In deep water such as Devils Lake its typical to target perch in 40 feet or deeper. When fishing in deeper water there are a couple tricks to help turnover more fish.
The first trick is to use a dropper. A dropper is basically a spoon with a little chain beneath it that holds the presentation. The spoon gets the bait down quickly and the chain dropper keeps the presentation sensitive and delicate. Fish might be attracted by the flash of the spoon, but a lot of times they aren’t overly aggressive so they’ll hit the little jig at the bottom of the chain instead. A favorite is the Clam Speed Spoon which has a little clasp at the bottom that makes it easy to change hooks.
Another effective presentation for deep water perch is a hanging rig, also known as a pencil weight. It’s just a long weight that allows small jigs to quickly drop down into deep water.
A pencil weight has a flattened top, making it easy to mark on sonar with the gain turned down. This makes it easy to identify the fish coming in underneath. The pencil weight works well paired with a 6# or 8# monofilament leader, as well as a loop knot that allows the jig to hang horizontally. Typically it’s ideal to have the leader just a bit shorter than the length of the pencil weight so it doesn’t get tangled when it’s dropped down. With this type of setup, the jig doesn’t go up and down but instead swings back and forth underwater. This is really effective for deep water finesse fishing perch as well as species including bluegills and crappies. These weights will fall down to the bottom like a dart, allowing the bait to get right back down there after catching a fish.
Pencil weights and dropper chains are a great delivery system for getting really tiny baits down into deep water.
