Six tips to perch watercraft
Work out where they are and get stuck in
WHEN it comes to catching predators by design, watercraft is king.
Thinking about what you’re doing and, more importantly, what the fish are doing, will not only save you precious time, but also deliver the kind of sport you’re after.
One angler who understands watercraft only too well is Fox Rage expert Gary Edmonds. Gary has been lure fishing for decades, and seems to have a sixth sense for tuning in to what predators are getting up to.
“There are no hard and fast rules to it,” smiles Gary as he steps on to the banks of his local Rib Valley Lakes, ready to cast for perch. “But in general, if you apply the right thinking, you can usually work out where they’ll be – and from there you can work out what it’s going to take to catch them.”
1 TIMING
Get out of bed early for the best chance of catching perch, which will usually be very active just as the sun rises. “It can be hard work, but it’s usually worth it,” Gary explains.
“Depending on conditions, you’ll usually get a good hour or two of activity.” This early morning action is based on light levels. The predators make use of the cover of shade and this, combined with their superior eyesight, gives them an advantage over prey fish.
“The same is true of dusk but, in my experience, it’s first light when you really have the best chance, especially with perch,” says Gary.
2 LIGHT
Light, and the amount of it, has a big impact on the activity levels of predators. But that’s not just confined to first and last light.
“Realistically, the best days are dull, with a good ripple on the water which breaks up the light under the surface even further,” Gary explains.
“Even when the sun is up high and bright overhead, some of the worst conditions, you can still use light levels to your advantage.
“I look for a number of things. First off, natural shade from trees and bushes always works well. That contrast between the dark and bright water areas will attract predators which will hang in the cover of the shadows. Areas such as the margins of islands that are in shade are always great to try if you can reach them.”
3 LAKE TOPOGRAPHY
The underwater make-up of a lake has a huge impact on where you will find your target species.
It’s easy to just think of the bottom of the water in front of you as sloping off and then being fairly uniform, but that is hardly ever the case.
“It’s crucial to get a good idea of what is happening in front of you so you can fish for the predators in the most likely spots and make your fishing more likely to result in bites,” Says Gary.
“If you don’t know a water, it’s worth taking the time to cast your lure around and count it down on a tight line, waiting for it to touch bottom, at which point the line will go slack. You’re looking for variations in the time it takes for your lure to reach bottom. That will indicate changes of depth.”
These changes of depth are the areas that Gary will spend his time fishing, be that a steep drop off, a hole, a bar in open water, or in a fairly uniform area, even just a slight dip – all can be enough to hold fish, especially perch.
“Predators will be looking for areas where they can sit and gain a tactical advantage over their prey,” says Gary, casting out his lure.
“That could just be light cover as they sit lower down on a slope, or lurk on the far side of a bar.”
4 TEMPERATURES
“In the winter, as the temperature drops the fish will be slow but still need to feed, although this can be in small windows of time during the day,” explains Gary,
“They will also look to have a more stable temperature that is less affected by sudden drops caused by overnight frosts and the like. They look to go to deeper water which is more temperatures-table, and that’s where you will most likely find them.
“On days when the temperature lifts, prey fish will move to shallower water which will warm up more quickly, and the predators will follow. On those warmer winter days I will quite often target the slightly deeper water behind shallows where I can see prey fish. This can result in some great sport.”
5 MAN-MADE AREAS
Although they are always talked about in terms of fish-holding spots, man-made structures such