A lot of the time, perch is caught by anglers who are out fishing for other species or as an opportunistic catch if their presence is recognised in a swim which is being fished. This is not because people don’t like to fish for perch, far from it, perch are great fighters and are welcome by many anglers, but they take bait favoured by other species too.
If you are wanting to specifically go after perch on your local river, it is advised that you spend some time figuring out where they are. It is best to do this early on in the day when they highly active, the best spots to find them are in or close to the deeper reaches of the river, near cover such as rushes, bushes, trees and lily pads.
At this time of day, perch can be seen hunting shoals of minnows and fry. Spotting the perch’s distinctive dorsal fin above the water or small fish and fry jumping out of the water as perch attack from below are fantastic indications of active perch in the area. During the rest of the day though, perch will generally be hiding under cover where they can ambush passing prey. This can be at any part of the river, which is why you need to get out nice and early so you can know for sure whereabouts these pesky fish are.
Effective baits for perch include worms, both small and large, bunches of maggots and small freshwater fish, both live and dead. Unlike pike, perch will not take any sea fish baits.
Minnows, either dead or alive, make for a very effective perch bait, particularly if there is a large minnow population in the river you are fishing. You can also use small roach, dace, and surprisingly, even perch, many anglers even claim that perch is the most effective perch bait of all.
Perch do not grow to reach humongous sizes by any means, a fish of 3 lbs (1.36 kg) would be considered a very good specimen. As such, a main line of 3-3.5 lb (1.3-1.5 kg) should be used and will be strong enough for pretty much any perch you catch in a small river.
There are three rigs you should use when perch fishing, depending on the type of swim you are fishing.
If fishing a swim where you want to trot a float alongside cover, such as a bed of rushes or below a canopy of trees, go for a chubber float rig. It is well suited for easing a large worm bait down the swim or trotting with live minnows. In slow and slack water, this rig is also capable of doubling as a float ledger rig if fished over depth with the shot positioned on the bottom.
