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Most of us on this forum fish for white perch with small spinners of some kind – Mepps, Beetle Spins or Big Nose Spinners. Some use a simple jig and twister tail or a small crankbait. They're all effective most of the time.
I pour my own jigs so I often use a twister tail. Also, I make spinner jigs with either bucktail or rubber skirts for trailers with traces of crystal flash. My jig hooks can range from size 1 to 2 and with the trailer or twister or bucktail, my perch lures can be over two inches long. The good news with that is that they attract other species – stripers, bass (LM and SM) channel cats, pickerel, redfish, etc. I’ve lost count of the species I’ve hooked with these spinner jigs.
Cast2.jpg Rubber spinners.jpg
I also tie flies. Last winter I made these shad flies. I like their look and they’re simple to tie. I weighted them with bead chain eyes, and their hooks are size 6 Mustad 3366:
Shad darts (2).jpg
However, life got into the way, and I never went shad fishing this spring. But I found a use for them this season. They double as perch flies which surprised me because perch are also attracted to larger noisy moving lures that wobble, have a throbbing twister tail or a spinner blade churning the water.
I’ve been fishing the shad flies as a dropper on about 30 inches of line suspended under a foam float.
Float.jpg
The float is partially finished foam popper. I purposely bent the hook to act as a tie in point for the dropper line. Why not use the popper as intended? In all my years of fishing, I’ve had one perch hit a surface lure. I use a fully developed foam popper on bluegill dropper fly rigs and I’ve learned that they hit the popper about 10% of the time. Most of the time they hit the dropper fly. So, I figure for perch I’ll just forgo the chance of a surface strike and use the foam float as a float only. Plus, the float casts easier streamlined without a tail and rubber legs.
I actually started experimenting with this method last year. I had run onto a fellow doing a similar thing with spinning tackle. He had a small fly suspended under a bobber. I’m not sure if he posts here or not. But I watched him slay perch in the Severn with a dropper and so I give him credit for the idea. In fact, my very first catch on my rig last year was a 20-inch pickerel in the Bodkin. I was using a fly even smaller than my shad fly. Who knew they would attack such a tiny meal?
This year, I’ve been trying the method more often and meeting with more success. This past weekend it worked for perch on outings in the Magothy and the Severn.
In the Magothy, my conventional lures caught the most perch. I used a 1/8 oz. Rapala crankbait, one of my jig spinners and one of my plain jigs with a twister tail. But I also caught some with the dropper fly.
P1060354 (2).jpg
In the Severn, the perch were far more tentative. They would tap my conventional lures but rarely hook up. However, they liked the small dropper.
B.jpg
You can see the float on the water in the above photo.
This small striper even got into the act. It slammed the fly and pulled much harder than a perch as you would expect.
A.jpg
I purposely kept the striper in the water to remove the hook. The 82 degree water and 90 plus degree air temperatures stresses hooked stripers.
I’ve been fishing the dropper with a 9-ft. 5-weight fly rod. After the cast I vary the retrieve. Sometimes I pull it slowly for about a foot and then stop. Other times I make short consecutive strips and then stop. Eventually, I find what the perch in a particular spot want on a given day. Most of the time, they hit the fly on the pause. You’ll know because the float will disappear in a hurry. Then strip a little line and lift the rod tip and the fish is on.
The same areas you fish for perch with conventional lures work with the fly dropper -- shorelines, docks, shady spots.
So, if you want to try a different method for perch, I submit the above. It follows conventional wisdom to reduce the size of your offering when the bite gets tough or you get so-called "short strikes". Also, it’s a nice change of pace from the monotonous casting and retrieving with regular perch lures. And as I am discovering, it’s very effective.
I pour my own jigs so I often use a twister tail. Also, I make spinner jigs with either bucktail or rubber skirts for trailers with traces of crystal flash. My jig hooks can range from size 1 to 2 and with the trailer or twister or bucktail, my perch lures can be over two inches long. The good news with that is that they attract other species – stripers, bass (LM and SM) channel cats, pickerel, redfish, etc. I’ve lost count of the species I’ve hooked with these spinner jigs.
Cast2.jpg Rubber spinners.jpg
I also tie flies. Last winter I made these shad flies. I like their look and they’re simple to tie. I weighted them with bead chain eyes, and their hooks are size 6 Mustad 3366:
Shad darts (2).jpg
However, life got into the way, and I never went shad fishing this spring. But I found a use for them this season. They double as perch flies which surprised me because perch are also attracted to larger noisy moving lures that wobble, have a throbbing twister tail or a spinner blade churning the water.
I’ve been fishing the shad flies as a dropper on about 30 inches of line suspended under a foam float.
Float.jpg
The float is partially finished foam popper. I purposely bent the hook to act as a tie in point for the dropper line. Why not use the popper as intended? In all my years of fishing, I’ve had one perch hit a surface lure. I use a fully developed foam popper on bluegill dropper fly rigs and I’ve learned that they hit the popper about 10% of the time. Most of the time they hit the dropper fly. So, I figure for perch I’ll just forgo the chance of a surface strike and use the foam float as a float only. Plus, the float casts easier streamlined without a tail and rubber legs.
I actually started experimenting with this method last year. I had run onto a fellow doing a similar thing with spinning tackle. He had a small fly suspended under a bobber. I’m not sure if he posts here or not. But I watched him slay perch in the Severn with a dropper and so I give him credit for the idea. In fact, my very first catch on my rig last year was a 20-inch pickerel in the Bodkin. I was using a fly even smaller than my shad fly. Who knew they would attack such a tiny meal?
This year, I’ve been trying the method more often and meeting with more success. This past weekend it worked for perch on outings in the Magothy and the Severn.
In the Magothy, my conventional lures caught the most perch. I used a 1/8 oz. Rapala crankbait, one of my jig spinners and one of my plain jigs with a twister tail. But I also caught some with the dropper fly.
P1060354 (2).jpg
In the Severn, the perch were far more tentative. They would tap my conventional lures but rarely hook up. However, they liked the small dropper.
B.jpg
You can see the float on the water in the above photo.
This small striper even got into the act. It slammed the fly and pulled much harder than a perch as you would expect.
A.jpg
I purposely kept the striper in the water to remove the hook. The 82 degree water and 90 plus degree air temperatures stresses hooked stripers.
I’ve been fishing the dropper with a 9-ft. 5-weight fly rod. After the cast I vary the retrieve. Sometimes I pull it slowly for about a foot and then stop. Other times I make short consecutive strips and then stop. Eventually, I find what the perch in a particular spot want on a given day. Most of the time, they hit the fly on the pause. You’ll know because the float will disappear in a hurry. Then strip a little line and lift the rod tip and the fish is on.
The same areas you fish for perch with conventional lures work with the fly dropper -- shorelines, docks, shady spots.
So, if you want to try a different method for perch, I submit the above. It follows conventional wisdom to reduce the size of your offering when the bite gets tough or you get so-called "short strikes". Also, it’s a nice change of pace from the monotonous casting and retrieving with regular perch lures. And as I am discovering, it’s very effective.
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