Perch paternoster question

[Dick Dastardly]

Most people hook lives for perch in the lip.I used to...... however I really believe that perch often attack a live tail first (to disable it?) so I like to tail hook them.This also helps cut down on tangles with a lot of the "up swimming" baits such as Bleak and Rudd. I wont pretend its 100% but it certainly works enough times to be worth doing.

 

Ive absolutely no faith in deads for perch although I know the Burkester has had loads on them and my Perch on lobs have more come whilst targeting other species but on the waters I intentionally fish for Perch lives have been my main line attack.

[Dick Dastardly]

That's pretty much exactly the rig I've been using!

 

 

The BIG difference is that in my rig the bomb link slides on the main line and in yours the hook link slides on it. (or so it apears from your diagram?)

[Anderoo]

Fluro Carbon (I use Tynex do you remember that? Steve Parton used to sell it for making up droppered fly casts) would help and you are right bait species (and the way you hook them) does make a difference.

 

I have found that most tangles are caused/occur when you retrieve though (tested this in very clear water).

 

I don't remember Tynex, but I have a small selection of decent flourocarbon from 6-12lb that can be pressed into service.

 

The tangles I'm getting are horrendous, I think the initial damage is done as the rig drops to the deck, and then the bait goes about making it even worse! It's frustrating as I know there are a handful of big perch (potentially very big) in this bit of river and I'm not fishing well enough to catch them. I hate the thought of being in the right place at the right time, and a monster perch ignoring my bait because the rig isn't working. All the time I'm fishing now I'm paranoid it's all tangled up, which is not a nice feeling.

[Anderoo]

The BIG difference is that in my rig the bomb link slides on the main line and in yours the hook link slides on it. (or so it apears from your diagram?)

 

No, ignore the diagram, that's one I was asking about but haven't used. The ones I've been using (both sunken float and float on the surface), the bomb link slides on the mainline.

[Anderoo]

Most people hook lives for perch in the lip.I used to...... however I really believe that perch often attack a live tail first (to disable it?) so I like to tail hook them.This also helps cut down on tangles with a lot of the "up swimming" baits such as Bleak and Rudd. I wont pretend its 100% but it certainly works enough times to be worth doing.

 

Ive absolutely no faith in deads for perch although I know the Burkester has had loads on them and my Perch on lobs have more come whilst targeting other species but on the waters I intentionally fish for Perch lives have been my main line attack.

 

I don't really like using lives, plus they're a hassle to catch and transport (buckets of water are heavy and bulky), but I have had to grudgingly accept that on certain waters, if you want to be in with a decent shot at one of the big perch, you have to use them. For some irrational reason I don't feel too bad about using bleak, so they're my first choice - but I'm sure that decision is making the tangles worse, as they always want to swim upwards.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ah I see!

 

I can understand the concern over tangling. Sat worried that your rig is tangled is never going to help your confidence. Give the stiff line and tail hooking a go and see how much that helps.

 

Tynex wasn't a Fluorocarbon just a very stiff clear nylon but it was available in a lot of sizes. Might be worth seeing if its still available (in fact I will find out for you) and also experimenting with using fairly thick (and therefore stiffer) Fluorocarbon/Tynex to construct most of the rig/parts of the rig fro, to help? Stiffer stops tangling for sure.

[Steve Walker]

I don't really like using lives, plus they're a hassle to catch and transport (buckets of water are heavy and bulky), but I have had to grudgingly accept that on certain waters, if you want to be in with a decent shot at one of the big perch, you have to use them. For some irrational reason I don't feel too bad about using bleak, so they're my first choice - but I'm sure that decision is making the tangles worse, as they always want to swim upwards.

 

My feelings exactly!

 

On the original resistance thing, you've got three factors, I'd say - weight, mass and drag. You can negate the force required to lift something heavy by tying it to something buoyant - making it "weightless" - but you cannot negate the mass of the thing, and so it will always have inertia. Imagine pushing something heavy which is on wheels or on ice - you aren't lifting it, so you can't feel the weight, but you can certainly feel the inertia. Pulling a float and some shots through the water will also generate some drag, which may or may not also be significant.

 

I can't help feeling that the problems with perch and resistance are like the problems with carp and tench, pre-bolt rig - if someone could figure out an aspect of perch feeding behaviour and a rig that exploits it such that the problem was overcome, it would revolutionise perching.

[Rusty]

.....and then the bait goes about making it even worse!

 

Bloody annoying those livebaits, you hook them in the lip to make sure they can still swim about and they have the audacity to try and get away! Give 'em an inch and they take a mile.

[Anderoo]

My feelings exactly!

 

On the original resistance thing, you've got three factors, I'd say - weight, mass and drag. You can negate the force required to lift something heavy by tying it to something buoyant - making it "weightless" - but you cannot negate the mass of the thing, and so it will always have inertia. Imagine pushing something heavy which is on wheels or on ice - you aren't lifting it, so you can't feel the weight, but you can certainly feel the inertia. Pulling a float and some shots through the water will also generate some drag, which may or may not also be significant.

 

I can't help feeling that the problems with perch and resistance are like the problems with carp and tench, pre-bolt rig - if someone could figure out an aspect of perch feeding behaviour and a rig that exploits it such that the problem was overcome, it would revolutionise perching.

 

Cheers Steve - that all makes sense. Perch are tricky customers, I can't think of another species where all this stuff matters as much.

 

I might try a straight leger with a popped-up bait - that would solve it, if the bouyancy wasn't in the way of the hook and didn't put the perch off...

[Steve Walker]

Yet when you are spinning they will often engulf and be hooked in one, or have the lure pulled out of their mouth only to chase it down and have it. Such strange behaviour, I wonder if there is a way of inducing their chasing and grabbing behaviour so they lose their caution about resistance?