Flexible Approach For Specimen Perch

East Sussex all-rounder Tony King loves coarse and sea fishing. He’s a qualified angling coach and an ambassador for the Angling Trust. One of his favourite species is perch, a fish that often thrives because they are largely ignored by carp anglers. He has developed what he calls a ‘flexi rig’ to catch them.

I’VE been fishing for over 60 years now. My dad, Peter, was a good angler, and he taught me the basics on local drains and ponds.

I’m 65 now, and retired six years ago, after working for 36 years in the gas industry, which was the best decision that I have ever made. I live in Eastbourne, on the south coast, with my wife, Theresa.

I’m proud that I’m an ambassador for the Angling Trust, as it’s very close to my heart. I’ve been a member since it was formed, and I was a member of the Anglers’ Conservation Association before that.

Angling is under more threat nowadays than it has ever been, and there’s too much infighting. It’s no use just moaning. I believe you’ve got to act and do something about it.

The Angling Trust is our voice, and the more members and more support that it receives, the more clout it will have.

I’ve helped out at various angling shows and have been involved in Get Hooked On Fishing. I am also an ambassador for Fish Dynamix, a company best known for producing 100 per cent natural bait flavours, and I’ve had some great predator catches using their BioEdge flavours.

I knew a couple of other anglers who were using them, and then my son, Chris, got me some for Christmas.

I decided to experiment, by flavouring one bait with BioEdge and the other without. I cast both baits to some known areas for pike, and the flavoured bait produced fish of 23 lb, 20 lb 6 oz, 18 lb 12 oz and a 16 lb 9 oz, but the unflavoured bait was untouched.

I like their Mackerel and Smelt flavours when targeting pike, but use Crayfish or Crab for perch.

I experimented with different flavours for pike, and one winter I ended up with 31 fish of over 16 lb, including nine 20s to 27 lb 4 oz.

Coaching and therapy