Perchin' in the dark

[Josh84]

Gday fisho's,

Since the bass season down here has been relatively slow this season I have focussed my attention on the bass of the salt, the enigmatic estuary perch. To start with they were a tough nut to crack and donut sessions were common but with persistence they started to be more regular captures . Perching in the dark is by far the most fun and hopefully this will give some insight for those wanting to chase them!

Gear Selection

For me, the most important bit of gear when chasing any species is the rod. Get the right rod for the technique you are using and you could strap pretty much any reel (within reason) on and be successful, I've been using custom builds for the past 2 years and honestly believe they have made a massive difference to my fishing (previously tried the majority of higher end off the shelf rods, loomis, megabass, lox, nitro etc). It's not just about distance either, to be able to consistently land you lure in the right zone and then work the lure correctly inevitably increases catch rate.

My personal choice for EP's are as follows:

Topwater: Ten20 2-5kg 6'9" matched to a Daiwa Luvias 2506, Varivas Avani SeaBass 0.8PE and 10lb Daiwa fluoro leader
Lures: Dependant on location but generally Lucky Craft Bevy Pencil in Impact Yellow, LC Sammy 65 in clear or impact yellow, LC NW Pencil, MB Dog-x jr... As you can see I do love stickbaits, particularly as the P's love prawns, these lures mimic a fleeing prawn very well! Poppers do work on occasion but rarely do I find myself with one tied on. If fishing snagged up creeks with good bankside cover then the Soft Shell Cicada can produce great captures also, I had some success using a topwater mouse lure of my own design on my latest trip but the jury is still out on it!

Plastics/Light Topwater: Ten20 1-4kg 7' matched to a Daiwa Certate Finesse Custom 2004, YGK W3 5lb and 5lb FC Rock Fluoro leader
Lures: TT Headlockz in whatever weight gets a natural fall, anything between 1/20 and 1/8 depending on current. Match the jighead to a ZMan grub/slim swim/crusteaz in bloodworm and you have a pretty deadly combo, motor oil has also been effective for me. By far the biggest revelation has been using prawn imitation plastics, particularly the weedless Savage Gear variety, these things just smash the fish! Realistically any of your favoured plastics will catch EP's but make sure the weight is right as they like to hit the lure on the drop.

I have been using the FG knot for all of my fishing since last year and am yet to find a flaw with it, yes it can be a bit fiddly to tie in the silly string but the strength and slimness of this knot more than make up for it. If you haven't had a chance to play with this knot do yourself a favour and check out the video on youtube from one of the nomad guys https://youtu.be/Rj9I4j0Jj9c its the simplest way I have found to tie it and hasn't failed me yet!




For those of you that haven't seen the microwave guide train before, it essentially funnels the line and straightens it out, increasing accuracy by decreasing effort used. Most people have seen this but just in case you are interested https://youtu.be/4c24OJ1ypSI

Location

Sorry to disappoint but this section will not be where I give all of you specifics on where to find these enigmas. What I will do however is share some knowledge that will help you find them yourself! Estuary Perch love structure, particularly structure that provides shelter from the current/tide as they like to hold in areas waiting for the bait to flush through then ambush them. To target these fish at night adds another element to the challenge, the P's hunt very actively at night but you should focus your attention on areas with man made light.




This can be challenging to locate as a lot of areas are illegal to fish, however, find yourself a nice public wharf with streetlights and you have the makings of a good night time P spot. Day time is a bit easier as you can target most structure with decent current flow and catch them pretty consistently, I have also found that when there is a feeder creek with fresh headwaters in close proximity then the Ps will be there.




Hints & Tips

Well you know what to use and where but there are a few hints that will help increase your catch.
1. Be patient, sometimes you just need to hold out in the good spot until they start smacking the surface, wait until they come up and then cast at the bust up.
2. Mix up your retrieve; normally they like a WTD retrieve with lots of pauses but when really active they will chase down a lure and smash it right next to the yak.
3. Stealth is best, minimise noise as much as possible particularly in shallower water.
4. Release your P's away from where you catch them, as a rule at least 20m onto another bit of structure is good, if you release them where you caught them the bite can shut down pretty damn quick!




The bonus of fishing the salt is that there is also some nice by catch available if the P's elude you.



Hope this report helps those looking to target these beautiful fish, just remember that the closed season is the same as that for bass, May 1 - August 31 please leave them be so they can spawn, if you do come across some during this time unhook them in the water if possible and minimise the time out of water otherwise!

Tight lines,

Josh

[Funchy]

I'm liking the cut of your jib old mate


Keep em coming

[gunna]

Yep - they are great fun. We had some good spots up Cowan Ck that regularly produced. Got quite a few up in the McDonald also.

[Ducksta]

Shhh Gunna nah there's no perch in the Hawkesbury mate... No jews either... shhh...

[tez86]

sweet report , some nice Eps there too

[ActiveAngler]

Great report mate. Love the photos.

[gunna]

Shhh Gunna nah there's no perch in the Hawkesbury mate... No jews either... shhh...

Or the Harbour during spawning !!!

[Ducksta]

Don't tell anyone but I've probably seen more harbour jew pics in the last month than I reckon I have for 5 years.

[Josh84]

Yeah Ducks there has been bulk jew pics doing the rounds lately, pity I can't catch a jew to save myself! Pretty damn good at dropping them though

[gunna]

Instant jew recipe - Live squid from Balmoral and fish them in the deep hole in Rose Bay.