Perch. West of Kellys 8/2/22

[LEfriend]

You can spend big bucks on rods. But first go to Walmart or Fish USA on line and look for Shakespeare ”micro graphic” Very moderately priced at $20 Light weight. Sensitive. You want the “light model”, not the “ultralight”. I have 6, 6.5, and 7. Depending on day and what the fish want sometimes one works better than other. I’m not a short rod guy but some folks like them and they did make them down to 5 footers too. You can spend more money for a rod but you can’t get more rod for the money than these. Good luck

[LEfriend]

Ditto on the braid. That’s the go to. But I have one spooled with mono and there are some days it out fished the braid. All about the bite and how they will take it on any given day.

[Stox]

Thanks for the feedback LEfriend! Will definitely look into the rods you suggested.

Regarding the line, I'll go with the braid. Can you recommend a line weight? My fear with going to a larger lb test (in case a walleye latches on) is that I'll lose some feel for the perch.

[buckeyezip]

8-10 lb braid is plenty for fishing the western basin of Erie