This video shows some of the massive perch schools we followed on Lake Simcoe on May 7, 2015.
All of the footage was taken in shallow water (6 to 10 feet) in the Sibbalds Point area and the schools had good mixes of jumbos and juveniles.
Some good sized smallies were also seen in and around the perch schools.
Hope you enjoy!
[url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt-0JB_KdgM"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt-0JB_KdgM[/url]
[signature]
Wow, that is some clear water. Do you know if that is normal perch behaviour, for them to stay bunched up like that. I know when fishing for them that they seem to be in groups but that is amazing to see them so bunched up.
[signature]
Thanks for the comment wiperhunter2. We think the big jumbo in the middle is a female and the rest are males waiting to spawn. We have also seen huge schools in the winter time under the ice when fishing. We will post a video of the one we did a couple of years ago on Lake Simcoe.
[signature]
Well that makes sense but it likely depend on the lake and the time of the year.
In one of our local lakes here in Utah, a few years back, we were ice fishing and the perch were so thick they were from the bottom to 10 to 20 ft off the bottom. Most were females around 10" some were up to 12". The limit is 50 in that lake and 4 out of the 6 guys I was fishing with caught our limits, the other two just did not want to clean that many perch but we all could have limited out. Sure wish I had a underwater camera that day, it was likely an unbelievable underwater sight.
What kind of camera were you using?
[signature]
We used a GoPo Hero 4 on a homemade base for the floor shots and a 3 plus on a long pole for the chase. We used a Canon XF300 for the top water and the trolling motor to keep us on the schools.
[signature]