Deep hooked perch

[Steve Burke]

Ant, I haven't ever used a Slammo disgorger, although I know it's got a good reputation. However, I'm afraid the design of a disgorger, however good it is, isn't going to help in this particular case. Whichever disgorger you use, if the hook is out of sight it's likely to cause the death of the perch.

[Anthony78]

I have been using a slammo for about the last two years and havnt killed a perch in that time. I havnt caught loads of perch so might have just been lucky but have found this to be the best method for me. I must admit that if i couldnt get the hook out at the first attempt then I would probably cut the line rather than keep prodding around.

Is it true that the perch's heart is in its throat?

Ant

[John Ellison]

I'm with Anthony78 on the use of the slammo. I think it helps with my concience when you've taken out a deep hooked perch with a slammo and after five hours in a keepnet they still look OK

What happens after, who can tell?

The use of a normal disgorger often results in certain death.

[Steve Burke]

Yes, Ant, the perch's heart and the arteries leading to it are near the surface of the throat.

 

Have either or both of you successfully used a Slammo when the hook has been out of sight? If so I take back what I said, and may well investigate further. However, I must confess I'm concerned about using anything to prod around deep in a perch.

[Andy Macfarlane]

I normally use long shank hooks for Perch. Apart from the fact you can stuff four lobworms on a size 6, you can usually reach the hook without any prodding and poking about.

Just my two cents.

[Steve Burke]

Andy, I too do so when using lobs for many species, my choice being Kamasan Aberdeens. In size 6, the smallest available, they're fairly fine in the wire and have a smaller barb than many similar patterns. As you say you can get a lot of bait on such a hook!

 

For live and dead baits I use the Ashima Super Match range. These are wide-gaped, medium shank, fine wire hooks with a tiny barb. In fact on a size 6 the barb is about the size of that on a normal microbarbed size 16! The only thing I don't like about them is that they're spade end.

 

If anyone knows where I can get any in size 2, 4 or 8 please, please let me know as they're no longer available! The colour is immaterial. I've found similar ones but with a slightly bigger barb in in Germany where they're sold as zander hooks, although still only in spade end as far as I know.

 

Having said all this, with big perch the mouth is so cavernous there's no problem in getting your fimgers inside to remove even a short shank hook. However, with smaller fish I agree with Andy that a long shanked hook can be easier to remove.

 

Either way though, I still won't try and take even a long shank hook out of a perch if the bend of the hook is out of sight.

[GlennB]

ricey:

bigger baits and hooks dont always work. i've had small perch deep hooked on a fat lob on a size 6!

Ditto.

But if you genuinely believe that little perch is done for, maybe it's better to knock it on the head and put it in the freezer as a dead bait? It'll probably have had a cleaner death than some mackerel that's suffocated in a trawler hold or been filleted while still half alive.

 

[ 21. June 2005, 11:43 PM: Message edited by: GlennB ]

[DavyR]

Thanks - That's all 3 of my options with arguments for and against! I think I'll just avoid using any bait that might be gorged by small perch (and I'm talking 3-4 inches here!) until the autumn comes and the small stuff becomes less active.

I'm aware of the problem with barbless hooks and perch, but my local water is very strict on its "barbless only" rule. And it does have some very big perch (4lb+).

As the baliff says. "The best bait for them is a dead gudgeon. But I don't allow deadbaiting on here"

[Andy Macfarlane]

A bigger bait usually gets poked and prodded at by small fish and you can usually move the bait without hooking up. Hence using big hooks and big baits. A good knock on the rod usually indicates that something with a larger mouth has woofed the bait.