GoFish Nagambie 2022 is set to be bigger and better than ever this year and it’s not only Murray Cod that can score you some big dollars and great prizes. Golden Perch is just one of the other native species that can be caught during the competition so we here at DAIWA thought it would only be appropriate to give you some tips on how to target these beautiful fish. The warming weather sees them on the move and there’s few better ways to catch them with a jighead rigged soft plastic, and a Bait Junkie 2.5”/4” Grub is one of the standout plastics to use.

 During the warmer months you’ll find the Golden Perch hanging in and around flooded trees and a scope around with a sounder will help pinpoint which trees the fish are holding on and where in the column they’re sitting.

 Once you’ve located where they are the technique is relatively straight forward with a few slight variances in the retrieve all that’s generally needed to get them to bite.

 Rigging a Bait Junkie on a 1/4oz jighead then sinking it to the bottom and slow rolling it back to the surface is the easiest technique to try, and often enough to trigger a Golden Perch to bite.

 If this draws a blank the next technique to try is to sink the lure to the bottom, then slow roll it up to the depth the fish a sitting at. Stop the retrieve then gently and repeatedly bump the butt of the rod with your spare hand as you slowly lift the rod.

 This will result in the lure shaking and moving erratically as it slowly rise in the water. This in-your-face shimmy is often all that’s needed to tempt fish that are hesitant to bite a slow rolling retrieve.

 Fishing both of these retrieves deep in, and around the trees can be highly effective though the trees aren’t the only place that you’ll find fish this time of the year with the edges and banks happy hunting grounds.

 Here, just like in the trees, a variation of rolling and pause retrieves will tempt the Golden Perch to bite.

Casts to the edges, worked back to the boat with a series of twitches, pauses and slow rolls is just the thing to trigger a strike, with open banks, standing and laydown timber and weedbeds all prime locations to work this way with a Bait Junkie Grub.

 Written By : Josh Kopp