Where and when to use a jig
Catching perch with a jig is possible both in standing reservoirs and in fast-flowing rivers. Preference is given to water areas with a hard bottom and depths exceeding a level of two meters. Various kinds of bottom anomalies, underwater hills, depressions, snags and small vegetation affect the quality of the postings, but at the same time significantly increase the success of the hunt. River rapids and all kinds of deep pools are not an obstacle to this method of hunting; rather, on the contrary, it is this type of bait presentation that helps to catch the point most effectively.
Fishing for perch lasts the entire period of open water, differing only in the intensity of bites. Spring and summer are not the most productive periods of the year, but catching perch with a jig in the fall, when the fish gather in huge schools in the pre-winter period, is not difficult. Towards the end of August, the predator begins to fatten up, fattening up for winter, and actively responds to silicone throughout the daylight hours. For a spinning fisher, it is important to identify a promising point where a school of stripers hunts, creating a cauldron of small fish. Having identified a promising place, all that remains is to accurately jig the bait and select the optimal wiring option to get the aggressive and voracious predator out of the water with enviable regularity.
Tackle and equipment
First of all, you should focus on choosing a spinning rod. Since fisherman’s catches rarely include perch weighing more than 1 kg, the appropriate spinning rod is selected.
The best option would be a light rod with a weight of up to 10 grams and a length of 2.1-2.2 meters of medium action. If we talk about catching perch with a jig, then you will need tackle with a large dough - up to about 35 grams.
A spinning reel is suitable, size 1500-2000, with a gear ratio of 5:1, because fast winding is not needed here. In this case, the reel should lay the thin line evenly.
The fishing line can be used either monofilament or braided. There is no definite answer here. The fact is that if you fish with spinners, then monofilament is more suitable - the braid will twist a lot. But braid helps you better feel the play of light lures, which are often used for catching perch.
The leash is used only in cases where there is a pike in the reservoir. The number of bites will be significantly reduced, but you will not be left without bait if a spotted predator grabs it.
Advantages of jig
The advantages of the method include its versatility, which in practice makes it possible to fish any areas of the waters, despite the great depths and complexity of the bottom topography, and usually these are various snags, which are particularly promising anchorage points for schools of predatory fish. We have already mentioned the availability of equipment and the rod itself in the article. An important factor is the rapid mastery of wiring techniques. Methods of animating baits, even at the first fishing session, become stable performance skills, which is beneficial for beginner spinners who are interested in the perch direction of spinning fishing.
And, of course, the advantage of this dynamic type of hunting includes the variety of silicone fish, which are used as bait based on color, size and even taste parameters.
Choosing gear for catching perch with a jig
Delicate fishing is undoubtedly associated with the use of delicate gear, which is inextricably associated with perch jigs. Fishing for perch with a microjig especially requires balancing of equipment. According to its physiology, the striped predator has weak lips, which, with strong hooks, simply burst from the stress experienced. Using super-fast fishing rods, you can get a countless number of bites, but not a single trophy can be added to the asset due to the constant disappearance of fish as a result of hooking. We will try to clarify the nuances of assembling the gear in the further course of the article.
Rod
Based on the requirements of tight control of the bait, but a thin and delicate hook, rods are selected with a medium action with a soft, slow tip. Taking into account the size of the supplied baits and their weight, the length of spinning rods is no more than 2.5 meters in the plug version, consisting of two parts. Fast action rods are justified when using monofilament fishing line with small diameters, no more than 0.18 mm, for working at short distances, usually used for fishing from a boat. In such cases, the balance of animation and soft hooking is performed by a well-absorbing monofilament cord.
Coil
Inertia-free lightweight reels with the ability of a spool to ideally fold a thin cord evenly and a sensitive drag ensure guaranteed balancing of the tackle. Such an accessory does not tire your hands with frequent casting and does not tangle the cord with spontaneous resets of loops, and it is these nuances that ensure both the comfort of fishing and its productivity. The drag settings allow you to save bait when hooking and fishing for trophy croakers. The capacity of the spool must ensure storage of at least one hundred meters of line used for fishing.
fishing line
At short fishing distances, they try to work with monofill up to 0.2 mm. When presenting baits 20–25 meters away, it is wise to use thin braided cords in the thickness range from 0.06–0.12 mm.
Important! When jigging on rocky bottoms and shell rocks, preference is given to monofilament lines, since their abrasion is lower than braided lines and, therefore, higher reliability.
These conditions relegate the priority of choosing cord material depending on the distance to the background.
How to catch perch using a spinning rod from the shore?
As usual, catching this fish is a very exciting activity, so it turns out to be very exciting fishing. You can successfully catch perch on a spinning rod from the shore on sunny days when it swims up to the coastal zone. In any case, spinning tackle for perch should differ in its length - after all, it is not so easy to find a target from the shore. Another requirement that must be met is that the spinning rod must be light or ultralight (depending on the bait you have chosen for yourself). Choose those places where you can reach the thickets without making too active actions - this fish behaves very carefully even during the feeding period, and you risk scaring it off with too active movements. And of course, before you catch a perch using a spinning rod, you should prepare and choose the bait that will interest the fish the most.
What types of jig heads are there?
Jig heads in the equipment play the role of a load that leaves the bait in the fishing spot and to the bottom of the reservoir. The heads are made of lead. The main types of weights are the boot and the ball. The product can be with a soldered hook or only with fasteners that allow you to connect the load with other accessories of the equipment, a hook, a swivel and a clasp. For jig rigs, weights are produced with different weights, which are used based on fishing conditions. The boot is a head, which is a sinker with greater maneuverability, due to its streamlined shape in overgrown and snagged reservoirs.
Important! The round head, with the same mass as the boot, reaches the bottom faster, which makes its use more effective when fishing holes and hunting in strong currents.
Lures for catching perch with jigs
Jig baits for perch are mostly made of silicone, although in some cases foam rubber baits also show good results. Vibrating tails for perch, twisters, slugs, worms, crustaceans - these are just the most famous types of bait options. The essence of these baits, as well as their success, lies in a fairly accurate imitation of the movements of a living creature similar in shape to the bait. Adding attractants with odors to the silicone, which in most cases are unpleasant to humans, only helps the striped robber to quickly detect the bait. These types of silicones are called edible rubber.
The striped predator does not need large bait. Even seasoned humpback whales happily bite on silicone, which is no larger than a matchbox in size, but smaller individuals take bait one and a half to two centimeters in size. The variety of color forms of artificial soft fish provides fishing opportunities under different light intensities and water transparency.
What types of lures are there for perch on a spinning rod?
Most often, experienced fishermen who want to catch large perches choose artificial baits - since they love everything colorful and bright. That is why the following lures for perch on a spinning rod are the most popular: • Rotating spoons; • Crank wobblers; • Twitching wobblers; • Microjigs, microoscillators. The spinning rod equipment for perch depends on the place you choose for fishing, the time of year, and also on the bait you use. To catch this fish, you can use either a line or a line - the choice is determined solely by your preferences and priorities - if it is more important for you to catch a fish, you should choose a line, but if you want to preserve the bait, choose a line. Successful perch fishing is a pleasant and joyful event in the life of a fisherman, but it requires some preparation.
Spinning equipment and installation of silicone baits for perch fishing
Jig for perch is provided by several main types of equipment, which are used depending on the conditions of the reservoir and based on the activity of the predator. All types of tying involve the use of a standard set of accessories, including a sinker, hook, swivels and fasteners, as well as the silicone bait itself. Let’s delve into the essence of the equipment, taking a closer look at the composition of the equipment depending on their type and purpose.
Classic equipment
The classics include mounting silicone on a stationary jig head with a built-in hook. The bait and hook are selected according to the size at which the hook, passed through the silicone body, comes out with its sting in the center of the fish’s back. The weight is used depending on the depth of fishing and the strength of the current. The jig head is attached with a clasp to the main cord, or for greater subtlety of installation it is knitted directly. Use installation in open water areas with a hard bottom.
Hinged mounting on Cheburashka
More subtle equipment that gives the silicone more freedom in her natural animation. Cheburashkas are used in tandem with offset hooks, making installations in the form of non-hooking hooks, hiding the hook tip in the soft body of the fish. The selection of elements is similar to the classic type of equipment. Cheburashkas are used in areas with intense underwater thickets, in dead wood and in snags in water areas.
Retractable leash
A type of spaced rig that gives the bait complete freedom of movement. The peculiarities of catching perch with a jig using this method are based on installing a sinker at the end of the cord. The bait itself with a hook is tied on a leash of 30 cm and more than half a meter in height from the load. The sinker stretches along the bottom, raising a cloud of turbidity, which additionally attracts the predator to the fishing zone. This type of mating is used when predator activity is low.
Drop shot
Drop-shot is a similar technique to the type of retractable leader, only the bait is attached directly to the cord, without the use of a leader. They use equipment in fast currents, using baits with high inertia, which attracts the predator by the nature of its movements.
Texas rig
One of the varieties of spaced equipment with high cross-country ability. A sliding, streamlined, often cone-shaped sinker moves along the main cord, stopping against a damper bead at the hook with bait, tied at the end of the fishing line. This technique is used when fishing for snags and driftwood, as well as for flooded trees.
Spinning equipment for catching perch
Each of the equipment listed below has pros and cons, but what they have in common is their well-deserved popularity among all fishermen. Most of them are made on site, but you can make them yourself at home.
Retractable leash
Read a detailed and complete article on the topic of installation and further fishing with a retractable leash. Below in the photo we clearly show a diagram in which there is nothing complicated. A small swivel is tied to the main line. A piece of fishing line with a weight is mounted to one eye, and a leash with bait to the other. The weight of the load is selected depending on the spinning test. Learn more about installation using the link above.
Tandem equipment
An interesting and little-known method to ordinary fishermen. Athletes use it for fishing in snags, overgrown, shallow areas. The idea is simple: a popper and a microjig are used in tandem (together, simultaneously). The tees are removed from the popper and a piece of fluor is knitted to the last, rear ring of such a length that it does not reach 20-30 cm to the bottom.
A microjig tackle (a jig head weighing 1-2 grams) with a twister of any color that the perch likes (machine oil, cherry, carrot) is attached to it. A leash or braid is tied to the front ring of the popper. The tandem is ready for sailing.
Carolina rig
- It is used for fishing in difficult places where the chances of getting caught are extremely high.
- Excellent for attracting attention from passive fish.
- It is also used in shallow waters.
- Easy to do.
- Multifunctional, allowing you to re-equip it for other conditions.
- Universal: perch, pike, and pike perch bite well on it. At the same time, there are bites of asp, catfish and burbot.
A bullet weight is placed on the main line. Below it is placed a bead that protects the subsequent attachment point: the swivel. During casting, the load will forcefully change the direction of movement, crashing into the bead. In its absence, it will hit the knot on the swivel, breaking it and increasing the chances of breaking (see photo above).
A lead leash 30-50-60 cm long made of fluor or good monofilament with an offset hook is tied to the swivel (the number is selected depending on the size of the rubber). Follow a simple rule: the more passive the perch, the longer the lead should be. Make it no more than 1 meter, otherwise the tackle will constantly get tangled. By the way, the swivel in the Carolina rig is used against twisting, and does an excellent job of it.
Texas rig
In terms of its structure, it is almost identical to the Carolina, the difference is that there is no retractable leash (see photo above). A sliding bullet weight is threaded onto the main line. A bead and an offset hook are mounted below. The main idea of such installations is that the load moves first, pulling a hook with rubber behind it. Having a streamlined shape, it is able to pass where other tackle would get stuck.
Tackle for live bait fishing
Several methods of fishing using live bait are used: with a fishing rod and with a donk. In both the first and second options, the basis is a correctly selected fry and hooking. Read about the method of fishing with live bait using a fishing rod in our full article. The fry can be caught using a screen (live bait net). It doesn’t matter to the perch who you put on the hook, it willingly bites on: its striped small fish, bleak, cape, rudd, crucian carp and other fish.
The main thing is correct installation, which is done by the upper fin or through the gills. In the case of a fin: one of the tee hooks is threaded through the top of the fish. When installing a fish through the gills, a leash is threaded through the mouth, and a tee is tied by sticking it out of the mouth. If you do everything correctly, this will ensure the mobility and longevity of the bait, which will undoubtedly have a positive effect on the bite. Otherwise, the fry will quickly die and become motionless; in this form it is not interesting to predatory fish, since it does not attract attention.
DIY gear
We should tell you about the most famous homemade tackle for perch - the devil or as it is also called the bulldozer. It is used for fishing in the bottom layer in winter or from a boat in summer. You can find step-by-step instructions for making the devil at the link. It is made from a sinker and several hooks on which small silicone worms can be hung.
A twister is mounted above, which is the one that gets pecked most often. As the devil sinks to the bottom, he hits it, attracting, among other things, red perch of different sizes. Mud and dust from the bottom, together with the sounds of impact, perfectly attract striped predators. It’s up to you to choose which tackle to fish with. All of the methods we have listed are simple, easy to catch and have been tested on hundreds of fishing trips. We wish you good luck and big trophies!
How to catch perch with a jig. Types of postings
Depending on the activity of the predator, spinning anglers use different variations of bait placements. With fishing experience, each angler determines for himself the most effective rhythms for performing montage animation, but the fundamental types on which his own developments are based remain unchanged. Our conversation will continue on the technical features of classic wiring.
Uniform
Uniform retrieving or the so-called pyological jig, when the nozzle with a load after casting is reeled in with a reel, holding it in the water column, without touching the bottom or pauses. The bait moves with a swaying and natural movement. Fishing in the current gives the movements an even more natural look. They use wiring when fishing for active fish.
wavy
This type of feed is very attractive to the predator due to the vibration that is created by the spinner by alternating a smooth reeling with moments of its sharp intensification. These amplifications create an imbalance of vibrations that attract striped fish to the fishing site. By alternating reeling speeds, the installation moves in waves, falling to the bottom at slower stages. The wave method is used for passive fish.
Stepped
Catching perch with microjigs, medium and heavy jigs is based on this type of fishing. After casting, the load is placed on the bottom and after a micro-pause, they begin reeling, consisting of two or three powerful movements with the reel handle. At this moment, the bait jumps from the bottom and makes steps with jerks, falling again to the bottom during a pause. With such rhythms, the line is wound throughout the cast, catching the promising trajectory of the reservoir. Wiring is also used when the predator is apathetic, provoking the fish’s aggression with even sharper jerks.
Hooking and landing
The bite of a striped fish is felt as several dull pokes followed by vibration. In such circumstances, the fish in most cases self-hook, sucking the hooked bait into its throat with a powerful stream of water. Vibration indicates that the fish is firmly seated on the hook. Now the angler is required to be careful while fishing for the trophy.
Small okushats go to winding the cord with virtually no resistance, only occasionally trembling. A large croaker puffs up its fins and, standing sideways to the reeling path, exerts significant forces, which can lead to a lip breakage during sudden movements. In the depths of fast currents, they try to catch fish along the flow of the stream, thereby reducing the force of resistance. The angler is required to be careful, which is expressed in the step-by-step selection of the cord and the release of tension through the work of the blank, either lowering the spinning rod to the water, or increasing the angle of its rise. Exhausted by such confident actions, the robber will already be tired when approaching the shore and will calmly enter the landing net using the spinning rod itself.
Catching perch using a spinning rod video
The second difference from the classic stepped wiring is the optional bottom control.
This means that when fishing for perch in the shallows, there is no strict need to allow the jig bait to sink to the very bottom at every step; you can start reeling a little earlier. A jig with a total depth of about two meters will still remain within the reach of the perch. Such an “irregular step” in combination with playing along at the moment of stopping more often provokes the perch to take the “correct” bite, but I still would not recommend using this technique always and everywhere - it is effective primarily when there is an overabundance of “wrong” or “untaken” ones. bite. Sometimes it is useful to try another deviation from the classics, in some way the opposite of the one just discussed. Instead of starting the reel immediately after the jig touches the bottom, the pause is extended by a couple of seconds. In this case, it hardly makes sense to talk about bottom fishing for drift, since we fish with this method in a weak current, and the duration of the delay is not so long that the bait has time to “roll” along the bottom. The main idea here is to give the inert bass a few extra moments to think. It must be said that sometimes these moments are not enough for the perch, and the number of bites after the bait touches the bottom turns out to be even greater than during its dive. With such delayed wiring, a small foam rubber is more appropriate than a twister, since the foam rubber retains signs of buoyancy in the water, and the foam rubber fish, with a weight lying on the bottom, takes an inclined or almost vertical position. There are fewer hooks, and it is more convenient for the perch to take the bait. Well, let’s remember here once again about polyurethane foam baits with their “superbuoyancy”. The difference between such perch foam rubber and foam rubber is generally the same as for a twister - small size and a hook relatively distant from the head. If in a typical foam fish the hook (ideally) should be located a third from the head, then in this case it should be in the middle or even a third from the tail. When I have to catch perch in the same way in the summer, I often deliberately tear off the tail of the twister or foam rubber. This may seem fundamentally wrong to some (especially fishing with a tailless and therefore non-playing twister stump), but I spent enough time on experiments and am ready to assert on their basis that the absence of a tail and bait does not reduce the total number of bites, but here is the percentage their implementation increases noticeably - by one and a half times. Again, we must remember that we are now talking about catching perch in shallows with depths of about two meters, and this perch does not behave very respectfully towards our spinning brother: there are a lot of bites and pokes, but it is difficult to catch... In the winter, special experiments with I did not tear off the tail of the bait. Taking into account those not so few cases when the fish “gnawed off the tail” of the bait, and continued to fish with this bait. I am inclined to conclude>. that the same is justified in winter fishing on a large river Although many of us have become accustomed to the thesis “winter spinning is a jig and nothing else,” shallow depths and weak currents leave certain opportunities for other types of baits. Here I will say frankly: in the winter conditions of the Moscow River or Oka I have never caught more than two “tails” while fishing with a “spinner” and more than three with a wobbler. On the one hand, this is significant, on the other hand, not so much. Being an emphatic rationalist, I quickly realized that jig fishing on a large river gives a more guaranteed result in winter. and therefore everything that does not belong to the “jig” category was used very rarely. I myself understand that there is some excess in this, although I remain of the opinion that jigs, in general, are certainly better than all other types of spinning lures. I think that there is no need to talk in detail once again about what a “winter model of predator behavior” is and how, in accordance with this model, it should react to bait. Yes, the so-called “winter” model and the jig fishing technique oriented towards it, which naturally dominate their reservoirs in winter, but not to such an extent as to completely exclude fishing with “non-winter” baits. I “persuaded” my first fish, caught on a larger river in the calendar winter, with the help of a “spinner”. And then from time to time he put pressure on rotating spoons, and these were not jig-spinners (which are primarily jigs, and then “spinners”), but ordinary Mepps “Comets” or “Longs” and their close analogues. Many spinners do not know how to and don’t want to learn how to jig. In the summer, this position is not so critical, but in the winter it dooms one to search for difficult paths. It can be interesting to observe an opponent of jig fishing who has come to a large winter body of water for the first time. The outcome is most likely predictable, but there are exceptions, and if you fully take into account all the features of the season, the chances of a positive result increase noticeably. The main one of these features is directly related to the water temperature - the higher it is, the more favorable the forecast for non-jigging baits. When the water is on the verge of freezing, the predator responds even worse to a jig than in slightly warmer water, and even more so to a “spinner” or a wobbler. Two very important points should be emphasized here. Firstly, what we are talking about now primarily concerns fishing on a large river. On the “toad grass”, for example, pike can be perfectly caught with a “spinner” even on the very eve of freeze-up. Secondly, it is difficult to state with certainty the temperature of the water in numbers - its coastal-surface layer is one thing, where it costs nothing to lower the thermometer, and another is the deep layers, where. in fact, the fish that we catch for the most part hold on. It is known that in bodies of water with minimal mixing of water, even with the presence of ice on the surface at a depth, the temperature remains about +4°C. On the current, the picture is somewhat different, but it is difficult to give a quantitative assessment in each specific case, and we will not go into this, being guided more by comparative assessments. The characteristic values of winter water temperature in the Moscow River, according to the results of measurements at the bottom a few meters from the shore, are +6-+7 ° C - this is from December to February in the area from Chulkovo to Faustov. At the beginning and towards the end of the winter season, the water temperature is noticeably higher, and it is also higher in the places where warm runoff flows into the river. Article on the topic: Fishing for carp in winter. Features of winter fishing
