5 Top Rigs For Perch Fishing

The scientific name of the yellow perch is Perca flavescens, which in Latin means “gold-colored perch”, which is an accurate assessment of their appearance. However, the “gold” in their Latin name could also be referring to their gold-status as a table fish – you’ll be hard pressed to find a fish in freshwater more delicious than the yellow perch.In order to eat them though, you’ve got to catch them first.Here are some top perch rigs.

1. Live bait rig

In the summer, there’s not many more effective ways to target perch than with an old-fashioned live-bait rig. Thread a piece of crawler, a leech, or a small minnow on a hook, place a split shot a foot above it; and cast it to a weed line, drop-off, or the bank. It’s often all you need to catch yourself a quick limit of the tasty buggers.

2. Slip bobber

Sometimes perch hold at very specific depths along a weed line or drop-off. Slip bobbers are great ways to target these fish. Unlike a traditional bobber, a slip bobber can be adjusted to target practically any depth. Set a couple rods at different depths, and once you find the fish, set them all to the productive depth.

3. Lindy rig

In mid-summer, perch will often school up and roam mudflats in 20-30 feet of water on many northern lakes. A lindy rig tipped with a leech, wiggler (hellgrammite), or blood worm is a great way to target them. Try idling around flats to locate schools of perch with your electronics before fishing.

4. Panfish cranks

Even when the majority of the perch go out to roam the flats, there will always be some (bigger specimens in particular) that stick around the deep weeds. You can target these fish with a variety of small cranks, like countdown Rapalas and Strike King Crappie cranks. Work them on light spinning tackle and 4-6 pound test monofilament.

5. Inline spinners

Just like the panfish cranks, small inline spinners are also deadly on the trophy perch that roam the deeper weeds during the mid-summer period. Baits like Beetle Spins, Panther Martin’s, and #2 Mepps Aglia’s are deadly when retrieved slowly over the tops of weeds.