Choosing a spinning rod for jig fishing for pike perch
When fishing for pike perch, jig rods are used that are capable of throwing jig heads and other heavy baits up to 40 g over long distances.
The main part of the rod for catching medium-sized pike perch should be rigid, but with a relatively sensitive thin tip - in order to feel the bite of even well-fed fish at depth. The butt should be powerful; a good walleye spinning rod should distribute the load as if it flows smoothly from tip to butt. Form construction – fast or super-fast.
If you are a beginner, a high-quality budget spinning rod Shimano Catana DX 270 ML is perfect for fishing from the shore. Price: 2800-3000 rub.
The power should correspond to the average size of pike perch for the pond. Pike-perch tries bait very carefully, so spinning rods with a test weight of 60-70 grams do not provide the opportunity to work out most of the weak bites. Use such rods only during periods of powerful short-term activity of pike perch, so that the power reserve allows you to forcefully fish out the fish, saving time.
During normal fishing, when the fish behaves sluggishly, it is worth taking a spinning rod with a test close to the extreme mass of the bait, usually 30-35 grams. It should cover the weight of the bait by 10% in order to neutralize the jerk during long casting.
When choosing the length of a spinning rod, not everything is so simple:
- When fishing on the shore, it is better to take as long a rod as possible - from 2.4 to 3 m. The main thing is to calculate whether you have enough stamina to cast heavy baits on pike perch for a long time.
- When fishing from a boat, shorter gear is optimal - 1.8-2.5 meters. At the same time, in conditions of strong current, it is necessary to choose a spinning rod of greater length, since the fishing line is blown to the side, and a wider amplitude of hooking a large spinning rod will allow you to select the fishing line faster.
For fishing from a boat, a light short (1.8 m) spinning rod with a test weight of 5-24 g is better suited: Zetrix Ambition-X AXS-692M. Price: 7690 rub.
Ways to catch pike perch
For spinning
Anglers know many fishing options. Artificial baits are used.
- With uniform wiring on the shallows - spinners, spinners, wobblers.
- In the depths, baits are good with stepped, jig or torn wiring - on a bottom with accessories: fishing line, sinker, leash, hooks. The spinning rod is equipped with a fishing rod and a reel
On the donk
The size of the fishing line is 0.3-0.6 mm, the length is up to 70 m. To increase the catch, it is good to equip the tackle with 2 leashes: a smaller one and a larger one, but spaced apart from each other so that there is no overlapping of the hooks. A stationary weight is attached to the end of the main line, then leashes are placed at a distance of 15-20 cm. For pike perch, it is preferable to mount single hooks up to 7 cm in length for adding live bait. Interesting are bottom fishing rods, feeders with a flexible top and many passage rings. The donka for a feeder or spinning rod is universal. You can make long casts closer to the exact location of the fish.
The tackle is suitable for fishing with live bait in open, clean reservoirs for minnows, ruffes, bindweed, and bitterweed. In addition to pike perch, bleak and catfish also bite on bait.
Trolling
Fishing is successful from a boat using a spinning rod, wobblers, or fairly deep echo sounders. When the bottom is flat, the pike perch goes to circles and lines.
Sheer lure
It is used when a predator goes into holes or the edges of riverbeds. Plumb fishing requires a boat, special gear, a rigid rod up to 1.5 m, an inertial reel with a spinning rod, a drum with a monofilament wound on it with a thickness of up to 0.35 mm, and a spinner tied to the end of a thread.
Winter vertical fishing
When fishing vertically, the bait must be lowered to a depth, the tip of the rod should be sharply waved upward and the tackle quickly returned to its original position. It is better to have a light and short tackle for ease of tossing the bait with your hands
For live bait
When fishing with live bait, mugs are most often used.
In the spring, a regular fishing rod with a rigid rod up to 3.3 m in length, an inertial reel, monofilament line, a large float, and a sinker up to 9g is suitable for fishing. Pike perch goes for minnows and gobies. It is better to cast the equipment closer to the algae, roots, tie it to bushes or reeds. It is necessary to check the tackle every 45 minutes.
When fishing with live bait, many fishermen use mugs - foam tackle in the form of a disk with monofilament wound around it. Hooks No. 2, 3, 4 are used when fishing with live bait. When fishing from a boat, the tackle with bait can be lowered to more promising points. When the bite starts, the pike perch will turn over the circle, which means it has attacked the bait and it’s time to get it out.
Reel and line
For pike perch, medium-sized spinning reels with 100-140 m of fishing line with a diameter of 0.2-0.3 mm on a spool are well suited. If you are using an inertial reel, the line should be slightly thicker, up to 0.4 mm. For a spinning reel, a rear friction brake is preferable - when fishing for large pike perch, it is more convenient to change its position.
The Shimano Catana 2500 FD spinning reel is a reliable budget option. Price: 3800 rub.
Braided fishing line has proven itself well in catching pike perch; compared to monofilament, it stretches less and hooks become more reliable. And in thickets, where pike perch often hide, it protects against cliffs. When catching small fish, up to 2 kg, a 0.15 mm thick cord is sufficient. The diameter of the fishing line is also determined by the fishing season (thicker during active periods).
Choosing gear for catching pike perch
How to properly catch pike perch using a spinning rod, what are the main methods and what gear to choose? The main and basic direction in pike-perch fishing is jig. Today this method is not a secret to anyone. Much has been written about it, and the fishing market is saturated with specialized rods and lures, suitable reels and lines.
You can hunt fangs either from the shore or using a boat. Both options are fun and, when done properly, produce consistent results. In general, the selected spinning set should provide maximum sensitivity when retrieving and fixing a bite, and also allow you to powerfully hook the fish and fish it out in a forceful style.
How to catch pike perch using a spinning rod from the shore, with what gear:
- Spinning rod – 2.70 meters long, fast or medium-fast action.
- Reel size 2500–4000, power with a reduction of about 1:5.0.
- A cord with a diameter of 0.10–0.18 mm with sufficient breaking strength, good abrasion resistance and a smooth structure for long-distance casting.
The abrasive resistance of braid is important, since you often have to fish in snaggy places or on the bottom densely strewn with shell rock. The last couple of meters of the cord are constantly in contact with underwater obstacles, losing strength, which can lead to breakage when landing even a small specimen. Therefore, many seasoned pike-perch fishermen use a steel, or less often fluorocarbon, leader. Pike perch fangs are not capable of significantly damaging the fishing line, but the leash will save it from chafing when it comes into contact with flooded branches and shell rock.
The kit for catching fanged fish from a boat does not differ significantly from shore-based gear. The choice of spinning rod should be based on the fact that long-distance bait casting is not required here. The fishing rod is selected with a length of about 2.10 meters of fast action with a large reserve of power for forced pumping out of pike perch when fishing in difficult conditions.
When fishing for pike perch using other methods and methods, the use of a jig kit is allowed. For example, such gear is suitable for fishing with spaced rigs or with minnow wobblers during night summer forays onto the river. For crank wobblers, it is more advisable to take a medium-action rod, which will allow you to work better with lures of this class.
- reducing the chance of gear breakage and bait breakage;
- much greater freedom for the bait to play (it is in close proximity to the bottom, but does not touch it or drag along it);
- correct installation of the structure, taking into account the depth of the reservoir, allows you to fish with this type of gear both in shallow water and at depth; both in standing water and on a river with a strong current.
Spinning baits for pike perch
, jig baits with different equipment are chosen more often than other baits
Long-sized twisters and vibrotails are the best baits for pike perch
- Twisters and vibrating tails are the most common due to their low cost and high efficiency;
- Rubber squids and frogs - have been used not so long ago, but show good performance in spring ponds;
- Wabiki (front-loaded flies);
- Spinnerbaits with artificial minnows are good in the weeds.
- Bladebaits are artificial metal lures in the shape of a cicada.
In second place are oscillating and rotating spoons , which are considered by many to be a relic of the past, but are still successfully used, especially in the summer, when fish move from the bottom into the water column. The good thing about spoons is that they don’t break from the teeth of a predator and don’t require frequent replacement - as a rule, pike perch don’t get capricious if they start to bite on one.
Bait Breath Fish Tail – catchable vibrotail for pike perch
It is better to choose long and narrow vibrators , 5-7 cm with a width of 1-2. They are used for fishing at a depth of 4-5 m. “Spinners” are more often fished from a boat due to the not very high range of the rotating spoons. Fishing depth is 2-3 meters. It is worth choosing front-loaded spoons; they will show the best results during periods of active fish movement, when the hunting pike perch swims higher in pursuit.
The tube spinner has proven itself well when catching toothy predators
When fishing near the shore, in thickets, many began to use wobblers such as minnow and rattlin, sinking and neutrally buoyant.
Lures and Lures
In each season of the year, the fanged predator prefers different baits.
In early June, after spawning, the feeding begins. Suitable for live bait, spoons, worms, also for minnows, roach, crucian carp, small perches, river lamprey, and silver bream. Their artificial baits are front-loaded spinners, soft fish, wobblers, and spinners.
You can fish in open areas with bleak, dace, roach, and small minnows. At night, fish for crayfish and frogs.
Suitable artificial baits: spinners, spoons, silicone fish (polyurethane), twisters and vibrotails. In winter - on a balancer, vertical spinners.
Tackle for pike perch will be useless without the correct selection of baits. At night in shallow water, an alternative option would be wobblers in the form of oblong fish and different colors. They are good for slow retrieves. During the game, controlling the fish is not at all difficult.
During the day, the fish go deeper and it is worth changing the baits to silicone ones, for example, from Manns, Predator.
Spinning equipment
If there are no other predatory fish in the reservoir that can bite off the fishing line (pike should be feared), you do not need to use leashes made of steel or other hard materials. When trolling is active, especially at low depths, it is better to never rule it out.
- A retractable leash is one of the most popular spinning equipment for catching pike perch. A sinker is attached to the end of the main line (for example, a 24 g Cheburashka), and above it, 20 cm, a blind leash made of fluorocarbon 1 m long is tied, and at the end of the leash is an unweighted jig bait (twister, squid).
- Drop-shot equipment is used when fishing for pike perch from a boat or from a steep bank. The fact is that in this type of bait fishing you need to play not in a horizontal position when fishing, but in a vertical position, lowering and raising it at an angle of 20-45 degrees.
“Retractable leash” is an excellent spinning equipment for jig fishing for pike perch with stepped wiring
Drop-shot rig for deep fishing spots
Gear equipment
Spinning
To collect gear, you need to have a reel, fishing line, and bait on hand. To prevent fishing from becoming exhausting with constant casting, you need to choose a spinning rod that is quite light and comfortable, 2-4 m in length, to be able to cast bait over long distances.
When fishing from a boat, a rod length of up to 1.8 m is sufficient. If you take it longer, then carrying it from the boat will be completely inconvenient. The rod should be stiff and the action should be fast.
To carry out powerful hooks when fishing with a spinning rod in the depths, heavy baits are used, so the rod test can reach up to 40-50 g.
With live bait
Live bait tackle includes donka, mugs, and float rods . The main thing with this equipment is to choose a thicker fishing line (its parameters are described above) and good live bait. It is better to provide the tackle with a float when fishing in the roots. This will make casting with a sliding float more accurate.
But you shouldn’t wait long for bites; the pike perch should bite quickly. Otherwise, it simply does not exist in this place. It is worth covering promising places in a larger volume for more successful fishing. Open, clean areas are suitable for bottom fishing.
Pike perch is good for bleak with a narrow body, just to match the throat of a predator. Minnows, minnows, and bindweed are successful as bait.
Finding a pike perch fishing spot
Pike perch is very sensitive to the purity of water; you should look for and catch pike perch in reservoirs with running water, non-swampy lakes and streams. Typically, schools of pike perch travel at a depth of 4 meters - perches will be found higher, and in shallow water pike can become an accidental bycatch.
On small rivers, as a rule, there is only one, but large school of pike perch, which cyclically bypasses the coastal hunting areas.
This movement through reservoirs occurs at any time of the day, so although it is possible to catch “blindly” from the shore, you will have to rely mainly on luck, avoiding “suspicious places” with strong changes in depth. Pike perch can stand near small coastal bays, underwater piles of stones, small thickets and accumulations of snags.
The search can be carried out like this: with one spinning rod, with a heavy spoon and strong fishing line, the fisherman feels for possible pike perch spots, and when there is a bite, he continues fishing with the main tackle.
How to catch pike perch with a jig - choosing bait and tackle, finding a place, fishing technique.
Guide to choosing jig spinning rods for fishermen - test, action, length, material and other important parameters.
Buy and learn how to use an echo sounder for boat fishing, so you can easily find pike perch sites at any time of the year.
Catching pike perch on a retractable leash
Requires knowledge of basic wiring techniques. Even a novice angler can master them. The main types of postings include:
- Dash-dotted. The principle of execution is to gradually pull the bait along the bottom of the reservoir with even pauses. The rig is pulled through the tip of the rod. The bites will be most noticeable at the moment of stopping.
- Drawing. As soon as the load reaches the bottom, the fisherman carries out a uniform retrieve at a slow speed (winds the line onto the reel without stopping). At the same time, it is important to carefully monitor the operation of the tackle and, at the slightest deviation, carry out hooking.
- Sipping. Performed for long casts. As soon as the bait reaches the bottom of the reservoir, the angler winds the fishing line onto the reel, preventing the bait from coming off the bottom so that it forms a muddy path. This imitation of the movement of the fry allows you to lure the predator to the desired fishing spot. It is allowed to take short breaks. Then continue winding with a slight detonation of the bait from the bottom of the reservoir.
Regardless of the chosen technique for guiding the movement of the rod tip, sharp vibrations of the gear must be constantly monitored by the fisherman. This will allow you to hook in time and not miss the catch.
If you feel heavy on the hook, it is important to wind the fishing line onto the reel correctly and quickly, so that you can easily bring the catch to the boat or shore. Particular vigilance is needed on snags in rivers, where tangled rigs can leave you without a trophy.
Spring pike perch fishing
In the spring, the water temperature gradually rises, and the pike perch, hungry over the winter, regains its strength, greedily rushing at everything around in a pre-spawning feast. This period is the most successful for the spinning angler, while fans of bottom feeder fishing rarely catch pike perch in the spring.
Pike perch spawn from mid-April to late May , depending on the climate, and this period determines the behavior of the fish in the spring. To spawn, they rush to shallow areas with a rocky bottom, fragments of driftwood with holes and depressions. Unlike other predators, pike perch spawn not as a whole flock, but in pairs, so catching them directly during spawning is not productive.
After spawning, the pike perch is very passive and is practically not caught for approximately 10-15 days. After resting, he again goes to the spawning grounds to hunt and gain strength after the hunger strike. This is the key moment for a spinning player in the spring.
The bite at this time of year is influenced by absolutely everything: weather, day length, atmospheric pressure. It can suddenly appear and immediately stop at any time. Therefore, it is important to check promising areas several times to find feeding pike perch.
Do not ignore places with thickets of aquatic plants and reeds; in the spring, the predator often looks for food in them and reacts to carefully placed bait. Here it is advisable to use a spinnerbait or a small wobbler with non-snacking hooks.
In spring, it is better to use small baits, for example, the weight of jigs should not exceed 25 grams. The rod, as usual, is fast and rigid, 2.5-3 m long, with a fishing line of 0.15-0.2 mm.
Having found a school of pike perch, cast the bait and move the reel and rod with sharp but short movements, teasing the fish that are not fully awake.
However, if the pike perch is attracted by the play of the bait, it will attack quite confidently, with a pronounced bite - you should hook it sharply, since the pike perch’s mouth is very hard and with a weak hook you may not break through the lip. There have already been thousands of cases when hooking occurs, the fish is brought to the shore and it simply releases the bait, since the hooks were not hooked at all, the pike perch simply did not let go of the bait.
Catching pike perch with bottom tackle
Pike perch are not purposefully caught using bottom tackle. This is a non-mainstream form of walleye fishing. When fishing with a donk, live bait or a piece of fish is used. Artificial bait will be useless; without movement it will be unattractive.
Any powerful tackle, including a telescopic spinning rod, can be used as a fishing rod. Any material from carbon fiber to aluminum. There are no high requirements for spinning forms. Length from 3 to 4 meters for shore fishing. Depending on the desired casting distance and the weight of the bait, the rod test is also selected. You can also fish with donka from a boat, having found a promising place. For a boat, bottom tackle should be shorter, up to 2.4 meters.
Donkey reels use inertia-free ones. The spool must accommodate the required volume of fishing line or cord. The pulling force must be at least 5-6 kg. Frequent casting of bait with a load affects the wear of the reel components.
For bottom gear, there are no strict requirements for fishing line, unlike spinning rods. You can use a regular monofilament thread with a diameter of 0.25-0.3 mm. The weight of the cargo is selected according to the conditions on the reservoir. In standing water, 10-15 grams is enough. On the riverbed and strong currents, 40-60 g will be required.
For bottom tackle, bait and the method of attaching live bait are of great importance. The bait fish should remain alive as long as possible and swim in the bottom layer. The weight must be sufficient to hold the fish at the desired point.
The installation of the bait should ensure effective bites. If there are a lot of empty ones, then you should pay attention to the correct bait bait and installation of equipment. There are many mounting options for donkeys. This can be a sliding installation of a leash or weight, or a blind installation.
A fish hovering above the bottom is attractive to pike perch. If the fish's swim bladder is damaged, it will lie on the bottom and the pike perch will not notice it. Vegetation on the bottom will also interfere; the fish can hide and be invisible to a fanged predator.
It is recommended to place the fish by the mouth or the edge of the upper fin. The more damage the live bait has, the faster it will fall asleep. For instant hooking, it is recommended to use equipment with two tees. The first is attached to the upper fin, the second to the tail. At the slightest hint of a bite, you should strike sharply.
The pike perch's bite is revealed by the slow pulling of the slack line when it just touches the bait. This will be followed by a sharp jerk. You need to be prepared for this moment. The pike-perch can immediately jerk sharply without any ceremony with the fish. At the first sign of a bite and a jerk, it usually takes 10 seconds. This time is necessary for the pike perch to turn the fish with its head into its mouth.
Donk fishing is a passive method. To do this, you need to consciously approach the choice of location. Pike perch prefer to live in deep channel holes with a hard, muddy bottom. It can stand along the edges, at the entrance or exit of their channel holes, next to snags and large stones. Comes out to feed in shallow water. Can stand behind the locks, waiting for stunned small fish.
Catching pike perch with a spinning rod in summer
Summer schools of pike perch are not as large as in winter and consist of fish of the same size.
During this period, it is good for the spinning angler to use a spinner, or a wobbler that goes 0.5-2 m deep, in order to use the “path” wiring and S-shaped jerks to probe the moderate temperature layers for small schools (the smaller the school, the larger the fish in it).
Monitor the condition of the water: if the water is “blooming” or very cloudy for another reason, do not put a braided line on the spool - the suspension will make it heavier and it will be difficult for you to feel the bite.
Catching pike perch with wobblers at night is one of the most catchy ways to catch fanged fish in the summer
The largest specimens of pike perch prefer to hunt alone in summer ; they are reluctant to be caught in areas with clean, cool water and are caught on a spinning rod. To get them, you need to “bomb” deep areas with sharp changes in depth. Fishing at the mouth of a small stream flowing into a lake or river can be very successful.
The best time for fishing for pike perch in the summer is at night and early morning, because small fish escape the heat during the day, and therefore predators are also less aggressive.
Among the baits, the leading ones with a twister or a jig head with foam rubber come to the fore.
Spinning equipment
Spinning is the most popular tackle when fishing for pike perch. There are a huge number of different baits created to catch this predator, but there are days when the fanged one refuses all the baits offered to it. In this case, spaced spinning equipment comes to the aid of the fisherman. There are several main types of the latter.
Dropshot
This equipment is designed for catching pike perch from a boat or a steep bank, when it is necessary to fish in deep places, while keeping the bait at some distance from the bottom. In the case of pike perch, the drop shot is a purely summer rig, also used from time to time in the spring. In autumn, its effectiveness is much lower than that of a regular jig, since pike perch at this time lies closer to the bottom. You can make this equipment as follows:
- The offset hook is tied behind the eye at a distance of 20–70 centimeters from the edge of the main cord so that its shank is as perpendicular to the cord as possible.
- A silicone bait is attached to the hook.
- A carabiner is attached to the end of the cord.
- A drop-shaped or round sinker is attached to the carabiner.
This completes the installation of the dropshot. The use of such equipment allows you to place the bait at a given distance from the bottom, which can help in catching pike perch when casting along the edges and slopes of the depths, as well as near the exits of ditches and channel holes, where it often hunts not at the very bottom, but in the water column . It will be especially effective to use this gear for catching pike perch in the summer at night, when the fanged fish leave their shelters.
Where can I find a place to catch pike perch in the summer?
In summer, pike perch tends to places where there is running water. It cannot be found in stagnant areas where slow currents predominate.
The predator prefers a clean, hard bottom with a sandy or pebble or shell surface. The fanged one does not like silt and too dense vegetation. In June and August, pike perch lives at depth.
In the middle of the summer season it lives on dumps and snags, and at night it goes out into shallow water. During daylight hours his favorite places are:
- coastal edge, which has different bottom topography and depth;
- places at the end of a reservoir bed;
- pits (beginning, end), ditches;
- snags;
- near bridge supports.
Let's celebrate! A thermocline occurs in July. As a result of this phenomenon, pike perch can be detected using an echo sounder. In the dark, it is recommended to fish for snags at a depth of a maximum of 4 meters.
