Perch and silt?

[GlennB]

Here's a thought that has never entered my addled brain -

 

Carp, tench, bream etc will happily forage through the silt of a canal or lake and pick up your hookbait if they happen to find it.

Would a perch do the same? If you had a nice juicy wiggly bunch of worms down there happily digging themselves into the silt, would the perch locate them? Or is this a time to pull out the hypodermic syringe or pop them up in some other way?

 

cheers all

[Dick Dastardly]

I honestly dont know for sure Glenn but my gut reaction would be to use a more visual presentation like the "poped up" worms you describe.Ive never had any luck at night with Perch and they do seem very affected by varying light levels.Because of this (and despite having caught a lot in the coloured waters of commercial carp ponds) I would be inclined to treat them as "sight feeders" even though they have very good additional senses.Be interested to hear Steve Burkes veiws on this.

[Guest Josh Iddon]

Not sure if this is relevant or not but ive heard that perch have a very nice taste to them and dont taste as muddy as most of the other filter feeders, so I would assume that that they dnt like feeding in the silt. Josh

[Steve Walker]

Chironomid larvae (bloodworm) are known to be part of the diet of small perch. Chironomid larvae are usually found buried in silt. Therefore, it seems likely that at some point in their lifecycle perch will forage in silt.

 

I think popping a bait up would still be a good idea, though.

[GlennB]

Well, I have an inkjet refill syringe, nicely sharpened. Will the air stay in????

[Dick Dastardly]

It seeps out a bit Glen but stays in long enough to do the job.

 

Might sound a bit daft but go very carefull when using syringes to inject air.Always put the worm down on a suitable surface not on your knee or in your hand! Always make sure the needle is safely covered when not in use.

 

For popping up worms the finest needle you can get is best.Ones from the tackle shop for injecting oils into dead baits are quite thick and make a big hole in the worm.The ink jet cartridge refill ones might also be a bit to thick.

[Andy Macfarlane]

It seeps out a bit Glen but stays in long enough to do the job.

 

Might sound a bit daft but go very carefull when using syringes to inject air.Always put the worm down on a suitable surface not on your knee or in your hand! Always make sure the needle is safely covered when not in use.

 

For popping up worms the finest needle you can get is best.Ones from the tackle shop for injecting oils into dead baits are quite thick and make a big hole in the worm.The ink jet cartridge refill ones might also be a bit to thick.

 

Maybe if you ask them nicely, they'll hold their breath.

[Steve Walker]

Maybe if you ask them nicely, they'll hold their breath.

 

You know how to inflate worms, don't you? You just put your lips together...

 

[GlennB]

For popping up worms the finest needle you can get is best.Ones from the tackle shop for injecting oils into dead baits are quite thick and make a big hole in the worm.The ink jet cartridge refill ones might also be a bit to thick.

Quite right. A quick experiment last night proved the inkjet thingy put a big old hole in the worm and it deflated pretty quickly Off to Boots for me to ask about proper needles.

But I had a glorious day on the canal today anyway - caught several decent roach and bream on bread, and later put a big bunch of lobs on a #6 circle hook for the perch but caught a *huge* accidental roach I was totally gobsmacked. No camera or scales, but it was a decent chunk longer than my size 10 boots and very fat. Oh, and there was plenty of that shiny warm stuff that comes out of the sky. "Sunshine", I think it's called.

[sam-cox]

I often use worms on a cut loop paternoster rig a mate showed me. I have used this rig for years when bass fishing but not for perch!

If the line to the lead is longer than the length to the hook the bait will rest gently onto the bottom, or can be kept off the bottom.

This works well if a float is used, the lead will need to sink the float then the float moved so that only about 1.5inches is showing.