A session where trout were the initial target took a sudden turn of direction and ended with a pair of anglers sharing more than a dozen big perch to 3lb 9oz between them.
Top all-rounders Tony Curd and Tom Finney headed for a Midlands reservoir to test out some new tackle within the Wychwood Game range, with the resident rainbows high up the agenda.
Conversations with staff at the venue soon flipped that plan on its head though after it was reported fly fishing tactics had been accounting for some enormous perch in recent weeks.
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Both anglers set their stall out with two humongous black flies fished on a fast-sinking line close to the bottom and it didn’t take long to get a response from the resident predators, with fish over 3lb falling in the early stages.
Covering plenty of water made sure there was very little let up in the level of action and by the end of the session, the pair had banked 16 big perch, with none of them under 2lb.
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The tally far surpassed what they had hoped for at the start of the day and Tony told Angling Times: “I have done quite a bit of fly fishing for predators over the years on big reservoirs and there is no doubt that the level of natural presentation is far superior to using heavy jig heads on lure tackle.
“Getting a couple of perch in the conditions would have been a result, but to bag 16 big fish with plenty of trout mixed in too made it a real red-letter day.”
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