Perch Fly Rigs, Vodka Shiners & Maximizing your bait!
Fishing for perch on Lake Erie, Lake St Clair, Saginaw Bay, Lake Michigan, Drummond Island and all of the other perch hot spots requires some quick knowledge on bait, tactics, etc. In this blog we discuss how anglers can maximize their time on the water, save money on minnows and how to put our Perch Fly Rigs to work for the best results and bait saving tips!
For many years now, it's been an issue finding minnows during the summer and fall perch season on Lake Erie. This is very frustrating for anglers and bait shop owners alike. If your new to big water perching, you better take notes before your caught in the middle of it this summer/fall.
Unfortunately, this unexpected hiccup will derail a good morning vibe very quickly. To combat this problem, we started using Vodka Shiners years ago. We wrote a blog about the process, produced content, made videos to help fellow anglers, etc. Many of you have likely googled this and already saw our blog about Vodka Shiners/ Drunken Minnows at the top of the results. Click HERE to jump over to the Vodka Shiner blog.
Captain Denny Sharrone with a Perch Fly Rig Double!
Since we published this information, a vast amount of anglers have started utilizing this method to help make sure they have bait when they need it. Going to the bait shop when minnows are available and preparing them at home is now a real thing. Take them with you in a cooler and avoid the frustration.
To further maximize your minnows, we suggest cutting them into chunks or pieces, rather than using whole minnows. This will make a scoop of minnows last 2-3x longer! Many days the cut pieces work better than whole/live minnows as well, especially when paired with our Perch Fly Rigs. The small chunks also tangle less when jigging our rigs.
Silver & Gold Perch Fly Rigs tipped with a minnow head
In all of the years of on the water testing, we have rarely ever found a time where tipping our Perch Fly Rigs with a small chunk of a minnow wasn't as productive as a whole minnow. To conserve minnows, which become a commodity as valuable as gold during the summer months, cutting your minnows up helps the bait last much longer and save money.
Over the years, anglers learned first hand how effective our Perch Fly Rigs are through their own experience and on the water trips. One of the additional bonuses is the fact that these rigs only require a small chunk of bait, which helps conserve and keep bait cost down.
A scoop of minnows goes a lot further when you cut them up into 3-4 chunks per minnow. 1 scoop can now cover a lot more fish catches than before. The only time we wouldn't cut the minnows up is when they are the tiny 1'' little pin minnows and that's all there is to choose from. In these cases, its normally a full minnow situation as you already have to double hook them to keep them hooked. When normal size minnows or large minnows are what's available, chunking out is the way to go.
Captain Ryan Pettry ready to SLAY the perch!
Simply put, our Perch Fly Rigs paired with a small chunk of minnow give yellow perch a 1-2 combo 🥊 they can't resist! Of course there are times where the bare flies work best and times where tipping with a small piece of worm, shrimp or other live bait is more productive. It all depends on the body of water you are fishing and the day/time of day, fish mood, etc.
Anglers can see our full Perch Rig collection by click HERE
Good luck this summer perch season anglers! 👊 You can find our Perch Rigs online or at a participating retailer near you. Go make some summer memories and future fish fry plans!
Lake St Clair perch caught with our Perch Fly Rigs by Bruce Nawrocki
