PERCH FISHING!

Remember when you were a kid - and loved to go perch fishing? No pressure, no fancy and costly equipment, just simple fun?

Many anglers, and even some of the 'pro' fisherfolk are again REDISCOVERING the yellow perch. This pristine flavoured fish found throughout much of North America's freshwater bodies is allowing many fisherpeople to be "BORN AGAIN". 

Indeed, many of us just want to go FISHIN' - FOR THE FUN OF IT. Perch fishing allows one to go fishing, catch good catchers of some of the finest, and most delicate flavoured fish we have, with no pressure, without thousands of dollars of 'Hi-tech' equipment - AND HAVE A BALL!

Perch fishing offers us a chance to roll away the years, and for that brief fishing excursion at least, be a 'kid' again - and have some excellent eating to boot!

Perch can be caught at any time of the year, and are willing biters, provided we can get our small bait in front of them. 

Here you'll find the 'perchy' basics, which will give anyone a great 'shot' at catching perch - and for free!. More detail, including explanations, can be found in my "Pro Factsheet and Pro Reports - found in the products section of this homepage. 

Perch can be caught in many freshwater bodies, and without a lot of expensive equipment!  One can catch good catches of perch from many North American streams, lakes, impoundments - nearly any waterbody. This offers EVERYONE great opportunity to catch a 'mess' of perch for a meal of the finest eating available ANYWHERE!

You don't need a boat, and in most cases you will be able to find areas near your home where you'll be able to harvest good catches right from shore. If you have a small boat or canoe - or even a magnificent hundred foot yacht, you'll too be able to participate in this fishy quest. 
 

If you need information on where to go locally, nearly any bait/tackle shop in your area will be able to set you on your way with enough basic local information enough to catch perch. You'll be able to build on this information as time goes by, by trying new locations that look 'perchy', adding your own new-found 'perch patch's'!

Generally, I like to fish from shore in about six to fifteen feet of water for perch, and if you have the use of a boat/canoe, you'll be able to move around a bit, offering potentially, more areas of water to fish. When fishing in deep waterbodies, I've had my best luck by fishing right next to shore. But I've also had good catches of perch in six feet of water, and even shallower depths, upon occasion. 

When fishing for perch, bear in mind that these fish, like their larger cousin the walleye, are schooling fish (for the most part), and are 'migratory', and move around quite a lot. You could be fishing an area without even a nibble, then have a school of perch move in - and whammo- fish-on! If you catch one perch, you are very likely top catch more, simply because they are a schooling fish. The secret - once fish 'move in' - get that bait/hook back into the water as quickly as you can. Just as perch 'move in' they'll also 'move out', and your fishing success may go dead again for a while.

You will find however, that some perch populations, especially in smaller ponds/lakes, may not school up a lot. These fish are the exceptions to the normal and general perch population. These more solitary fish can be caught easily though, once you've found the depth that these fish are in - stay within that same depth during the whole trip out, and cover territory by trying various places within that waterbody. 

PERCH TACKLE: 

Ultra light 'long' rod(s) can also be a sporting rig, especially if it is the lightest you can find in an eight foot, and even a nine foot would be fine. I've found that the UL's (rods) over nine foot in length are getting too top/front end heavy for my liking, but to each their own. These longer rods sometimes allow an angler advantages over the shorter rod when using 'pre set' bobber (often called 'stop bobbers') or split shot arrangement. This stop bobber arrangement is where one 'fixes' the depth of their rig at a certain depth, and this 'set' depth doesn't change. To fish with this set-up; simply, either gently cast a short distance, or just let this outfit dangle in the water below the rod tip, moving the bait/hook location by moving the rod tip to a new location. 

For terminal tackle, including bobbers, fish hooks and split shot, I prefer to use the smallest and lightest I can handle.Perch, as mentioned, are aggressive biters; but there are times when they are incredibly finicky, and will bite very lightly. As well, perch will hit a bait/hook set up much more aggressively and quickly, without hesitation - if the bait/hook offering is not overly large. Indeed, catfisherpeople, often fishing in 'perch' waters, using a huge piece of bait and hooks, rarely catch perch. If they had perch tackle, they'd never catch catfish, being plagued by perch - catch my drift? 

I like to use the small round bobbers (one half inch in diameter), or the relatively new THILL bobber/float system, especially in conjunction with slip bobbers, and bobber stops. Most decent tackle/bait shops can show you/explain how these systems work - much more quickly than I could try to explain it here. Use the smallest bobbers you can find!

I like to use small size 8 hooks, unsnelled. I never use the gold or nickel plated hooks because they don't break down as easily in a fish's digestive system if you loose the hook/fish. The bronze hooks break down within a couple of weeks in a fish's gut, and are not usually fatal - and they're much cheaper too!

If using split shot, use small ones, adding a couple if need be, to get the bait down quickly, or when in a current. 

ATTRACTOR HOOKS - YES - I use these small attractor hooks very often, both weighted (most often) and occasionally unweighted. These allow for a colourful offering, and enough hook left to tag on a piece of worm, minnow maggot or grub - all excellent perch bait. The idea is that the added flash and zip the colour adds will attract fish from further away, once the fish gets closer, see's the 'real' bait 'tagged' onto the hook, will without hesitation - hit the bait/hook set up - FISH-ON! (see my product section for attractor hooks available) 

I will also use the small jig hooks (1/32 oz.) and the very small twister tails and tube jigs available to good effect, also tagging on a small piece of bait, as with my attractor hooks. These amount to much the same principle as my attractor hooks. The problem with these rigs is that there is often not much room left on the hook to get a piece of bait attached, so generally, I prefer my attractor hooks - but if I run out/forget my attractor hooks, these tube twister tail & jig hook combos will save the day. 

ONCE YOU'RE at your desired fishin' location, simply bait up, cast out, and wait. Don't disturb the area too much by rummaging around. After the line/bait has set for several minutes, I'll gently 'trigger' the line with my finger, at the reel. This is done by gently, with a sort of taping motion, tap/trigger the line. Don't overdo this - even though you think that you aren't doing much, because of the line out, underwater currents etc, your bait/hook will be moving quite a bit from this simple process. If nothing happens doing this, wind in the line only about two to three feet, allow the bait to remain motionless again for a couple of minutes, and then do the 'triggering' thing again. Repeat this process until the line is almost right back to the boat/stream bank where you are fishing. 

If you do catch a perch, be quick to re-bait up, and get the bait back into the water quickly, you have to keep their attention, or the school may 'drift off', and you'll be 'out of fish'.

Too, it's important to ALWAYS pay attention to the area, and more importantly THE DEPTH at which you've caught perch. Perch will often 'suspend' in a favoured depth, which is likely at a water temperature they prefer. This is especially important in the hot summer months, and again in the dead of winter when ice fishing. Try to get your bait back into the water - AND AT the same DEPTH AT WHICH YOU CAUGHT YOUR FIRST PERCH OF THE DAY.

In the summer, this perch favoured depth will likely be (relatively speaking - and to the waterbody you're fishing in) quite deep, and in the spring and very late fall may their favoured depth may be a bit shallower. I've caught perch in water sixty feet deep, not often though, and usually only during the hottest of summers, or in the dead of winter. Normally I will fish for perch in water that may be anywhere from six feet deep, to fifteen feet deep, most of the time. The reason I mention/include this major depth variance, is to illustrate that perch do move around, and will go deep during some conditions. Perch can be caught with relative consistency at the 25 down to 40 foot mark in lakes that are very deep - but for the most part -stick to the shallower waters - you'll catch fish - and have a lot more fun. To go deep for perch is an 'animal unto itself' and takes special tackle/technique to accomplish - and I won't cover it here - wishing to remain 'simple' 

Don't be afraid to try various jigging actions, and baits, and colours of attractor hooks or jigs; some days perch will 'hit' one colour, and not another. Generally though, my favourite colours are: yellow, chartreuse, fuchsia ( a purplish-red), white, black, florescent pink, Flor.. red, and various combos of these colours. 

For bait, in the 'dead' of the winter for ice fishing I use maggots, wax worms, minnows and SMALL PIECES of nightcrawler.

In the summer, use larger pieces of bait, about a half of a night crawler, large grubs and live minnows about one and a half inches long. I use these in conjunction with attractor hooks or jig head set-ups. 

 PERCH TIPS: 

2/ Use small bait size/pieces - the smallest bait that you can get away with, perch don't hit huge pieces of bait as a rule 

3/ Use a sharp snap, but not a wicked jerk, when setting the hook 

4/ Use the lightest line, and the smallest hooks and split shot that you can handle 

5/ Use 'perch eyes' for bait only when you are into a school of perch. Other baits are much better to first attract them into your area. 

6/ Use attractor hooks where possible, they'll give you that extra bit of colour and zip needed to draw perch from a few feet further away, especially in muddy/turbid water 

7/ Use chum where it is legal, it'll hold fish in the area allowing you do a good job 'working on them' 
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