Sunday afternoon

There was a fine misty rain this morning that was being blown along by a strong breeze so I put off any idea of fishing until the middle of the afternoon. When I came out about 3pm, the wind had dropped completely and the water was beautifully still, which always makes float fishing a joy. It was pretty overcast but not that cold (maybe 9C) and it only started raining more heavily again when I packed up when it was getting dark.

The fish were hungry today and the water was clear enough that I could seem them attacking the bait as it sunk down into the depths. I know that I end up catching a lot of small fish, but I don't mind this as it keeps me occupied and there is always the chance that something bigger will come along. I was back at my usual spot, a dyke to the west of the village centre of Horning and close to the river Bure.

There were a lot of small roach again today. They are so numerous in these waters. One thing that concerns me is that a number of them seem to have some parasitic infection. They look like they are covered in black spots. I would say that maybe 20 percent of the roach and rudd have this problem in some way or other. I caught one reasonable size roach that was badly infected and I was going to photograph it but it wouldn't lie still long enough.

This was a rudd that was a reasonable size:

The rudd differs from the roach in that generally it has a more olive green colouration with redder fins and an upturned mouth (for surface feeding). However, it is not straight forward as the roach and rudd hybridise. This one has some sort of damage and/or infection to its flank and one of those black spots can be seen. This one is about 19cm long or 7.5 inches.

I also caught a different species today, a gudgeon. I used to catch these a lot when I was a kid. Again it was too wiggly to photograph.

I had been hoping to catch some more big perch but I was only rewarded towards the end of the day. I caught a lot of smaller ones first. This was the first of two that needed landing with a net:-

This one is about 22cm in length or 8.5 inches. Finally, I had a nice tussle with this specimen:-

This one is about 28cm in length or just over 11 inches, so about 14.75 ounces. When I was first down at these waters last year, I caught a much bigger perch than this but didn't have a camera to hand. I am still hoping to catch one that is maybe 2 pound. I think next time I am at the local tackle shop I will purchase some worms to see if this does the trick.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2016.