Giant canal perch takes prawn hookbait

Giant canal perch takes prawn hookbait

by Chris Haydon |
Updated on

After seeing a monster perch follow in a 2lb fish he was playing to the net, Paul Bailey persistently returned to the same spot to catch the giant fish - eventually landing the beast at a whopping 5lb 4oz!

The huge specimen fell from a stretch of Paul's local Aire and Calder canal on stret-pegging tactics, a method more commonly seen on rivers.

"This old float fishing tactic isn't used much these days," Paul said.

"It can still work well on canals, especially where the cut narrows or above and below a bridge."

The winning bait for Paul on this occasion was a jumbo prawn fished on a size 6 hook.

"There's no perch that swims that can resist a juicy prawn, so the bigger the bait, the better," he told us.

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Paul Bailey and his 5lb 4oz perch

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