Perch lures / spinners

[Hopinc]

All lure types will work with Perch.

 

I too am a big fan of the Mepps range of spinners. My favourite is the Aglia. They are fine for canals and moving water with a slow to average speed, but rise too high in a stronger flow (this is caused by the size of the blade generating lift in the water). When that happens I switch to Fox Vibrax, Mepps Aglia Long or spoons like the "Dardevel" or possibly an ABU Toby.

 

The ABU Atom spoons are very good too, but my all time favourite is the now discontinued ABU Uto. It might surprise you at how big a lure some of these fish will actually have a go at.

 

There is quite a large number of smaller plugs available, some are referred to as "snap beans" - these cover the range from surface poppers all the way through to fast sinkers, and some are resprentations of the most unlikely things - grasshoppers for instance. Yes, I have one of these and yes I have caught several trout on it. Have a look at Harris Sporstmail, but alas their ultra light bait range isn't as good as it used to be when Sue Harris was running the place.

 

As suggested above you can experiment with the soft plastics. Some may seem a little unlikely but they do work well. You could also wobble a small gudgeon or lay a similar dead bait under a float. There is also drop shotting, a finesse technique that uses a suspended lure, which can be fished at various depths, and immitates prey in a most surprising and natural manner.

 

For a little inspiration have a look at this article in the Angling Times: http://www.gofishing.co.uk/Angling-Times/S...tics-for-perch/

 

You have quite a good selection of things to try out yet.

 

Just remember that if you are fishing in a location that might also hold Pike then you must use a wire trace - this is to minimise the risk of a fish swimming off with a mouth full of treble hooks and lure.

 

My personal biggest canal Perch was 4.5lbs on a No.2 Aglia - a magnificient specimen. Good areas to check when canal fishing are lock gates and basins. They seem to like these locations quite a lot. Lighting can be critical to success, Perch don't like bright light because of their large eyes.

Edited January 28, 2011 by Hopinc

[Dick Dastardly]

Can I just say don't get to stuck on the view that small lures are best for Perch. Same as with livebaits Perch like a good mouthfull and a good Perch has a good sized mouth!

[Hopinc]

Yes I agree - see my earlier statement above.

 

It can work both ways though. My biggest Pike of 22.75lbs was taken on an 18g Uto spoon that I had custom painted in a Roach pattern. Conversely I have taken trout, perch and jack pike on lures you wouldn't possible think they could ever eat.

Edited January 27, 2011 by Hopinc

[Anderoo]

Can I just say don't get to stuck on the view that small lures are best for Perch. Same as with livebaits Perch like a good mouthfull and a good Perch has a good sized mouth!

 

True, have a look at this for an example:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYelxMUkmMg

[Steve Burke]

This is what I wrote recently on lure choice on another topic:

 

"It's impossible to give any advice on which specific lures to try without knowing the depth of the water. This is because many lures (be they spinner, spoon, plug, jig or whatever) are designed to work in a specific depth range. Outside of their optimum depth range they'll be way inferior to other lures."

 

I've purposely put the last sentence in bold as depth control is so important, particularly with perch because of their swim bladder arrangement.

 

So I'd suggest you start with the depth of the waters you're likely to fish and work backwards from that.

 

I covered this in depth (no pun intended) in "The Book of the Perch" but the subject comes up so frequently that it looks as though I'll have to put something on choosing lures into my new book. However "Perch and the Perchfisher" is only part technical, the rest being stories.

 

However hearing what others have found successful is always both useful and interesting, as long as of course the lure is suitable for the depth of your local waters.

 

For instance I too have had an awful lot of perch on Abu Atom spoons, especially the largest 3 1/2 inch/35 gram size. And like Hopinc and Budgie I've often found that big lures are better for big perch. Having said that, there are days when the perch want small ones. By the way, the Abu Uto is very similar to the Atom but without the "ripples".

 

Finally, Anderoo, what a great link!

[RUDD]

Thanks for all the advice.

I am fishing several stillwaters that hold some big Perch.

Only one other member does any spinning or lure work as the majority are pleasure anglers fishing for roach, crucians etc with the rest being match anglers or carp anglers.

 

The occasional 3lber is caught on maggots, caster or worms and the biggest I have seen was a shade over 4lb.

I belive there could be 4.5lbers or bigger as they are neglected and I suspect they survive on the abundant fry and small silver fish.

 

I am using a drennan series 7, 7 ft 1,25lb test curve with 8lb mono (braid banned).

Its a great road with lighter spoons and spinners.

No wire trace needed as no Pike present.

 

Lake depths go from a few inches to 15ft along the dams.

Plenty of reed beds, Lily beds, trees and bushes in the water with a few drop offs on the silty bottom.

 

I like the fact that I am mobile - therefore keeping warm and love the feel of a take as you retrive your lure.

 

Barbed hoods are banned and barbles trebles are a bit of a Grey area (I am on committee and there is no rule against them but there is a rule regarding fish safe rigs and no more than one hook on a rig!!!!).

 

I have been using single hooks but cannot find a happy medium regarding hook size.

 

Any thoughts on this?

[Rob Ward]

True, have a look at this for an example:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYelxMUkmMg

 

Noticed this one whilst watching the other, maybe not the best example of fish handling but see what they retrieve from the Pike's mouth!

[The Flying Tench]

The best spinner I've ever encountered for perch is the mepps aglia willow blade in size 0 or 00, it's my get out of jail free spinner, one that i've stopped using as a first choice simply on the grounds of it being seemingly too good.

This is interesting as it's different from the advice of others later in the thread who tend towards quite big baits and lures. Have you found you get decent sized perch on it? Or is it more a case that, on a difficult day, it at least gets something?

 

Someone on a recent thread, maybe Andy MacFarlane, recommended very small spinners for cold weather. I must admit I've never caught anything on a spinner in cold weather, so maybe it's something I should try?

 

Also Have you mainly used it on any particular type of water?

[The Flying Tench]

Ok - getting into spinning for Perch but want to move on from Meps spinners and small spoons.

Had plenty of success but would like to increase the varyation in my lure box.

 

What other lures (and patterns) would you recommend?

Have you been catching recently, in winter? Have you found any difference of approach needed compared with summer?

[Hopinc]

There is one more avenue open to you that has not been mentioned so far - and that is making your own lures.

 

It is possible to purchase individual parts and wire forming jigs for instance to make your own spinners, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. Or you could buy unpainted plug bodies, paint them yourself and fit hooks of your personal choice. Many commercial lures are outfitted with poor hooks in my opinion.

 

Your could also purchase cheap spoons and do the same thing.

 

Attached is a picture of the "Uto" lure that I mentioned earlier, which caught me the 22.75lb pike, and this I custom painted in the hope of it appearing to be a roach. A lot of pike have liked it - you only have to see all the teeth marks marring the paint finish

 

The hook attached to this lure is an American pattern, which unfortunately I don't think is available anymore - another good idea gone by the way.

 

This hook was designed to rotate as it penetrated the fishes mouth aiding hooking. It really worked too! Wish I could get hold of some more. I think they were sold under the brand name of Excalibur. Anyway, I mention this as an example of what you might do.

 

Just a few final tips: If you decide to go plugging check your lures for true running. If they veer to one side on the retrieve adjust the nose ring with a pair of pliers. Bend it carefully in small increments, towards the direction of tracking. So if the lure goes right as it is coming towards you, bend the ring a little to the right with the plug facing you. If you get it wrong, the problem will be worse and you can just ease the ring in the opposite direction.

 

I would like to reiterate Steve Burke's excellent advice about fishing depth being all important. If you ever go to a fishery and someone else is catching and you arent, the very first thing you should ascertain is not what lure he is using, but what depth he is hooking the fish at.

 

If you know there are fish present but you aren't hooking in to any, try the lure at different depths - a 1 second countdown approximents to 1ft of depth, until you reach bottom. Try using different speeds of retrieve. Don't just bring the lure straight back (although this is sometimes best), use the rod tip so the lure undulates up and down as wounded fish would. After that move on, dont flog a dead horse.

 

I will close by saying that I personally am not a great fan of treble hooks. Quite often I remove one of the the two on plugs, on spinners I cut one of the hook legs off with strong hardened cutters. Another method I employ is to change the treble for a single hook and a split ring. I always flatten barbs down. Providing you maintain a tight line you will not lose fish because of this.

 

Tight lines all

Edited January 29, 2011 by Hopinc