Dropshot for Perch

As we get into the full swing of autumn and winter I find that drop shoting is by far and away the most effective method when going after our stripy friends the Perch.

Why ? well in my opinion as the water temperatures start to drop I find fish become less active and less likely to chase down the usual inline spinners and small crank baits, I would go so far as to say even jigging small shads is not as effective at this time of the year. Keeping that lure in the strike zone for longer is key. Yesterday was a perfect example of this.

I headed out to my favourite local water for a couple of hours targeting the stripeys. I arrived too early as I had to wait a good 20 minutes before it was light enough that I could make my way through the brush to get to the first spot. First up on the end of my  11 lb Quattron line was my trusty 8cm Quantum Battleshad in Dusk to Dawn on a 5 gram jig head. For the first 20 minutes cast after cast varying my retrieve speed, depth and action  proved to be ineffective. This was a surprise to me as up till now this was the set up that I could count on to land a few fish. Needless to say a change was needed as I was getting impatient and I had burnt a quarter of my fishing time.

In my small box of tricks I  tied on a 1/0  offset wide gap hook using the palomar knot and leaving about  a 3 foot tag end to adjust my 7 gram weight to the depth I needed. I cast out and with in 20 seconds of the weight hitting the bottom and shaking my line I had a solid take which I hooked and successfully landed. Perfect !

I will admit that fishing the dropshot is not the most exhilarating as not much effort is required to get the lure working I find it works best when you allow your weight to hit the deck and tighten up your line slightly and very gently waggle, yes gently waggle or shake the tip of your rod. Although you will feel as though you are not passing on an enticing action to the lure you will be! provided the line is relatively tight to the weight those small waggles or shakes you make with your rod tip will be magnified when it gets to your lure. Every so often a couple turns of the reel will bring the lure into another potential strike zone for you but do do this slowly as I find I do get quite a few hits during this movement. Another thing that is quite key when dropshoting is the depth that your lure is, you may need to adjust the distance between your hook and weight to find the zone that the fish are   active in.

Fishing with my 3.5inch Zoom Swimming Super fluke and 8cm BattleShad in Ara pattern about a foot off the deck I landed a further 6 stripeys nothing of any major size up to about a pound or so and the skinniest pike I have ever seen. Even though I was not catching world record size Perch it was a lot of fun. I further proved the effectiveness of the dropshot when I switched back to the 5 gram jig and could not get a sniff, again trying different retrieve speeds, retrieve actions and depths.

As I reflect on the mornings activities I can tell you that Yes I love to dropshot  for Perch and at this time of year there is nothing better and that Is “A Fisherman’s Tale”  If you would like any more information on the techniques that I use please do not hesitate to get in contact using my contact form  I believe that fishing is a sport that you can always learn from so if there is any tips or info you would like to share with me please get in touch.