Ultra light lure fishing- Lures, Knots, Weed and a few other questions...

[clutch]

Hello,

After some good advice on this forum, I have been targeting perch on my local canal (Shropshire Union). I had a few short sessions last week, my first time lure fishing. On each session ,I caught a few perch, but could do with some pointers.

My set up is a 2-7g HTO Rock Rover rod, 9lb Daiwa J-braid, a fluorocarbon 6lb leader of around 2ft, using a 1.5g size 6 jig head, fishing AGM 1" soft plastic shads.

1. Weed. The section of the canal I fish is quite weedy, after every retrieve I have to remove weed from my lure. Is there any way to combat this? Are weedless ultralight lure jigs available?

2. Knots. I have never been the best at tying knots. Even worse, a couple of years ago I fractured my wrist and I have slight numbness in my right hand, which makes tying tricky. On the kitchen table, with good light, and a fair amount of bad language, I can just about tie my fluro leader to braided main line using a double uni knot. Tying on the bank is much more difficult. Is there a more simple way of attaching the leader? I take it, perch would be put off if using braid straight through?

3. Lures. How much does the size, colour and action of lures matter? If your not getting bites, how often do you chop and change? Any favourite colours? Also, when would you consider using a heavier jig head?

Would be grateful for any advice

Thanks

 

[rich66]

I’m pretty rubbish at lure fishing and sounds like you’ve caught more than me this way already.

But knots could you try loop to loop. Or a swivel tied to the braid and loop or tie Fluoro to the swivel.?
That way you’d only have single uni knots to tie

 

[ian g]

This is the knot I use , I'm not sure if you'd struggle to tie it

Albright Knot | Fishing Knots | Animated Knots by Grog

Plenty of weedless rigs on you tube like this one . You can get the kit from AGM

YouTube

 

[markcw]

The way I tie a long length of nylon to braid is as follows, This method is used by a lot of continental feeder anglers,
Tie an overhanging knot at the end of the braid,trim the tag what's left at the end, Take the main line and tie a loop in in the end, fold the loop over on itself and put knotted end of braid through loop,Pull loop tight onto braid and slide to the knot. Attach lure to other end of nylon.
If you make a few lengths up ready if you manage to get snapped it is a simple method to change lengths of nylon.
This will work with flurocarbon

 

[stillwater blue]

Weedless lures help but weed will still wrap around snaps, leaders, knots etc. As for weedless jig heads check out AGM and look for flex heads or cheb heads. Personally I only fish weedless if I have to as you miss more bites.

If you're bottom bouncing you need to match the jig head size to water depth, flow and wind as all get stronger move up in jig head weight, the lighter the jig head the better. If you're straight retrieving then a heavy jig fishes deeper or the same depth but quicker than a lighter jig head.
I like to carry a dark colour, a bright colour, something shiny and a natural colour but I'm not too fussed what those colours are. I want the fish to be able to see the lure but, most of the time, not to be too blantant. My favourite colour is old school perch as it 'fits' alot of water conditions well.
I'm confident in the lures I use so I'm more likely to change swim than lure but if I've fished several swims without a bite I'll change lure type or colour. Most often I'll change lure as I want to change running depth and speed.

 

[103841]

“ I take it, perch would be put off if using braid straight through?”

Not always the case. Like you I have difficulty tying knots away from home, I’ve occasionally snagged and lost my Fluoro leader and just run braid straight to the lure, still caught fish! On my local river Stour, the gin clear water is full of streamer weed in the Summer, low vis green braid blends in perfectly.

 

[naxian62]

Clutch man, figure-of-eight loop to loop is the way to go. i'm **** at knots. But I've had numerous pike up to 17lb gatecrash a lure intended for perch. I tie a couple up at home (in the good light) an slip em in to they little poly resealable hook bags, also tie the loop on your mainline-braid at home. Makes it a darn sight easier on the bank.

 

[Philip]

Another vote for the Albright for the fluro to braid junction, Pretty easy to tie and reliable.

I believe there is a similar knot called the Alberto that came out slightly better in some tests. I keep meaning to try it but never get round to it.

 

[Krang]

Uni to uni knot here. Not on my ultralight though. I just use 4lb Maxima Ultragreen mono, so no need to tie on leader. I'd recommend getting 6lb for your set up though if you go this route. There's always a chance you'll catch a bigger fish than you expect on an ultralight and the suspension effect of mono gives you a fighting chance by absorbing the shocks. Also makes it much more difficult for a fish to throw the hook. I wouldn't tie braid directly to a lure. You coulg get a fluro mainline but unless you're fishing super clear water I wouldn't bother.

You can get weedless jigheads but they only work to a point. Weed still gets caught when you go through it. Best to just remember where it is and reel faster with your rod tip higher to come above it and just generally try to get close to it whilst missing it. Top water frog type lures are probably the only ones that stay totally weedless. Not really the ideal thing for ultralight though.

I change lures a lot. Particularly when I don't have much water to cover. As a general rule I use brighter lures in darker water.

 

[Molehill]

Double uni knot for me, mainly a case of stick with a knot you have confidence in and can tie - I do need my glasses!

One tip for tying knots especially if you struggle or it's a new knot, always give yourself plenty of line to work with so you have big loops and tags to start. Probably double what you think you may need!
I'm currently starting to play with the lefty kreh loop for hard lures, think it improves the action compared to various swivels and links.

 

[steve2]

Have been tying some different knots just for something to do. I have never heard of this lefty kreh loop knot but I can see why it could improve the action of the lure. But having to tie a new knot every time I change lures during a days fishing I would soon run out of line.

 

[Krang]

Have been tying some different knots just for something to do. I have never heard of this lefty kreh loop knot but I can see why it could improve the action of the lure. But having to tie a new knot every time I change lures during a days fishing I would soon run out of line.

If you use mono you need to change it quite regularly anyway. Continuously taking a few inches off means you're not always using the same bit of line, so any abrasions etc that you don't notice will be removed when it gets to the end.

 

[carpo marx]

There is a quick fix method that may suit your needs. When I first started lure fishing I was undecided whether to dropshot or fish with light jig heads and finished up dropshotting away from the access and jig fishing on the way back. Being an ex coarse/match fisherman I had plenty of pole winders and used these quite successfully with a bit of planning. I had a light dropshot rod and a reel loaded with braid. Tied to the braid was the very smallest/lightest swivel link I could find which didn't then alter the action too much. The jig head/lure was then attached to one end of a 2ft length of fluro and a tiny loop was made at the other (to clip on to the swivel). This was then kept on a pole winder with others of different type lures and colours. There were also one or two dropshot rigs made up nearly the same way i.e. dropshot weight on one end of the fluoro, hook tied 12'' from weight which was usually my maximum and the weight then adjusts from 12'' anywhere up to 4'', again the loop on the other end clips to the swivel. Would advise not to have the fluoro length longer than 2ft as if you are a bit amateurish and wind the line back to much to recast the swivel will bang against the top rod ring. I usually have 2 and a half to three feet of line hanging to cast.

 

[markcw]

I have wondered what it would be like drop shotting using a pole along the far side of a canal, moving it along left to right or right to left, Features would not be a problem, I have caught big perch down the edge against the tow path wall or against the tin on the far side.also if foliage etc caught from there, I have fished for pike using a pole on a canal.with good results.The pole winder idea for jigs etc is a good one.

 

[ian g]

There were a couple of blokes in the midlands who had a blog and used the pole for jigging on canals . It was pretty effective though it wasn't really something that appealed to me.

 

[markcw]

I used to pike fish on the shroppie against the far side rushes, Was thinking drop shotting or jigging may give similar results on canal down here.

 

[carpo marx]

I have wondered what it would be like drop shotting using a pole along the far side of a canal, moving it along left to right or right to left, Features would not be a problem, I have caught big perch down the edge against the tow path wall or against the tin on the far side.also if foliage etc caught from there, I have fished for pike using a pole on a canal.with good results.The pole winder idea for jigs etc is a good one.

You might find yourself in a bit of trouble if you snag whilst using a long pole as you cannot exert any force when trying to retrieve the lure as the elastic stretches. By all means try it if you're familiar with the area and know its virtually snag free, another hindrance would be that to be fairly comfortable when handling the long pole you would need to be sitting down so carrying a seat whilst covering a stretch of canal is a bit of a bind. On the plus side i've pole fished lures and deadbaits for nearly 4 years catching pike, zander, perch and even bream and the action when hooking a fish is tremendous. I only fish the pole long (deadbaiting/sitting) when I know there's very likely to be a zander under the far bank cover, all other times for roving a stretch I use 2 or 3 sections depending on water clarity. 3 sections is the optimum as you need a landing net handle 3 or 4 metres long to aid retrieve when the lure snags.

 

[markcw]

It would be in a snag free area, and sat on a box with a spray bar, I would be static most of the time. Also seatbox would go on space shuttle instead of carrying it. I have been snagged a few times on far side of a canal and commercials but not using a lure .I unship the pole down t power top .wrap towel around arm, handling the elastic with tip of pole under water and me facing away from water, Either get full rig back or hooklength snapped, I would not use braid on the pole, it would be mainline and lower bs hooklength.

 

[spoonminnow]

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