanks for prompting me to make a vid as the editing forced some reflective thinking and it’s nice to remember the day. If I didn’t have a tax return to do, I’d be back there this weekend! Fancy it!?

[@samuelpitcher4680]

Have you seen the forecast!!!! Otherwise defo up for it​@@Fishwish

[@williamhalliday617]

Mint jacks in harsh conditions. Well done lads!

[@Fishwish]

Thanks - consolation jacks and learned plenty. Need to tie some smaller heavily weighted flies innit. Like a challenge. Need to put this demon to bed. Lovely venue too.

[@jamslockyer]

Perch can be elusive but I do well using a Di3 and a very slow retrieve. Flies with lots of movement like Wooly buggers or zonkers work best for me. I’ve also caught them on 6” pike flies.

[@Fishwish]

Thanks Jim, I’m still scratching my head over this trip. A di3 makes a lot of sense but the Dorset Stour has quite a steady flow to it so I’m worried it will be pushed down river too quickly. Funny you should mention the 6” pike flies as that’s what prompted this mission - my mate Sam had a couple on his pike set up a couple of years ago so we thought we’d target them. Nice slow burner challenge…lots to try out and tinker with

[@RATLEEA10]

I see this time and time again, Guys just because you are using a fly rod you aint fly fishing, it is called Lure fishing, drag anything underwater at that speed it is a lure,

[@williamhalliday617]

@@RATLEEA10 depends what speed and what fly, from the little i know you dont just cast and strip line fast. Like all disciplines in fishing there's many way to skin a cat. I dont even fly fish so what do i know.

[@Fishwish]

@@RATLEEA10 What you’re saying is that it’s not dry fly fishing (see my vids on brown trout, dace or chub) or nymphing sub surface (see my vids on rainbows or grayling), but it is most definitely fly fishing. It’s using a fly rod and a fly line with a lure - tied on a fly tying vise. The purist might wince but to the vast majority of anglers, if it uses a fly line, it’s fly fishing. And as mentioned above - I was fishing the fly almost static. The river was doing most the dragging - not me. Going by your logic spay casting for Salmon and Sea Trout wouldn’t be fly fishing either? Lure fishing is when you use a fixed spool spinning reel. All that’s really important is doing what you enjoy. Apologies if you felt the title was misleading and thanks for the comment

[@janhaanstra2245]

​@@FishwishIt's not the purist, it's the dogmatic😉🤣