Mid-Severn report: 11 Perch and 5 under sized rockfish

[manlystanley]

Went out Perch fishing one last time, before rockfish season starts. Water was 74.5, cloudy, warm. Generally, perfect day to be on the water.

I tried re-fish the spot I fished last week (e.g. 3 feet seaweed in 6 ft of water), but it produced very little today. However, about 200 years away, on a sandy bottom, it seems much better. Most Perch caught in 5-7 feet of water. Many more red-blobs of bait fish seen, lots more jumping fish as well.

In general, looking forward to next Tuesday, as I start Rockfish season! I can't wait.

Best Regards,
Stan

[Mark]

Stan,

Why would you stop perch fishing now?

They're just getting started, albeit later than usual. They're not even close to their peak numbers yet. Plus, stripers and perch often swim together, especially as the season progresses. They're cousins in the fish world and frequently occupy the same areas and chase the same lures.

[manlystanley]

Stan,

Why would you stop perch fishing now?

They're just getting started, albeit later than usual. They're not even close to their peak numbers yet. Plus, stripers and perch often swim together, especially as the season progresses. They're cousins in the fish world and frequently occupy the same areas and chase the same lures.

Hmmmmm.... Your saying something, that I had never thought of before. I was planning on switching to 1-2 oz SPRO Bucktail Jigs and 4-5 inch plastics. The past two weeks I have used the Mister Twisters with a 1/8 jig that you recommended to me, AND they have been great! In fact, I caught lots of perch and several rockfish on them. One of which was a 14 inch rockfish!

With the Mister twister, my 1/8 jib has, I guess, a size 1 or 2 hook. But, the SPRO's has, I guess a 3/0 to 4/0 hook. Are you saying that I need to troll one rod with the smaller mister twisters AND a separate rod with the larger jig/plastic??

In other words, keep using the mister twister AND the larger lure/plastics as well?? I was thinking that I need to use larger jigs and larger plastics to catch larger fish??

As always, thanks for your expert help!

Best Regards,
Stan

[Mark]

Stan,

I was referring to casting.

I've caught plenty of stripers, some over 20 inches, casting 1/8 to 1/4 oz. lures in the same areas where perch swim -- near shorelines and structure. (Not thus far during this anomalous year, however.) Those same areas are good to throw topwater lures for stripers, by the way.

When I troll I use 1/2 to 3/4 oz. jigs and lures. Even at their larger size, they manage to hook aggressive perch.

But typically on my tidal trolling trips I carry a perch rod or two that I reserve for casting when I get tired of trolling or if the trolling action is slow. I cast and retrieve perch lures. I don't troll them. Stripers may be hard to find by trolling on a given day in your kayak, but white perch rarely fail to please in the summer. So I'll often end a day's outing by casting to likely perch spots and lo and behold, a striper that I couldn't entice by trolling may be cruising with the perch and strike my lure. I call that justice.

[J.A. Veil]

A few years ago I made a few summer trolling trips in the Severn where I deployed two light rods with small spinners and two other medium rods with jigheads and paddletails at the same time. I caught both perch and stripers on each trip. On the rods with the small spinners, I caught only perch. On the rods with paddletails, I caught 90% stripers and 10% perch. If you are trolling anyway, feel free to put out a lighter rod and catch some perch while you are at it.

I personally find it to be more fun to catch perch by casting, but trolling works too.

[manlystanley]

Mark and John: Great advice and I'll follow it. A question, if there was one combination lure/plastic that you would use as your combo perch / RF rig, what would you use? Is the Mister Twister and 1/8 oz jig a good one to use??

Thanks,
Again

[Mark]

Mark and John: Great advice and I'll follow it. A question, if there was one combination lure/plastic that you would use as your combo perch / RF rig, what would you use? Is the Mister Twister and 1/8 oz jig a good one to use??

Thanks,
Again

Stan,

A twister tail will certainly work. So will a 3 inch paddletail like this:

P1000892.jpg

It's on a 1/8 oz. jig head but the hook is a heavier gauge wire than most perch lures. That will allow it to handle a larger striper but it can also find its way into the smaller mouths of most perch -- and it often does.

[J.A. Veil]

Stan,

A twister tail will certainly work. So will a 3 inch paddletail like this:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]23420[/ATTACH]

It's on a 1/8 oz. jig head but the hook is a heavier gauge wire than most perch lures. That will allow it to handle a larger striper but it can also find its way into the smaller mouths of most perch -- and it often does.

I agree with Mark's suggestions on lures. Although a paddletail will catch an occasional perch, it will catch many more stripers. I encourage you to not look for the "silver bullet" lure that can catch both species equally well. You will be better served by trolling different rods with lures that are best for your target species. In the example I gave above, the paddle tail caught mostly stripers and the spinner caught only perch.

[Mk37dir]

I never thought of using paddletail and never caught any keeper size striped bass, but I'd like to try it soon after reading this post.

Thank you all for these information.

[manlystanley]

Mark and John: Thanks for the help. I'm definitely planning on trying the twister tail some this year. It was a blast using this past week!

Best Regards,
Stan

[manlystanley]

I never thought of using paddletail and never caught any keeper size striped bass, but I'd like to try it soon after reading this post.

Thank you all for these information.

MK37:

I like to use Spro bucktails and Zman paddle tails. For trolling I use 1-2 Oz bucktails, and 4 inch paddletails. I have found that recently. 2 MPH seems a good speed. Mark has turned me onto 3 inch Mr. Twisters, that have worked great. Also, I like everything in white.

I must say that everyone likes different rigs, so experiment and see what works best for you.

Good Luck!

Best Regards,
Stan