Has anyone had any experience of fishing for perch in Ullswater? I'm living in Penrith at the moment and it's the nearest free fishing I've got, so just wondered if anyone knew what it was like as it'd be something to do in the colder months!

Thanks,
Eric

__________________
"With my silken line and delicate hook, I wander in a myriad of ripples, And find freedom."
My Blog : yorkshireflynovice.blogspot.com

Hi Eric, I only fish the lake for trout from March 15th onwards till around June when the trout seem to vanish, but I do get a few perch now and again.
Plenty in there, you should be able to tempt a few from the bank on a worm.
Good luck, S.

__________________
"A glint of sun has warmed the air,The flies will soon hatch out, To lure and tempt from their deep lair, The bonnie speckled trout." SKB tackle supporter. I love Furled Leaders.

It's wick wi'em Eric! Sometimes they're a right pest, especially as it's possible to come into a shoal of them and then get plagued by the little sods for the rest of the drift!
I've found the 'best' places for perch (if that's what you want to call them!), to be Skelly Neb up to Oldchurch, amongst the bouldery water; the drift off Geordie's Crag into Howtown under the tree lined east shore; and around Mossdale bay and under Stybarrow Crag, tight in to the bank.

Steven is quite right about the trout apparently disappearing in June - they do tend to go that bit deeper once the mayfly have gone and stratification gets a grip. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's when going down on a sinker after these summer trout that I have encountered the odd bigger perch - say 1lb-1.5lb-ish. Nowt to write home about, but it could be worth a chuck off the steep marginal shelf with a bunch of worms?

In all honesty, you'd be better off tackling the pike of Derwent and/or Bass. I've heard it's a very viable proposition these days. Eric Hope would be the man you need - 'Hemmingways fishing' on the net.

Or you could always take up grayling fishing - I'd imagine sitting by such a big expanse of water in the middle of winter could quickly get depressing!

Good luck,
Matt

__________________
The sun pushed dark spokes of melt and sparkle
Across the fields of hoar. And the river steamed -
Flint-olive.


http://northcountryangler.blogspot.com