Date: 31st January 2016
Location: Pitsford Reservoir, Northamptonshire, England
After the success of the meet i had organised on the 23rd of January and having only just managed to scrape through without blanking by catching a Rainbow Trout in the dying minutes of the day, I felt I had to have one last try at catching a Perch before the end of the predator season on Pitsford.
Loving the hood on my Typhoon P330 drysuit.
I arranged a final meet for today being the last day and had a turn out of 8 kayak fishermen who all shared the same determination to catch a decent fish, come rain or shine…
In true fashion, the weather was worse than grim with winds increasing from 10mph through to 25mph gusts as the day progressed. The rain today was awful and didn’t ease of until after lunch. The temperature was low which was aided by the wind chill. I was incredibly pleased to be wearing my Typhoon P300 Drysuit today as it kept me dry and the wind off which helped me stay warm.
A quick change of hats as the weather deteriorated.
After getting the Predator XL rigged with all of my gear and rods, I set about heading out to try some spots the had produced Perch the previous session and didn’t even manage a bite! I then ventured further up the reservoir where I found a shoal of fish, I drifted over the area twice with 2 bites. On my third drift i had a wallop and was into the first and last perch of the day, weighing approximately 1.8lbs.
A nice plump Pitsford Perch!
An interesting camera angle!
After a few photos, I slipped the fish back in to the water to try for another one, by this time the wind had whipped up so decided to head back down the lake.
An over the shoulder shot of the perch tail….
I met up with a few other kayak fishermen on the way down the lake towards the causeway who had also been struggling to catch anything other than trout! After a quick chat and a change to a white diving hard bait, i was in to a Rainbow Trout on the first cast! Thanks for the advice Mark!
A feisty Rainbow Trout
I spent the rest of the session trolling around the margins in a vain attempt of hooking in to a Pike and also continued with some more vertical jigging.
This hammered a small white sinking plug!
At 4pm there was a mad dash to get back to the fishing lodge to get of the water for 4.15pm.
With only 2 fish today i was happy to have not blanked and more importantly, happy to have caught an elusive Pitsford perch on a very challenging day!
Having used the Predator XL only a handful of times, I have really enjoyed being able to get around big reservoirs with ease and being able to fish “hands free”! This stable platform has a lot to offer and i look forward to writing a detailed review on this kayak later on in the year.
Thank you for reading my report and i look forward to writing more during the coming competition season!
Wiping water of the camera lens!
Many thanks, Dane Wood
Ocean Kayak UK Fishing Team 