LURE anglers love estuary perch. Sometimes referred to as “southern barra”, they attack a range of lures with gusto and will eagerly slurp them of the surface. The big challenge in estuary perch fishing has always been finding them. Often travelling in large schools, EPs can be unpredictable in the way that they move throughout an estuary system. It used to be that a trip to South Gippsland or the Western District was necessary to tangle with Victorian perch, but times have changed. With the help of some very successful stocking programs, estuary perch are smacking lures all around Melbourne.
Perch in the City
When I say that estuary perch are being caught all around Melbourne, I really do mean inner city Melbourne! The Yarra River, Maribyrnong River, and Albert Park Lake are all fishing increasingly well for EPs.
Albert Park Lake is an exceptionally interesting fishing spot. It is unusual to be fishing for estuary perch only to have your lure intercepted by a fat yellowbelly but at Albert Park it is likely! The lake is very shallow and clear with lots of weed and stocked fish take to it exceptionally well. Estuary perch stocking began in 2013 with 10,000 fish and continued until 2016 with 10,000 to 20,000 fish being introduced each year. The abundance of 20 to 30cm fish in the lake now lets us know that they are thriving. The south side of the lake is a great place to fish surface lures at dusk or dawn, if you don’t mind putting on a show for joggers that are constantly circling.
The Docklands on the west side of Melbourne’s CBD has been a popular bream spot for years. The variety of structure makes it a fun place to flick lures and estuary perch are making up an increasing percentage of the catch. There is a lot of fishable water to explore along the Yarra River and in the offshoot waterway beside Marvel stadium. Perch that I have come across in the Yarra have been schooled up tight so if you get onto one, you might be in for a busy morning!
Winding its way through the inner north-west, the Maribyrnong River offers heaps of great fishing that is easily accessible on foot. The long stretch of water between Yarraville and Avondale heights holds plenty of estuary perch along with bream and other estuarine species. Big stocking numbers in recent years have played a huge part in the species recent resurgence in the area. 133,000 estuary perch were released into the Maribyrnong in 2018, followed by 75,000 in 2019. My best urban estuary perch to date came when I stopped in at the Essendon rowing club for a quick flick before work.
I dropped a Zman grub lure hard up against the pontoon and it was snaffled by a fat perch almost as soon as it hit the water.
Perch on Foot
I am an electrician and a dad as well as an obsessed angler, so it stands to reason that my fishing opportunities are limited. Casting the inner-city waterways before work is a great way to scratch the itch when my weekends are booked out. It is a brief window of opportunity when you squeeze a fish in before a 7am start so easy access to good land-based spots is essential. The south side of Albert Park Lake, Southwarf in the Docklands, and the Essendon rowing club are three spots in which I’ve caught Estuary Perch within 200 metres of my car.
Targeting estuary perch on foot can be tough work in large river systems because the schools are always on the move. Targeting structure is a great way to start but if you’re not getting hits in the Yarra or the Maribyrnong, keep moving. Both rivers
offer large stretches of fishable bank allowing you to cover ground and flick lures as you walk. Sometimes you might even have to relocate by car if you find yourself in a spot where the fish are not.
Targeting structure is a great way to start but if you’re not getting hits in the Yarra or the Maribyrnong, keep moving.
The third option, and possibly the best if you’re hellbent on hooking an urban estuary perch, is Albert Park Lake. The fish are certainly in there and it is a huge advantage to the angler that their movement is limited. There is a path on the water’s edge surrounding the entire lake, so the land-based access is excellent. If you run a lure along the
edge of one of the lakes abundant weed beds, you’ll be a great chance to tempt a predatory perch. Sometimes I like to stroll the southwest corner of the lake quickly before work. In the warmer months I have great confidence that estuary perch will be attacking my surface lure before dawn.
Soft Plastic Tactics
Bream and estuary perch are often caught side by side because many of the same tactics are effective. A perch capture for Melbourne anglers used to be a very lucky surprise when targeting bream. Now that their numbers are booming, I find myself making small adjustments to target estuary perch specifically.
A major difference in approach between bream and estuary perch fishing is the importance of subtlety. From my experience, estuary perch are significantly less nervous than bream which allows the angler to fish more aggressively. When targeting estuary perch, I feel free to upsize my jig head to improve my casting ability. I am also confident to vary the speed of my retrieves with increased speed. The combination of these adjustments allows me to cover more water in a short morning session and maximise my chances of finding a fat perch.
Small curl, and paddle tail soft plastics in the 2–3-inch size range are my go-to lures for estuary perch. I am more inclined to tie on a paddle tail for perch than I am for bream, because the natural action of these lures is quite vigorous. Zman Grubz and Daiwa Bait Junkie Minnows are a couple of my favourite soft plastic lures. Load one of these onto a 1/8-to-1/16-ounce, size 2 jig head and you are ready to go. I like to vary my soft plastic retrieves a lot for estuary perch. You could catch them high or low in the water column, hard up against structure, or schooled up in open water. You could also catch them on a slow roll, or a medium fast retrieve. To sum all of this up, tie on a lure that fills you with confidence, cover ground to find perch, and mix up your retrieves until your rod buckles!
Get on Top
Possibly the most satisfying scenario in fishing is watching your surface lure being snatched from the topwater. Luckily for us, estuary perch go nuts for a surface lure, especially in the warmer months when they are actively feeding on insects. While topwater lures can be used successfully anywhere that perch are feeding, Albert Park Lake is my favourite spot for an early morning surface session. If you turn up to the lake on a glass still morning, it won’t take you long to spot fish activity. You might see ripples created by the dorsal fin of a massive cruising carp and with any luck, you will see bugs being slurped off the smooth surface by estuary perch.
Small, winged surface lures are highly effective on estuary perch and the Megabass Tiny Siglett is one great example. To start with, I like to punch a long cast into a weedless patch of water and then pause. There are differing opinions on the importance of the initial pause, but I like to think that it gives a perch time to home in on its potential meal. The pause is followed by a simple, slow rolling retrieve that should be just enough to get the little lure freestyling consistently. Sometimes I like to pause the lure mid retrieve to accurately depict a flailing bug, but when the fish are fired up, this is not necessary.
On mornings when the estuary perch are up and about, it’s not uncommon to see two or three lure attacks on a single cast. This kind of action is exciting but converting a surface hit to a hook up can be trickier than it seems. My first instinct when I witness a lure being attacked is to strike maniacally! This is exactly the wrong thing to do as soft hands are the key to setting surface hooks. You need to give the fish enough slack to suck the lure into its mouth as opposed to applying pressure and pulling it out. This is surprisingly hard to do in the heat of the moment but if you can drop your line tension just as your lure is hit, you should see a drastic improvement in your hook up rate.
There is no doubt in my mind that estuary perch stocking programs have been a huge success around Melbourne in the last decade. Let’s hope that these fish continue to thrive so that catching 40-50cm brutes in the city becomes the norm in years to come.
