In some areas there is ice as early as March or April. For such a case, the website published material - “Perch fishing on the last ice. March, April".
This article tells you how to catch perch in spring in already liquid water. The influence of weather conditions on the bite. At what time of day are fish most active? Which areas of the reservoir the predator adheres to, depending on the period.
For ease of understanding, the article is divided into the spring months.
- Perch in March.
- April perch.
- Perch fishing in May.
In addition to tactics, installation, baits and lures, it is important to correctly determine the catching place. Especially for this, we have developed a map where there is a section for fishing reports with geo location on the map.
The page displays reports only for perch - “Perch Reports”.
Perch fishing in spring in March
The spring month of March is very important in the life of a perch. It marks both the release of ice from water bodies and the beginning of the spawning period. Let's figure out how a specific period affects the predator's bite, separately.
Ice melting . This period is stressful for perch. Therefore, the bite during the week is usually very weak or completely absent.
The interval between ice melting and spawning . Almost every predator has a so-called “pre-spawning glutton” and perch is no exception. During such a period, small and medium-sized perch cruise along the coastline in search of fry. Larger specimens are in no hurry to leave the depths.
Perch spawning. Spawning begins at the end of March or beginning of April. Lasts about 2 weeks. There is no bite. The beginning of the spawning period can be determined by three facts:
- Warming up the water to 7-9 degrees.
- The water begins to recede. Returning a reservoir to its banks after a flood.
- A popular sign is the beginning of birch leaves blooming.
Speaking about the most favorable time of day for catching perch in March, we mean the active period between spawning and ice melting. As a rule, this is daytime. From approximately 10 am to 4 pm.
Ideal weather conditions are a sunny day, with slightly lower steady pressure (738 - 739).
Which bait is better?
Here we want to tell you about the most popular lures for catching perch in the summer, such as spinners, wobblers, and also remind you that you can use both a fly and a spoon - but not always, but only in some special cases.
Spinner
The spinner is the most popular bait for spinning bass fishing throughout the open water season, and summer is no exception.
Since the fish are quite passive at this time, the most popular ones will be small spinners from No. 00 to No. 3.
Wobbler
Wobblers—both twitching and those designed for even retrieving—are another type of bait that provides stable catches of perch throughout the summer . Applicable in almost any conditions. Their disadvantages are their relative high cost and difficulty in use.
Jig lures
Vibrating tails, twisters and foam fish are also deservedly popular in catching summer perch. A twister or foam rubber on a heavy jig head is the best bait for catching large perch in the pits.
A small silicone bait with a light weight or no weight at all can produce excellent catches of small bass in shallow water.
Spinnerbait
A small spinnerbait will be indispensable when catching small perch in coastal grass thickets. responds very well to this bait . Spinnerbaits can also be successfully used to lure larger perch into snags.
Popper
Popper is another very catchy perch bait. It is best fished in late summer, starting in August.
Front sight
The fly cannot be called a popular bait for catching perch with a spinning rod, but you can achieve very good results , since in the summer the perch is relatively inactive and responds well to small baits.
You can catch perch with a fly using a spinning rod with a bombard or using a weight on a retractable leash.
Oscillating spoon
Unlike a rotating one, an oscillating spoon is of little use in hunting for striped lures. The only exception is medium-sized spoons, which allow you to successfully catch medium and large perch. But for small sailors it is better to use only turntables.
Perch in spring in April
In the spring, the first week of April marks the spawning period - either its beginning or its end. More details about spawning are described above, in the “perch in March” section. At such times there is no bite.
After the end of the mating season, the weekly perch feeding begins almost immediately.
A popular sign of the perch zhora is the beginning of the shedding of rosehip flowers.
Promising places for fishing in April are:
- Coastal grass. Where the perch eats the throwing fish, as well as caviar. Such places should be fished first.
- If there are no bites near the grass, you should move away a little - from 2 to 5 meters. Sometimes it works.
- Flooded trees and bushes.
- Also in spring, on rivers, perch can be found near steep banks with a depth of 2 m.
- Entrances to streams and bays.
- Classic places can also be “working” - snags, submerged tree branches, whirlpools, near bridge piles.
Optimal weather conditions for fishing are the same as in March - a clear sunny day, with slightly lower pressure (738-739). Daytime - middle of the day, from 10 to 17.
Nuances of choosing bait
Baits for perch are very diverse. In particular, they use rotating and oscillating spoons, cicadas and spinnerbaits, as well as silicone baits:
Spinner
Oscillating spoons
Cicada
Spinnerbait with two blades
- Rotating spoons . This is a classic for perch fishing. They are very popular, and for good reason. The shape and size of the petal, as well as the color, can affect the catch. Bright lures are effective in rainy weather, while dull lures are used in daylight.
- Oscillating spinners . To catch a predator, you need to take oscillating spoons measuring three to five centimeters in size when fishing. This bait is best used at the bottom of a reservoir. The perch, seeing that someone is fussing around the bottom, reacts to this.
- Cicadas and spinnerbaits . When a cicada gets into the water, there is a big stir among waterfowl. When fishing with it, you can be sure of 100% success. The high-frequency play of this bait will not leave the perch indifferent. Small spinnerbaits create great vibration in the water, since it is both a silicone and rotating bait. The predator simply has to punish the noisy fish as he sees fit.
- Silicone baits . It is mainly caught using silicone at great depths, where large individuals live. The most important thing is to choose the size of the bait, and if the perch is active, it will definitely be caught.
Perch in May. Where to look for a predator on a body of water
The locations of perch camps in the spring in May are highly dependent on the temperature regime and the region. If the month turns out to be cold or in your region of residence May is generally not warm, then the current places will be similar to those in April. You can read about them a little higher.
In the northern parts of Russia, ice may remain until the end of April. Therefore, spawning shifts to May, it is worth taking this into account.
If the May water has already warmed up and the warm days have stabilized, then the perch lives and feeds according to the summer regime.
Promising places to search for perch sites:
- A section of the river with a slow flow.
- Rip current near the coastline.
- Small bass are often found along the edges of rushes and cattails.
- On hot sunny days it shifts to darkened areas. There are overhanging trees under the bridge near the piles.
- Dams and waterfalls, even with shallow depth.
- Classic underwater obstacles - snags, boulders.
- The edge, both near and far.
- Entrances and exits from pits.
If we talk about optimal weather conditions for fishing, they also depend on the May temperature regime in your reservoir.
In cold times - warm sunny days, in the daytime - from 10 to 18 pm.
If May turns out to be warm, then cloudy weather with light drizzle will not hurt.
On hot days, perch bite better in the early morning (from 7 to 9) and in the evening (from 17 to 19). But in dark places it is actively fished during the day (under bridges, overhanging trees, etc.) Back to
“Perch Fishing”
Autumn catching of a toothy hunter
In the fall, fishing with live bait, in the form of a small frog, is considered more successful when catching large individuals of perch. The size of the frog should be no more than the size of a walnut.
This bait is thrown into a pool, a dump or a hole at a river bend, as well as under steep banks. Be prepared for the fact that your bait will be chosen by other predatory fish, for example, pike or catfish.
On a lake or reservoir where the water flow is not strong and the depths are deep, catching this predator in a vertical line is suitable. Such fishing becomes a whole adventure, because it is an exploration of a reservoir by boat. In this case, the float must be removed from the fishing rod and a weighted weight installed in its place.
Baits for catching perch in autumn: worm, leech, live bait. By the arbitrary movement of the boat, thanks to the current and wave, the bait moves in the water. But it is necessary to create light movements with the fishing rod; this maneuver will attract fish at the bottom.
The natural type of bait can be replaced with winter types of spoons, jigs, and cicadas. This “summer” type of fishing in the autumn version often brings an unexpected catch.
It is necessary to pull out the perch carefully, without letting the line slack. The “striped hunter” has weak lip plates and with a hook you can tear the lip, and then the perch will run away.
Catching perch with summer types of fishing equipment is carried out throughout the fall, until the first ice forms. When the water cools down greatly, striped robbers go deeper, near the shore and on the surface of the water, you won’t notice this fish anymore.
During the pre-winter period, fish are caught from the shore using hooks or tackle with a sliding float. These fishing devices allow you to fish in greater depths of the reservoir.
How to choose a place for perch fishing?
Summer time is an excellent choice for bass fishing, but you need to choose the right location for striped bass fishing.
The most favorable places for catching this fish will be all kinds of places of deep dumps, impenetrable wilds with a large content of snags. It is also necessary to try to fish places along the upper borders of the edges, areas that are largely overgrown with horsetail species of vegetation.
It is necessary to select areas where individuals of the striped family periodically come to the surface of the water. Quite often you can catch perch near schools of small fish. When fishing in strong currents, you should throw bait not far from the main current where this fish likes to frolic in search of passing prey.
If you apply bait in areas where striped predators cannot hunt, or where there is no shelter for perches, then this bait will be absolutely useless.
What does perch eat and when does it feed?
Large perch is a very agile, strong and predatory fish. One can be amazed at the greed and tenacity with which this predator pursues its prey. The fish jumps out of the water like crazy, and the striped one chases after it, opening its huge mouth with a loud slurping sound until it grabs it. During the feast, the chomping sound of this large predator is so loud that in calm weather it can be heard a hundred meters away. Small perch are not inferior to large ones in agility and agility, hunting for prey while feeding. Probably, when catching perch with a spinning rod, every fisherman has seen how schools of perch hunt for fry; it even happens that, carried away by the pursuit, they jump out after their prey onto the shallows and onto the coastal sand.
The striped predator is active and seeks food almost all year round, except for the period of deep winter. During the year there are the brightest periods when the perch is hungry and actively feeds. Usually there are periods of zhora in the spring before spawning in March on the last ice, and in the spring after spawning the zhor comes again. Perch also gets hungry in the fall from the second half of September until the weather gets colder. And when the water becomes cold, predators go to deeper places.
And after the freeze-up, on the first ice, fattening perch is actively caught with winter gear and you can catch more of it than in summer. In the summer there are outbreaks of perch zhor, when the weather changes and after the sultry heat there is a cold snap. Among fishermen, the moments when a perch is hungry in open water are usually called the perch cauldron, when even from a distance one can see as if the water is boiling from the powerful movement of a school of predators chasing the fry in the upper layers of the water.
The perch fish feeds on everything, from small aquatic insects to fairly large fish, as long as it is within its strength and can fit into its wide mouth. The striped predator itself is rarely eaten by other predatory fish, since they do not like its sharp dorsal spines in its fins. The main food of perches is small fish, as well as the eggs of other fish. Large individuals love to feed on crayfish during their molting, and therefore stay near stones, snags, under the shore, near crayfish burrows. Small crustaceans are found in many lakes in northern and central Russia, and constitute a tasty food for perciformes.
What gear should you take with you when fishing for perch in the summer?
To catch perch in the summer using a spinning rod, you should choose options that are distinguished by their non-rigidity, while choosing a lighter rod class.
The test load should be about ten or fifteen grams, which is an excellent option for catching individuals of the perch family with various types of spinners, or for fishing carried out with various types of wobblers. If you fish with medium-fast action rods, then such spinning rods will be excellent for catching perch in the summer using the twitching method using wobblers.
If you want to catch individuals of the perch family using jig fishing, or catch perches in the summer with micro-spinners or small-type spoons, then you should give your preference to ultralight class rods.
To carry out coastal fishing for perch on a retractable leash, you should choose a rod within the length of two and a half meters to three meters. Boat fishing for perch involves the use of shorter spinning rods, about two meters and forty centimeters.
When choosing reels for light rods, you should make your choice in favor of a reel that is appropriate in weight; in most cases, the most suitable reels are those whose parameters are equal to 1000 or 2000 according to the Shimono class. Many fishermen cannot fully decide how to catch perch in the summer - using a fishing line, or fishing with a line.
When catching perch using fishing line material, the chances of the fish leaving the hook are significantly reduced. Cords provide less likelihood of all kinds of hooks. Many fishermen, based on their experience, prefer to take with them several types of equipment that will be suitable for certain types of fishing.
