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Thread: Perch Fishing Deep Down

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    Sioux City, IA
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    Default Perch Fishing Deep Down

    Yesterday I went fishing at a shallow oxbow lake and had an absolute blast from catching all the fish. I caught the expected crappies and bluegills but many times a perch ended up on the end of my line. Now this lake is pretty shallow with about 12 ft the maximum dept so a fly line could catch these perch no matter how shallow or deep they are. But seeing how readily they were taking a fly got me to thinking, a sometimes dangerous procedure.
    This fall I visited a lake where the perch bite was deep. Really deep. About 21 ft. deep over what I believe was some rubble on the bottom. These fish were being caught verticle jigging small tube jigs and pilki's tippet with a maggot. I started wondering how a fly fisher could get down to these fish. I though type IV sinking line on a 7 wt. rod with a long 10-15 ft leader made of fireline and small clouser minnow with large dumbell eyes might get me down there. I'd probably have to make very long casts and hope the fish took the fly with gusto instead of a tenative peck. Or I could just verticle jig the rig. If I got impatient waiting for the fly to get to the bottom i could rig my 10 wt with type 8 sinking fly line and get down there in a hurry to catch the little buggers
    Sereliouly folks, has anybody else tried to catch small fish weighing less than a pound that far down?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Lawrence, KS, USA
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    Cycler,


    Fireline won't help and probably would ruin your casting efforts, due to Fireline being a single-diameter fishing line? Without a tapered profile (either monofilament or a multiple-segment leader composed of graduated sections that step down to the lightest tippet) no leader will roll over properly. Every cast will be a disaster, especially if the no-taper leader is 15-feet long.

    You didn't say how you came to learn that the water is 21-feet deep and the fish are holding on the bottom. Are you a boat fisherman? If so, is your boat equipped with a trolling motor and fish finder electronics? The easiest thing, really, is to forget about fly rodding and just vertical fish for the perch using those little jigs suspended from a graphite spinning rod. Why make it harder than it needs to be?

    But if you're determined to go after 'em with fly tackle, you can use regular floating fly line and tapered leaders. It's not necessary to go with heavy dumbell-eyed Clousers and sinking line. Use ordinary sinking flies like nymphs and such; it just takes longer for the presentation to reach the depth you want to work. Attach one of those tiny split shot that are designed for fly fishing. Position your boat upwind of the hotspot, throw out beyond it and let your nymph settle through the water slowly on a downward arc.

    If that tactic doesn't git'r done, then gear up with sinking line, Clousers, etc. Better yet, here's where owning a second fly rod is helpful; you outfit the second rod with sinking line and all the other little do-dads designed specifically for deep-water work. Have that specialized rod on board for times when you want to switch to working deep areas.

    These are only theoretical suggestions on my part. I've never used sinking line and have rarely fished in water 20-feet deep unless I'm simply dragging a fly behind my canoe while paddling across deep water to reach shallower water. My canoe's anchor lines aren't long enough to reach bottom in twenty feet of water; plus, in a canoe I would feel exposed and vulnerable to wind and waves, not to mention the tall wakes of passing powerboats.

    But I'll bet many others in FAOL fish routinely in deep, or even deeper, water. Hopefully they'll respond to your question with information that's more useful than what I can provide. I can understand why you want to go deep every now and then. Hey, that's where the fish are much of the time.


    Joe
    "Better small than not at all."

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    McKinney TX USA
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    Default

    I recall reading a section in Terry and Roxanne Wilsons' book Bluegill Flyfishing and Flies on super-deep fishing. Sounded pretty close to what you are proposing as I recall.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Oklahoma City, OK, USA
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    Smile

    I would suggest a very fast sinking line and 3 or 4 feet of tippet w/ a size 8 clouser(or 2 or 3) weighted with bead chain.
    Yellow perch are the only fish I have caught 3 at a time on a fly rod. Although I was fishing in water only 8 to 12 feet deep

    In water that deep it would be easier from a float tube or boat so you can cast out and paddle away from you cast as you let enough line out to reach bottom plus enough line to give you a low enough angle of retreive or drift (guess 3 times depth plus) so you are not pulling it off bottom in your targeted gravel area.

    Good hunting
    Last edited by okflyfisher; 09-29-2008 at 02:56 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Sioux City, IA
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    Thanks for the responses, especially the tip about letting enough line to equal 3X the dept of the water. To help me get out the right amount of line I think a marker on the fly line would be helpful.
    We were out in a boat with a trolling motor when we (me and my brother) went to this spot which is quite far out on the lake.
    I'd like to try fishing this spot with a fly rod for the challenge of it and push the limits of what I know about fly fishing. If I'm sucessful or even if I fail I will know a lot more about fly fishing.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    lorain, ohio
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    Smile

    I live on the shore of lake Erie and its noted to be a pretty good yellow perch fishery---our fish are 30-50 ft down so its impractical to fly rod for them---the standard issue bait is an emerald shiner and ive tied clousers and other imitations to put on a dropper so when a perch takes the real shiner it would move my fly and another perch might pick it up---i have never caught one that way---maybe my flies are crappy
    "She had hooks to make a fish think twice!" ---Chris Smither-"Lola"

  7. #7

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    I can't answer your question. I have caught shallow water perch on the fly, but when I'm fishing from a boat over deep water for Perch or other pan fish, I use one of my UL spinning rod & reels. What you want to do is possible and like you said will be a challenge. Good luck to you. I don't want to discourage you from trying. Personally, I have stopped trying to use the fly rod in all situations. I try to match my tackle to the conditions. Once hooked it's as much fun for me to feel a fish pull on a light spinning rod as it is a fly rod.
    Tom

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