I love lure fishing for perch because its fun, and it goes against traditional methods such as float fishing and ledgering.
Because perch are predatory fish, they really do relish the chance to chase a lure around a lake!
So why not make that YOUR lure?
We have put together a guide that includes all the tackle, bait and rigs you will need to get started lure fishing for perch.
What Rod Do I Need To Go Lure Fishing For Perch?
Because perch are a small species, they require a lightweight fishing rod.
However, this also depends on what size lure you are using!
What strength rod you should buy again, depends on what size lure you will fish with.
A medium-light (ML) rod is the perfect weight that covers most size lures and distances.
When lure fishing for perch, the length should be kept short.
We recommend a 6ft or 7ft rod.
Here are some popular examples of the best rods for perch fishing, which include the Abu Garcia Devil Spinning Rod, the Shakespeare Ugly Stik GX2 and the Daiwa Ninja X Spin.
What Reel Should I Use When Lure Fishing For Perch?
I would strongly suggest choosing a reel size of between 500 and 2500.
Anything heavier than that would make your setup feel unbalanced!
Plus you don’t need tons of line for perch fishing.
Around 150m is more than enough!
Remember, the higher the reel capacity – the more line it can hold.
Some of our suggestions include:
What Line Should I Use For Perch fishing?
What line you use is more important than any other tackle!
You can use mono, braid or fluorocarbon, each has its own benefits.
Mono is versatile, and is most commonly used for all types of fishing due to its elasticity.
Because it is transparent, its highly conspicuous to most fish!
Braid offers very little stretch, but is very strong.
It’s not as discreet as mono fishing line, but offers a greater degree of bite detection as you can feel the slightest action underwater, hopefully by a hungry perch!
Finally, fluorocarbon is often used as a leader for your mainline because its almost invisible underwater, plus predators, especially those with teeth, struggle to break or cut the line.
It’s somewhere in the middle of mono and braid, offering a bit of stretch and is comfortable to work with (such as tying knots)
I prefer to use braid when lure fishing for perch.
I recommend that you also use braid if you are new to lure fishing!
This is because it lasts much longer, and is better value for money, and you will lose less fish.
Recommended Lines
What Lures Should I Use When Fishing For Perch?
There are thousands of lures that come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours.
Because of this, I will try and explain a handful that I use in my fishing as a guide.
I would suggest starting with a handful of soft lures.
Worm Lures
Perch loves worms – but don’t most fish?
Therefore, attaching an imitation worm style lure to your hook is almost always a winner!
You could also choose to fish real worms.
The Shad
I love fishing for shads!
Again, there are many shapes, sizes and colours to choose from.
You should use shads with jig heads, which adds weight and increased movement.
After all, when lure fishing for perch – you are trying to imitate a prey fish to entice a strike!
The two most effective ways to fish a shad include:
- Casting, letting the lure hit the bottom, and then reel it back in
- Jig it just under the surface. (cast, reel, stop, reel, stop etc)
The Spinner
A old skool method that is still very effective, using a spinner to catch perch is explosive!
If my luck is out using worms, or soft lures, you will often find me fishing for perch using a lovely gold spinner.
I would strongly recommend investing in a Mepps Spinner Kit if you are serious about building a good collection of fishing lures.
They’re cost effective too!
How To Use Jig Heads?
This is a valuable question, and one that is asked by many beginners to coarse fishing, who struggle to understand why and how they are used.
If you are new to using soft lures, you may find this helpful!
A jig head is basically a mini leger (weight) with a hook built into it.
The hook is ‘speared’ into the front end of a soft plastic lure which is then delicately threaded down the shank until the ‘head of the fishing lure’ butts up against the back of the jig head.
The jig head makes sure that the soft lure sinks.
It also offers great aerodynamic properties when casting because the weight is loaded more towards the front.
When buying soft lures, you can attach various weights of jig heads.
I suggest experiment until you find an action that suits you.
One final tip that I recommend is that instead of tying the jig head directly onto your mainline, it’s good practice to use a leader.
This prevents larger predators, such as pike, from chasing your lure and cutting the line!
Jigging Rigs, Tips & Tactics
Perch Fishing Setup
Now we have talked about the tackle required when lure fishing for perch, how about going through a complete setup?
This simple light spinning setup includes:
- A light spinning rod, either 5ft, 6ft or 7ft in length
- Choose a light rod (L) capable of casting lures between 5g and 15g
- A front drag fixed spool reel, size 2500 is perfect for this arrangement
- Select an 8-strand braid with a breaking strain of 20lb
- Around 18 inches of fluorocarbon (6 to10lb breaking strain is just fine)
- The fluorocarbon will be used as your leader to connect your lure to your mainline.
- I suggest tying your mainline to your leader using an albright knot (see below)
Because we have chosen braid, this gives you the option of casting further and fishing deeper waters.
You can use any of the lures that we’ve mentioned – and you are now ready to start lure fishing for perch!
Where To Find Perch?
So, you’ve got the gear and you’re all set and ready to fish, but where will you find perch?
Watercraft (learning everything there is to know about the lake you are fishing) is everything no matter fishing discipline you choose.
On your first approach to a lake, you should start by observing the lake as much as possible.
Perch like shelter, so keep an eye for hotspots because perch like to feel confident when they are in a predatory mood.
On the other hand, you should scan for areas showing signs of baitfish. These are likely to be where perch hunt.
Areas such as overhanging trees, reed beds and lily pads often hold plenty of perch.
Once you have located a potential area, it’s time to cast out a rig and start teasing this in and around those areas.
I tend to start with a small lure, and if I am consistently landing small perch, I will switch up to a larger lure and target specimen perch.
What Is The Best Bait For Catching Perch?
We’ve discussed a lot about lure fishing for perch, but what baits works best?
Any kind of worm works really well, as does maggots and even prawns!
In fact, I tend to scatter a few of these baits around areas I think are holding perch, then wait for a reaction before casting in my lure.
It’s worth mentioning not to go too overboard with this method.
Perch have small mouths and can fill themselves up rather quickly!
Summary
Thanks for reading our lure fishing perch guide!
We really hope that you can now proceed to buy the right tackle, and have the knowledge to go out and catch a few perch.
Remember that you don’t need to use think lines or a big rod to catch perch.
Small hooks (size 4 or 6) are more than enough if you decide to switch over to float or ledgering.
We hope you visit our website again soon!
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Last update on 2024-12-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
