Perch at Womack Dyke

Yesterday, I took myself down to Womack Dyke for an afternoon's fishing. The weather was warm but quite windy. I parked on Horsefen Road and then walked the rest of the way out onto the marshes. The broads authority mooring there beyond Hunter's Yard has enough space usually between the boats to allow you access to the water. I set up behind this cruiser as it gave me some shelter from the wind from the south west:-

You can just about see my float tucked in behind the stern of the boat near the bank. As usual I was fishing red maggots on a size 16 hook and feeding the water with maggots on a regular basis. I was using quite a heavy rig as I hate having to fight the wind with lighter gear. My depth was probably 6 inches above the bottom.

Initially I was catching one or two very small roach but not long into my session I had a good bite and a fish that definitely bent the end of my rod. Fortunately, I didn't lose it and it was this decent perch:-

This fish is about 28cm (11 inches) in length and it weighed roughly about 3/4 lb (it may have been a bit more than this - see my previous post back in 2016). I carried on fishing through the afternoon catching mainly perch close to the rear of the moored boat. Not long before I packed up I had another fish of a similar size:-

This fish is slightly shorter at 27cm (10.5 inches) and so probably not the same fish! It looks a slightly darker green and has a less deeply orange coloured tail.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2026