In the age of the “Nanny State” I cannot for the life of me see why the little plastic packets of lures do not come with their own warning;
Caution: Purchasing tiny soft plastics is addictive. Use responsibly. Seek professional advice if symptoms persist.
I wish somebody had warned me. I’ve got the classic symptoms – irresistible urge to walk in to tackle shop, insatiable appetite for any packets covered in Japanese writing, memory loss when considering which colours of Grass Minnow I dont own yet (not many). I’ve spent so many hours trying to decipher the Japanese on the packs of J-Flash minnows I think I may actually have picked a little bit up by now….
Buy Fox Fish Snax Micro Fry from Amazon here: Buy Now
Buy Fox Fish Snax Micro Fry from Amazon here: Buy Now
I don’t know if Perch know Japanese. I don’t know if they know English for that matter, I’d have thought not. What they do know is that when they get a chance to eat they really ought to take it. Unlike trout which seem to need persuading to eat sometimes it seems that unless you give a perch a reason not to eat then the chances are they will at least show a keen interest. The Perch in the Grand Union certainly show an interest in a Grass Minnow and a J-Flash but at the start of the summer I stumbled across a lure that has literally changed my fishing.
Fox aren’t the first name I think of when I consider the really great soft plastic lure manufacturers. Ecogear, Keitech and Megabass amongst others would be right up there. I’m not going to beat around the bush – the Fox Warrior Micro Fry/ Fox Rage Fish Snax has outfished literally everything else I have. At just 4cm in length they are one of the tiniest shads I have come across and my goodness do Perch love them! Due to a re brand late in 2014 they renamed them as Fox Rage Fish Snax Micro Fry but rest assured it’s the same fantastic lure!
I’ve spent the last 6 months hammering Perch on after work sessions with these tiny but mighty shads and I really have nothing bad to say about them. The quality of the rubber is excellent – super soft without falling to bits, the colour finish is consistent, vibrant and excellent and perch just love them! I’ve primarily fished three different colours – Black and White for daytime and early evenings, Stickleback for the evenings and for clearer water and Lemon Tiger for the late evenings, murkier water or right after a boat has gone through. Rigged on either the 1g or the 2g size 6 Fox Rage Micro Jig Head they entice takes I just wasn’t getting before.
What I was looking for was a lure which drew strikes from the shoals of hundreds of smaller Perch that I encounter on my after work trips. The size of the fish isn’t really a factor which is important because these fish are on the whole very small – most are less than 6ozs. The Warrior Micro Fry converts the frustrating follows and knocks I was getting before in to fish, and lots of them!
It’s got to the point now where I can get out after work and have lost count of how many fish I’ve unhooked within twenty minutes – the perfect antidote to ninety minutes of London commuter hell! I’m not just getting small fish on the Warrior Micro Fry either. My new PB Perch was caught on the stickleback colour and I’ve touched the leader on two others of a similar size.
I’ve tried drop-shotting them with some success but these shads are at their best rigged on the Rage Micro Jig Heads and range-fished, jigging them over weed beds and around structure on a really lightweight rod or even just straight retrieving them – it’s hard to not catch fish on these things!. Due to them getting hit so often and the Rage Micro Jig Head being so fine wired the Warrior Micro Fry can get little torn up after a while but we’re talking dozens of fish here not a couple. I’ve played around with rigging them upside down (see picture below) and in truth I’m not sure which way round gets more takes – they’re lethal either way up!
Buy Fox Fish Snax Micro Fry from Amazon here: Buy Now
Buy Fox Fish Snax Micro Fry from Amazon here: Buy Now
I can’t promise that you’ll get the biggest Perch of your life on the Fox Warrior Micro Fry but I’m absolutely sure that if you’re anything like me and just want to catch a few fish in a short amount of time then I can’t think of a better way to do it than with a few packets of these little sweeties. Fish a short and super light rod, extra fine braid and a fluorocarbon trace and even those 6oz stripeys will feel like monsters. Keep an eye out for the big Sergeant too – he’s fairly partial as well!