Dropshot and Lure Fishing for Perch - FULL GUIDE

perch are a super aggressive predator covered in stripes with big spiky fins and an attitude to match their impressive appearance they're an incredible species of fish to target on any method but this video in particular is going to be about drop shot and lure fishing for perch if you want to catch big perch you've come to the right place because this video is going to teach you how to tie a drop shot rig how to set up a soft plastic lure on a jig head and also how to work these lures so stick around and let's get to it we recently fished a place called charlie's lake somewhere known to produce big big perch over the last few seasons we were joined by two expert perch anglers adam and brett who solely target perch with lures so they were very interested to see who would catch the most given that i chose to start my day using real worms on a drop shot rig using real worms has often produced us bites on days where nothing else has worked and on this particular session we were fishing a relatively small lake which i thought was going to be very difficult so i decided to start the day using real worms on the drop shot [Music] oh there's one that's my first one well this isn't one of the monster coats that lives this thing but it's a it's a first fish that perch is actually the same length as my worm oh there's a bite [Music] that fish must feel like it's got paparazzi all around it yes and then don't look over there because there's another one oh it's so cute [Music] alex decided to use a soft plastic drop shot lure to see if that would tempt a slightly larger fish to bite [Music] you've got one yeah [Music] another baby one again tiny perch were on it instantly we were going to have to rethink our tactics drop shotting with worms was producing good numbers of fish but they were all very small so we decided to try covering a little bit more water and switching over to a soft plastic lure on a jig head using a lure like this means that you can cast further and retrieve it quicker than when drop shotting these lures wiggle on the retrieve which makes them perfect for casting around and finding the fish [Music] to set up a lure like this you just need a soft plastic lure and a jig head we normally use jig heads of between 5 and 10 grams and a lower around 7 centimeters at times we'll use a larger jig head of 20 grams or so but that's normally when fishing from a boat dropping the lure down into very deep water firstly take your soft plastic lure and line it up with the jig head by doing this you can see exactly where the hook needs to exit the lure make a small nick in the lure to mark it [Music] thread the lure onto the hook until you reach the mark that you have made pop the hook point out and push the lure around to the waist on the head [Music] now this lure is ready to fish with but because of the size of the lure and the speed that you tend to retrieve it it can often attract the attentions of pike and that's why if there are pike in the water that you're planning on fishing definitely fish it with a metal trace to avoid getting bitten off obviously if you're 100 certain that there are no pike in the water that you're fishing maybe no pike have been stocked or they just don't really exist in the particular body of water that you're at then you can get away with using fluorocarbon rather than a metal trace but you definitely want to use metal if there are pike around to tie up a trace you will need some wire material look for a fairly thin one if possible you'll also need a micro swivel a link clip like this one some crimps and a crimping tool scissors or wire cutters will also be essential my crimp tool has actually got wire cutters on the end which is pretty handy first cut off around 8 to 10 inches of wire thread on a crimp and then pass the wire through the eye of the link clip then pass the wire back through the crimp and tighten it down towards the clip a small gap leaves room for movement next take your crimping tool and compress the metal crimp to trap the material tightly in place it is important to use a specific crimping tool rather than pliers as the crimp must be compressed to the correct amount to ensure total strength trim the tag end and then repeat the process at the other end of the trace but with a micro swivel with a trace like this tied up all you'll need to do is tie your braid to the swivel at one end of the trace clip on a lure and you're ready to get fishing when using a lure like this we've found a good retrieve is as follows cast out and let the lure sink all the way to the bottom do a couple of quick turns of the reel to pull the lure up and away from the bottom and then let it fall back down again reel a couple of times again and let it fall back down the key is to keep the tension in the line as the lure is falling because we've had a lot of gentle little bites as that lure is falling through the water it's worth striking and setting the hook at any of those little taps or knocks on the rod tip because any of those little indications could be perched taking your look [Music] oh yeah yeah yeah oh wow yes yeah this is a better one oh yes oh my goodness alex no no oh that was chunky man that was a nice one that was chunky that was a good perch and it came off and cold just fell in the lake although we sadly lost that fish it wasn't long before the lure produced another bite [Music] oh yeah oh yes yeah i've got something decent he's the biggest one of the day [Music] they're getting a bit bigger alex he's gone i'm excited to try and hook up into another one of those big ones that i hooked earlier i'm still gutted about that you're still gutted i'm still soaking wet we started the day fishing for perch with drop shot tactics i had a soft plastic lure on the drop shot carl tried a real worm but we soon realized that there are thousands and thousands of small perch in this lake and we simply couldn't do a cast without the worm being stolen or just catching one of those small ones so i switched tactics i've just put on a five gram jig head and then a soft plastic lure which is just big enough so that those small perch can't actually get the hook in their mouth they'll nibble at the end but they won't actually take the whole thing and since i've changed i hooked into a really nice one earlier and also just had a slightly bigger one as well so the change of tactics has worked less fish but they've been bigger so we're just going to keep at it what are you going to do carl you're going to change have you switched over to a big one yeah i've got a lure like that on my old as well i think that's going to be the way we've even got some even bigger ones as well so we can switch to those later i've got crayfish those as well which i want to try they'll probably work because apparently there are crayfish in this lake and the perch love eating crayfish that's probably why especially small crayfish the big ones they get too big to eat but yeah the baby crayfish are food for perch yep let's keep casting we've got to catch before today is out we've got to catch a three pound percent whoa three powers setting the bar high one's moving fast well i was saying that they there's little cats from the bigger ones it is important when fishing for perch no matter what type of lure you're using that you set the hook when you get a bite perch you've got quite hard mouth and if you don't set that hook with a good strong strike it's quite likely that the the hook won't properly penetrate the fish's mouth and you you'll often lose them as they shake their head on the surface if you don't pull at least a little bit hard when you first hook the fish it's quite likely that the fish will rise up to the surface shake its head and the hook will fall out so a good little strike should ensure that you don't lose too many maybe two probably a pound of three quarters adam was also catching the odd fish on the lures and then out of nowhere we heard a shout from down the bank brett got himself a bigger that's a problem nice job all right oh beauty nice job well i'm glad someone here could catch one of the big ones [Music] look at that perch are impressive big dorsal fin and bright red fins oh what a nice fish [Music] later in the day the fishing became increasingly difficult and when those perch don't want to chase a fast moving lure it's often a good idea to switch over to drop shot and work your lure a lot slower i decided to switch back to the drop shot rig and it ended up paying off now we're going to show you how to tie a drop shot rig to set it up you will need some fluorocarbon fluoro is a tough and transparent line material we tend to use five pound breaking strain if the water is free of weed or obstacles but if the fish are really big and there's loads of branches tree roots and the like then 10 pound fluorocarbon is better suited along with a spool of furrow you'll also need a hook we normally use something between a size 8 to a size 4. a size 8 is good for small soft plastic lures but larger sizes come in handy when using bigger lures or bunches of worms lastly you'll need a drop shot weight these come in a range of sizes pick yours depending on the depth of the water the deeper the lake or river is the larger weight you'll need to stay in contact with the lure firstly cut off around a meter of fluorocarbon pass the hook onto your line and thread it down around halfway down the line create a loop with the hook hanging at the bottom of it then create another loop with the line and begin to pass it through the first loop ensure that the hook stays hanging at the bottom whilst you pass the loop around four or five times then you have to put the hook eye through the new loop pinch in place to ensure the eye doesn't come out of the loop moisten the knot and then begin to tighten it down pulling on both ends evenly tweak the hook and knot down tight the position should be like this the angle of the hook is such that when a fish takes your bait it's very likely to get hooked tying this knot isn't easy and at first it will be a little bit tricky but it's definitely worth the effort as it creates much better presentation than a palomar knot the most important thing with a drop shot rig is the angle of the hook if that hook is upside down with the point facing the floor or if it's sort of fallen to one side on the rig it's far less likely to hook the fish's mouth when a perch actually takes your lure by using the knot that we just showed you it ensures that that hook is facing upwards at all times and that should a fish take the bait it's definitely at a prime position to hook that fish with the hook attached you'll now want to position your drop shot weight just beneath the hook when we're casting quite far out for example on a large reservoir we like to use a gap of around 9 to 12 inches between the weight and the hook whereas when we're fishing a lot closer in underneath the rod tip we'll go for around six inches of separation between the weight and the hook the reason for this difference is because the further out you fish the more acute your line angle becomes as the angle is more acute the lure becomes closer to the lake bed the only other time where we'll use quite a long gap between the weight and the hook is if we're trying to twitch the lure or worm over some weeds using a long length between the weight and the hook enables you to suspend your bait up and above that low lying weight to work allure on a drop shot you don't really need to impart very much action into that lure the drop shot is not designed for moving the lure right up and down through the water or covering much water at all to be honest it tends to be a method where you cast it out let it sink down to the bottom and then very very gently vibrate your rod tip the aim is to make that small lure just jiggle almost on the spot as if it's a small injured fish you can then reel the rod down um tighten up the line and then just make tiny little twitches back towards you again the best way to fish the drop shot is quite slow and it can at times be a little bit boring but it's probably the best way to winkle out fish that are not keen on chasing fast-moving lures it's quite a um what's the word it's quite a subtle there's another word no it doesn't begin with it sausage no it doesn't begin with s sandwich it doesn't begin with s snake it's quite a slow and subtle presentation which requires quite a lot of finesse but it's definitely worth mastering for those times where perch don't want to chase the look if you're curious about the type of kit we use for our perch fishing a seven foot rod is pretty much ideal remember you'll be holding it at all times so a relatively light rod is helpful a 1000 or 2000 size spinning reel is ideal and we tend to use 10 pound braid on there for a nice balanced set up back at the lake the light was now fading but i managed to get one more bite before heading home look at that what a beauty thanks for watching the video feel free to check out one of the other perch fishing videos that we've made on screen now hopefully you enjoyed and we'll see you next time [Music]

Channel: Fishing Tutorials

Views: 81,956

Keywords: perch, perch fishing, lure, drop shot, dropshot

Id: AHS1PTfgMp4

Length: 16min 33sec (993 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 10 2020