Perch fishing in the fall – meet Adam Orre!

We are going full speed Ahead, continuing our series of interviews where we are covering the topic of fall fishing for Perch. This time we have the pleasure of having Adam Orre on board. Well then – who is Adam Orre? If you would by any chance enter the tackle shop Söders Sportfiske in Stockholm, you are likely to run into Adam Orre since that is where he works. All other time you better look somewhere on the water. He will be out fishing.

Adam is an awesome pike-and perchangler with a CV including many top-3 placements incl. Trexgäddan, S:t Anna Pike open and many many more. He has on several occasions teamed up with Swedish sportfishings very own Wikipedia (or is it fishopedia?), Tobias Fränstam when tournaments are lurking in the reeds. One example is when they, under the name of Team Abu/Mojo boats, won the competition 08-borren together with Hugo Lisjö 2015.

Besides Pike Adam targets basically every target species out there like Tarpon, Barracuda, Trout and of course Perch.  It is not an co-incidence that Adam has been seeing major successes. Now you will enjoy the pleasure of taking part of Adams hard earnt knowledge, because now it’s Perch-time!

What is your homewaters and what is signifying that body of water?

I started Perch-fishing in Furusund out of a co-incidence, really. My boss Henke taught me how and where to fish. With his words lingering in the back of my mind we started running combo-sessions including a perch rod and a rod for slightly heavier shads, like 5-7 inches. Of course we caught more perch that pike on the gear. Furusund / Norrtälje skärgård is pretty unique with all the deep coves and systems that contains massive amounts of Perch.

How did your Perchfishing start?

It started with old wodden boats in small forrest-lakes, old spinners and other classics. The Perch has played supporting act in the myth of the old pike. I remember a trip in my early teens when me and my poor dad headed out to fish the bays in Gryts archipelago where we usually spent our summers. I think I can recall it being rainy and windy, like in October, only that it was mid July.

I was throwing my gigantic Zalt crank (14cm) and pops an ancient Bomber squarebill or it could have been a Big-O from Cotton Cordell. All of a sudden pops gets a serious take on the weedline. Up comes a perch around 1,5 kg. How it got in the boat I don’t know. When we finally had removed the crank and hadethe massive tank of a perch in a good grip, came a small stripe of fear.

How do you kill this thing? Breaking the neck on the small pan-sized perch was not a problem for a guy my age. Now I almost did not dare to hold the fish. Finally we took a picture of the fish, next to a box of matches, and then we released the beast again.

You get dizzy to say the least after such an experience. Does my dad fish? No he has not gotten the bug like I have. As my fishing progressed and intensified, the Perch has come to play a bigger role during the autums.

When do you think is the best time during the fall to start fishing for Perch?

I think the most fun period to fish for Perch is when the water temp starts moving down to 16-18 degrees and you find the schools of fish at 1-6 meters. In the Archipelago where I have spent the most time that is in mid September. The best period for big Perch according to me is mid November. I guess it depends quite a lot based on where you live in our long country.

What is the first bet when it comes to location during the fall?

Generally speaking close to baitfish. Coves in the archipelago is an excellent place to start hunting for Perch. In general these areas are slightly deeper and the bait-fish get squeezed together and presenting themselves like a smorgasboard for both the migrating and stationary predators.

Where do you go if the primary locations does not work?

Bottomstructures like reefs, areas with mud, hard bottoms and reed-lines. Sometimes tactics for Pike work as well for Perch. The archipelago offers so many different environments that you have fish for Perch with all sorts of tactics.

What tactics do you usually use during the autumn?

Usually I fish the traditional jig. A shad + a led or tungsten head. If the fishing requieres it I will switch to dropshot. It’s a really good method for triggering slow fish. During early fall in the beginning of August until the beginning of October, I normally find the Perch in more shallow areas. Thats a perfect situation for using Texas-rigs in the reeds and in weed. Cranks, Poppers et c are very efficient when the Perch hunts up in the watercolumn. A normal mis-conception regarding hardbaits is that they only work in the summertime. Also during early winter, Popper can be the best solution

What are the differences in tactics if you are fishing for big Perch vs. numbers?

Mainly the location. But of course also the tactics you employ. I think you can have a very varied result depending on tactics and what ideas you follow.

What are your favorite baits for autumn Perch?

When it comes to baits and brands I have a few ones I prefer: Berkley, Jackall, Relax och Zoom. Should I pick a top 5 bait types and colors for my waters during the autumn I would pick:

Berkley Havoc / Flex -Grass pig jr. Färg Green back. Cheap jig that has delivered big time for me. Runs awesome both with regular jig-head and off-set hook

Relax 3” #091 – Motoroil Glitter. Immortal classic.

Zoom Fluke 4” – color Albino. If you ask me it is the best jig for drop shot. Less than 3$ in Bass pro shops. Juicy!

Rapala Shadow Rap 11cm deep in the color Green Olive. Works best if you jerk it togehter with spinning.Paca Craw – Summer Craw. Can feel a bit big but is really hot in lakes where the Perch feed on crayfish. Use it Texas-rigged, with a Swin head or a jig like the BPS Enticer.

What are the top 3-5 things to consider for a proper Perch kit?

When it comes to equipment there is no rights or wrongs. We all have different ideas on what’s right. My own set-up that I spend the most time with is a MGXtreme with a veracity 7,3ft -1oz rod. Quick, light and very nice to fish.

I would say my top tips are:

Have thin line with high breaking strength. I use Tracerbraid and StrikeWire a lot.

Try alternate different tactics. Don’t forget dropshot. That’s my back-up when traditional spin fishing is slow.

If possible – bring 2 or even 3 kits. 2 is possible if you are fishing from the banks but if you are fishing from boat there is no reason not to bring more (if you have them of course). It’s quite comfortable to have several kits already pre-rigged for a quick change of tactics.

A lot of people are looking for quick, toppy action when it comes to Perch fishing. Sensitive-tops so to say. For myself I prefer progressive action. It’s important that the rods are quick and has power. You don’t want your gear failing when it’s game-time!

Do you have any other tips for getting started with Perch fishing?

Oh wow. There are probably million small things out there.

If you are fishing with a modern echo-sounder in the boat I think it’s worthwile learning how to use it if you are not already on top of it. Knowing how to read it helps you finding spots in a new lake or bay. Myself I use a Lowrance HDS-9 GEN3, also with Insight Genesis which is really awesome both when it’s coming to exploring new waters and also for re-learning you home waters.

We thank Adam for parcipating and who knows – maybe we get to meet Adam again in the future. If you want to see more pictures of Adams fishing check out his feed at https://www.instagram.com/fredagsminoritet/

// Danne, Mange och Peter

We hope you haven't missed our other interviews in the series on perch fishing during to fall.
You will find our interview with Tom Backlund here.

Should you get a severe case of fishingabstinces during the winter... Fear not... Perch Pro will start airing soon. 
The grand finale will be aired at the Fishing cruise. 
We will of course be there! We hope you also will get tickets. Then it will be us and a few 100 other fishing-nerds :-)
If you want to know more about the fishing cruise, you can find it here