I was kindly gifted a new ‘Perch Bobber’ as one of my Christmas presents last year, and is a welcome addition to the second box of floats that I keep.

I have been looking forward the final day of this course fishing season, and was going to use this new bobber for a Perch on a river or pond somewhere. However, this unseasonably warm weather of the past few days has surely got fish on the feed and I was itching to get to a river or pond, it was impossible to wait until the end of this course fishing season, the 14th of March.

There is a commercial fishery near where I live, not the sort of place that I would ever fish, but I learnt of Perch up to 4lb residing there, so was keen to have a crack at one.

I only fished for a couple of hours in the afternoon today, but really enjoyed feeling the warmth from the sun for the first time this year.  I managed to catch two Perch, one of around a pound and a half, and the other a little smaller at around a pound. The biggest surprise was at the end of the day catching a small Tench (on a prawn), not the prettiest Tench I have ever caught, but it just shows how warm the weather is today; quite bizarre.

It is the rule that normally it is the kiss of death fishing with a new float, but I was lucky enough to christen my new Perch Bobber. It could have been a summer’s day.