Steve Ringer
goes in search of perch plus new Ask Ringer Q&A
OVER the last few years one fish that has really come to the fore on commercials up and down the country is the perch.
I’m not talking about just catching the odd big one – weights in excess of 50lb of perch have been recorded on some waters, which is exceptional fishing whichever way you look at it.
So important have big perch become on some lakes that they have acquired their own nickname of MVPs (most valuable perch)!
You see, in a match five or six big perch for 10lb-plus can make a big difference at the final whistle – indeed, on some venues they have become an essential fish to target.
WHERE TO FISH
The best place to target perch on commercials is in the margins. They love to patrol the edges, probably because they find food there. If you have an edge swim with a feature such as an overhanging tree or reed bed, better still.
Once it gets cold you ideally want 3ft in the edges to catch large numbers of perch. I’d go so far as to say the deeper the edges the better, where perch are concerned.
If your swim does not offer deep edges, don’t despair – you can also catch perch short in front of you. It’s an area that doesn’t tend to be as good as the edges but perch can still be caught there in numbers.
The perfect perch peg will offer depth in both left and right margins, so you can fish the two and alternate between them. It’s important that both edge swims aren’t too far away from you. Perch love a bait falling through the water, so being able to feed by hand makes a big difference.
COMMERCIAL PERCH RIGS
Float choice when fishing for perch depends on depth. Today I’m on Pines lake at Alders Farm, near MiltonKeynes, where I have 2ft 6ins in the edge. This is slightly shallower than I’d like.
I’ve opted for a 10x11 MW F1 slim, a very versatile pattern which was originally designed for F1s yet lends itself perfectly to silver fish work.
Mainline is 0.15mm Guru N-Gauge, and my hooklength is 6ins of 0.12mm Pure Fluorocarbon. I
I would normally opt for a 4ins hooklength when fishing in 2ft 6ins of water, but when perch fishing I feel 6ins is better because it allows the hookbait a bit more movement.
Shotting is a loosely-strung bulk of No11s, with the bottom one 6ins from the hook and the rest spaced at 1ins intervals above.
Most bites come as the float settles, almost as if the perch are following the hookbait down.
Big perch, in particular, can be a nightmare to land as they have very hard, bony mouths. You strike and the elastic streams out of the end of the pole-tip, only to ping back just as quickly as the hooks pulls out.
Setting the hook for perch fishing is key, so I use a slightly heavier elastic than would normally be the case in the form of Orange Hydro. This gives me a bit of power to set the hook. You also need to strike properly – a gentle lift as you would do with carp won’t cut it when big perch are about!
One good thing about perch, though, is that they are greedy fish and if you bump one the chances are it will just carry on feeding and you’ll get another chance soon afterwards!
Don’t give a hooked perch too much respect when you’re playing it. The longer you play it, the more chance there is of it coming off.
Be patient when the float goes under. Try and wait that extra second and you’ll bump far fewer fish.
FAVOURITE HOOKBAITS
If I’m feeding maggots, as I have been today, I’ll fish maggots on the hook, kicking off with double maggot, a decent-sized hookbait perch can really home in on.
That said, once I’ve caught a few, switching from two to one can sometimes produce another run of fish, almost as though they have seen their mates being caught on two – they aren’t about to make the same mistake!
One change that can make a big difference when the water is clear is to fish one white and one red maggot. I’m sure the extra bit of colour the white maggot provides makes all the difference in terms of getting a few more bites out of the swim.
If I’m feeding casters, the same rule will apply – I’ll fish what I’m feeding on the hook. Double caster is the ultimate big-perch bait, but single caster is more of a banker for bites.
I LOVE ‘MOST VALUABLE PERCH!’ continued