Takcle setup for Lake Erie perch fishing

Joey D

Joey D

Well-Known Member
R.O.C. (Radio Operator's Certificate)
Hey guys,

As the perch season is upon us (or almost upon us) I'm starting to get all my gear setup and organized. I'm just curious as to what everyone's tackle setup is for perch fishing. I fish almost exclusively out of Port Bruce so I'm referring to the main lake and not LPB as I understand some use different setups for the shallower water.

I've always just used a 6'6" medium spinning rod and reel with braided line and a pickeral rig. Does anyone have success with setups other than pickeral rigs? Any comments on if you prefer braided to mono for your mainline would be appreciated too as I'm going to re-spool my reels soon and would like some input.

Thanks and happy fishing.
-Joe
 
Pickeral rigs or drop shot setup for me and braided line with a fluorocarbon leader. Good luck.
 
Hey Joey

I fish out of Bruce too. I use a small 4ft ultra light rod with spinning reel. 4lb braid is best for me cause I think you get more feel. My preferred tackle is a drop shot rig with yellow or red bead above the hooks and minnow. Sort of looks like a pickerel rig really.
 
I've found that using small drop shot hooks (VMC spins hot) on a fluorocarbon leader will put more fish in the boat when the fish are "off" and not aggressive plus you'll have far fewer, if any, gut hooked fish. When the fish aren't aggressive and want a slow jigging action, or even dead stick, I find that a pickerel rig results in a lot more deeply hooked fish because you need to lift the rod so much before feeling the weight of the fish.

Aggressive fish wanting aggressive jigging = pickerel rig
Non aggressive fish wanting a slow jig or dead stick = drop shot rig
 
Those drop shot hooks look pretty cool @ch312, I think I might have to try them out this year. What lb test/brand of fluorocarbon leader do you use? What line do you prefer for your mainline?

Thanks for the tips .
 
I have always used a pickerel rig on a 6' ultralight small hooks tipped with live minnows. . Dropshotting sounds like an idea as well though.
 
I use a 5'5 shimano ultralight spinning rod, small reel, floro leader and set my sinker at the bottom and run 2 red hooks on the line about 8 inches apart. Seems to be the ticket for me
 
Joey D said:
Those drop shot hooks look pretty cool @ch312, I think I might have to try them out this year. What lb test/brand of fluorocarbon leader do you use? What line do you prefer for your mainline?

Thanks for the tips .
Click to expand...

The spin shot hooks are much better than a plain drop shot hook as they allow the bait to pivot around your line rather than facing one direction. Plus, they eliminate line twist so you don't need to use a swivel to join the braid to fluorocarbon leader which the perch will hit and peck at instead of focusing on your hook. If you've ever had a day where you're getting tons of hits but no hookups, this could very well be your problem. I learned about this after plenty of ice fishing on Lake Simcoe with an aqua vu underwater camera. In fact, on a few occasions I have used tiny hooks with a small ball of black thread wrapped around it to catch plenty of perch through the ice when nothing else would work.


I use 8lb power pro for the main line with a 4lb flurocarbon leader and a 6' Rapala ultra light rod. You don't really need to use an ultra light most days, but the increased sensitivity really comes in handy when the fish aren't aggressive and hits can barely be felt. You'd be very surprised by how many times your minnow can get sucked in by multiple fish without hooking the fish or feeling a hit, even when sitting on stationary ice using a spring indicator...
 
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The last 2 weekends we fished off Port Colborne and we have caught lots of big perch on a drop shot with 2 hooks about 24 inches apart. The only thing is they are only hitting the bottom minnow. We even had luck letting the minnows lay right on the bottom and letting the perch pick it up and run with it. One of my partners tried a crappie rig (pickerel rig) but didn't catch a thing until he switched to a single hook drop shot with a small minnow and a fluorocarbon lead. I think he has too much hardware and they were being fussy.

I use a light action 6'6" rod spooled up with 4 lb fluorocarbon. I also use a Light/medium spooled up with 8 lb black fireline.
 
I am using a fishing bum panfish rig, it's a crimped no tangle rig, the line looks heavy, but it keeps the minnows away from the main line, use this with a 5-6 foot light rod and 8 lb braid. This will put lots of perch in the boat.
Good luck
 
8' medium light baitcaster with 20# braid and 10# fluro leader, 2 red truturn hooks drop shot rigged 1 and 2 feet off bottom. Longer rod for a sweeping hook set and braid can pick up the light bites in 40'-50' of water. Fast up and down and no line twist.
 
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