It can be a daunting prospect at times & I've had my fair share of bad days & a few good one's as well through the years.
But I felt it's a great place to walk around & hone my Dropshoting skills (if I had any)
This blog is a amalgamation of two short after work sessions of a few hours each time. So with some basic Dropshot gear I set off after work & met @markramokeea at the riverside around 5pm.
I'm no expert but Mark had never tried this kind of fishing before & I talked him through what I know & we set off looking for the first likely swim to wet a line.
I had a quick go at this method back in March as the season ended & blanked.
So I was very much in need of a confidence booster & a small perch would be a great start.
Twenty minutes later we were still fishless but seeing my shad in shallow water, it looked good & we hoped it would only be a matter of time before we caught.
First few swims didn't produce so we moved on to a larger part of the river where I knew it was deep very close in, around 12ft at the deepest slowly shallowing up to 6ft.
Deep & dark, it looked perchy
A quick rundown of my gear in picture form....
My 2" Berkley Gotam shad & size 2 Mustad dropshot hook with 6ft of 10lb Flurocarbon
5g Fox tungsten dropshot weight
Savage gear road runner is a great alround travel rod, paired with a small Shimano front drag reel & 20lb power pro mainline
We started at opposite ends of the bank & planned to meet in the middle.
It's a strange feeling as you slowly take pigeon steps & bump the lead just of bottom & down again but you really get a feel for the different surafces on the river bottom, it's a very tactile method.
I had moved only 6ft, very slowly I might add & I felt a bump.....
& again, so I struck & a fish is on.....
My excitement builds in a second & then I'm back reality as I lift in a 3oz Perch, but it's a start & I'm chuffed to know I'm doing it properly at last
Finally a fish on the bank, just a wee baby though
Another few foot along & another small perch in the net, I'm really starting to enjoy this kind of fishing & it almost feels better to close my eyes & all your other senses are highened. But I didn't as I didn't really fancy a swim as it started to rain & was very slippery.
As we moved on from this productive spot I wanted to try a very snaggy area as I know it's produced some very big perch over the years (including an annoying hook pull from huge perch I lost a few winters ago)
With drag set tight I was ready the first cast....
I wasn't disappointed either, on the drop I felt a take as I tightened the line ready for the retrieve, I struck & a small fish came to the surface quickly & i lifted him in, when I noticed it wasn't a perch but a lovely little Zander, just as I panicked a bit & he let go of my shad & dropped back to his watery home, only a foot from the bank. Arhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I'm still waiting for my first zander & although it was only 6oz or so, I'd have loved to have a look at him & got a pic.
After closer inspection of the lure I guess he must have grabbed the back end & missed the hook, frustrating but that's fishing.
After a soaking & a lost fish
Many other spots were searched out & no other fish fancied a meal, well not my shad anyways.
Mark then called me over & as I get to his swim he's looking even more frustrated than I had been before.
He explained he had hooked a good pike close in & bitten the line after a very short fight. The perils of Dropshoting I guess without a wire trace & I'm on the lookout for some supple & fine wire that knots nicely, I'm sure it would work ok.
With the light fading quickly we call it a day.
The next session was just me retracing my steps & it was a tougher proposition this time with driving rain & 10 or so degrees colder, shouldn't make a difference to the fishing.
I struggled to get a bite but finally in the deep spot I managed to get a couple of perch on the bank.
Lovely colours but bigger please next time
No monsters but I'm learning all the time & it's a method I'm loving right now.
I'm sure over the winter I'll be out & about, roving the rivers of Surrey in search of a big old stripy.
So hopefully I'll be writing a blog soon about a few more specimen sized perch.
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