Fly fishing for perch

[Excalibur]

Hi all. This year I want to try out my fly rod on some white perch instead of my usual spinning gear. Have any of you tried the same? If so, I was hoping someone could answer a couple questions. 1)how do you stow your rigged fly rod on your kayak while paddling between or to different fishing locations? 2) Have you found any fly patterns which tend to work well on white perch? I find spinnerbaits productive with spinning gear but I'm not sure what to go with on the fly. I do have some grass shrimp flies I tied but I'm looking for other ideas too.

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[bignose]

When I was fly fishing, I laid my fly rod along the deck. I was in a canoe, but I don't see where you couldn't do the same in a kayak.

A wooly / crystal flash bugger tied on a plated hook would work. White or charteuse.

A gummy minnow in silver would work.

And a small sparsely tied Clouser minnow would be effective.

These are not my flies, they are examples downloaded via Google. But I have tied all of these in the past.

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[Mark]

Excalibur,

I fly fish for white perch in late spring and summer when they frequent shallow waters in tidal rivers and creeks.

They are especially susceptible to Clouser Minnows as Stu mentioned above. My preferred Clouser color pattern for white perch is blue over white. I've also used crystal buggers made from chartreuse Estaz bodies and marabou tails. Size 4 and size 6 hooks work well.

Although I mostly use streamers for them, white perch will hit indeed surface flies. Here's one I caught on a Sneaky Pete slider by Gaines:

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And here's one caught with a blue and white Clouser:

WP Clouser.jpg

I use a 4 or 5 wt. rod with floating line and an 8 or 9 foot leader with 8 pound mono tippet.

Rod storage is helped by Scotty which makes a fly rod holder. I have attached Scotty Mounts to my milk crate and BlackPak and I carry my fly rods behind my seat in both of my kayaks with those Scotty holders. Here are photos the fly rod holders and how I mounted them on my crate and BlackPak:

A.jpg B.jpg

Here's a couple of shots showing how I carry them in my Ultimate:

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Also in my Ultimate, I simply lay the fly rod I am using in front of me as I paddle from spot to spot. I let the line freely float in the water as I travel. That saves time when I get to my next fishing spot because the line I need is already stripped from the reel. I can't do this in my Hobie, of course, because the pedals and fins get in the way. In this photo you can see the rod tip sticking out over the bow of my Ultimate as I paddle:

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If you're using only one fly rod you can probably get away with this method of carrying the rod in most paddle kayaks. However, I keep mine in the Scotty holders whenever I enter and exit the boat to make sure I do not step or sit on it. A Scotty rod holder is a worthwhile investment,

Lastly, sometimes I cheat. I will cast a spinning rod rigged with a jig spinner or a Mr. Twister to a likely perch site. If I catch a perch, I might put down the spinning rod and toss the fly rod on my next and subsequent casts, In other words, I sometimes use conventional tackle to find the fish and then switch to a fly to catch them.

Good luck to you. White perch are a lot of fun to catch on the fly. I'm certain you'll enjoy it.

[Excalibur]

Thank you to both Stu and Mark for the insightful replies.

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[msjcl]

Are you guys standing in the yak when you fly fish?

[Mark]

Are you guys standing in the yak when you fly fish?

Never

[Excalibur]

I plan on sitting

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