Rudyard Lake has over recent years seen some very successful spawning, creating a good stock of perch size fodder fish. It is a great habitat for the Perch which run to over 4lb, with extensive weedy shallows, deeper water for wintering and loads of cover and features which provide good hunting areas.
Location is the key to most types of fishing and it is no different for the Perch on Rudyard, they will follow their prey and they will change location with the seasons but once you have found them at a particular depth then they will remain at that depth for long periods. Perch do not make great depth changes quickly as they do not adjust easily. Below are a couple of rigs I use for Perch on Rudyard

Air injected worm rig

The diagram is pretty much self explanatory but the depth that the worm is popped up can be adjusted, I use Solar depth charges, which don't damage the line, as a pop up weight. Perch have very good eyesight so I use fluorocarbon as a hooklink and a fox stem keeps the line off any snags. Always be careful when injecting worms, put them down on a hard surface don't hold them, air injected into your bloodstream can prove fatal!

Livebait Rig

Again fairly self explanatory but one or two tips, always use a wire trace (Wonder wire or Drennan soft) if Pike are present, a small piece of thick elastic band slipped onto the hookpoint will prevent the bait from coming off, the trace must be shorter than the distance indicated on the diagram to prevent tangles and the distance between the bomb and float set the depth at which the rig is fished.

General points

Use a good bite alarm and bobbin for bite indication and always strike quickly to avoid deep hooking. Use barbed hooks as barbless hooks penetrate too deeply and because of the Perch physiology can kill the fish. The tackle I use is: 1.5 lb TC rods, Baitrunners, 8lb mainline, hooks size 8 - 2 depends on bait, Delkims, Solar Danglers, Fluorocarbon 4 - 8lb and a soft wire.
Good Luck!

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