Perch fishing truth

[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.

[badboards]

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.

[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

[labrat]

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

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.

[LEfriend]

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.

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

[Lucky Duck]

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

[Skywatcher]

Great post. Thanks!

[pimplepounder]

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!

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.