When perch hit flash lures, there’s a distinct thunk that leaves no doubt what just happened or what to do next: Set the hook and let the games begin.

Last season, my dad and I met at a favorite perch lake. He went one way and I went another, the way we usually do, about 200 feet apart, each of us trying to locate a school of perch. Soon after I started jigging, a school moved under me—game on. I caught several, including two that measured 13 and 131⁄2 inches. They bit Northland’s 1/16-ounce Forage Minnow Jig’N Spoon, a flash lure they like to call “the most lifelike miniature-sized jigging spoon on the market.” I like it, too.

Blood flowing and my pride balloon full, I put the two sumo perch in a bucket of water for photos later, and sauntered over to show Dad. Invite him over my way.

He viewed the contents of my bucket pokerfaced and gave a nod of approval. I should have noticed his famous right-eye squint, but I was too excited, and said—like any In-Fisherman editor would say to his father— “Right now would be a good time for you to move over by me. I caught every one of these perch using a tiny Northland spoon. In fact,” I puffed up further, getting a bit carried away, “John Crane from Northland gave me a bunch of them, himself. I’ll give you a couple after we get your stuff moved. What d’ you say?”

He paused. “Jeff,” he said. “You already gave me a couple of those spoons Crane gave you.”

I did?

“And they’re working good over here, too,” he said, as he reached into his bucket, hiding his face. When he came up, I saw the squint, but it was too late. “Fourteen and a half inches,” he said, and slowly bent over the bucket again like he was already tired of lifting fish. Yikes. That fish was an inch longer than my biggest perch and much fatter—a photo fish for sure. What’s this—he’s got another one?

“Then I caught this 14-incher,” he says. ”Smaller, I know, but still nice, don’tcha think?” His smile was huge. Pausing one last time, he reached down into his bucket and pulled out the grand finale, the perch in the lead photo of this article. “And just before you walked over here, I caught this 151⁄2-incher on that Northland spoon, too. Tell that John Crane thanks.”

I packed up my stuff and moved closer to my dad’s holes.

Flash Lure Perch Packages

Although the length of our perch can vary, Dad and I agree that flash lures are great baits for attracting and triggering perch and do the best job of calling the fish in for a look, whether in deep, clear water, or shallow and stained water.

Jason Mitchell, a Devils Lake, North Dakota, guide (perchpatrol.com) and wintertime perch fan, concurs that flash lures are top lures for perch. “Spoons work so well for attracting perch. In clear water, even relatively small spoons can attract fish from quite a distance.

“Using finesse tactics, like a small jig tipped with a maggot, can produce perch. However, tiny jigs don’t have the attracting power compared to spoons,” he says. “And my experience is that finesse tactics encourage picky fish behavior, where aggressively jigging spoons not only trigger active perch but can also make negative fish active.”

Flash lures come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some have distinctly pronounced wobbles, while others randomly flutter and fall. We divide flash lures into three categories—straight, bent, and super-action. Straight lures, like the Acme Kastmaster or Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon, have flat profiles, modest flash and vibration, rarely tangle, and are easy to wiggle on the hold. Bent lures, like the JB Lures Angel-Eye Spoon or Lindy Legendary Fishing Tackle Rattl’r Spoon, are curved and tend to drift slightly to the side of the hole. Super-action lures, like Reef Runner Slender Spoon or the Acme Phoebe, create tremendous vibration on the upstroke and have an intense side-to-side wobble on the fall.

Popular lure sizes for perch weigh between 1/16 and 1/4 ounce. Larger baits offer lots of flash, vibration, and flutter. Smaller lures of the same shape transmit less flash and vibration and may not flutter as distinctly (not necessarily a bad thing—sometimes less is what perch want). I generally start with a 1/4-ounce flash lure to attract fish (more flash and vibration), then downsize if perch are reluctant to take the larger bait.

Some flash lures feature rattles, others fancy paint-jobs, including bright, glowing colors. Lures that rattle, for instance, attract and trigger perch via sound and feel. They work well in most waters, but they’re especially effective in murky or dark water. Glow lures excel in stained or deep water and during twilight hours. Exactly what’s triggering perch to bite can change daily, and experimenting is the only way to determine whether or not size, shape, rattle, color, or glow baits make a difference.

“I like flash lures that I can work fairly straight up and down,” Mitchell says. “Acme Kastmasters and Swedish Pimples are classics that produce perch year after year on Devils Lake. I really like Lindy’s Rattl’r,” he adds. “Not so much for the rattles, but the small heavy spoon cuts through the water and keeps my line tight, which allows me to detect even light bites.”

Tipping flash lures with bait is mandatory for perch. Sometimes packing the treble hook with 10 or more grubs is what fish want; other times, adding just a few maggots produces better than any other combination.

“The key is to use a bait that stays on your hook,” he says. “Minnow heads work, but they tend to fall off if you’re jigging aggressively. Sometimes I use the tail portion of a minnow and set the hook through the spine to ensure the meat stays on. Hooking a bunch of spikes, or a combination of waxworms and spikes, can be good, too. In North Dakota, it’s legal to use perch eyes and they’re great for tipping. They hold lots of scent that perch seem to love, and the eye stays on the hook for several fish.”

Adding a swivel 12 to 14 inches above your lure helps reduce line twist. Quality ball-bearing snap-swivels work, too, and make it easy to change lures. Some anglers are apprehensive about using snap-swivels, believing they’re gaudy and deter strikes; but I know too many good anglers using them with flash lures to believe snap-swivels bother perch.

“A flash lure that spins while pausing the bait is going to cost you, “ Mitchell went on. “Using an underwater camera, I’ve watched perch after perch stare at a spinning spoon, and the instant the spoon stops spinning, boom: They hit.

“Adding a swivel or snap-swivel reduces line twists and the amount your lure spins when you hold the bait motionless,” he adds. “I like snap-swivels mainly because they allow me to change lures quickly, and I’ve yet to notice that they prevent perch from striking spoons.”

Magically simple—flash lures are easy to use. The lure weight keeps the line taut and makes it easy to detect strikes. They’re good hookers, too—I rarely miss perch with them.

Start by sharply lifting the rod tip about 12 inches. Then immediately drop the tip back to the starting position and let the lure free-fall, fluttering and flashing like an injured baitfish back into place. On the lift portion of the jigging stroke, you should be able to feel the lure vibrate. No wondering what to do next. Lift-drop-hold. Lift-drop-hold. That’s it—you’re almost an expert.

When perch move in, don’t stop jigging but be sure to pause (hold) the bait long enough to give fish time to strike (5 to 30 seconds). Sometimes perch hesitate to strike on the first lift-fall-hold, but slam the bait the next time the bait flutters and stops. It’s just the way perch react to flash lures.

Jigging 2 to 5 feet from bottom is a great way to get fish from a distance. Jigging above a school of perch also entices active fish that rise up and take the bait, which prevents spooking the school while fighting a fish.

Mitchell: “I always start jigging up from bottom, say 4 to 5 feet, and I jig fairly aggressively when there aren’t any fish under me. Jigging high allows perch to move in and school below the lure. When 4 to 10 perch are below me, they seem to get competitive and start swimming toward my lure.

“Once a fish gets close, I envision my flash lures as two lures. Again, I use the flash and vibration to attract fish under me,” he explains, “then I rely on the treble tipped with bait to entice bites. Shaking the rod slightly to get the treble and bait rocking, but not the spoon, has triggered lots of perch for me.

“The trick is getting the first perch to bite,” he says. “Once that happens, it’s game-on and suddenly the entire school is ready to eat. Then it becomes a matter of getting your bait down quickly while the perch are active. Becoming proficient at getting fish up and your bait down quickly can be the difference between catching two or ten perch,” he adds.

Observe the fish on your electronics and note how they respond to certain-sized flash lures and jigging moves. Try specific twitches and lifts, drops and periods of pausing, until you get a positive response. Sometimes they shy away from lots of flash and vibration; other times vibration and flash triggers aggressive behavior. When you get one to bite, duplicate what you just did to fool the rest of the school. And if your fishing partner’s holes are producing bigger perch, move closer.