Fishing for perch with a worm

[tiddlertamer]

Just been watching the wonderful 'A Passion for Angling'. In the classic episode in which perch and roach are the target fish, the much missed Bernard Venables waits at least 4/5 seconds after his traditional perch float has indicated an interest in his bait, before striking.

 

When fishing with a worm on the hook, and targeting perch, should you wait longer to strike than when fishing for smaller species or smaller specimens? How long?

 

Also, what size hook, what type of worm and what float should you use to target the larger perch? Is a waggler or stick float better for the job or are the traditional style perch floats still available and the way to go?

 

Any advice is much appreciated. I've caught hundreds of fish on maggot since I began angling only nine months ago but I've yet to spend much time with worm as a bait and have thus never caught a thing on it...

 

'Salutes to the mighty sergeant'.

[Anderoo]

Just been watching the wonderful 'A Passion for Angling'. In the classic episode in which perch and roach are the target fish, the much missed Bernard Venables waits at least 4/5 seconds after his traditional perch float has indicated an interest in his bait, before striking.

 

When fishing with a worm on the hook, and targeting perch, should you wait longer to strike than when fishing for smaller species or smaller specimens? How long?

 

Also, what size hook, what type of worm and what float should you use to target the larger perch? Is a waggler or stick float better for the job or are the traditional style perch floats still available and the way to go?

 

Any advice is much appreciated. I've caught hundreds of fish on maggot since I began angling only nine months ago but I've yet to spend much time with worm as a bait and have thus never caught a thing on it...

 

'Salutes to the mighty sergeant'.

 

Perch fishing with a float - it doesn't get much better than that Although it'll be autumn until I get perch fever again...

 

Sometimes it pays to give them a little while, especially if using one or two big old lobworms, but I would suggest you start off by striking as soon as you get a bite and if you're missing them, leave it a touch longer next time. Some days they really wolf a bait down, and the last thing you want is deep-hooked perch.

 

The hooks I use for perch fishing with lobworms (that's the type of worm you want!) are Kamasan somethingorothers (no idea ) they come in a yellow packed, have an inturned point, are nice and sharp, fairly thin in the wire and - most importantly - have a nice wide gape. That's important for big worms. I usually put a red maggot on after the worm, just to stop it wriggling off.

 

Incidentally, Steve Burke has discovered that large barbless hooks can kill perch because their vital organs are in the throat and a barbless hook penetrates deeper than a barbed hook, so always use a barbed. Also, it'll help keep the worm on. A micro-barb is best of all.

 

For floats, it will really depend on where you're fishing (small stream, big river, lake, etc.) and what the conditions are, but the majority of my perch fishing is done with an old 'grayling' float - this kind of thing:

 

 

 

They take a fair bit of shot and so can handle big baits and remain stable, plus they look great The 'Chubber' style floats are good too:

 

 

 

Most of my perch fishing is done on rivers though - if you fish lakes you might need something like a bodied waggler to get the distance, put up with choppy, windy conditions, etc. Without exception, though, all the bigger perch I have caught from stillwaters have all come from the margins, especially deep margins.

 

Good luck!

[ColinW]

As a kid I fished a marine lake for flounders a lot. We used garden worms, which obviously expired fairly quickly in the salt water. We found that by far the best float to use was the traditional "perch bob" shape. Because they ride up and down with the waves they give "life" to a worm suspended off the bottom. These floats would outfish wagglers by about ten to one. I expect the same would be true for perch fishing (both flounders and perch being sight driven predators) if there's a decent ripple on the water. We fished them bottom end only, so they would drift around more slowly.

Edited May 14, 2008 by ColinW

[bluerinse]

My Son got a box of Argus fishing floats last Christmas, It had a really nice old fashioned "perch bobber” included. I am sorry to say I have nicked it from him. Shhhhhh He does not know.

I use it for red worms, lobs and very small live baits. Top class bobber, my recommendation for striking is, float bobs, moves 1 or 2 inches sideways, Strike. You will miss a few but you will never deep hook.

Lobworms size 14 hook, small live baits (minnow for example) size 12 hook.

[Vagabond]

Bernard Venables waits at least 4/5 seconds after his traditional perch float has indicated an interest in his bait, before striking.

 

 

Hmmmmmm Reminds me of Dick Walker, who, when winding up the Pike Police, said his gradndfather always gave a pike ten minutes by his pocket watch before striking.

 

If one intends to kill, cook and eat the perch (or pike) then the above advice is sound.

 

However, if you are fishing catch and release, as most people are nowadays, then a prompt strike, either for perch or pike avoids deep hooking.

[Sharkbyte]

I'd go along with 4/5 seconds, for a whole lob.

 

 

Youtube Video ->

[BoozleBear]

I'd go along with 4/5 seconds, for a whole lob.

Youtube Video ->

 

Looking at that video though, that's 4/5 secs from when we see the perch take the bait til when the angler strikes. Would the float have show an indication that quickly. When the fish takes it into its mouth will not be as sudden a movement as when the fish moves away.

 

I think the angler in this case is striking when he sees the float move properly rather than bobbing, and basing his strike on that rather than time. I go by this method and have never had a deep hooked perch on the worm. That could be luck I guess but it works for me.

 

Simon

[Dan Dan]

This is pretty much the topic I was looking for, advice on perch fishing!

 

For the original poster;

 

I usually let the perch "run" with the bait for a couple of seconds max, until you get the feeling it's freely making off with the bait. Lean towards the cautious side though, as said a deeply hooked perch is not something you want to be dealing with.

 

For a rig, I like to fish a Drennan 2.5 Swan Bobber. It's very buoyant, and it's a see-through green colour which will make it invisible to fish around the baited area.

 

 

I fish about 6-8 inches over depth so the fish feels little resistance when picking up the bait. Double that in windy conditions if you want to stay on the bottom but come shallower to let the ripples make the worm dance about. Size 12-14 Microbarb Kamazan hooks for lobs. Use 1 1/2, one for movement and the other to let out all the juices. Tip with a red maggot if you want but they should stay on alright.

 

I'd love to say I speak from experience, but I've yet to catch any decent perch this year, biggest about 1lb from a part of the River Bourne in January. I'm fishing a small pond with a good head of rudd and roach but not many perch, but the ones that are grow to a good size. Margin fishing is my favourite, especially in that eerie twighlight period before dark when the instincts of the perch kick in and their superior eyesight enables them to hunt when other fish are vulnerable.

 

Hpoe this helps!

[tiddlertamer]

Thank you for all the fantastic advice.

An article that may interest the people on this forum who enjoy fishing for perch was in this week's Angling Times.

Specimen hunter Terry Lampard caught 20 1lb plus perch, including 8 over 2lb! All on worm in a single day's fishing on an estate lake. The stuff my dreams are made of... Interestingly he used a size 8 hook.

As someone who often float fishes for roach and chub I generally use size 16 hooks and would be a bit worried that a larger hook such as a size 8 would scare off the fish.

Obviously not if one looks at his impressive catch! I've also read elsewhere that larger hooks are better for lob worms. What do people here think. What is the best sized hook for a lob worm when fishing for perch?

[Vagabond]

Looked at the You-tube sequence. A question

 

That particular perch does not seem to be deep hooked - the shot (quite near the hook) is still outside the mouth when hooked.

 

....but would not an earlier strike have hooked the fish anyway?

 

What I am driving at is that the chance of deep hooking is reduced by a short shot-hook distance and hence early bite indication (as in the video) provided the strike is early. However, a perch is quite capable of taking worm, hook and shot well back into the mouth and down the gullet in a very short time.

 

So what is the point of having an early bite indication if you are going to delay the strike?

Edited May 16, 2008 by Vagabond