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!

Quote Originally Posted by West Basin View Post
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.