Help with Perch

[kidkoolers]

I have been fishing west of Kellys in 27 to 30 foot. Find some perch but cant catch them. I have a real hard time feeling the bites. I feed them and get only a few but know there is many I miss. Can someone please help me out.

[episnoza]

What kinds of rod/reel are you using? We always use ultralights with light line (4-6 lb). If the bites are really light, I like to drop my spreader all the way to the bottom, reel up the slack til my rod tip touches the water. I then lift the rod tip up about a foot or two. If I don't get anything within 10 to 20 seconds I will drop the rod tip down to the water again (without letting out any more line) and then lift it up again. I can normally feel the bite when I lift it back up. There are a ton of different ways to do it, but this seems to work for me. Good luck.

[BassBoss]

I dropped all the bling and went to drop shot. Used palomar knott, hook about 8" off bottom. The feel is magnified without all the spreaders, weights, etc. Made a big difference for my wife, who didn't have the "feel." Last year we starTed to cut the mini's in 1/4's and this helped too.

[wakina]

We usually leave the line lay slack and on the bottom for a 5 count then slowly lift the rod and with any added wt we set the hook. We call this method "In the Mud", meaning the bait is laying on the bottom when the perch take it, or just as it leaves the bottom. If you are having trouble with them stealing your bait try hooking the minnow through the eyes and then again through the body some where behind the gills making sure the point of the hook is visable, larger minnows we cut into 2, 3 or 4 pieces depending on the size of the minnows and double hook them also. Braid line such as power pro or fireline ect. will improve your ability to feel the fish also a stiffer rod transmits the feel of the fish to your hand alot quicker because the rod loads quicker and gives the perch less time to steal the bait or spit out the hook before you can feel it. Setting the hook with the braid is more of a rapid lifting of your rod than the usual cross their eyes sort of hook set

[fishkiller16]

I second the Fireline and I use 8lb test on a 7' Light Action St.Croix Avid Series rod with a 20 series Okuma spinning reel. You can damn near feel the perch breath on the minnow. We fish considerably deeper here in the eastern basin, right now were fishing 60-80 ft for our perch. Good luck!!

[OILman]

Use 6lb test-Lay spreader on bottom and lift rod slowly til you feel a bite. Also can use spreader with bling however not on the hook. I always use red tru turn hooks size 6 aberdeen fine wire hooks-not the baitholder ones because they are thicker wire-the fine wire aberdeen make a big difference. i wish they made a fine wire aberdeen with a couple baitholders down near the shank of the hook to help hold the minnow on. Anyway also nice live minnows. keep em good and cold with aeration-dead minnows are soft and they will steal your bait too easy. Got 100 perch today June 19th off southeast corner of Kellies. after you catch a few and figure out the depth- put a small rubber band on your line just outside your reel and it will help you get back to the correct depth quickly.

[kidkoolers]

Thank you all for the help. I have been using ugly stick with medium action and 10 lb test. I will change my poles and line and see if that helps. I hope to go out this weekend.

[legalskater]

6 lb. Fireline or some other braided line will definately help you feel the bites in deeper water. As you can tell by reading all these reports there are a bunch of ways to fish perch. Experiment and find yours.

[assassin]

Watch the rod tip. I use 6lb. power pro with red tru-turn hooks and ML rods. Because of a pinched nerve,sometimes it's easier for me to see the bite rather than feeling it. When using no stretch line you can see those lite biters. When that tip moves at all-lift. It's also a great way to keep the kids patient. Good luck