Hunting for redfin

Angus James

The beautiful redfin, also known as English perch, are an absolutely stunning looking fish. Redfin are marked with up to six dark bands along their dark to pale green body. As the in at 10kg. In Australia finding perch over the 40cm mark is considered a great fish and landing one at 50cm is a trophy catch.

Due to their superb angling and eating qualities English perch where introduced into Australia around the 1860s.

Reddies thrive in the Australian conditions and inhabit many of predatory nature and almost flawless spawning cycles. This begins to take place when water temperatures reach around 12ºC. These perch produce thousands of eggs on freshwater plants, with larvae hatching in two weeks to form extremely large schools.

Redfin are a super aggressive carnivorous species, and for this reason they are great fun to target on a wide range of lures and will take everything from spinners, soft plastics and hardbodied lures. Basically, anything they can fit in their mouth! This makes them perfect for kids getting into lure fishing and, like myself growing up in the southern part of the country, often the very first freshwater species ever caught on a lure. These fish can ignite that first spark that develops into a name suggests redfin have beautiful vibrant red fins and tail.

Golden hour – the last hour before darkness is the perfect time to catch redfin.

Like most perch species they have a deep body and can grow to impressive sizes. They have even been known to grow up to a whopping 60cm in length and weighing the cooler parts of our country including Tasmania, Victoria, NSW, South Australia and even southern parts of Western Australia.

These fish can live for over 20 years and often put pressure on native species because of their aggressive passion for fishing, and fond memories of time spent in the great outdoors.

Redfin are also up there with some of the best tasting fish you can eat. It’s not hard to see why many anglers down this way are extremely happy to have this impressive looking species in our waters, especially our artificial impoundments.

I feel extremely privileged to be living in Victoria because it gives me the opportunity to explore and fish many of the great waterways in close proximity, and a lot of the water down this way is the best big redfin water in the country, holding some incredible XL redfin. I absolutely love targeting them. It requires a lot of time on the water and a certain skill to find the big ones, but it’s worth it. Places like Lake Fyans, Lake Wendouree, and Lake Wallace, just to name a few, are some examples of the locations to hunt those bigger models that lurk beneath.

Catching redfin can be an easy exercise on artificial presentations, especially during the warmer months when they become a lot more active. At that time of year, it’s not uncommon to get cricket score catches of fish around the 25-30cm mark, but finding the big ones consistently can be the real challenge. However, when it all comes together and that big perch hits the net, it’s pure excitement and adrenalin. Very addictive!

Big redfin are a truly majestic creature, and can be encountered in most waterways in the south of the county, from lakes and reservoirs to streams, rivers and farm dams. Land-based, kayak or boat can get you hooked up to a PB redfin. This is why they are such a great species to target.

Some of the best perch sessions I’ve had have been on foot, hiking into secluded areas that are hard to get to, and reaping the rewards. Google Maps is a great way to find new areas, and often a recon mission results in some beautiful big red dogs.

TACKLE

Perch fishing with lures is all about finesse. Often using light spin gear, I prefer my rods to be in the 1-3kg range. This allows me to cast a wide range of lures, including very subtle presentations into likely-looking areas. Having a nice light spin reel with a smooth drag around the 10002500 size is the way to go. I load up with a super smooth braid, often an 8 carrier, to give me a nice long cast when needed.

Having a fluorocarbon leader is a must. A big redfin sure can pull hard, and having that abrasion resistance will save you from losing that trophy fish. Often a rod length of 8lb fluoro leader (e.g. Platypus Stealth FC) attached with a beautiful little FG knot will give me the full confidence I need to tangle with these beasts. Having this style of set-up gives me the ability to flick my lures long and accurate into the sweet spots.

Land-based sessions can be very rewarding.

The braid also gives me direct contact to my presentations so I can feel everything and detect any strikes. Often when a big redfin takes your lure it will be the smallest flick of the line. Then, when you go to move your lure again the fish will take off and you will have extremely fun heartpumping, line-peeling, finesse fishing battle ahead of you.

The optimum time to target the bigger fish is during low light conditions. I prefer to hit the water before first light and also the last hour before darkness (I call it the ‘golden hour’). Overcast days are also very rewarding.

During these windows, I often find big fish hunting prey, like hungry velociraptors, on the edges in very shallow water, smashing small baitfish and yabbies. For this situation I will choose a bank with plenty of weed and cover. I then cast my lures parallel across the bank in the shallows, and begin prospecting the area.

I have found the perfect artificial presentation for the job. To cover both food sources in the one lure I use a soft plastic creature bait with a nice thick grub body and two paddle-tails on the back (e.g. ZMan Baby GOAT), rigged on a jig spin. This winning combination basically gives you a finesse spinnerbait that moves through the water column like a yabby, while also giving off a flash and vibration that appears to mimic a scattering baitfish.

Because of the way the wire in the jig spinner is designed, the soft plastic can work its way across areas that would often be too snaggy to fish. I keep in direct contact all the time with my lure. Feeling my way across the likely strike zones, my lure will be bumping across the weed creating lots of movement – stirring things up like a yabby or a small fish would. This gets the big reds excited and often they won’t be able to resist, especially with some added scent on the presentation. Often if the fish misses the hooks the first time, it will come back for another crack, and it’s fish on.

A magnificent land-based cold winter morning beast.

Another great way to catch the big spawning redfin over the cooler times of the year is to fish a soft plastic very slowly off the bottom. Winter can slow the perch fishing down and it can sometimes be hard to find the fish, but when you do, hold on, because these fish are often huge. I like to use the TT Lures Ned Rig, rigged with a buoyant soft plastic (e.g. ZMan GrubZ). When the mushroom-shaped jighead sits on the bottom, the buoyant plastic automatically stands up and creates its own movement underwater. Grub tail plastics and creature baits with lots of movement are great choices. Often a super slow retrieve with a few rod twitches thrown into the mix will get the big winter reds fired up.

As you can see, targeting redfin is a great way to spend time outdoors. They are fun to catch and taste amazing, and your next PB could be just a cast away. See you out there!