What bug spray won't ruin tiny perch plastics and light line — is DEET a problem for yellow perch fishing?

It is a problem for the tackle and probably for the bite. DEET is a plasticizer that softens and hazes monofilament, soft plastics, lure paint and sunglass frames; Keith Jones's Berkley research also found bass strongly repelled by it at about one part per million. Perch are untested, but they taste-check everything. Buy 20 % picaridin lotion or wipes, which leave plastics alone. Treat clothing with permethrin at home and let it dry — never at the water, where it is highly toxic to fish while wet. A Thermacell-type unit or a head net keeps your hands clean. Scale is what hurts perch anglers: light mono has no strength to spare if DEET weakens it, and a tiny plastic has so little material that one smear ruins it. You re-bait constantly, so every fingertip touch counts.

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