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Perch Fishing Secrets
#1
[cool]The thread on Bear Lake Perch was gettin' kinda long, and FlyFishingMoose asked for info on best methods for fishing for perch, in consideration of the upcoming festivities. So, all you perch pros out there, let's download what we know, to give the rookies a fighting chance at the enjoys and the dining delights of these little rascals.

First of all, Jordanelle is right now where Deer Creek was many years ago... overrun by hordes of small perch, with a few good sized ones to keep your hopes up. In the "olden days", there were no limits on perch anywhere. I have "obscene" pictures of baskets full of jumbo perch harvested from Deer Creek and Yuba, which were gathered to feed large crowds in fish frys. Here is a pic of a more modest harvest from Yuba, including a small northern...and some decent sized perch.

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In spite of having caught just about every species of fresh water game fish in the country, and most of the salt water species available within a day's run by boat, I still have a great fondness for perchin'. They are simple to catch (usually) and they are great on the table.

Before I got sonar on my float tubes, I prospected for perch with a "high-low" rig...of two mini tube jigs on 1/16 oz. heads, drifting and jigging...shallow to deep and back again...until I found fish. Then I would toss over a marker and work the school over...vertical jigging. In Jordanelle, that tactic would be very costly, as you decorated all of the brush on the bottom with your little jigs. Better to use sonar to find the larger fish and then drop your jigs down to a depth slightly shallower. They will come up to get the jigs, and you don't snag as much.

Fishing from the shore, you can use almost any bait or lure. Small spinners work well...with or without a bit of sweetener (worm or perch meat). Also, almost any small jigs...plastic or feather...will catch perch too. At times, one size, shape or color will work better than another. When the larger fish go deep and get finicky, they can sometimes be as tough to catch as their larger cousins, the walleyes.

During much of the summer and into the early fall, there are lots of small perchlets near shore...feeding on small organisms and trying to stay out of the crosshairs of smallmouths, larger perch and other predators. They are always hungry and will hit anything you toss at them. If you want larger fish, you generally have to fish outside the holding area for the smallfry. That's where tubes, toons, yaks and small boats are superior. If you can fish straight down, in 12 to 15 feet of water, in the area where the larger fish are waiting for the opportunity to rush in for perchlette hors d'oevres, you can usually find some larger perch. Again, sonar makes this location process so much easier and less ecpensive.

The aforementioned mini tube jigs always work. I have had great success with red & white, yellow and white, brown and white, root beer, motor oil, all white, all chartreuse, pearl, pearl chartreuse and many others. Of special note is "custom coloring". I was doing this before many of our modern colors were available. I bought lots of clear sparkle and smoke sparkle. The clear sparkle I would color the front part with purple, blue or red. The smoke sparkle I would put a black line down the back, and two or three short vertical bars...or even spots...along the sides. These did a good job of representing the perch fry. I got lots of porky perch on them...as well as some nice walleyes and big browns in Deer Creek.

Twisters and other plastics in sizes from 1" to 3" work well at times. One of the best all around lures for both perch and smallmouth is a 2" = 3" plain white twister, on a light head...vertical jigged or casted and slowly retrieved just above the tops of the brush. The greens and browns will also take both smallies and perch.

When the perch are are the feed, you don't need to sweeten the jigs with any bait. But, a small piece of crawler or fish flesh will sometimes seal the deal when you aren't getting bit fast enough.

Sometimes the larger perch are shallow enough that you can get them by hanging bait...or a baited jig...a few feet below a bobber. This is a fun way to fish, especially for kids with a short attention span. If you can, rig an adjustable slip bobber rig, to allow you to cast out farther, and let the lure or bait down deeper, until you find the area and the depth the fish are holding.

Now, the good part. Perch eat flies like there is no tomorrow. Make up some little "fry flies", with silver or gold tinsel bodies, grizzly hackle wings and front hackle, and then add a small orange quill tail or throat. Fish it on a light rod, with a sink tip line, and work it about four or five feet deep, if fishing off shore. If you are out in a tube, use a full sink line and drift/troll, giving the flies a few twitches as you drag them ten to fifteen feet deep. Best length on flies is just smaller than the largest fry available near shore. If you don't know, a two inch fly or smaller will almost always get fish.

Later in the fall, when the fish move to deeper water, you will have to move out into water twenty to thirty feet deep to find fish. That is when you can do some spooning, and will usually catch some of the largest perch of the year.

I know there are a lot of other perchaholics in this crowd. I just ran out of time and out of gas, so I will step down off the stage.
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#2
Thanks TubeDude, that was very eliquent. As always a wealth of information.
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#3
Hi Dude,

Excuse the dumb question but as you know I don't know much about sonar yet. Can you distinguish between small and large perch with the Cuda 128 or 168 or is it mostly location?

[crazy]Leaky
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#4
[cool]Hey, Leaky, not a dumb question at all. How do you describe the taste of salt to someone who has never tasted salt? Until one has had the opportunity to work with several different kinds of sonar, and learn how to read them, there are lots of unanswered questions.

The "high end" units, with more peak to peak watts and mega pixels and all that stuff can do a better job of distinguishing both bottom composition and fish sizes. But, for tubin', much of the refinements are not as necessary and you definitely don't want the battery sucking power. The hundred dollar models made by Eagle are plenty for most tubin' applications.

Sonar snobs laugh at the little fishy cartoons (icons) on the lower end displays. They are right in that they claim the inverted V readings are more accurate for true sizing, and for differentiating between fish and tree limbs, or other non-fish targets. But, again, for setting up for vertical presentations to relatively shallow fishies...like perch, smallies and wallies...the "cartoons" get the job done.

I have been testing the Cuda 168 for a couple of months, and have found it to be entirely adequate. It displays fish icons of 4 different sizes...from about 3" size fry to large fish...over about 14". By having some idea of the species in the area, and the habits of the target species, you can often make educated guesses as to what is below you. For example, a large group of the smallest icons would probably tell you that there is a school of small perch hanging together. More sparsely associated fish symbols, in the next largest size, would be small perch...up to about 6 inches...or young smallmouths, etc. They hang in the same area, but not as tightly bunched. The next to largest size icons are what I look for when I am targeting jumbo perch, white bass, large bluegills, small crappies, etc. Sometimes they will be closely grouped near bottom and you can work them over from above. The largest icons are usually bigger smallies, walleyes, largemouth, trout, carp or any other fish over about 1 to 1.5 pounds. If you find these near schools of the bitty fishies, you probably have a predator and prey situation. If you find the bigger fish symbols scattered, away from bait, they may not be actively feeding.

If you find larger fish suspended well above the bottom, they are often just suspended in the thermocline and not actively feeding. Two noticeable differences would be trout and wipers. Trout often cruise at a certain level, based on temperature and oxygen, and will rise slightly to hit jigged or retrieved lures. Wipers also tend to stratify at the level their forage species has chosen to swim for that day...occasionally herding schools of the shad to the surface.

As most experienced sonar users will agree, the electronics are invaluable in letting you know the depth and the contour of the bottom...and in locating fish symbols. However, they do nothing to help you to catch the fish. In fact, the opposite is often true. They let you know you are fishing where the fish are and only make you more frustrated when you can' get them to yawn. If you didn't know they were there, you wouldn't feel nearly so badly about not catching them.

The flip side of that is that you can't catch 'em where they ain't. When you find fish below you, it helps you fish the right depth...with more confidence. There are countless trips in which I have had to work hard to find the fish and then even harder to find a pattern to get them to bite. But, at the end of the day, I had caught enough fish to put a Smile on my kisser, while a whole lot of other folks in the area glared at me, because they had not caught any fish.

I have gone through a procession of different types of sonar systems. I started with an old Humminbird flasher...hooked up to two 6 volt lantern batteries wired in series (to make a 12 volt). I now use the lightweight Cuda with a small, powerful 12 volt gel cell battery that powers my small sonar all day between charges. I can fake it somewhat when fishing shallow, in lakes I know well, but I would feel handicapped indeed if I had to fish without my sonar on new waters.

If anyone questions whether electronics can make a difference in your overall experience in a float tube, ask Xman. I finally got him converted and he wouldn't leave home without it. I enjoy his posts which include references to the depths, contours and fish holding levels. He is dang near a gradiate now.

P.S. If you can find an outlet where they sell the Cudas, they will usually have one hooked up to demo. There is a demo mode in which you can play with the settings and see the effects on a simulated fishing situation...with the fishy icons moving across the screen. It is a great way to get a feel for a system without having to buy one and go fishing with it.
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#5
[cool] My 2 cents. Saturday I was drop shotting at jordanelle, and caught bigger perch. You can use any plastic. Plus, drop shotting can keep you above the brush.

Ok, this is how you rig it. Use a split shot or drop shot(same thing) or any hook that you like. It really does not matter. Use 2lb to about 8lb line tie a polymer knot open side up, use enough line as you need stay just above the weeds. I hope this helps
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#6
Gonna have to see that to understand it, never heard of drop shot.
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#7
the idea is your lead weight is on the very end of your line . . .somewhere 1-5 ft above that you tie a loop knot of somekind and attach the lure/bait there . . . so the lead is in the weeds, your presentation is above the weeds/bottom . . . i think thats right . .

sm
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#8
hi moose not hard to picture i use a 3/16 bell sinker then i tie on a hook size 4 bait about 2 feet above using a palomar knot hook up i'll then use a 1" tube "nose" hooked the slightest twitch inparts alot of action another way is to use a tube with a small jig head on bottom and another hook and tube above you can use a float above this set up to keep it above any under water brush
chris
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#9
Leaky, though you hear some guys say they can tell, you really can't be sure. If you mark two fish at the same depth, and one arc is larger than the other, you still can't be certain. The reason is because your sonar shows a three-dimensional world on a two dimensional display, and you have no idea what part of the cone each fish was in when the sonar marked them. And some parts of a sonar's cone return a stronger signal than others.

Sometimes a high-end sonar will display some arcs with deeper bellies, or thicker arcs. These CAN imply bigger fish, but not necessarily.

Hope this helps.
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#10
Hey aquaman, I think you've explained it to me before. Someone will have to show me how it's done as well. chris are you still going to utah lake in the morning. It looks like i've got a ton of work to get done before the perch party so I wont be able to make it out in the morning. Sorry chris. Hope to see you at the perch party.[Wink]
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#11
I think I got it now. It puts you bait out of the weeds.
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#12
[url "http://ww2.basspro.com/guides/dropshot/index.cfm"]http://ww2.basspro.com/guides/dropshot/index.cfm[/url]
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