Perch fishing truth

My question is this. I fished in and around the pack of 500 boats Wednesday west of Catawba toward the cans and south passage on Thursday. Dropped off my nine perch at Marblehead fish cleaning. All those boats fishing for perch and nobody was cleaning fish at 4:00. They said I got lucky catching what I did. I moved 6 times and fished 6 hours using crappie rigs and a mix of Goldie's and emeralds. I'm no expert and I know some of you know this lake pretty good. But really what is going on. How do you guys catch a limit in a few hours when me and 500 other boats can't catch 10 fish. Leaves me baffled.

I won't say I'm an expert either but I love to perch fish and do it as often as I can living 3 hours away. First thing, a giant pack of boats doesn't always mean they are catching them. You will rarely see me in the middle of a giant pack unless I'm already on fish and they move in around me. I try to stay off the edges of the pack or go my own way. Second, and I think is most important, is I don't stop and fish unless I mark what I think is a good number of fish and then I try to stop right on the school. Having a trolling motor with spot lock is a huge help with that. I can also make small moves easier. Sometimes 50ft can make a huge difference in my success. And last, if I'm not catching anything, I don't sit around and hope they show up to eat. I go looking for something better. I don't always find it tho. And don't get discouraged. It's a big lake and someone is always catching them somewhere. And someone is always struggling... I've been on both sides plenty of times. Good luck.

Were you running your engine? Did you have emeralds? Did you use Sabiki rigs? I am not very good at catching perch, yet have caught several limits this year & have caught over 10 10 times. Ditto on what swhorider says. You must be on an ACTIVE school

Yoda says you must complete your training my Young Perch Jedi. :cool:
Been fishing a long time and spent a full year on head boats to see if I would like to fish on the lake before I purchased my own boat and enjoy fishing to the extent that I do.
So, on that note just because you did not catch your limit is in no indication that others have "truth" issues in reporting.
I have seen percher's move to my spot after I leave to get on the perch, and it happed today.
It is called fishing for that reason, it is not catching and many times I have been out and been "skunked".
So my advice to you is to ask for help and you will get it on this web site.
Become a student of "fish talk" and visit this site to get as much advice as you can.
However, there is no "get my limit in 2 hours" guarantee.
I have caught my limit in 2 hours or as long as 5, it is fishing and not just catching.
Hope you find this information helpful and you will continue in your education of the "fish force".
~Water Dog

Do not let the dark side of the force influence your perch catching young Jeti.

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Originally Posted by itsbob

Do not let the dark side of the force influence your perch catching young Jeti.

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Yes, do not give in to the hate, but to the LOVE OF FISHING, and you will be changed forever~!
~Fish On , tight lines and watch that light bite ~~!!!
~The Dog

I fished alone in and around that pack on Wednesday. I started near the green bouy. Moved around a little with the electric and once with the main motor, toward the WNW. Never was more than 1-1/2 miles from the state ramp. Started just after 8 left with 30 just after noon. Emerald Goldie mix. I clean my own fish. I think a fair number of people do and there are a lot of places that clean fish in the area. I was guessing the pack at 75, maybe 100. I could be way off but that was the number in my head when I was out there. I've had plenty of crappy days when it seamed all the reports were great. Hard to gripe, could be last year.

I have come up a couple times this year. I'm not expert by any means and I ask a ton of questions on here. People probably get sick of answering them but they always do and it's always great advice. It's a little over 3 hours for me to get up there towing my boat. Came up about 2 months ago and followed water dogs posts for 2 weeks before I went up. Went out of catawba right around g can. We ended up with 40 that day. Two of us. There was another boat anchored about 50 yards from me and we were both out of the pack. The two guys on that boat were bringing them in left and right. Doubles. We were 50 or so yards away and were struggling to get bites. But I also think we missed a ton of fish because that bite was so light. Once you get the feel for it it's a little easier. Second time I went out by the intake. Stayed outside the huge pack of boats and moved around a couple times. Guy i ran into getting bait in the morning was just north of the intake maybe 1/4 of a mile from us. Him and his buddy got their 60 to our 14. We ran into them at the cleaners. Hoping to come back up in 2 weeks. Its frustrating at times but I love fishing. I'm going to bring my 5 year old and his grandpa and my wife this time. I think they will all enjoy it and hopefully I can get into them. Leaving the boat running is like ringing a dinner bell. If the bite slows I will start it and let it go for a while. Always seems to pick up when I do. Good luck. Keep the reports coming.

Damn, I thought somebody would say it was the spinny water flea. The insects were bad around the camp, thought maybe that had something to do with it. Guess there is always next week. By the way a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work. But then again I don't have that problem anymore. All I do is fish. Thanks for all the comments.

I like many others on this site have been fishing the Lake for at least 30 years. When it comes to yellow perch fishing, by far the most important thing, other than having perch under the boat, is learning
the catching technique.

I can't count how many times I've been out with others on the boat and out caught them 5-1 even 10 -1. It's just as much an art as it is a science. Learning / developing the "feel" takes a lot of experience for most anglers. Like any activity some people pick it up a lot quicker than others. Perch don't usually "strike" the bait, like a largemouth bass or northern pike. They typically "suck" it in, and often very lightly. The rigs used (spreaders, crappie rigs) also often leave slack line, they don't keep a tight line to the bait like walleye fishing. It is real easy to miss yellow perch bites.

The basic technique is as follows: Drop your bait down to the bottom at a moderate pace until you get within a few feet of the bottom. Then slow down so you can feel the weight just touch the bottom. Then reel up about a foot of line, an amount to keep your bait just off the bottom (depending on what rig you are using). As the boat rocks, the bait will move from on the bottom to above it. Slack line at the bait when the rock is going down, tight line at the bait when going up. The perch typically "hit" the bait when the bait isn't moving, when there is slack line at the bait. You have to learn to time this. Just when you think the slack line period is starting or just after, very slowly raise your pole about 8-10 inches and "feel" for any kind of additional weight or resistance on the line. If you feel any, do a quick very short hook set snap on your pole (use your wrist, not your whole arm). Only about 6-8 inches up. If you then feel the perch (a little more weight) on the line, real up. If not, slowly let the bait back down and repeat. If the bite that day is real light, sometimes I will very slowly raise the pole during the slack line period and feel for that tiny bit of extra weight.

What you are really doing is controlling how hard the rig lead weight is hitting the bottom on the up and down movement. You don't want it slamming the bottom, just touch it. The lighter you can make the lead weight hit the bottom, the better. With experience you can even learn to keep the weight just off the bottom on the down motion, not actually touching it. It's all about setting up the slack line period of a second or two and then feeling for the soft bite.

Over time you will learn the difference between the feel weight of no perch on the bait and the feel weight of a perch bringing the bait into it's mouth. Sometimes it is so... so... subtle and light. There are times I really don't feel anything, I just "know" there is one there.

If you have decent waves, you need to balance out the up / down motion by moving the pole to absorb most of the wave action on the bait. You need to establish that same short time difference of slack line and tight line while keeping the bait on or near the bottom. You don't want the bait going up and down with the waves, that produces too much movement. The idea is to present the minnow for a second or two with slack line so the perch will "inhale" it. Then get some tighter line so you can feel it.

All this will take time to learn. You need to really pay attention all the time if you want to learn. Experiment. Eventually you'll get the "knack" and will continue to improve and master it.

Another thing people typically don't know is after you've been at the spot for awhile, the visibility on the bottom is at or near zero. Your and other's rig lead weights have stirred up the bottom (which is usually mud or silty mud or silty sand) from constantly hitting it. The perch aren't feeding by sight, they are feeding primarily by smell and vibration or movement. That's why you need to give them that second or two of slack line time to locate the minnow. Even if there is some bottom visibility (poor vis). I have a theory that fishing on one side of the boat is sometimes better because the bottom water current is moving the stirred-up poor visibility water. When the boat swings one direction, it moves that side of the boat to the clearer water up current. Or maybe the opposite.

That makes a lot of sense. I've been out there on days when the water is rough and the perch are very aggressive and hit and swallow the bait before it hits bottom and then there are a lot of days that the bite is light and the few fish I catch are barely hooked. I've been trying on those days to be more aware of staying in contact with the bait. I see the marks on my sonar but can't buy a fish and neither can anybody around me. I'm on a mission to catch a limit of perch someday. I said to myself I should just stick to walleye while it's good. It just seems like the perch numbers are not there anymore. Maybe the walleye are eating them or they are busy eating something else. I even wonder if the commercial fishing is over harvesting. But my wife and granddaughter love perching but it's very humbling. Thanks for the help.

West Basin, thank you for those instructions! Those were very, very good and helpful!

I'm looking at a 2 hook drop shot rig. Where the hook ties directly to the line with the weight at bottom. Seems like if you can get rid of any lose line floating around the better for feeling the bite. What would your thoughts be on that.

I use a home made crappie rig with about 6 inch leads coming from my vertical line. One hook is right near the bottom. The other is about 15 inches up. Best way I've found to feel those light bites is to use a good sensitive UL rod and 10 lb power pro braid. The sensitivity difference compared to mono is huge. And personally I try to keep my sinker on the bottom and just pull it up and let it back down as the boat moves around to keep it straight up and down. I keep that rod in my hand and hang a spreader just off the bottom in a rod holder and keep a close eye on it. And when I do get a school of perch going crazy under the boat, I do my best to always have a bait in the water. Helps keep them around and interested. Back out to try it in the morning. Prob be my last day up here this year.

There are always alterations to the general fishing technique. Perch fishing isn't always the same bite. Now and then the perch are more aggressive and hit the bait harder and faster, so having that slack line or little minnow movement isn't as important. The general idea is to get the minnow in front of them and give them a chance to eat it. Whatever you can come up with to get more line sensitivity to the bait, improve the ability to feel a bite, is probably gong to be a good thing. No matter what you do, you still need to learn the basic technique and then improve on it. There are also other factors, such as boat swing, the kind of pole you use, the kind and test of the line, etc. All those are part of learning the technique with your boat and your equipment. And we all know there will be days when you do everything right but the perch just won't cooperate. Lake Erie Yellow Perch fishing is some of the "easiest" and fun fishing you can do, once you learn how. You don't need a big boat, or go out far, or need a lot of equipment. Heck, you don't even need a landing net! Take the time to learn the general technique and continue to improve it and it will pay off in a lot more fish caught.

I went perch fishing yesterday, launched at Catawba, and started out to the west of the huge pack that was west and north of the Catawba can. I had Goldie’s, some of which were pretty large, so I was cutting most in half. I use a 2 hook drop rig with weight at the bottom, and tried leaving it on bottom, suspending it, “thumping” the bottom, engine running etc. After 3 hours, and 6 moves including to the range cans, I gave up. I never even had a nibble, and never saw a fish landed from any of the several dozen nearby boats over the course of the morning. I guess I should have run east of Kellies and fished for walleye.

We did same. Started 830 at green can. Six plus moves later - G can,F, D Green Island, Rattlesnake- it was 2:30 and we had all of 16. Ran back to pack where we started. Dropped down north of green can nearer shore. From 3 to 530 we filled our limit of 60 nice perch. Go figure.

Don’t know what had changed other than a wind shift and time. We were in a spot where big boats were running by bouncing us like a washing machine. Swear every time one went by bite picked up

Also were cutting the minnows. Seemed they preferred those over a whole minnow and even the very small pieces worked best

People who don't have a great day, don't usually post it. I was out Saturday morning driving through the armada of 150 boats north of CIC can and east to mouse. I spent half an hour driving around looking for good marks of fish. NADA. I also looked at every boat we went by with my 2 crew. Only saw 1 perch raised. I then bounced over to Round reef to look for walleye on the rocks. caught a few just unders and other fish plus two 11 inch yellow perch drifting and casting. We couldn't get emeralds, only goldies and also had redworms, nightcrawlers, frozen mix of shiners. We stopped at 6 places for 15-20 minutes each and couldn't get any perch going. Even the 4 headboats we fished by and went by didn't have any perch lifted that we saw. Its not the bonanza everyone makes it out to be. The best reports might show up but you are never going to get a true sampling of everyone.

Its the opposite of the Mass Media. They only report the gloom and horror about anything. Or like the Independent voters, you never know who they are going to vote for until the ballots are counted.

Fishing persons are the eternal optimists. We need more people learning to fish and enjoy their friends and family on the water.
Rickerd

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Originally Posted by rickerd

People who don't have a great day, don't usually post it. I was out Saturday morning driving through the armada of 150 boats north of CIC can and east to mouse. I spent half an hour driving around looking for good marks of fish. NADA. I also looked at every boat we went by with my 2 crew. Only saw 1 perch raised. I then bounced over to Round reef to look for walleye on the rocks. caught a few just unders and other fish plus two 11 inch yellow perch drifting and casting. We couldn't get emeralds, only goldies and also had redworms, nightcrawlers, frozen mix of shiners. We stopped at 6 places for 15-20 minutes each and couldn't get any perch going. Even the 4 headboats we fished by and went by didn't have any perch lifted that we saw. Its not the bonanza everyone makes it out to be. The best reports might show up but you are never going to get a true sampling of everyone.

Its the opposite of the Mass Media. They only report the gloom and horror about anything. Or like the Independent voters, you never know who they are going to vote for until the ballots are counted.

Fishing persons are the eternal optimists. We need more people learning to fish and enjoy their friends and family on the water.
Rickerd

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I had the same day. Started in the pack north of Catawba, scouted the whole way west of the green can and marked a whole lot of nothing for the most part. Saw not one fish go overboard in all the boats we passed. Found one spot with a few marks and stopped there for 20 minutes or so. Got nothing, so I made the big move to G can. Couldn't figure out why all the boats were there when I was still marking nothing and seeing no catching. Finally found a few marks and setup there for about an hour with no luck. Headed back towards Catawba and was going to try Starve when I saw a headboat in the general vicinity of Clinton Reef. Had a few marks there and picked up a whopping 1 fish. Called it at about 1 since the wind was starting to kick up.

This years perch catching is better than last year, but not like a "normal" year. Went to A&J's for bait and stood in line from about 6;30 to 7:40, was quite busy!! At least 30 buckets in front of me waiting for minnows and more when I left. Went with a neighbor Saturday who limited on Wednesday with 90, had 19 for 3 people the same spot and 3 areas on Thursday, he did not go out Friday, we caught 29 South and SE of G with 4 people on Saturday. Another Neighbor on Thursday caught 9 with a crew of 2, Limited Friday crew of 2 South of Green. and caught 30 something Saturday with a crew of 3. Both Captains said the sonar looked the same all days fished, bait was the same, weather was close to the same, so maybe the Perch gods needed something else?

Beautiful day on the lake, but the perching could have been better! (The cake was good but the icing was lacking!)

I will say the marks I saw last weekend on Sunday the 20 were better than I saw all of Saturday and Sunday 26 and 27. I knew the NE blow had them dizzy, but once the weather steadied, game on. And it helped that live emeralds were available all last week Monday through Friday. At least now I know and others too that not everybody was killing it. Maybe next time, hopefully this weekend. I'm only trying to get another limit before the winter.
Rickerd

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Originally Posted by rickerd

I will say the marks I saw last weekend on Sunday the 20 were better than I saw all of Saturday and Sunday 26 and 27. I knew the NE blow had them dizzy, but once the weather steadied, game on. And it helped that live emeralds were available all last week Monday through Friday. At least now I know and others too that not everybody was killing it. Maybe next time, hopefully this weekend. I'm only trying to get another limit before the winter.
Rickerd

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i fish the Canadian side which has been slow so far,one technique i learned by accident was to bait up and drop line down ,leave bail open for a minute or so then crank reel to close bail and slowly lift and feel for weight.Different days the fish seem to like different action,sometimes a little drag across the bottom,sometimes a slight lift of the rod will do it.I use a "skipper 9" rig that works very well for me,if we have 3 people in the boat we all try something diferent til we pick up a pattern that works that day,hope this helps.

I am planning another trip next week and gonna try to squeeze one in the week after that. Perch or walleye not sure what it will be. Nine perch don't seem like it's worth the 3 hour drive but the wife loves sitting anchored and holding her pole so hopefully we'll find them and they will be hungry this time. I love just being out on the water and my two dachshunds do to. But some action would be nice.

Great post. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by labrat

i fish the Canadian side which has been slow so far,one technique i learned by accident was to bait up and drop line down ,leave bail open for a minute or so then crank reel to close bail and slowly lift and feel for weight.Different days the fish seem to like different action,sometimes a little drag across the bottom,sometimes a slight lift of the rod will do it.I use a "skipper 9" rig that works very well for me,if we have 3 people in the boat we all try something diferent til we pick up a pattern that works that day,hope this helps.

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That is probably most important advice...figure out what is the bite for that day! It sure changes.

I agree with West Basin's method as described 100%. It is an art one will develop over time. This means a bunch of trips out! :)

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Originally Posted by West Basin

I like many others on this site have been fishing the Lake for at least 30 years. When it comes to yellow perch fishing, by far the most important thing, other than having perch under the boat, is learning
the catching technique.

I can't count how many times I've been out with others on the boat and out caught them 5-1 even 10 -1. It's just as much an art as it is a science. Learning / developing the "feel" takes a lot of experience for most anglers. Like any activity some people pick it up a lot quicker than others. Perch don't usually "strike" the bait, like a largemouth bass or northern pike. They typically "suck" it in, and often very lightly. The rigs used (spreaders, crappie rigs) also often leave slack line, they don't keep a tight line to the bait like walleye fishing. It is real easy to miss yellow perch bites.

The basic technique is as follows: Drop your bait down to the bottom at a moderate pace until you get within a few feet of the bottom. Then slow down so you can feel the weight just touch the bottom. Then reel up about a foot of line, an amount to keep your bait just off the bottom (depending on what rig you are using). As the boat rocks, the bait will move from on the bottom to above it. Slack line at the bait when the rock is going down, tight line at the bait when going up. The perch typically "hit" the bait when the bait isn't moving, when there is slack line at the bait. You have to learn to time this. Just when you think the slack line period is starting or just after, very slowly raise your pole about 8-10 inches and "feel" for any kind of additional weight or resistance on the line. If you feel any, do a quick very short hook set snap on your pole (use your wrist, not your whole arm). Only about 6-8 inches up. If you then feel the perch (a little more weight) on the line, real up. If not, slowly let the bait back down and repeat. If the bite that day is real light, sometimes I will very slowly raise the pole during the slack line period and feel for that tiny bit of extra weight.

What you are really doing is controlling how hard the rig lead weight is hitting the bottom on the up and down movement. You don't want it slamming the bottom, just touch it. The lighter you can make the lead weight hit the bottom, the better. With experience you can even learn to keep the weight just off the bottom on the down motion, not actually touching it. It's all about setting up the slack line period of a second or two and then feeling for the soft bite.

Over time you will learn the difference between the feel weight of no perch on the bait and the feel weight of a perch bringing the bait into it's mouth. Sometimes it is so... so... subtle and light. There are times I really don't feel anything, I just "know" there is one there.

If you have decent waves, you need to balance out the up / down motion by moving the pole to absorb most of the wave action on the bait. You need to establish that same short time difference of slack line and tight line while keeping the bait on or near the bottom. You don't want the bait going up and down with the waves, that produces too much movement. The idea is to present the minnow for a second or two with slack line so the perch will "inhale" it. Then get some tighter line so you can feel it.

All this will take time to learn. You need to really pay attention all the time if you want to learn. Experiment. Eventually you'll get the "knack" and will continue to improve and master it.

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I really struggled in the 30 mph winds Wednesday. Had to fish very very close to shore & only picked up 3

Went out a bit late Sat the 26th family trip was off Camp perry at "H" can picked up 10 perch, went back out the 27th same spot we picked up 32, 1 baby wally, 2 small White Perch, 4 gobies. A bit choppy in the morning but it tamed down we were in the 23' Proline just a bit south of the two head boats that were close together.
Was wondering if anyone has heard of using crushed oyster shell as a form of attractant while perch a jerking?

“Crushed oyster shells” Yes, we call it magic dust or stones, been using for over 20 year. 2 of my neighbors went out Thursday and caught their limit in 3 hours. Will see what happens with the solunar peaking out.

We use them all the time too.

Will the perch follow the colder water temperature. H can is in the 13' range and do they go deep in the winter or stay around the reef complex and spawn.

I'm thinking I can be casting for walleye in front of boat and wife perch fishing in back. I heard the reef area is closed off inside the can area. Is that correct. Maybe I could try Kelley's shoals would perch be there. Any other ideas.

I bet the price just went up on oyster shells! lol Thanks