Koppers Suspending Yellow Perch

[Toadslayer72]

Received my first few baits today and I am impressed with the profile and detail. Fishing suspending jerks for smallies as soon as ice is out has become an obsession of mine over the past 7+ years and this bait is the first one that I've seen that has nailed the YP look, something I've been waiting ever so patiently for the whole time.
That being said, a suspending jerkbait isn't worth much to me if it doesn't actually suspend properly. I'm here to ask if anyone who visits this community has any experience with these suspending baits. If so, I'd greatly appreciate any info. you could share, especially the suspending capabilities. Things like action, diving depth and durability are also of interest to me. Thanks.

[bladerunner]

It suspends nicely. To be honest most jerkbaits (even luckycrafts) suspend with a slight nose down/or up bias. This one is the same. I don't have the patience to tinker with a jerkbait to get it to suspend dead level anyway. As soon as the water temperature changes a few degrees up or down the suspending part is thrown off anyway. I wonder if anyone ever tried to make a suspending jerkbait filled with water for weighting? Would the water inside the bait take on the temperature of the surrounding water and always suspend level?

SORRY I got off subject !!! The suspending yellow perch casts awesome. The profile is SUPER realistic - nicer than any of its Japanese counterparts. And the paint job is second to none. If you combine all those traits with equal (but not better performance in the suspending dept.) AND 5 dollars cheaper and you have a homerun. I've been using several Koppers products since their introduction and have not been let down. Although the Smallmouth crank blows out a bit in fast current. PS the new Koppers Bluegill lipless crank and Bluegill wakebait are AWESOME. I threw the Koppers Perch a week ago for the fisrt time and though it was great but then I got bored and switched it up because I have a tough time with pausing long enough in cold water. Keep throwing it.

I never understood why paint jobs this accurate weren't the norm in lures. I never saw a flourescent and purple with blue back fish. Somehow bass are still eating real fish with muted - even camoflagued colors in stained water - so why do we need lures to be so gaudy and fake looking? If bass needed those colors to find prey they would all starve. But they manage to find prey with muted colors in muddy water all the time. Think about it.

[Toadslayer72]

It suspends nicely. To be honest most jerkbaits (even luckycrafts) suspend with a slight nose down/or up bias. This one is the same. I don't have the patience to tinker with a jerkbait to get it to suspend dead level anyway. As soon as the water temperature changes a few degrees up or down the suspending part is thrown off anyway. I wonder if anyone ever tried to make a suspending jerkbait filled with water for weighting? Would the water inside the bait take on the temperature of the surrounding water and always suspend level?

SORRY I got off subject !!! The suspending yellow perch casts awesome. The profile is SUPER realistic - nicer than any of its Japanese counterparts. And the paint job is second to none. If you combine all those traits with equal (but not better performance in the suspending dept.) AND 5 dollars cheaper and you have a homerun. I've been using several Koppers products since their introduction and have not been let down. Although the Smallmouth crank blows out a bit in fast current. PS the new Koppers Bluegill lipless crank and Bluegill wakebait are AWESOME. I threw the Koppers Perch a week ago for the fisrt time and though it was great but then I got bored and switched it up because I have a tough time with pausing long enough in cold water. Keep throwing it.

I never understood why paint jobs this accurate weren't the norm in lures. I never saw a flourescent and purple with blue back fish. Somehow bass are still eating real fish with muted - even camoflagued colors in stained water - so why do we need lures to be so gaudy and fake looking? If bass needed those colors to find prey they would all starve. But they manage to find prey with muted colors in muddy water all the time. Think about it.

Wow, awesome! Your post is exactly the type of response I was hoping for, thank you. I'll take Lucky Craft type of suspending. I caught my biggest smallie to date on a gold and black pointer 78 enhanced with homemade yellow perch markings done with a Sharpie marker. I should have made mention in the OP that I'm familiar with the subtleties of fishing suspending baits as far as the effects things like water temp and line have on a bait. My main concern is that it doesn't float or sink.

I had a little chuckle at you admitting to not being patient with the pause in cold water, I know it can be tough, lol. It really is the key in my experience in cold water though. Another thing that I've noticed works well in cold water is the manner in which the bait is worked. I know the popular way to work these lures is with aggressive slashing jerks but when the temp is down there, like in the 30's, I mostly kind of just slowly drag the lure back to the boat when I'm not pausing it. My "jerks" are no more than slight twitches and they aren't too frequent, 2 maybe 3 per cast.

I'm curious about your idea of using water inside a bait to achieve neutral buoyancy. Initially it seems like it should work. Hey while we're tossing ideas around, I've always thought that the application of feathers or fine hair to a bait to mimic fins would look incredible underwater. In fact, I don't know why I haven't actually done it yet myself. I guess I was subconsciously awaiting the right lure, and now I have it. Seriously, think about how that would look subsurface on this Koppers perch. You make a pull or slash or jerk on the bait and let it rest, the mini-currents created by the bait set those feathers into motion and it looks like a fish does when it moves it's fins while suspending. Well I think it would look good.

I'm very excited to get out on the water to try these out. Thanks again for reassuring me. I mean it's not like I wouldn't find out on my own eventually, it's just the cabin fever getting to me.

Oh one more thing, I really, really hope that Koppers offers a deep diving version of this lure in the future, something to get down to the 7'-9' range. I guess I can survive with dd pointers and bevy shads til then.

[bladerunner]

You might have something with the feathers. Trim the feathers in the shape of little fins in the front. Fill it with water. We'll call it the Featherweight 100. Patent pending.

[Toadslayer72]

You might have something with the feathers. Trim the in the shape of the little fins in the front. Filled with water. We'll call it the Featherweight 100. Patent pending.

That's hilarious! This morning I was thinking that I should have make a joke about combining the two attributes into one. No way would I have come up with such a witty and creative, yet obvious, name for it though.

[slipperybob]

I've seen topwater hardbaits with feathered fins, but haven't with a suspended lure.

I have the Smelt lure and it's a super slow sinker. So is the YP a super slow sinker? Meaning meant to be fished with standard mono/copoly lines?