perch

[kendo]

Anyone know anything about lure fishing for perch in autumn/winter from canals,I was planning on retrieving at half depth of say 2foot

(in old money )

[Newt]

Try all different depths from top to bottom and speeds from s l o w to blazing fast and from steady to stop/go/stop until something works. At that point, you will have figured out what the fish want at that momemt but subject to change at any time.

 

Be sure to hit the margins and the center with special attention to any features, no matter how slight. In water 4 feet deep and a flat bottom, even a couple inches of depression or rise can be a fish holding feature.

 

If no luck, try a different color and do the above again.

 

If no luck, try a different lure style and do the above again.

 

Some times on some days, they will be quick to hit nearly anything you present. Other days they will only want the purple buzzit thingy with the patch of green toward the head and only if it is running slowly enough to stir up bottom mud.

[Leon Roskilly]

kendo:

Anyone know anything about lure fishing for perch in autumn/winter from canals,I was planning on retrieving at half depth of say 2foot

(in old money        )

It's not for nothing that generations of lure anglers tie a tuft of red wool to the rear hook of their lures, but don't leave the wool fronds to trail too far behid the hook.

 

Perch have a habit of nipping at the tail of their prey, and you will often notice them 'plucking' at the lure, before grabbing it.

 

The theory is that they are attempting to disable the prey by damaging its tail. Hmmm! why not simply engulf it, that would disable it!!

 

Whatever, when you feel that plucking, it's as thrilling as seeing the first tentative bob of a float when there are tench about.

 

Perch prefer dull overcast days, and they will feed at a particular depth, depending upon the day's conditions.

 

Especially where the water is deep, finding the feeding depth is critical.

 

Perch will also attack surprisingly large lures, somtimes being caught on lures bigger than themselves!

 

They can also be very line shy, but you should always use a wire trace if there is any chance of hooking into a pike.

 

At the risk of stirring a controversy, a compromise to using a heavy wire trace, when the liklihood of pike attack seems low, but there are plenty of perch to be had, is to use a small single hook in place of trebles.

 

The main danger for pike is having their throat stitched by multi-point hooks. Fishing a lure, with a single small hook, is probably no more dangerous than fishing a worm on a single hook.

 

A single hook left embedded in a pike's jaw, though not desirable, shouldn't present the pike with any great problems (even with a lure attached) and will probably soon be shed.

 

If there is a very real risk of pike attack, then use one of the fine many strand trace wires.

 

These tend to be on the expensive side, but don't kink so readily, and will therefore last much longer, as well as improving lure presentation when perch are the main quarry.

 

Tight Lines - leon

 

[ 09. November 2003, 11:00 AM: Message edited by: Leon Roskilly ]

[Ken L]

You've got two basic options.

 

The fist is to go down the ultralite route and fish with a tiny spinning rod (about 5 feet)and reel. Fancast micro sized plugs and spinners, walk 5 or 10m and do it again. This is my first choice method for spring fishing because by then, most of the previous years fry have been chomped and you're more likely to get an aggressive responce to the lure. Bridges are a top place to target with this method especially on bright days. Remember that just because it's to dark for you see the lure, it doesn't follow that the fish can't see it.

 

The second choice is to make yourself a sideplanner and tow a lure behind it by walking along the towpath. Varying the amount if line that you have out will let you fish the lure anywhare from dead centre of the cut to a foot from the far bank and keep it there until you hit a fish or a snag.

This is my fist choice for early winter fishing because it let's me really search the water.

If you have access to both sides of the canal, try walking on the sunny side with the lure working a couple of feet off the far bank. In the clear water, the fish tend to sit in the shade and will hit a lure that's passing by.

If it's been really cold for a while, the opposite can be true and the fish might be on the sunny side soaking up a few rays.

 

There does seem to be a third choice using big soft plastics but it's never worked that well for me.

[Ed Matysiak]

Perch have a habit of nipping at the tail of their prey, and you will often notice them 'plucking' at the lure, before grabbing it. [/QB]

 

Perch have similar habbits to sea bass. They will nip off the tail fins to immobalise their prey before they eat them. They have also been known to kill a live bait before eating it.

I would use a little mepps spinner. Silver and red have been the most productive colours for perch i have used. Although these ultra light plugs are all the rage, i catch more on simple spinners. The flash factor is great.

[kendo]

thanks chaps the only reason I thought of perhaps retrieving at 2 foot is that I am a little bothered at the amount of rubbish you can find on the bottom these days,the red wool seems a good thing to try,thanks again.

[Dick Dastardly]

No nothing about canal perch! Big Perch on the Trout Reservoirs love ABU Atoms,the big ones at that!On rivers in France I have found all sizes of Mr Twister type grubs to work.And as a lot of people have allready mentioned the classic Mepps type spinner.

[Leon Roskilly]

BUDGIE:

Big Perch on the Trout Reservoirs love ABU Atoms,the big ones at that!

Yes, I've found that on rivers.

 

I surpressed the urge to tell Kendo about one of the best lures ever made, for pike, or for perch, because you can't get them anymore

 

Tight Lines - leon

[The Diamond Geezer]

quote:

---

Originally posted by kendo:

Anyone know anything about lure-fishing for perch in

autumn/winter

from canals

---

Yup .... it's really hard-going! Use snagless or semi-snagless lures slowly retrieved along the bottom e.g. mini-spinbaits, spoons, or grubs see here , or even small fat sinking (countdown) plugs at a push

 

There's a helpful article here about lure-fishing in colder weather, although it's not specifically about perch, and there's another here about perching with lures, though not specifically from canals in colder conditions, so maybe you can pick the relevant bits out of both

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leon Roskilly:

It's not for nothing that generations of lure anglers tie a tuft of red wool to the rear hook of their lures . Tight Lines - leon

---

I agree 100% re: the red wool hackles or similar red-addition methods

DG

 

[ 09. November 2003, 03:37 PM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

[Peter M]

I like using small soft baits like jelly worms or shads tied direct to mono with a single hook and a ssg shot down the edge of the canal and walk along to find the hot spot.