Perch on deadbaits

[Anderoo]

On bolt rigs, I should say I wouldn't rule them out completely. I would have done in the past, but have had a number of (accidental) big perch now on bolt-rigged maggots intended for tench. So trying something like Steve suggests, with a backstop a foot or so above the lead link, may well be worth trying. It'd be great if it worked! Anyone done this before?

Edited January 9, 2013 by Anderoo

[Tony U]

Anderoo, so you have given up on the dropshotting then, or is it not allowed on a commercial venue?

[Matthew Simmons]

I know you are tail hooking the the bait, but have you tried a really small stinger treble down the flank - I am thinking the sort of treble I would use for sea trout on a long fly. Something like a size 14. And then hit the bite immediately.

 

M

[Dales]

I was having some trouble last year with some Perch that would not touch lives with a wire trace (Rules stated you must use wire) and so I tried small deads hard on the bottom with fluro carbon hook lengths. I had lots of bites that sound similar with bobbin flying up but when I striked nothing. I also thought they might be eels but as I still have not had an eel that theory seems unlikely, I also though it might be small Perch picking up the bait and dropping it.

 

This was on a clear river and on one occasion the mix of maggot and sloppy groundbait I was feeding attracted in a group of decent sized Bream and I saw them take the dead bait and move off quickly giving similar bites to the tricky Perch bites I kept missing. Putting on a small chunk of fish led to a good bite indication and a Bream on the hook. Following on from this I have had the same situation with deads on a commercial water when after catfish and a quick change to a chunk has led to a big Bream. I have tried deads on a couple of commercials with fairly limited success and the sort of bite described seems common for me anyway. I always seem to find that if I am getting this sort of bites a quick change of bait size or choice of bait brings a Bream.

 

Is there a chance the bites are not Perch?

Edited January 9, 2013 by Dales

[JV44]

Or even Chub an old RDAA pit i used to Pike produced a few big Chub to sea deads wire et all ,They also gave steam off bites without connecting often and a stretched Sardine came back....god knows how they avoided the trebles but they did .

[Errrm]

I've seen perch fight over food and even try to get food while it's in another Perch mouth. I once hooked a perch on a small mepps and while reeling it in other perch were trying to steal the mepps from the perch mouth! Could it be that the perch can't swallow the deadbait straight away so they are holding it and rushing off to avoid another perch taking it from them? Can you go to smaller deadbaits? Although I'm not sure this would help. If they are bolting away from other perch they may be dropping it due to a change in resistance so as you suggested switching to drop off indicators might work better.

[Steve Burke]

If you're getting fast runs I think the first thing you need to do is work out what's causing them as this will suggest how to solve the problem. However that's easier said than done as I find perch behave differently on different waters!

 

Two possibilities immediately spring to mind. The first is the perch are behaving like chickens finding a big worm. They grab it and run away fast to avoid competitors. In this case a smaller bait might work better. I'd also suggest trying a half bait. These often outfish whole baits, probably helped by the smell.

 

The second is that the perch are suspicious of the rig. When ledgering I find it can be important to use a heavy lead (1 1/2ozs upwards) that stays put when the perch runs, otherwise it bumps along the bottom. This change in resistance all too often causes dropped runs. The distance from the lead to the bait can also be critical. Often increasing it slows the runs down. BTW, I haven't found bolt rigs that successful for perch with big baits. It's different of course with small baits such as maggots.

 

I'd also suggest changing to a rear dropoff indicator that has a sliding weight (I use a Fox Pike Swinger but change the clip to a Gardner Freeflow one). Better still, I'd lay on overdepth with an undershotted waggler. I've found that this is one rig that the perch rarely wise up to.

 

I'd add that perch on deadbaits can be notoriously difficult to hook. Many of you will remember the 4lber that Kev Green lost on the Predators programme I did for Sky TV.

 

As has already been suggested the runs could be from other species. In my experience carp in particular often give fast runs. To avoid carp I often have to go up to 5inch+ deadbaits. I've once even had a brace of small tench on 4inch deads!

 

Edit note: I was composing this as Errrm was posting something similar, then the phone went. Good thinking, Neil!

Edited January 9, 2013 by Steve Burke

[John Weddup]

Zandavan rollovers and open bail arm

 

John

[davedave]

Although I haven't got much knowledge of perch fishing as I only really started last year I found that on the water where I was fishing, deadbaits were superior to any other bait.

 

Before using deads I would always use two rods, one on prawn, one on worm, and bites were normally very jerky, the bobbin often moving 2 or 3 inches then stopping. I put this down to eels, chub or smaller fish tugging on the end of the worm. On my worm rod I did get a lot of small eels but on my prawn rod I never actually hit any of the bites so I couldn't tell you what it was.

 

In the end I decided to just try a deadbait, so my friend caught a small roach, I knocked it on the head, lip hooked it, and put it on the exact same rig I had been using with worm and prawn. That morning I had a pb of 1lb 7oz, which although not huge, was a lot bigger than what I had been catching. The bite was a steady lift, not hugely fast but I had just enough time to strike.

 

I keep meaning to try deadbaits again as it was really succesful, but haven't got round to it. Overall I found worms and prawns meant I was pestered by smaller fish and had frustrating jerky bites, whereas with deadbaits bites were not as often at all but steady and fluid, and in my case resulted in better fish.

 

Dave

[Anderoo]

Lots of interesting replies!

 

Tony, no lure fishing allowed, otherwise I would be trying exactly that. How are you getting on with it?

 

I'd rather not use trebles for perch, even small ones. Although hooking the bait in a different place, or using half a bait as Steve suggests is definitely worth trying.

 

There are both bream and chub in the water, so perhaps they are the culprit after all...hopefully smaller baits and fishing rear indicators with an open bailarm will result in more fish hooked, and we can then see what they are.

 

Steve B, have you been back to your new perch venue yet...?