Perch and zander fishing with lures

We’ve had a lot of rain recently and most of the rivers are flooded, so I decided to fish for perch on a large lake instead. The lake also offers me the chance to go zander fishing with lures. It’s handy to have a still water option and I know this lake has some big perch in it, so I was really keen to give it a go with lures. 

I last fished here in September and caught some cracking perch in the margins. Now winter has arrived, I think the fish will have moved into the deeper water.

It’s a huge expanse of water and it can be a bit daunting when you first start. The first thing I do is build a picture of the place and understand the features, as this determines what lures I’ll be using.

By staying mobile, I’m able to cover a lot of water and I’m looking for the deeper areas. I can tell this by how long it takes for my lure to reach the bottom. I’m sure the fish will be in the deeper water in the winter months, but once we get into spawning time and the spring, they’ll move back to the shallower areas.

I’ve decided to start with some searching lures, staying mobile and travelling light to cover as much of the lake as possible on each session. The weather conditions were really cold today, but if I can find the fish, I think I can catch them.
I arrived at first light and decided to start with Korum Gonks bounced slowly along the bottom. In the deeper water I think darker baits work best and as they cast a silhouette to entice perch into feeding. I’m using a 10g jig head as I want the lure to get down to the bottom as quickly as possible.

I was getting the odd hit, but it wasn’t really happening. So I changed to the ever faithful Ned rig with a Korum Squirmz. The lobworm colour works really well and I started getting bites almost straight away. They weren’t the biggest perch in the world, but I was happy to be catching a few in this cold weather.

I found that a slow retrieve was working best, just lifting the lure slightly, before letting it settle on the bottom and pausing for a few seconds. This was really doing the business and I was now catching consistently, but no monsters so far.

A change of plan pays off

I decided on a bit of an experiment and put on a Finesse Worm from Strike King. I’d been wanting to try these out for some time. I rigged up a Ched rig with a fairly small hook, as the profile of the worm is quite narrow.

Then on my second cast, I hooked into a decent fish and it was much too big to be a perch – could it be a pike perhaps?

As the fish came closer to the net I could see it wasn’t a pike, it was a huge zander. My heart was in my mouth, as this fish looked like a monster and was definitely a personal best. Within a few heartstopping minutes the fish was in the net and my hands were shaking, just how big is this fish, it looked massive.

I was blown away and absolutely buzzing. I knew there were a few pike and zander in here, but this zander topped the scales at 14 lb. I’m so pleased I decided to change to a different lure. I couldn’t recast for about 45 minutes as my hands were shaking so much. What a fish, one of my best specimens of the season. Certainly makes me want to try zander fishing with lures more often.

As this is a big water, everything is stepped up in size to allow me to cast a 10g lure as far as possible. I don’t want to be waiting for a 3g or 5g lure to be slowly hitting bottom in the deeper water. I need a heavier jig head so my lure is effectively fishing for longer.

I decided to use a 25g Korum ZT lure rod which is seven and half feet long, combined with a Korum 3000 Red Infernos SL reel. The wider spool of the reel allows me to cast further. I’m using 25lb braid which is double the thickness I’d use elsewhere. I fish this through to a 10lb fluorocarbon leader and as there are pike in here, I use a wire trace.

A game changer

I’ve recently started using a knottable trace wire from AFW which is very fine and has a thin layer of nylon across it. This allows me to knot the wire with two figure of eight knots and I attach a swivel and snap link on either end. This is much better than using crimps on the wire. This trace material was recommended to me by Tom Hunt in one of my Perch Masters videos and is now my go-to approach to lure fishing for perch.

I’m struggling a bit now. It fished well when I arrived and until lunchtime, but it’s gone a bit dead and I’m only picking up the odd fish, here and there. 

I can’t get another bite on the Finesse worms. This happens sometimes in the winter months, perhaps I need to wait until ‘bite time’ at dusk. This is the key time for perch as the light levels fall and they have the advantage over their prey.

After fishing a few sessions here I’ve built up a picture of what it’s like on different days. Some days it’s flat calm with clear blue skies, and on other days it’s overcast and choppy. The wind can be quite fierce and I like to be comfortable while I’m fishing. On cold days, I’ll wear fingerless mittens to keep my hands warm. A woolly hat keeps my head warm and a thick padded jacket keeps the wind out too.

On my next session I was on the road at 5.30am wanting to be there at first light. I decided to use a 9cm shad this time. I fish this lure a bit more aggressively, lifting the lure off the bottom and letting it fall back down. A dark brown or green colour works best. 

I’ve previously had most of my fish on stick baits, but as it proved with the big zander last time, it’s a good idea to keep changing until you find what works best on the day.

I’m getting some bits and pieces, but nothing to write home about. So I’ll change my lures back to Korum Squirmz as I think stick baits will be best today. I fish with slow twitches and pauses to temp the perch into taking the lure. 

It’s not long before I’m into a decent fish and I can see it’s a big perch. I don’t want to lose this one, so I take my time before I bring the fish over the net. At last. This is the fish I was hoping for, a cracking perch over 3lb.

So that’s how I’ve approached a big, open water. I’ll carry on fishing here while the rivers aren’t at their best, despite a long car journey. I may also pop back when the river season ends in March as I think there’s more to come. Thanks for reading my article on perch and zander fishing with lures.

I’ll be filming more in the Perch Masters series in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for more perch fishing tips and have fun on the lures.