So, my expectations were set high to say the least when we once again fled the ongoing Swedish winter to target big perch in Northern Spain. Already before our departure it was clear that the weather would challenge us this time. The Spanish mountains would spit heavy winds and rain on us for our entire stay.

The first day of fishing was super slow for me. Fishing from kayaks in heavy wind isn’t easy and we were limited in choosing our fishing spots. Due to limited fishing areas and tuning in, my first day resulted in absolutely zero bites. My tactics from last year just didn’t seem to work this time. Something was different.

Let your lure rest on the bottom and make slow retrieves, this did the trick for me.

Day two was better wind wise and made it possible to access some of my honey spots from last time. My morals came back, and I started working my jigs with some confidence again. During the day I was in contact with a couple of perch, but the bite just wasn’t on.

Later that day, I got tangled in an old piece of fishing line on the bottom and when I pulled it out of the water, it was a big red crayfish. Most of my perch fishing is about fish imitations and I seldom use crayfish jigs in my home waters, but this got me thinking. I found a red and black reaction crayfish (10 cm) in my tackle box and gave it a go. Before this I had hammered the same spot for at least one hour, a rather long and shallow rocky point. After just ten minutes I got a hard strike! After a nervous fight, I landed my first 2.5+ kilo 50 cm Spanish brut of the trip!

Heavy winds made it hard to navigate in the light kayak. This tested my capabilities. 

For the rest of our stay I continued fishing with this crayfish jig and landed some nice perch. But more importantly this trip reminded me of the importance to really try different techniques when fishing for perch. It’s easy to get stuck in old habits! If you are confident that the spot you are fishing holds perch, but they don’t bite- try different baits, experiment with different jig heads and retrieving pace. Hopefully you’ll find what works for the day!

I fish crayfish imitations in different ways depending on the water dept and bottom structure. On softer bottoms I use normal jig heads or stand-up heads, often with a weight of 5-10 g. If you fish over structure it’s a better option to use offset hooks, either weighted with a link head or Texas/Carolina type rig. Make sure to let your bait rest long times on the bottom between short retrieves. You’ll find that the strikes often come really hard, most probably due to the fact that perch are aware of the fact that their bait can pinch!

The result of hard work. I nice +2,5kg fish in the net

Crayfish. The shape tells the story of a hungry perch feeding on crayfish in the Spanish Lake – PerchZilla.