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Thread: Perch fishing truth
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09-25-2020, 07:08 PM #11
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.
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09-25-2020, 08:00 PM #12
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.
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09-25-2020, 08:55 PM #13
West Basin, thank you for those instructions! Those were very, very good and helpful!
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09-25-2020, 09:07 PM #14
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.
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09-25-2020, 09:38 PM #15
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.
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09-26-2020, 06:11 AM #16
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.
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09-26-2020, 08:52 AM #17
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.
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09-26-2020, 09:07 AM #18
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 bestLast edited by LEfriend; 09-26-2020 at 09:16 AM.
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09-28-2020, 12:36 PM #19
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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09-28-2020, 01:16 PM #20
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.
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