The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I'm preparing to start my perch fishing, in a quest for a 2lb+ fish (but would settle for 3+ or 4+ .....) at a local lake.

I have some small frozen roach, about 4inches, any advice on rigs for fishing them?
I like things simple, so thinking a simple running ledger, but what at the hook end? A single hook (barbless only there) size 4/6 perhaps liphooked on the roach - would mean I could "twitch" it back occasionally? Is there a better place to hook the bait like the back or perhaps a small debarbed treble near the lip and a single near the tail, like a mini pike deadbait rig?

Any other advice on fishing them? I'll also have lobworm on another rod.

If you caught the roach from the same water you plan to fish for perch you'll be fine. If not then you should consider using another bait, as this will help prevent spread of diseases. But I suspect you know that already yet others may not, hence my warning!

Personally I would use big lobs and I've heard prawns work well!

We've caught some good perch up to 3lb on small dead rudd around 2 to 3 inches hooked through the tail fork on a size six.........yes the fish came from the water fished, no sense in taking risks. Lobs and prawns are great baits too, but every bait has its day and some waters respond to prawns or dead baits others just don't.....but a lob will usually catch anywhere, especially if you regularly spray maggots across the swim........I have a preference for reds.

Freezing the bait enables you to use wherever! All 'bugs' die when their host is dead & frozen. It is not illegal to use frozen deads anywhere -- but it is with livelys!

Tail hooking as stated by RBT above. Most predators swallow headfirst but not always!

Remember the heart of a perch appears to be farther forward than some others! A diagram of their internals shows this and makes them very vulnerable to deep-hooking.

i think lip hooking a small dead bait may be safer because as i understand it a perch normally takes a bait fish tail first unlike the pike which takes a fish side on then turns it and swallows head first

Gord having had perch in a fish tank ,i can confirm they catch there prey then turn it to swallow fish head first.
Good luck on your quest.

Thanks for this input. The deadbaits have all been frozen for some time, some from the water some from elsewhere - but I don't know which is which - I was hoping the freezing would make them ok, good to have it confirmed beforehand.

I can't use prawns or other small baits due to constant attention from bream/roach/carp no chance of keeping them in the water for 10 minutes even, maybe when water temp drops more. For some reason whenever I have put worm on in the past, I don't catch other fish, to the point of me thinking it is a lousy bait there! I'm hoping the perch will prove otherwise.

So I shall try the two baits and see what happens, take your advice on a single tail hook and quick strike on deadbait? I have a syringe so plan to "pop-up" the baits as well to experiment, see how that goes. Also add that there is no spinning on the lake, so that isn't an option, nor are maggots - not without a 100 mile round trip to find a tackle shop!

In my experience a freshly killed bait, gugeon, perch, roach or Rudd in order of preference is superior. Fished with the swim bladder intact held down with a swanshot 1"" to 3" from the hook and occasionally twitched.

Am I right in thinking the last hour of daylight can be the best time?

As a general rule the last hour can be productive particularly on an otherwise quiet day. Last winter one of my best catches came just after lunch on a calm bright day on a water of modest depth!