Catch Pike With Lures

edited by James Holgate

There aren't too many good quality books on modern lure fishing from a UK/European perspective. Given the line-up of authors I had high hopes for this book when it was first published. Whilst it is a nice little book, it didn't exactly blow me away and I'm sure a better job could have been done from what is a list of very skillful and highly successful lure anglers, several of which I have a huge amount of respect for.

I am perhaps being a little harsh. I do a lot of lure fishing and have done so for quite a few years now often to the exclusion of all other methods. Much of what I read in these pages I simply already knew. For the relatively new lure angler however this would be an excellent introduction. It looks at six main lure groups - jerkbaits, soft plastics & jigs, crankbaits, surface lures, spinnerbaits & spinners, and spoons. Each chapter being written by an acknowledged expert.

Good colour photographs accompany the text and though each author has their own particular writing style it all flows nicely. Since it has been published by Predator Publications, the people behind Pike & Predators magazine along with several others, it is no surprise that this book is written almost in the style of an extended magazine article and is certainly presented in that fashion. This does of course make it very easy to read and dip into to remind you of the little nuggets of useful information within.

As always, Dave Lumb (an angler I always take the time to read the writings of) gives no-nonsense, straight to the point advice. His chapter stands out as one of the best and I can thoroughly recommend readers to look back on his previous writing on lure angling as he really is a mine of useful information and doesn't cloud the issue with unnecessary rambling. This despite the fact that he is far more likely to be found on the banks of the Ribble chucking pellets at barbel rather than plastic at pike these days.

Coch Y Bonddu Books have hardback and paperback copies available at £12.95 and £9.95 respectively. If you want your book to remain in one piece after reading then I suggest you go for the hardback. The paperback has a reputation for disintegrating after the first read.

First published by Predator Publications in 2007. This review was written after reading the 2009 reprint.

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The Book of the Perch

by The Perchfishers

edited by Peter Rogers & Steve Burke

What a fantastic book.

Written a little over twenty years ago now this book remains the most comprehensive look at perch and perch fishing currently available. Much like Falkus's "Sea Trout Fishing" or Buller's "Pike" this is the definitive work on the species. If you have anything more than a vague passing interest in perch and perch fishing then you really should have a copy of this on your bookshelf.


From an instructional point of view pretty much everything is covered. Whatever type of venue you fish you will find a chapter or two, written by an acknowledged expert, that you can relate to. Small streams, large rivers, drains, canals, lakes, ponds, gravel pits, reservoirs... you name it, it's in here. A few of the more special venures are talked about in more detail with chapters written by anglers who were fishing them at their peak. These are as follows - Arlesey Lake, the upper Great Ouse, the London reservoirs, Oulton Broad and Furnace Pond. These chapters relate stories of the golden days of perch fishing in the UK. An era we are perhaps starting to find ourselves in once again such is the cyclical nature of good perch fishing.

Then of course there are the all important chapters on tackle and techniques. Again, just about every base has been covered - livebaits, deadbaits, other natural baits, lures and flyfishing. Seeing as I am I pretty poor dead/live bait fisherman I was completely engrossed in these chapters, attempting to absorb all the information I could get. All of the technical articles in this book go into quite a lot of detail and even the most experienced angler would struggle to read through and take nothing away.

For the perchspotters amongst us there are several graphs and tables rigorously researched by Peter Rogers showing all perch over 3lbs in weight reported to the angling press between 1900 and 1988. The results are broken down in several useful and interesting ways which gives a great insight into the best baits to use and the best times of year for a big specimen. Following that is an exhaustive list of all those perch caught in the same period weighing over 4lbs. Each entry is given a few extra snippets of information such as date, name of captor, venue, bait used etc. Think Fred Buller's 'Domesday Book of Mammoth Pike' in miniature. Fascinating stuff.

As I touched upon earlier, perch populations are very cyclical in nature. This is mostly down to their susceptibility to disease. A lake's entire head of perch can often simply disappear almost overnight. Andrew Young has contributed an extensive chapter on the various diseases that perch may succumb to. Bruno Broughton and Steve Burke also write chapters on the biology and physiology of the perch. All of these chapters taught me a great deal about a subject of which I knew very little. Well worth a read.

As usual, Coch Y Bonddu normally have copies available. Expect to pay £150 - £180 for a good example. Not cheap, but this book will put far more perch in your net than that new rod and reel you've got your eye on. The perchfisher's bible.

First published by the Oxford Illustrated Press in 1990.

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