FIVE GREAT BAITS WORTH A TRY
LOBWORMS
AN ALL-time classic and a bait which has accounted for probably more big perch than most. One way you can really make a lobworm stand out is to pop it up slightly off the bottom by injecting it with air at one end via a syringe. Only do this against a solid base, not over your hand or leg! If you have to use a barbless hook, trap the worm on the hook shank by hooking a small piece of elastic after it, or tip it with a red maggot.
PRAWNS
AN EXCELLENT bait on pressurised stillwaters where the fish have seen it all. Buy prawns cooked and peeled from a supermarket. Large king prawns make a fine hookbait, combined with mini or baby prawns for feed. You can also flavour the king prawns with liquids beforehand, especially bloodworm, krill, shrimp and worm extracts.
CASTERS
BIG baits aren’t always best and it’s not uncommon to hook a large perch when fishing smaller baits, such as maggot or caster, for small fish. If the fish have been hammered on lobworms they may take a caster, for example, in preference. These baits work well on pole rigs or small wagglers, usually fished close-in or in the margins on a little-and-often basis. Fish a caster a few inches overdepth on a size 16 or 18 hook.
RUBBER LURES
FISHING with soft rubber lures has really taken off in the UK in recent years and has accounted for lots of large perch. These can either be fished with a drop shot set-up (a small weight attached at the end of the line below) or as a jighead, with a ball of lead as the weight sitting next to the eye of the hook. Use short soft rods and braided mainline, with a fluorocarbon hooklink of a few feet or so in length. Work them around features such as boatyards on canals.
LIVEBAITS
PERHAPS the most natural and appealing bait of all for a huge stripey, where allowed and where the angler is happy to do so. Small livebaits work best, especially small roach, minnows or even small perch. They will need to be lip-hooked with a large hook, such as a size 4. A float rig is hard to beat due to the lack of resistance and a large float such as a Loafer will be best.