Catching perch with light bait. Microjig

Dawn, dawn, cast, silence;

A light click, one moment and a spinning arc;

A throw to the side, another throw and a shower in the heels;

The squeal of the clutch, the moment of truth - the resistance is broken, and again there is silence.

This impromptu tip about microjig is a universal spinning fishing method that can give you a trophy anywhere and anytime. And among the trophies is the entire list of freshwater fish.

It is microjig fishing that is the most effective in terms of the number of “tails” and allows even beginners to get away from zero.

Microjig perch is a good way to get away from scratch even for a beginner

But, despite the fact that you can catch a lot of different fish with a microjig bait, the main target in most cases is striped robber perch. Even the most novice anglers can handle the ubiquitous grass weed, who can successfully catch it on their first fishing trip.

But in order to catch minke whales with understanding, purposefully and successfully, you need to study the habits of the perch, know what gear and bait to use in certain conditions, understand how to find a predator and properly microjig it.

Catching perch with a microjig is the topic of today’s review.

What is microjig?

One of the types of ultralight spinning fishing, which uses the smallest silicone and foam jig baits. The main size used is 0.5-2, 2.5 inches maximum. Weight 0.5-7 grams.

The appropriate gear is selected, as delicate and gentle as possible, but powerful enough to cast bait with a reserve and bring out a kilogram of pike that unexpectedly flew in.

Read more in our material about microjigging for beginners and watch the video from an expert:

Why microjig?

It’s worth mentioning right away that microjig is its own value system and approach to fishing and life in general. This fishing method should feel like an exciting run through a pond with many casts, catching different, but often SMALL fish. You need the ability to enjoy spinning on a pond that is located within the city, where swimmers are relaxing ten meters away from you...

That is, for fishermen who get ready to fish for days and weeks and go fishing hundreds of kilometers away, microjig can serve as an addition to the main medium-heavy spinning rod, but is unlikely to become the main hobby for life. So, an addition that is there, but it’s not really needed. And this is not bad and not good, it’s just another facet of spinning that can be perceived in different ways.

For the rest, microjig fishing will give a greater range of sensations than a regular spinning rod or another fishing method. Enjoying what you do is the basis of any business.

In addition, it is worth noting the following advantages:

• A wide range of hypothetically possible production.
• The opportunity to catch at least something even in a small “puddle”.
• Minimalism in gear and equipment.
• The activity of such fishing.
• Thanks to the minimum size of baits, you can catch the most passive fish.

It would be fair to go over the shortcomings:

• The size of the fish, whatever one may say, is rarely more than 200-300 grams, but not without exceptions.
• Microjig fishing in deep places is pointless.
• You need a little gear, but they are quite expensive, especially if you want to fish for your own pleasure, and not through force.

"Microjig" perch, its habits and habitats

The first thing you should understand is that the overwhelming majority of microjigs caught are grass perch, the so-called weed perch. The average size perch, and even more so the humpback fish, stays in other places and is caught on a microjig extremely rarely.

This is due to the fact that large perch stay in deeper places, and it is very difficult to work on them with ultra-light weights. Only in some cases, when the striped fish goes to shallower places - pits, shallow edges, in thickets of reeds for spawning grater, it can also be caught quite successfully using microjig baits. We will touch on this topic further in the text.

Based on this statement, it follows that the main hunting object of the microjigit is grassy, ​​often schooling, perch.

Small and medium-sized perch often stay in schools, hunting in shallow and half-water at depths of 1-3 meters. Frequently moves and searches for food. It adheres to various underwater obstacles and often rages among water lilies and grass.

Fishing in autumn with microjig

Ultralight fishing in autumn

in more than 90% of cases it is fished with microjig baits.
And there are serious reasons for this. With the arrival of autumn, the water begins to cool quickly and potential prey rarely pursues fast-moving baits. As a rule, you can only tempt fish at this time with a slow jig. In addition, microjig baits allow the angler to fish hard-to-reach places, primarily snags, grassy thickets, and piles of stones.
In this case, you can practically probe every centimeter of the bottom with a micro-dig. Simply put, none of the lures can give such results in difficult areas as a non-snagging jig. In addition, a microjig bait can be used to seduce not only perch or pike perch, but also white fish, primarily chub, ide and rudd.

What can be considered microfiring? Many spinning fans believe that when using a jig head weighing 7 grams, they are microjigging. However, real microjig lures

have a weight of about 3 grams, less often up to 5 grams and dimensions of 5 cm or less.

In most cases, autumn microjig fishing

is carried out using twisters, due to the fact that such baits of the required size are found on the shelves of specialized stores much more often than small vibrating tails. Also, according to experienced fishermen, edible silicone baits like Berkley, especially maggots or large bloodworms, have proven themselves well. In addition, you can use an ultra-light rig called a “lrop-shot” with a “leech” bait. Such a bait can be easily made from any twister using nail scissors. A strip is cut 2.5-3 mm wide and 3-4 cm long; it would be better if the color of such bait is black or dark brown.

Equipment

Sometimes when choosing a load for a micro jig, some problems arise. Since the smallest sinkers, called “eared” ones, weighing less than 3 grams are practically never found in stores, and here you already need sinkers for float fishing, from which you can make the necessary weight yourself. In most cases, doubles No. 14-10 are used with eared sinkers, it all depends on the condition of the bottom and the size of the bait. The advantage of doubles is that the number of effective bites from the bottom is much greater on them. Most likely this is explained by the fact that a double hook, unlike a single hook, rests on the bottom with the tip pointing towards the top. As for the disadvantages of a double hook, it is a higher chance of snagging. A tee works even worse in this regard; it holds fish no better than a double, but it lifts much more debris from the bottom. As for the single hook, use it when the fish is active. In this case, using a single hook allows you to spend less time removing it from the mouth of the prey. Another advantage of a single hook is that it passes snags, vertical hard vegetation, etc. well. If fishing with a micro jig in the fall

occurs in places where there are a large number of obstacles at the bottom, then the best solution would be to use an offset hook. The tip of such a hook, as a rule, fits tightly to the body of the bait or is hidden in it, this allows the bait to pass well along the bottom, where there are various obstacles, however, when using such hooks, the effectiveness of hooking is reduced.

Lures on offset hooks can be used in combination with eared sinkers, the only problem is that it is not always possible to find winding rings of the required size. However, using wire cutters you can remove half of one turn on the winding ring and then it can be connected to the offset hook.

Texas rigging is also an excellent option for using an offset hook. A bullet-shaped sinker makes it possible to fish in any type of algae, including thread algae. In this case, the fishing line is passed through the hole in the sinker, and then it is tied to the hook, and then a strip of rubber or, better yet, a twister must be put on it.

As for ordinary small jig heads, there are much fewer problems with them, and good quality heads are not difficult to find today. The main thing to know here is that a too large hook is not suitable for miniature baits.

Microjig fishing with ultralight tackle

very effective using a drop shot. This type of rig uses sinkers weighing 3-7 grams at the tip of the fishing line. A single or offset hook should be tied to the fishing line 5 or 10 cm above the load. Such equipment, compared to conventional jig heads, makes it possible to use a heavier sinker without compromising the quality of the retrieve. On such equipment, you can use an imitation of bloodworms or maggots as bait. This is very practical when fishing for small carp, carp and other peaceful fish.

Fishing with microjig baits is possible almost everywhere; any area of ​​a body of water where the depth is not great and the current is not strong is suitable for this.

During wiring, after several turns of the coil, you should pause, and then repeat a few turns. However, there are some nuances here, this concerns, first of all, the number of revolutions of the coil. So, for example, standard wiring with 3 turns of the reel can be used almost everywhere and always, with the exception of when hunting for inactive pike perch and dispersed perch. In this case, the pace of fishing is very important, this is due to the fact that bites mainly occur during the active phase of the retrieve, and not at the moment of pause. Here, too much separation of the bait from the bottom is unacceptable. In such situations, it is best to move the bait at a fairly slow pace, making 5 to 8 turns with the reel, while taking short pauses and twitching the rod.

If you are fishing in places with a sandy bottom, especially on rifts, the best option would be to use drag fishing. The bait is equipped with a head of such mass that it can be carried away freely. Throw the bait across the current, and then slowly pick up the slack in the line with a reel. Mostly, this type of fishing catches small pike perch, less often medium-sized pike perch. In another case, the pike perch only bites when dragging the bait, and any other fishing techniques do not attract it at all. Especially if fishing takes place in longitudinal coastal ditches.

Fishing with micro jigs in autumn

always gives very good results if you have an attractive bait for the fish and you have selected the appropriate wiring for the given location.

Collection of micro jig tackle for catching perch

All microjig tackle is sophistication, perfect fit in all details and delicacy in all elements. Each element must be consistent with each other and not stray from the general outline.

Form

For perch, it makes sense to use rather “snotty” sticks of semi-parabolic and parabolic construction. Such forms are catchy, allow for accentuated animation, but at the same time do not break the delicate lips of small sailors when hooking.

For beginners, at first, we still recommend taking semi-parabolic rods or fast action rods - they are more understandable, although less functional during casting and during the retrieving process. But fast sticks do not fail at the top of the dough, unlike parabolic sticks.

At the same time, if you plan to fish with more or less heavy weights (within the framework of microjig, of course), then we recommend taking a form with a classic tabular tip, since sticks with an insert (solid) have a narrow application profile (mormyshing , nanojig) and fail at the top of the dough. It’s not for beginners, and the profile is really narrow. Does not allow the use of aggressive wiring; even a classic step cannot be “drawn” as normal.

The optimal test for a beginner is a microjigit for perch in the area of ​​1-5, 2-7 grams.

In most cases, a long stick is not needed for microjigging. The optimal length will be around 1.9-2.2 meters.

Well, weight is the most important factor in ultralight in general and in microjig in particular. The weight of flagship rods is 70-100 grams, no more.

The selection of quality fishing rods is huge. A detailed review will be at the link. Now we note that it is not necessary to immediately burn the budget on well-known flagships from Major Craft, Graphiteleader, Evergreen, St. Croix, but you should not go into outright China either. Favorite, Crazy Fish, Salmo, Berkley have a series of good, decent street forms aimed at perch fishing.

Let's choose the classics!

Coil

The basic rule is always a perfect balance with the form. The assembled form should maintain perfect balance with your finger placed under the front of the reel mount.

A microjig reel is a grinder 800-1500 according to Shimano. It is also possible to use sizes 2000 - 2500S. The reels themselves are of a regular size, but with a small spool (as indicated by the S symbol in the name). That is, this allows you to wind the thinnest fishing line or braid under the side on a regular reel. This option is suitable for those who already have a high-quality reel, but do not want to spend their budget on a new one. It’s worth buying an additional spool for your model and going to battle for the sailors!

You need reels with high-quality laying of the line under the side - without drops and waves. This will avoid dropping loops and increase casting distance. Also important is the softest and smoothest possible motion, which is present only in mid- and expensive-class spinning reels.

Also important is light weight and quality build throughout, from the line guide and roller to every bearing throughout.

We don’t recommend saving on the reel. If you hit the wrong mark in this case, then the whole hunt for UL fishing will disappear by itself. Shimano, Daiwa, Spro, Ryobi are good reels at a reasonable price, if you don’t go into the elite category.

Cord/monoline

In microjig you can use monofilament line and braid. Each method has pros and cons. Read more about the conditions of use and advantages of monofilament and braid in our article.

A good cord for ultralight and microjig should be catchy, slippery and not noisy in the rings. This will cost the right amount of money. But if you are already collecting decent gear for microjigging, then saving is not the best option (remember the disadvantages?) - you should pay attention to the following manufacturers: YGK, Varivas, Sunline, Climax.

Good thread costs money, but it will last longer than cheap or even mid-range thread. Since UL uses the thinnest cords with a diameter of #0.2-#0.6, they wear out quickly. Here everyone chooses for themselves - buy more expensive, but for a long time, or cheaper and change every three fishing trips.

The specific choice is very difficult; even experienced athletes often change their opinion from season to season and from fishing to fishing. Here it is worth studying forums, reviews, videos on the Internet and gaining experience.

Description of microjigging gear for perch

Microjig is a fairly new method of fishing compared to other fishing methods. However, there are already many loyal fans of this interesting type of fishing. The main difference between a microjig and a regular jig is that the former uses small jig heads. The weight of the heads used for microjigging is from one to three grams. To successfully fish with such a light bait, you need to throw it the required distance, and then move it so that the play of a small vibrating tail is similar to the movement of a wounded fish.

Read: Catching pike perch in snags

Such wiring can be done with a light rod with a test weight of up to four grams, with a length of two to two and a half meters. With a longer rod you can cast a miniature bait further. Well, with a shorter one, there are much more thrills. So, if you have to fish from a boat, it is better to use a two-meter rod. Another important point regarding the rod is that the tip on a micro jig should be monolithic. Compared to a hollow tip, a monolithic tip can be used to read the entire game of the bait. In this case, the sensitivity in the hand is actually lost. As a cord, you can use monofilament fishing line with a diameter of 0.15 millimeters or braided line with a diameter of 0.05 millimeters.

The best microjig baits for perch and installation

To catch perch, a large arsenal of baits is used - vibrator sticks, twisters, worms and slugs, foam rubber, silicone caterpillars, creatures, crustaceans and other krakozyabrs.

We would advise you to purchase a set of baits to start your journey in microjigging, which would have all the main options, rather than buying up half the store, especially since this is impossible and inadvisable.

The microjigit's wallet should contain baits of different colors, passivity/activity parameters, shape and size.

In most cases, perch prefers dark colors - motor oil, lox, dark brown tones with glitter. In muddy water - acidic, provocative colors. Sometimes you need to experiment and look for your own color.

If we talk about specific models, then the basic set of baits that we would recommend purchasing for microjigits starting to hunt for perch is as follows:

1. Passive foam rubber - carrot . Good for the most passive perch in an active game created using a rod at minimum reel speed. The animation is active and varied.
2. Reins Aji Ringer 1.5 inches . The ribbed bait in the shape of a worm is very popular among minibus fishermen. Good for a sports sailor.
3. Reins Aji Meat . 1.8 inches . A good and working worm from Raines.
4. Bait Breath - Needle RelFry 2" . Good in lox and chartreuse colors. The perch is simply in awe of her game. Very suitable for beginners, as it accepts any most chaotic game.
5. Lucky John - King Leech 2 inches . A very working and, at the same time, budget worm from Lucky John. The closest possible behavior to a real worm. The downside is that it is short-lived, but this is the other side of the coin of a realistic game. Can be used in jig fishing with the lightest loads of 1-2 grams.
6. Bait Breath Fishtail 2 inches . The game imitates the play of a wounded fish and behaves most realistically at the lightest weights.
7. Fanatik Dagger 2.5 . A budget-priced product from Fanatic, but that doesn’t make it less catchy. It has a jumper in the middle of the body, which gives an intricate play on active animation. Loves pauses, leisurely movements and light stretches.
8. Tsunekichi Worm 2" (copies of Select Tsunik and Kosadaka SLY Worm) is a well-known worm in microjigit circles. Working color sucker. It often helps to get away from zero on the most inhibited and passive perch.
9. Imakatsu Javastick 1.2 inches (as well as cheaper copies with a similar shape from Kosadaka, Select, Crazy Fish and others). Something between a fry, a caterpillar and a leech. Consistently one of the best for perch in shallow water along and above overgrown vegetation. A very mobile tail is a threat to a perch. Dark violet is a very working color for perch in the spring. Animation - movements on the bottom almost in one place, double-triple tosses, classic and American steps.
10. All kinds of active baits from Mance, Relax, Pantun 21, Lucky John, Keitech, Kasadaka, Fanatic and others. It is good to use active baits to explore a new body of water when there are active fish. It's faster and more effective than passive baits.

Foam rubber - carrot

Reins Aji Ringer

Bait Breath Fishtail

Lucky John King Leech

Sunekichi Worm

Imakatsu Javastick

Pontoon 21 Awaruna

Reins AjiMeat
Don't get hung up on one type of bait and manufacturer. It’s worth trying different things, but not all at once, but little by little mastering new types and types of rippers, worms, slugs, twisters and other rubber “animals.” This will give not only the variability of your actions on the water, but also an incomparable, invaluable experience.

Installation of silicone baits for microjigs

Several options are used for rigging microjig baits for perch:

1. Standard jig heads of various sizes and shapes.
2. The equipment is hinged mounted on a regular single hook with a large eye, offset hooks of various shapes and double hooks.

It is worth choosing the right hook size and shape so that the installation looks organic and does not interfere with the play of the bait when retrieving.

Our opinion is that the second installation method is more appropriate. It practically merges with the bait, but at the same time it almost does not interfere with detection. That’s why we prefer to use low-lift offsets for fast-moving slugs and worms.

Various installations of perch twisters - on offset, hooks with a wide eye, double

For microjig, it is extremely important to use hooks from suitable series of proven manufacturers - Decoy, Ovner, Jamakatsu and others.

Small numbers owner 51639 slim offset are suitable for equipping slugs and worms

For hinged mounting, Cheburashka weights of nickel, tungsten, and lead are used. The most common weight is 1-4 grams. For equipment, you need to use offsets with a larger ear than usual so that the bait has the proper freedom of action.

How to choose the right offset hook for a silicone bait:

A jig can also be used as a jig head.

What is better - a swivel mount or a blind mount on a jig head? The question does not have a clear answer. Some say that it is not appropriate to use a joint in microjigging, as this results in a large number of overlaps when casting. The latter contradict and complement them - loading in the form of a jig will not provide the necessary freedom of play. In their own way, both are right and the choice is determined by the fishing conditions, the baits used and the temperament of the fisherman.

Details about installation methods:

Posting options

1. Double or single toss. Every spinning player who switches to microjig masters this particular version of playing with bait. A short toss is effective in the warmer months when the fish are more active. Perch, as a rule, attacks the bait as it falls or when it lies on the bottom. A single toss gives a small spread, allowing you to fish the entire area without high jumps.

2. Dribbling or mormyshing. Delicate play of the bait is performed using the tip of the whip or the index finger placed on the blank. In both cases, the angler repeats the actions typical for winter jig fishing. Dribbling is alternated with pauses, which sometimes last up to 10 seconds.

3. Smooth lifting of the rod. This type of wiring is used in the cold season, as well as in early spring. After casting, the silicone nozzle falls to the bottom, and when working with the blank, it rises 50 cm higher, attracting a predator. Twisting of the line occurs at the moment the bait falls, thus the spinner reduces the length of the step.

Read: Catching perch on girders in winter

4. Twitch in the water column. In summer, the striped robber can be located in any part of the water column. If it was found near the surface or the angler hit the “cauldron”, then the best option is a light twitch with a minimum sinker weight. The bait moves in a given horizon with jerky movements, provoking an active predator to attack.

The most underrated wiring is considered to be drawing. Its essence lies in the slow passage of equipped silicone along the bottom. As in other variations of postings, the predator attacks during pauses, so their length is the key to the number of bites.

How to catch a perch using a microjig: find and persuade it to bite

Where to look for it

You can catch perch using a microjig throughout the open water season until freeze-up.

In spring and moderate summer, microjigits should look for perch at depths of 1-3 meters. This is the main working horizon. Parking places - edges, places among the grass, any unevenness on the bottom (patch, vegetation, snags).

Only the fattening fish in flocks can be caught almost from the top, but you don’t need to look for such a thing - it can be seen by the seagulls and the characteristic slurping.

In the July and often August heat, when even people move from air conditioner to air conditioner, the perch also have a hard time and look for places where it is cooler along with a drop in activity. These are pits, places under grass and water lilies, underwater streams and at the edge of currents and slow water. At this time, it is worth catching perch with a microjig at dawn, on rare rainy days and in constant search of its sites.

Well, don’t forget - where the food base is (for the grass perch it’s a whitebait), there’s the striped robber.

Closer to late autumn, even small and medium-sized perch look for deeper places. If there are humpback whales in the pits, then at the entrance to them, as well as in the adjacent pits, it is worth looking for smaller sailors.

Postings

For vibrotails, twisters and crustaceans with their own game, a standard step along the bottom or above it is good if the bottom is muddy or overgrown. A uniform pattern with pauses and tremors is also possible.

Various types of animation applicable to passive rubber also take place.

What is good or acceptable for active baits does not work for passive baits.

For slugs, worms and other passive microjig baits for perch, standard smooth pulls with pauses are good. The more passive the minke whale, the longer the pause. It’s good to combine this type of animation with high-frequency tremors generated by the rod.

In practice, a good wiring technique is called “twist-twirl-pause.” Everything is in the title, there seems to be nothing to explain.

It should be borne in mind that the play of baits, especially passive ones, strongly depends not only on the actions of the fisherman and the gear, but also on the weight of the load. Moreover, if some baits behave better on the lightest weights, then others need larger heads or cheburashkas. Here only experiment and experience help. The main thing is to remember this fact.

In general, the disposition is this: the more active the perch, the more active the fishing and the baits used, and vice versa. For passive perch, only passive baits and play on the verge of falling asleep - moving and dragging along the bottom, slight trembling - itching, small lazy stretches with virtually no movement of the bait.

Tactics and strategy

The search strategy is simple - a promising place is selected based on the season, reservoir, fish behavior and data received from locals for a bottle of candy.

Then it is fished with three to five casts along the fan. Changing the bait to a different type, a different color. Two or three more casts and we move across the pond. Let's not get stuck in one place. Microjig perch almost never stands still. And often, if the body of water is relatively small, you have to go around it in a circle more than once or twice.

In promising local places we use the laziest animations in order to keep the bait at the desired point as much as possible.

It’s good if you have a wading suit that will allow you to get closer to the fishing spot, overcoming the grass that often overgrows the banks, especially in the summer. Microjig does not involve pushing bait through the grass using delicate, delicate gear, which means you need to look for a different approach. Either a boat or waders where possible.

The bite is tracked by the sag of the fishing line, and is often completely unnoticeable, but this is not required when catching perch and is often even harmful. This is especially true when fishing with edible rubber, when the perch sits down on its own, and a sharp hook can only ruin everything - either tear a delicate lip, or snatch a tasty morsel from the mouth of a young predator...

You should forget about bites in your hand! For microjig this is not a rule, but only an opportunity. This is especially true for small sailors and civilians. This is a common mistake of a newbie microjigger, expecting that everything will also hit the hand - the behavior of the bait, hitting the bottom and the fish biting. There will be a sensation at the nerve level, but not as obvious as with light and medium spinning rods. This is especially true for the flow - where it is difficult to understand something at all and happens unexpectedly.

Catching perch with a microjig in spring, summer and autumn in three videos from experts with nuances and secrets:

Spring perch on micro jig rubber:

Microjig for perch in summer:

Perch for microjig in winter and late autumn:

It is microjig fishing that allows you to fill the painful gaps between major serious fishing trips and trips out of town for every avid spinning fisher. You can fish with a microjig all year round almost until the freeze-up, you can fish where there is nothing larger than a pencil pike, and you can fish in cases where you have only a few hours of free time.

Advantages of microjig

In autumn, when the water cools down after the summer heat, active perch bite begins. This kind of bite is called zhor. At this time, the striped predator can be caught using different gear and all sorts of bait. But the most interesting and richest fishing is microjig fishing. Microjig has a number of advantages over other fishing methods. So, when compared with float fishing with a worm, the active play of a small silicone bait is much more attractive than a worm sadly hanging on a hook.

Floaters, defending their favorite tackle, can say that they can put live bait on the hook. And that live bait is more attractive than silicone. Without a doubt, it bites well on live bait. But they need to be caught, kept alive, there are so many problems. And the fish bite on it well, as long as it is a lively and active baitfish.

Read: Catching pike perch with small jigs

When fishing with a spinning rod, perch is caught quite well. Only if you fish nearby with a microjig, the catch will be greater than with the last method of fishing. Yes, and with microjig, the caught specimens will be larger. This suggests that for perches, especially large ones, small prey are preferable. But this only applies to perches; for other predatory fish everything is different. Among inexperienced spinning anglers, there is an opinion that you can attach a small jig head to a regular spinning rod and pull in perches. But with a stick with up to 15 grams of dough and a cord of 0.15 millimeters, you won’t be able to cast a light bait far. Well, let’s not even talk about high-quality wiring.