Perch Fishing with Stickbaits
Fishing for perch with stickbaits can be a rewarding approach, and has become a favourite among anglers targeting perch. This article delves into the nuances of using stickbaits to attract perch, offering insights into the best techniques, tackle choices, and options available to maximise your success.
The Fox Rage Swing Ball – Love this colour too!
Stickbait size
Choosing the right stickbait for perch fishing involves considering several key factors to ensure effectiveness. First, pay attention to the size of the stick bait; smaller baits, typically between 2 to 4 inches, are ideal for perch as they mimic the size of their natural prey. In addition to the size, check your stickbait for buoyancy. It’s very important that the stickbait sits upright, proud of the lake or river bed.
Generally, I like 2 – 3′ stickbaits, although the Big TRD at 4′ works well too!
Colour
Colour is another crucial aspect; bright colours, like chartreuse, lemon tiger, and white, can be highly attractive to perch, especially in coloured water. However, more often than not I’m using natural colours – I like the darker shades of Green Pumpkin or earthy colours, browns and even black. UV Golden Glitter is a great colour in the Fox Rage Ultra UV Floating Creatures range.
When to use a Stickbait
Consider the water conditions and season, adjusting your choices based on whether the fish are in deeper, cooler waters or shallower, warmer areas. By carefully selecting a stickbait that matches the environment and the behavior of perch, anglers can significantly increase their chances of a successful catch. Fishing stickbaits and Ned Rigs, generally comes into their own in two scenarios. Firstly, once you’ve located perch and you need a finesse technique to pick off as many fish as possible. Secondly, if it’s cold. The perch tend to slow right down in cold conditions, so in the depths of winter when nothing else is working a stickbait will often come to your rescue.
Selecting the right lure to match the condition is crucial
Jigheads for Stickbaits
Selecting the right jighead when perch fishing with stickbaits is essential to optimise its performance and increase your chances of catching perch. The weight of the jighead should be tailored to the depth of the water and the current conditions; lighter jigheads, such as 1 – 2g, are perfect for shallow waters and slow presentations, while heavier jigheads, up to 10g, are more suitable for deeper waters or stronger currents.
As a general rule, I will always go as light as possible when selecting a jighead, however, I break this trend with Ned Rigs. I don’t need a really light jighead, as I’m not trying to have the lure fall slowly through the water – there is no ‘drop’. I find going slightly heavier with 5g or even 7g encourages me to slow down, but be careful that you’re not plugging the lure too much on a silty bottom. Also, check your lure in the edge. These heavier jighead can push your lure over to one side, when we need the lure to stand upright. This is especially true to the hook is too large also. Best to always check your lures in the edge.
Carry a selection of jidheads for various conditions
The shape and style of the jighead also play a crucial role; round jigheads offer a versatile and natural presentation, and can help the stickbait maintain an upright position, mimicking a feeding baitfish. Additionally, ensure the hook size complements the size of your stickbait, typically a size 4 is a good starting point, to provide a secure hold without hindering the bait’s action. By matching the jighead to the conditions and your stickbait, you’ll enhance the lure’s effectiveness and appeal to perch.
A dark coloured, rounded 5g jighead with a fine gauge size 4 hook.
GO SLOW when perch fishing with Stickbaits
Whenever you reach for a finesse method, like stickbaits on Ned Rigs, try fishing extremely slow. Practise long pauses in your retrieve, particularly if you’re fishing in cold water conditions. These are not search baits, these are lures that are being used to trick perch that are already in front of you. We have two speeds – SLOW and STOP!
My favourite stickbaits
Fox Rage Swingball
Googan Baits Rattlin Ned
Snapper Squirmz
Fox Rage Funky Worm
Zman Big TRD
Molix Stick Flex
Fox Rage Funky Worm in Chartreuse
Another popular choice – Molix Stick Flex
Search and destroy
Stickbaits can be extremely effective when used in conjunction with a search bait. Search lures are designed to cover large areas of water quickly, helping anglers locate active fish by provoking reaction strikes through their movement and visibility. Something like a shad or a crankbait works well as a search lure.
Once you’ve found the perch, using your search lures, try then switching to your stickbaits. Fishing with the Ned Rig is a finesse presentation that will now pick off a few extra fish, maybe even the bulk of the shoal on a good day! Remember, slow, minimal movements, allowing the bait to glide and stand up off the bottom, will often provoke strikes from even the most hesitant fish.
You’ve found the shoal and now picking them off with a stickbait
The effectiveness of perch fishing with stickbaits can be very rewarding
Are big perch lazy?
Big perch are often characterised by their more sedentary and cautious nature, preferring to conserve energy and ambush prey rather than actively chase it. This is where the Ned Rig excels, as its slow and deliberate presentation is perfectly suited to entice these larger, lazier fish. By fishing the Ned rig slowly, anglers can effectively target these big perch, appealing to their predatory instincts without spooking them, ultimately leading to more successful catches of these prized, sizable fish.
A very big perch absolutely nailed this stickbait
A tank of 45cm caught on a Googan Rattlin Ned
Big perch are lazy, fish slow and catch yourself one of the big girls. This lump smashed a Rattlin Ned fished super slow!
Try stickbaits and good luck!
I hope you found this article about Perch Fishing with Stickbaits useful. A video is available of me using stickbaits for big perch, so maybe give that a watch too. Give the stickbaits a go and good luck with your perch fishing!