Perch – Miss fluviatilis
English: PERCH
French: WHY
Dutch: PERCH
Danish : PERCH
In fishing dialect, it is also called a hunchback, hunchbacked, garbackim.
OCCURRENCE
From trout rivers to the coastal waters of the Baltic Sea, from peat ponds to huge dam lakes – perches are everywhere, except for some mountain streams. Unfortunately, good fisheries with large perches can be counted on the fingers of one hand; record specimens can be found, for example, in Śniardwy, Mamrach, in Lake Żarnowieckie and in all major dam lakes throughout the country.
Perches are typical "pioneers."”. They almost always appear first in new water reservoirs. Fish stocking is mostly done by mallard ducks and other water birds. Perch roe sticks to bird feathers and paws and is transported by air to various bodies of water.
WHERE TO LOOK FOR PERCH
PERCH LIKE WATER MOUNTAINS. The best fishing grounds in lakes are underwater shallows, the so-called perch hills. These places are quite easy to find, because they fish there, boat by the boat, almost all local anglers.
PERCHES TAKE WELL THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. Angler, who knows attractive places, also catches beautiful perches in winter from under the ice.
PERCHES HAVE BIG SNACKS, in which, unfortunately, hooks or trebles do not hold well. Some parts of the perch's mouth are hard, others are very brittle and the point of the hook easily pops out of them. Super sharp, thin wire treble, strong cuts and force hauling are the most common causes of perch snatching.
Finding small perches is not difficult. These fish stand under almost every pier, near concrete shore fortifications, they are also found in most ports. Even if you don't see any brindle predators in the water, it is enough to cast a float rod with a live worm on its hook, and after a while the perch will flutter on the line. A late jam typically ends with an "operation” the fish, for the perch eagerly and deeply takes the bait. For anglers looking to catch large eels or tenches, perch bites are a real nuisance. These predators feed well at any time of the year. They do not lose their appetite even in the middle of winter and during spawning migrations (March-May) to shallower places. Small perches are a common catch of anglers, large ones, on the other hand, are extremely rare, because in many water reservoirs and rivers there are hardly any perch weighing more than 1 Kg. Perches are extremely prolific and if not for the "defense mechanisms" of nature, in the water, the biological imbalance could quickly occur. If there is too much perch, the population dwarfs quickly and none of the fish grow to even medium size. If there are very few perches, does not mean it, that they will grow to impressive sizes. Record-breaking specimens are cannibals; they reached their size by eating small individuals of their own kind.
Big perches are very capricious. They always stay on the border of the herd or lead a solitary lifestyle. Perch fishing is often successful in terms of quantity. Mainly then, when these predators actively hunt below the surface for fish hatches. Food competition (or maybe curiosity?) in the perch it is so big, that they often lead the towed brethren to the landing net.
The most spectacular are wild autumn hunts, which can be observed in many large lakes in the north of Poland. The gulls or terns circling in one place are a precise clue, where a herd of perch is actively hunting fry. Angler, who paddles near this place can be sure of a few or a dozen nice bites. It all depends on this, how quickly he can unhook caught fish and how long perches will stay in this place.
HOW TO CATCH PERCH
PERCHES ARE CANNIBALS. Although the perch is a herd fish, it recognizes no blood ties and eats unscrupulous members of its own kind. Jazgarians in the livestock method and centrifuges, spoons and lures with "perch stripes" are lures, which has already acquired a lot of handsome hunchbacks.
PERCH HAS A FEEL OF FOOD COMPETITION. It can be used. It is enough to fish with tandem lures. After noticing, that "someone is chasing someone" (in our photo a centrifuge plate in front of a red worm), the perch joins the hunt and attacks the hunter.
THE PERKS ARE AGGRESSIVE. What excites the "born murderer" more than the color of blood? Lures for perch should have a red accent: twistery – red head, centrifuges – red wool decoy on a hook, miniwoblery – red belly or sides.
How and for what
Perches are predators, so they are best caught with lures that provoke the start of a hunt. The secret of success is the movement of the bait. Natural lures, such as worms, red and white worms must be super mobile, so fresh. With artificial lures, than lazily swinging spoons, attractively shining centrifuges are much more effective, briskly moving twisters and small jumpers, floating wobblers.
The bait should be at least partially red, because this color has a provocative effect on perches. It is important to, that the natural bait fed on the float set does not "hang."” in the water in one place. The float load should not be fitted too close to the hook. From time to time, pulling the line up is a great way to provoke perch to attack immediately.
When fishing with spinning rods, all kinds of tandemics are very effective. Even slightly active perches are good for centrifuges with two wings, small spoons with a twister tail on the tip of the treble and for other artificial lures combined with live red worms.
In the south of Germany, in Switzerland and Austria many anglers fish for perch en masse on so-called Christmas trees. These are paternoster sets with a few (usually up to five) little colorful nymphs or "nuggies" (single hooks with plastic sleeves stretched over the shaft). The Christmas tree with a lead weight is lowered by the boat into the water and fished over the bottom or in the depths. You can catch a lot of perch for the Christmas tree in a short time. Good perch hunters can be recognized by the mornings on their hands; the sharp spines of the dorsal fin and the sharp tips of the fish gill covers leave a mark when cleaning…
Small lead fish and Scandinavian balance pilkers are also good baits for boat fishing. (used by ice anglers). Let's remember, that classic ice spinners with a permanently embedded hook or treble are forbidden in many fisheries.
