Perca fluviatilis - Perch
Phylum: Chordata - Class: Actinopterygii - Order: Perciformes - Family: Percidae
Young Perch are shoal fish, but the larger specimens tend to be solitary creatures. They prey on other fish, and are particularly well camouflaged when hiding among reeds such as tape-grass and flag irises in the margins of lakes, canals or slow-flowing rivers.
Perch spawn among marginal weeds between April and June and take about four years to reach maturity. Any Perch over 2lb (approx. 1kg) is a very good one, although in some parts of Wales they have been known to grow to twice that size.
Until 2011 the British rod-caught record for Perch stood at 5lb 9 1/2oz (2.542kg); this monster was caught in 2002 by Mr Dean Rawlings while fishing at Fringford, in Oxfordshire. Then two perch of 6lb 3oz were caught in 2011 and 2012 - te first by Neill Stephen, at Stream Valley Lakes, East Sussex, and the second by Ken Brown, fishing at Wilstone Reservoir, in Hertfordshire.
Acknowledgements
This page includes pictures kindly contributed by Dr Nick Giles.
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