Although the cold season has yet to really start, the water temperatures have dropped steadily during the last weeks. Of course the fish have also noticed this and they have become more active and their feeding periods longer.
If you are after some real action, fish near immerged obstacles and in front of weedy zones. It does not matter if you use soft or hard baits: if they are there, the perch are just waiting to smash them! At this time of year I often go out with my belly boat or a small bananaboat, as there is no need to take a lot of tackle. A few 8,5 and 10,5 cm Grubby Shads combined with 8 and 10 g jigheads is all you need. Don’t forget a few hardbaits like the Gunki Hedora, Mothra and Gamera, you never know, they might just be the flavour of the day.
When I get to the chosen spot, I like to work through the different layers of water, from top to bottom, which means that I start with topwater baits. Here the Gunki Hedora is the ideal choice, and perch really love poppers. The Hedora 55F is a real favourite, this bait not only makes a classic “plop”, but also produces micro air bubbles that make the perch really go mad. One other advantage of the Hedora is its great casting qualities; this means that you are able to cover a huge amount of water. The best way to fish the Hedora is to work the bait with small twitches’ on a slightly slack line, that way the lure will make a nice and firm “plop” and “spit” tons of water!
After catching one or sometimes quite a few perch, I will start fishing one notch lower, usually between 0,5 and 2 metres. Don’t think twice, it is time to tie on the Gunki Mothra 60SP, the Gamera 65 or 90 SP.
These baits are also relatively easy to use. It sometimes sufficient just to fish them on a constant retrieve punctuated with short stops every now and then. But they can also be twitched like a charm, just a few light twitches on a slack line and the lures will go crazy! When I am done with the surfce and the level directly below, it is time to go for my favourites: the Gunki Grubby Shad! This unique soft bait has caught me so many fish this season: not only big zander, pike and chub, but also really fat perch! The ideal sizes for this lure when targeting perch are 8,5 and 10,5 cm versions. This is probably the most common sized bait fish that is hunted by big perch. Fished just in front of weed beds and also hard up against obstacles of any size, if there’s a perch lurking, hold on to your rod and get ready to set the hook!
The biggest secret of this bait lays in the way it moves. Thanks to the fat body and the large, thick paddle, the descent rate of the lure is greatly reduced, therefore it spends more time in the strike zone. For me, that is the secret behind the insane results of this lure. Combined with the fact that the body rolls from left to right, it makes this lure just impossible to be ignored by even the laziest predator. My favourite colours are the Smelt, Grey Fish, Ayu and Lemon Ice, I have lost count of the 40+ perch that I have caught with the Lemon Ice color.
When it comes to tackle my choice goes on the Gunki Shigeki S 190 M. Thanks to its short butt section, this rod is ideal for fishing from a boat and even more so a belly boat. With its 7 to 21 g casting weight range, the lures that I have mentioned earlier can be cast to distances others can only dream of! What is more, this rod has enough power to handle those fast and furious runs from even the biggest perch. Paired with a size 1000 reel the Shigeki S 190 M is perfectly balanced, ensuring you endless hours of fatigue free fishing.
Got to go, sorry but it would be criminal to keep those big perch waiting!
See you soon
Marco Seele
