Avoiding Deep-Hooked Perch

[Andy Macfarlane]

As an alternative to foam/lead, have you considered a neutral-density wooden ledger ? Made out of old bits of oak or similar very dense wood. Source ? - old round-section chair legs etc, ready turned, so all you need do is saw off a bit, drill it through, taper the ends if you wish, and you are in business. Already camouflaged (!!). Balance so it just sinks (lots of ways, wire wrapping, fancy carp-style "Heavy Metal", etc etc) Find an old piece of teak and it will sink already.

 

 

Or, as an improvisation at the waterside, choose a big float, fix it top and bottom just above your shot, and overshot it so that it sinks slowly.

 

A disadvantage compared with wooden leger is the resistance, which perch don't like, but I have improvised (successfully) with this method to present a very slow sinking bait in very deep Texas lakes, when fishing for white bass, which swim at all depths (and you have to guess which on the day).

 

In all the time I've been fishing, I've never heard of that until now. Most fishing techniques up here are still trapped in the 1800s, so you imagine I'd have come across it somewhere.

 

That sounds like something I might try, even just for the sake of it, for interest if nothing else.

[robtherake]

In all the time I've been fishing, I've never heard of that until now. Most fishing techniques up here are still trapped in the 1800s, so you imagine I'd have come across it somewhere.

 

That sounds like something I might try, even just for the sake of it, for interest if nothing else.

 

I have some somewhere that I made for fishing on a very silty bottom, Andy. They're fashioned from balsa; roughly arlesey bomb-shaped, with a swivel glued in one end and a bomb glued in the other. It took a little while to get the proportions right, but when balanced they sink very slowly and it was not uncommon to get bites on the drop. They're also useful for fishing on top of submerged weed.

[Andy Macfarlane]

I've seen the bouyant bombs Fox came out with a few years ago but never seen anyone making balanced weights. I make knock up a few and see what happens. I know some carp that might respond to a bit of that treatment.

[gozzer]

That's why I mentioned the Lignum Vitae leger weights, barely buoyant, and needs little, if any, weight adding.

One way I've done it in the past, is to drill a hole right through the centre of the wood, and push a wire rod through it, so it sticks out about ³/8th of an inch, and put on line with two float rubbers. The wire provides the ballast, and it's easy to change if needed.

 

John.