Urban jumbo perch
Published on June 13th, 2009 by Rodney
The weather has been awful in Denmark. We had two days of monsoon, which flooded some roadways. The sun finally made an appearance today, but the wind did not want to die down. After dinner, I pondered on what I should do this evening because there were still three hours of daylight left. I decided to drop by the local harbour to make a few casts and chat with some friends.
I arrived at 9:00pm and found Stig quickly walking toward me and pointing at something by his rod. With that much enthusiasm, surely it could only mean that he had caught a fish. I uncovered the plastic bag and found a rather bulky perch sitting in it.
Spiny fins, green body with dark stripes, European perch practically look identical to North America’s yellow perch. The most distinct difference is perhaps their sizes. Yellow perch rarely reach 1lb and European perch can grow much bigger than 1lb. While the average weight of landlocked perch found in small swamps around this country does not usually exceed 2lb, there is a rather unique population of larger perch known as brackish perch in this region. These migratory perch, which can grow up to 6lb, reside in rivers during the winter months and travel across the estuaries and bays in the summer.
Stig’s perch was perhaps slightly less than 2lb. He caught it by dangling a small jig on his fly rod, a method that he has successfully used on many species in this harbour. I first met Stig several years ago while discovering this urban treasure. He is a regular at the south harbour of Copenhagen regardless if it rains or shines.
As the sun disappears in the horizon, we made our way to the hot spot for a few casts. Low lighting can often trigger predatory fish to bite. Smaller baitfish become less alert and swim freely in the open, which may lure larger fish out from the deep. We focused on casting around a bridge, because the structured water is prime habitat for perch. They have a tendency to suspend under structures and strike on preys when opportunities arise. Stig stood on the bridge and conveniently dropped his jig straight down for any unsuspecting fish. With a slight fear of height, I chose to fish from the shoreline and cast a spinner into the bridge.
Only a few minutes went by, the experienced local was rewareded again. I looked up and Stig’s fly rod was dancing beautifully while the fish dove deeply. Stig screamed out delightfully, probably because he was not expecting to catch another one. This fish attempted to free itself by heading under the bridge several times before Stig managed to bring it to the surface. He carefully walked along the edge of the bridge and gently guided it toward me. After a couple of nervous minutes, I reached down and gripped onto its mouth tightly before carrying it out of the water. Seeing that it was bigger than his first fish, Stig was now even more excited. This brackish perch would easily weigh over 2lb.
The evening session ended quietly. Perhaps there will be more jumbo perch like these ones in the upcoming weeks as the weather improves.
