Jörgen Larsson lastly did it. The Swedish angler has been on a lifelong quest to catch a perch over 3 kilograms, or roughly 6.6 kilos, and earlier this month whereas filming an episode for Westin Fishing, he caught the “perch of his desires” from a big lake within the Netherlands. In a clip shared to Instagram Wednesday, Larsson can hardly include his feelings as he holds the huge fish in entrance of the digital camera.
“I’ve been trying to find this fish for a few years. I’ve been hanging [out], I’ve been combating the climate in Holland, I’ve been doubting,” Larsson says within the quick clip. “However now, lastly … lastly, she’s within the boat.”
Gently cradling it in his fingers, Larsson can hardly take his eyes off the fish as he provides its measurements: 51.5 cm (20.3 inches) lengthy and three.2 kilos (7.1 kilos). The chunky feminine carries most of this weight in its spherical, swollen stomach, which seems about able to pop.
It’s an “absolute beast” of a European perch, and practically twice as heavy as the largest yellow perch ever recorded in North America. (Though the 2 species are practically equivalent, they’re acknowledged as two separate species with distinct ranges, with European perch rising considerably bigger than their North American cousins.)
“Absolutely the good fish … The Easter Egg lastly got here in the present day,” Larsson says, kissing the perch as he prepares to launch it again into the lake. “I really like you.”
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The previous Editor in Chief of Fiskefeber, a Scandinavian fishing journal, Larsson is now a pro-staffer with Danish sort out producer Westin Fishing. He’s damaged a number of European fishing data and helped introduce the strategy of vertical jigging to Scandinavia — the identical method he used to catch the perch of his desires within the Netherlands.
On the time, Larsson was fishing with Dutch fishing information Luc Coppens on a big waterbody in Holland. In a YouTube video that offers a fuller account of their journey, Larsson describes the realm as a collection of lakes the place a number of totally different rivers meet earlier than coming into the North Sea. He additionally says it’s one of many few locations on the earth the place anglers have a sensible probability at catching a 3-kilo perch.
“I’ve had an enormous, large dream for a few years to catch a perch over 3 kilos. That’s the magical weight,” Larsson says at the beginning of the video. “And if you happen to’re gonna try this, you must fish in waters the place they exist.”
Larsson and Coppens filmed the episode over the course of two days. They handled excessive winds and rain however managed to web a handful of jumbo perch and one monster pike. Coppens leaned closely on his side-scanning sonar to search out good construction, they usually used mild spinning rods paired with ned worms and Carolina-rigged tender plastics.
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Nevertheless it was on their third time out — after the cameraman left — that Larsson caught the fish he’d been looking for. The perch got here on his first solid and ate a Crecraw creature bait. Larsson’s recommendation for fellow fishermen?
“By no means surrender in your desires.”