How to fish crank baits for perch. Retrieval options, and how to adjust through the seasons 

Love you videos Thom 👍🏻 and it’s nice to know you can’t beat a bit of bottom contact 🤪

As a piker thats recently switched to doing a bit of perch fishing. Im finding your observations matches my own for the most part. I recently joined a still water and for a short period they were hitting old school spinners. Then every session after that i was lucky to get even two on them but they were happy to follow it to the bank and give it the odd love tap. It was the same when i switched over to using small 4g crank baits. They would follow it and hit it a few times but didnt really seem like they wanted anything to do with it. The only thing they did seem to go absolutely mad for were the spin tail style lures. I could often see a group of them chasing it right to the bank before hooking in to one. But these sort of lures do run pretty close to the bottom. I was hooking into a fish pretty much every cast... and then the smallest of pike turned up (barely longer than a pencil haha) and starting hitting the lure as well then all bites pretty much died up after that. highly recommended that people give 5 or 9g spin tails a go if youre after trying something a little different. Not had a chance to try them on my local river/canal yet but i most likely wont as they are quite snaggy.

Big big fan Thom. Another level 👌

Cheers Thom, very insightful 🙌🏻

You put alot of work into this one tom! Im a new sub, I think it was yesterday i subbed. Just been going through all your videos. and im looking forward to seeing what new content you release. Glad I found the channel!

Cheers for this.

Wow amazing video my friend !!! Thanks a lot for that !!! Very great tips that helps me a lot. Today i did catch some perch on the 5 cm buzzbites headlight, en bling perch.They look very natural in the super clear water here. The babybites dr are a bit harder to use with all the weeds, but i gonna try them in winter with a silent dull model. The water is around 13 feet deep in the middle of the canal.

Great video, great advice

Hi Thom, your videos are a goldmine of information, I'm genuinely shocked how few people are watching, for me this information from an angler of your calibre is an amazing resource. So I kind of packed away my cranks for winter, but now you got me thinking. So the river I fish is 5-7ft max, there are some good perch (i know as I had a 4lber last week on lure!) . There is a section i want to recki and cranks feel like a good option, so which crank would you recommend? Again, thanks for taking the time to share this information, I really appreciate it. Guy

Great video Thom. Really enjoyed it. I've got a boat of my own and have done tones of pike lure fishing/dead baiting of it. I want to get into more perch fishing off it now I've got a new river to fish for them. I've managed two lovely 2lber on cranks but I'm struggling with boat control and how to stay on the fish without disturbing them. It would be great if you do a video on boat control around shoals.

Great advice 👍

Hi Thom, really enjoy all your videos and am gulping up the information to hopefully finally catch anything this winter. You mention that in some conditions (eg sometimes in winter) it is good to hit the bottom with the crank bait. I have been having some trouble with that. I find that I get a bunch of leafs or other debris on the lure and hooks when I fish too deep. I also struggle a to tell when I’ve hit the bottom (it’s the LACC grand Union canal waters, so I am not sure if it’s because of the amount of silt). Any tips would be highly appreciated. Thank you again for all the amazing content! -Nicole

Hey mate always enjoyed ya videos I’ve recently jus started fishing a big reservoir using lures..hoping for some decent pike..the venue doesn’t allow fishing from a boat so it’s all bank fishing wading etc..it’s 400acres and id just like to ask your opinion on how’d you approach a venue like that this time of year bank fishing targeting pike etc..thanks In advance

Hi Thom .. Just watched yet another one of your videos. I never get bored of watching them. I’m looking for a bit of information if you don’t mind. I’ve just purchased a ul lure rod that Has a rating of 0.5-3G … it’s a lovely Thin Rod & wasn’t that expensive !! It feels so light but I don’t know whether it’s too light or not… what size fish would you recommend this would be good for and also what would be the best Lures to use ?? Any info would be much appreciated. Thankyou 🎣🎣👍🏽👍🏽😀😀

Hi, just discovered your channel and appreciate your efforts a lot! I find it inspiring and every I watch such good quality videos it makes me want to grab my rods and go fishing immediately. About crankbait fishing: any thoughts about speed cranking during winter time? I am also watching the american guys from tactical bassin and they swear it is a successful technique to catch bass when the water is cold. I tried it a couple of times now to catch a perch this way. So far it didn't work. But I think there is a chance it could pay off. I am looking forward to read other anglers opinion on that.

Hi Thom Great vid, thanks. Autumn to late October, what do you go for if you don’t use cranks at that time of year? Soft plastics? Jigs (Apologies if I missed you mention it)

Awesome info as always Thom. Really enjoy these videos! Do you think it's important to use a dedicated crank bait rod to fish them effectively? Would something like the W3 T&C be ok for shallow runners (up to 6ft max).

Hey Thom, what rod do you recommend for my favorite 5cm buzzbites ? The W3 T C 5-15 gr, are the w3 streetstick 2-10 gr / 5-15 gr. Thanks in advance.

Would you swap the hooks over to singles?