Jig fishing for perch
More and more people have discovered the advantages of jig fishing,
especially for perch. It is more active fishing than angling and the
risk of loosing your bait is small.
The equipment for jig fishing is inexpensive. All you need is a
spinning rod, a jig head and a soft plastic bait in a colour of your
choice.
If you want expert help you can hire one of Åland's sport fishing
guides. Patrik Lehtonen is one of them and he likes to let his guests
try jig fishing.
- Many don't know anything about jig fishing but
once they have tried it, they like the technique. It is an active and
fun way of fishing, Lehtonen says.
Different weights
The jig head is available in
different weights. The deeper you fish, the heavier head you should
choose. On the head is a hook and on it you hook the plastic bait.
There are "a million" baits to choose from. Some look like slithering
worms while others have two tails and they come in a great variety of
colours.
Expert Lehtonen gives a free tip:
- I prefer brownish baits, sometimes yellowish-white.
Bouncing along
The technique that Lehtonen
teaches is basically the following: Let down the jig to the bottom,
then reel it in a bit and let the jig sink to the bottom again.
Continue to reel in and release so that the jig bounces over the bottom
and looks like the small animals that the perch like to eat.
- If you're lucky and stumble over a school of perch you may catch one after another, says Lehtonen.
He looks for underwater reefs for his jig fishing. You can also test
your fishing luck near steep cliffs or in sounds where the water
streams.
- Jig fishing is also a good complement to regular pike
fishing. If the pike are unusually slow one day and you can't catch
any, try jig fishing for perch instead, says Patrik Lehtonen.