All of the tackle tips are spot on, you should use the rod and reel combos and terminal tackle that you feel most comfortable with. There is at least one other way that I have found to work almost all of the time and that is to let the line down to the bottom with about 4 or 5 inches of slack, enough so that the rocking of the boat does not lift the sinker off of the bottom but not so much that you have to raise your rod up a foot or two in order to feel the sinker wt. After getting it set with the slack just raise your rod tip slowly and pick the weight up off the bottom then back down and wait another couple of seconds and repeat with any added wt. set the hook. This keeps your bait on the bottom and it seems that over the last few years that the perch prefer that over other methods, at least that has been my experience. This is called fishing in the mud, so if you hear that phrase later you will know what they are talking about. See the 3questions thread to view what I use for equipment.