Perch On The Fly In Lake Dunstan

So my last fish for 2018 on was a perch ! A first for me on the fly , we’ve hooked a few whilst trolling the lake from the boat but never caught one on the fly. The New Zealand Perch came from the Tasmanian stock that were brought out from England in the 1870s . They are well established in both Otago and Southland and prefer the slower moving and still water habitats where they feed mainly on common bullies, inanga, smelt and fresh water cray fish.

It was late afternoon and the lake was a little choppy ..actually it was bloody choppy ! I was casting a small simi-seal leech pattern I’d been having great success on just out over the weed bed and retrieving it slowly. On about my 6th cast just as the the fly was coming off the weed and onto the sand …boom the fish hit ! At first I thought it was a small feisty rainbow until it started it’s acrobatics and I saw its distinctive red/orange pelvic and anal fins. After a brief fight the Perch was netted and a quick photo taken and it was released.

Another species ticked off the list !