Oxford Lure Group – Guide To Perch Lures  
by Colin Lurcook
(With contributions from John Breedon and Bruce Oliver)

My friends, John Breedon, Bruce Oliver and I looked back at our results over the past ten years to see if we could come up with a list of useful perch lures. The following selection are the lures we’ve had the most success with, although, we each have our own favourites. Obviously, there’s a large number of lures we have never used but if you look at the one’s we have and the colours we’ve been successful with, they should give you a guide as to what to try.

Minnow Plugs (Shallow Runners)
Rebel’s floating minnow (F20, F30, J20, J30). This lure has been around a long time and has accounted for many lure-caught record fish, including the recent world and United States records for striper bass. The best colours for catching perch, we’ve found, were: chrome/blue back, chrome/black back, firetiger and Tennessee shad.

Other good perch lures in this category are: Cotton Cordell Ripplin’ Redfin in chrome/black back and gold/black back; Rapala (F13, J13, F18 & J18) in silver, clown & firetiger; Bomber (15A & 15J) in Tennessee shad (John’s favourite); Storm Thunderstick and Baby Thunderstick in chrome/black back & firetiger; Norman Jerk Minnow in silver glitter.

Jerk-Style Retrieves. It was said, somewhere, that perch are put off by a jerk-style retrieve, but this is not so. I have caught dozens of perch using this method including some well over 2lb. One of the best lures for this style of retrieve is the Rebel floating minnow.

Reflective Tape. The effectiveness of a minnow lure can be enhanced by the use of strips of reflective tape stuck to both sides of the minnow. However, make sure that you give the lure a couple of coats of clear-coat varnish; otherwise the tape will start peeling off.

Alphabet Plugs (Shallow Runners)
For perch, it’s probably best to use the smaller size of alphabet plug, although I have had success with larger plugs. The following lures are the one’s we’ve had most success with in this category; Manns (Tiny, Baby, Midi & 5/8oz) –1 minus in chrome/black back, Tennessee shad, green perch, yellow perch and orange (when I first used this colour it wasn’t available commercially, so I had to spray a Big S that I considered an unsuccessful colour, with orange car paint); Ryobi Mugger in chrome (goes a little deeper than most shallow running plugs, but it’s very effective for perch that are suspended); Norman Big N in firetiger (this is one of Bruce’s favourite lures).

Deep Diving Plugs (minnow or alphabet shape)
We don’t use this type of lure as much as the one’s mentioned above, but looking back at our records the following lures have proved the most successful; Bomber model A in a chrome/black back & Tennessee shad; Rebel D76 & D74 crawfish in Texas red & firetiger; Harris Angling’s Hunter deep diver in Tennessee shad; Cotton Cordell Wally Divers in firetiger, chrome/black back & chrome/blue back.

Retrieve. Just because these lures are deep divers doesn’t mean you have to always use them in deep water. They can be just as effective in shallow water, especially where there is no real weed problem. They can be ideal for a stop and go retrieve. Just cast them out, wind them down to the bottom, stop, let them float to the surface, wind them to the bottom again, stop, and so on until you finish your retrieve.

Rattlebaits
These sinking, lipless lures are very effective for perch, especially in silver or chrome. However, according to our records we don’t seem to have caught anything very big on them. Plenty of small perch, plenty of small pike, but that’s all.

Surface Lures
I must confess I’ve had no luck in catching perch on surface lures, but my friend Bruce has been more successful. He tells me, he’s had good perch on a Luhr Jensen Bass Oreno with a red head and a white body, and also on a Bill Lewis’s Slapstick in chrome & blue.

I came across a guy, last year, who was catching some nice perch on a Storm Rattlin’ Chug Bug in a chrome & blue colour. However, he told me he was really after chub. It looks like perch will take surface lures, but more often than not only on very hot and still days when they are suspended just under the surface.

Soft Plastic Lures
I’m not the only one in the group, so far, who has been using these lures and I’ve had quite a lot of success on them. However, I have to admit I do tend to fish soft-plastic lures when other lures are not working. I usually fish soft-plastic lures in conjunction with a leadhead jig. The sizes of jig I use are from ¼oz to ½oz depending on the depth and speed of the water I’m fishing and also the size of the lure I’m using at the time.

I think the best type of soft-plastic lure, for perch, would be a curly-tail or shad-tail grub in either 3 or 4 inches length. Perch will take larger soft-plastic lures, but I think you will have a better chance with the smaller sizes.

I rig the soft-plastic lures on leadhead jigs in following combinations: 3” on 3/16oz, 4” on ¼oz or ⅜oz, 5” & 6” on ⅜oz and ½oz. I don’t have perch in mind when using these larger sizes, but they will take them every now and then.

The colours I’ve found successful are as follows; chartreuse, orange, silver, red, yellow, pink (a glitter finish in these colours would be a plus) and black.

The following makes and models will all catch perch. Kalin’s 3” Triple-Threat grubs, 3” Salty Lunker grubs and 3” Hologram grubs. Mister Twister’s 3” Meeny Twister grub & 4” Twister grub, Chomper’s Baits 4” single tail grub; Gambler’s 4” Bacon strip; Zoom’s 4” Dead Ringer; Berkley’s 3 & 4” Power Grub, 3” Tournament Grub, Bass Pros Shops 4” XPS single-tail grub, 3” & 4” Triple Ripple grub, 3” & 4” Caterpillar grub, 3” & 4” Spring grub, Bass Assassin’s 4” Curly-tail grubs and 4” Turbo Shads, Mann’s 4” Swimmin’ Grub, 4” Augertail grub, 4” Sting Ray Grub, 4” Jellyworm and 4” Augertail Worm.

Grub’s Tail Names. Each manufacturer appears to have different names for their soft-plastic grub’s tails, which can be confusing. So as a guide I’ve illustrated three well known grub and worm tails, and all the name variants in Fig 1.

Rigging Curly-Tail Grubs. The correct way to rig curly-tail grubs onto leadhead jigs is to ensure that the grub is pushed onto the hook as far as it will go and that the kook point comes out along the top seas, with the curly-tail hanging downwards. It’s important that the tail should hand downwards, so that it doesn’t mask the hook. This is especially important when retrieving the grub in a sink and draw fashion. See Fig 2. 

Mini Crankbaits (Tiny Minnowplugs, Alphabet Plugs and Creature Lures)
What do I mean by mini crankbaits? Well, to be honest, I’ve set my own arbitrary scale and this is – no more that 2½” in length and no heavier than ¼oz. I use these tiny lures in large rivers in the summer, on these days when it gets really hot and fish congregate under the cover of trees and bridges. I also use them on small rivers, streams and canals. I usually fish these lures on 7ft to 8ft spinning rods using 4-8lb test line, as there is no need to cast very far.

As there are simply dozens of mini-crankbaits to choose from, which are all equally effective, I’ll just make a short list as a guide. Rebel’s Teeny-Wee and Wee Crawfish; Rebel’s Crickhoppers and Big Hoppers, Yo-zuri’s Snap Bean, Storm’s Baby Thunderstick, Helin’s Flatfish models F4, F5 & F7, Cotton Cordell Big ‘O’ (2”, ¼oz model), Rapala’s Mini Fat Rap, Floating Minnow (F05) and Shallow Shad Rap (model SSR05).

Traces. Mini-crankbaits can be adversely affected by the wire trace, which is so necessary in British waters, therefore, use the lightest wire trace and swivels you can find. I presently use a 15lb breaking strain wire-trace, but found even that can alter the running pattern of some mini-crankbaits.

Clutch Settings. Because you will be casting only short distances with light line, it is very important to have your reel’s clutch set right or even a little on the loose side, just in case a large pike takes a fancy to you mini-crankbait. Hooking and playing such a fish on short line needs everything set right, or it will be bang! and goodbye lure.

Spoons
Over the past ten years or so, judging from our records, we all caught good-size perch on spoons whilst fishing for pike – and large spoons at that. We don’t usually fish spoons during the summer months, but I have a sneaking feeling that we’ve been missing out by not doing so.

The colours we’ve caught well on, during our winter sessions, were copper and gold & nickel – in that order. Whether these colours will work as well in summer, I can’t say. I shall, however endeavour to try out some smaller spoons in the summer of 2000 and let you know the results in a future article.

Spinnerbaits
⅜oz and ½oz Spinnerbaits. These are the standard sizes that you normally find in shops and mail order catalogues, and are probably not the first thing that springs to mind as perch lures. However, they are very effective perch lures and seem to appeal to the larger perch.

Personally, I can’t remember catching a perch smaller than 1¼lb on this size of spinnerbait. Actually, my best catch of perch came on a ½oz spinnerbait (a Roland Martin with a bright yellow skirt) from Northmoor weirpool on the Thames, about four years ago. That particular day had been very quiet, with only two small pike to account for, after three hours of fishing. Suddenly, the perch came on the feed, at about 11am, and I caught 12 good size fish in quick succession. (Four over 2lb with the best one weighing 2lb 10oz, five over 1½lb and 3 over 1¼lb).

Skirt Colours. Looking back at our fishing logs, over the past ten years, the most effective skirt colours for perch have been either chartreuse, or bright yellow with brown and orange trailing somewhat behind these two.

Mini Spinnerbaits (⅛oz and ¼oz). These are very useful in small rivers and streams. In the summer, they are especially useful for fishing deep holes among the weeds. It’s probably best to use a single-blade version as you can flutter (or helicopter) these down the hole and then draw them up in a sweeping motion. A local tackle dealer friend of ours has been using this technique, very successfully, on the River Thame, a small tributary of the Thames, for the past couple of years. He’s had several perch well in excess of 3lb.

Spinners
I would say that of all lures used to catch perch, spinners are probably the most popular. There are five main blade types: Indiana, Colorado, French, Willow and In-Line (panther-Martin style). There are also a few less-known styles such as Swiss swing, Ripple swing, Slasher, Presto and Junebug. See Figures. 

Swiss Swing, Ripple Swing, Junebug, Slasher, Presto Blade Spinners. Although I have made some of these styles of spinners, I haven’t had the opportunity to try them out yet. The Swiss Swing and the Ripple Swing (the most well-known commercial Ripple blade spinner is ABU’s Reflex – an excellent lure) are designed for trout fishing, so they should be ideal for perch. I shall be trying out all these lesser-known styles in the coming season and I’ll let you know how I get on in future articles. 

Some Useful Lure Tips
Luresinker. I first came up with this rig, when I required some weight to cast out a soft-plastic lure called a helicopter lure (which, I believe is no longer made). I must confess I pinched the idea for a luresinker from a similar gadget used by U.S fisherman for trolling in the Great Lakes, except I’ve scaled it down. As you can see from Fig 4A, it’s a simple rig consisting of a barrel weight (or lure body) slipped onto a short length of stainless steel wire which is then twisted wither end, with a wire-former. You can add beads as an attractor, if you wish. My luresinkers range from 2 grams to 14 grams, which so far I’ve found quite sufficient. The weight to use is dependent on how far you want to cast out, the depth of water, and the speed of the current if your fishing a river. 

The luresinker is very useful for fishing for suspended perch in deep water. Attach the luresinker in front of a spoon, spinner or soft-plastic lure, cast it out and allow it to sink to the required level. If you’ve picked the correct weight it should come back evenly at that level. See Fig 4E. 

Fig 4D shows the advantage it gives over a deep-diving plug, where perch are suspended at mid-depth. The deep-diver, as you can see, travels below the suspended perch and goes unnoticed. I attached the luresinker to the lure via a strong split ring, as I find it gives the lure a better action. However, some people might be happier with a clip of some kind. 

Lure Scent Gel. A friend in America sent me this tip. He fishes for walleye and steelhead trout, and firmly believes that a scent attractant of some kind gets him a few more fish. The gel is made by half-filling a film cassette canister with Vaseline, adding half-a-teaspoonful of liquid scent, and mixing thoroughly. I use a worm scent that’s usually used by match fisherman.

Single Hook Spinners. Sometimes it’s an advantage to change the treble hook on a spinner for a long Aberdeen hook, onto which you can rig either a soft-plastic lure or a lobworm. If you use a lobworm, be sure to push a small piece of elastic band onto the hook to prevent the worm flying off. Using a lobworm on the hook can be quite deadly at times, but unfortunately is doesn’t always work so well.

Barbless Hooks. I would strongly recommend using barbless hooks, when lure fishing for perch. A perch of 1½lbs or larger, can easily engulf a small spinner or mini-crankbait. Trying to unhook a barbed treble form the back of a perch’s throat can be exceedingly difficult, resulting more often than not in a dead fish.

Depth Checks. When I’m fishing a new water I like to carry a second rod with me, which is rigged up with a depthometer. Also I carry a small reporter style notebook in which I sketch the particular stretch of river, or lake, I’m fishing at the time. I note down all the prominent features and the various depths. When I first arrive at a new water I proceed like this: -

1)  Check and note the depth of the swim.
2) Make a sketch of the river in the immediate area, and all the prominent features.
3) Select an appropriate lure for depth, and fish if for 10 minutes or so.
4) If nothing comes on that lure, I’ll try one that runs a little shallower, in case the perch are suspended.
5) When I’m sure I’ve fished it thoroughly, I’ll walk to the next fishable spot and go through the same procedure all over again.

I know it sounds slow and tedious, but in the long term you’ll find it does pay dividends.