Perch Fishing: Tackle & Tactics - James Champkin

This entry was posted on 15th January, 2015

Stillwater Perch Fishing: Tackle & Tactics

I have recently been committing most of my free time (which during the winter months is always very limited) to the pursuit of a very large stillwater perch. Unfortunately, these forays have been generally without success, and thus with little to report this month I thought I would quickly run through a couple of the most effective rigs that you can use to target a specimen perch for yourself.

One set-up that I have used to good success in the past is the float-paternoster, fished with a small live bait. This rig incorporates a large loafer float, light lead and a hook length attached to a small swivel bead fixed between two grippa stops, allowing free rotation of the hook length around the mainline, minimising tangles and enabling the live bait to swim around a fixed position. This is a very flexible set-up but I generally try to fix the float at dead depth with just a couple of inches protruding from the surface; I try to have a few exploratory casts before attaching the bait so as not to damage it. Some people fish a sunken float-paternoster, but personally I prefer to use the float itself as bite indication.

Rig components: - Drennan loafer floats - Drennan grippa stops - Drennan swivel beads - ½ oz leads - Kamasan B980 hooks size 6



Another fantastic set-up for perch, in addition to a plethora of other species, is the helicopter feeder rig. This is my rig of choice when targeting specimen perch on very large still waters; I have been using it regularly when fishing a number of local reservoirs, where I am casting to distances of 70 or 80 yards. This is simplicity itself but offers superb anti-tangle properties and is often fished with a large maggot feeder and maggot or worm hook baits.

Rig components: - Drennan black-cap feeders - Korum quick-change helicopter rigs

Buy Specimen Perch Fishing Tackle