Yellow Perch

[guitarglynn1]

Anybody else been enjoying the great yellow perch fishing? I know that one guy on here has who told me he was gearing up for it. I can't get enough of it!

 

There is this pond I found on a map that was not easy to find. It is basically in the middle of nowhere and is a good 1/2mile hike thru some trails to get there. I wasn't even sure if I would find it? But when I did it was awesome! What a beautiful place to fish and so peaceful, and a nice weather day for a change. I started to work my way around the pond and not even walking 50ft I saw some really nice sized bass around the bank and it was a tricky spot. The ground slopes downward and there were trees and bushes, but I just held a tree with one hand and fished with one hand. I just dangled my lure in there where they were to try and get a bite. When I did a yellow perch came shooting in and then a couple more did the same and the biggest of the bunch got it. I could see bass along the bank the whole time I fished but it was real easy to spook them and the perch. I did get a lure out in front of a couple small ones and got one to bite but didn't get the hook set. But the yellow perch fishing was awesome! The water was clear and they were following my lures in close and grabbing them and it was really cool watching them bite and go to swim off. I caught a half dozen of them and every one of them was bigger than the avg size I caught all summer at the lake. Got this cold weather moving in and not sure how it will affect things? But I hope I can enjoy another day like that at this pond. Just wish I found this place in spring. Just wanted to share it with you guys and hear of any others fishing for yellows. 

 

[F14A-B]

Great looking water/ pics! Sounds like a great fishing trip.. Congrats

[Darren.]

Lovely spot, to be sure. I've only caught perch recently on "accident" while targeting bass.

 

Of course these buggers will bite a variety of lures....

 

Caught my share, though, up to 2 pounds (huge)!

[desmobob]

They are beautiful fish, hard fighters and truly excellent table fare.  If the bass fishing is tough, or I'm looking for a relaxing change of pace, I often stop at a spot I know of and throw a little beetle spin on an ultra-light spinning rig for yellow perch and crappies.

 

That's a pretty spot where you were fishing.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[Bluebasser86]

No perch around here unfortunately. Pretty fish, easy to catch, and good eating!

[FunkJishing]

there's a lake here in maine called "long lake" and it has lake trout, salmon, brooke trout and yes YELLOW PERCH. infested if you ask me haha, me and my friend wanted to stock our freezers with em' for winter and we went out there at 7AM to the same spot they're always at and caught 75 within that hour. once the frenzy was over we left. a little crappie crankbait and ultra light spinning outfit will catch perch after perch at their feeding hour.

[FunkJishing]

_{cleaning all that fish was the worst part of the trip haha}

[Tim Kelly]

 

I caught this one a couple of years ago on Oneida, it looked like it had been dipped in JJ's! Amazing green/blue/chartreuse colour to it. The picture doesn't really do it justice! 

[guitarglynn1]

Great looking water/ pics! Sounds like a great fishing trip.. Congrats

 

Thanks! It was awesome^5

 

Lovely spot, to be sure. I've only caught perch recently on "accident" while targeting bass.

 

Of course these buggers will bite a variety of lures....

 

Caught my share, though, up to 2 pounds (huge)!

 

so true! I caught every fish on a different lure.lol That is huge and a heck of a catch!

 

They are beautiful fish, hard fighters and truly excellent table fare.  If the bass fishing is tough, or I'm looking for a relaxing change of pace, I often stop at a spot I know of and throw a little beetle spin on an ultra-light spinning rig for yellow perch and crappies.

 

That's a pretty spot where you were fishing.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

 

You said it perfectly..I had no idea what to expect in that pond. I thought it might be bass or bust. When I saw them swarm my lure I was really pumped. I knew right then it would be a fun day of fishing. If yellow perch are biting, I can't resist dropping any original plans and just fishing for them on my UL as you mentioned.lol 

 

No perch around here unfortunately. Pretty fish, easy to catch, and good eating!

 

I'll trade you some of my yellow perch for those big bass you got out there :-P I don't eat them but have heard they are tasty.

 

there's a lake here in maine called "long lake" and it has lake trout, salmon, brooke trout and yes YELLOW PERCH. infested if you ask me haha, me and my friend wanted to stock our freezers with em' for winter and we went out there at 7AM to the same spot they're always at and caught 75 within that hour. once the frenzy was over we left. a little crappie crankbait and ultra light spinning outfit will catch perch after perch at their feeding hour.

 

Wow that is a chitload of fish in an hour! sounds like you had a pretty large tight school of them. I broke out a small crappie sized crankbait but I only got a few casts right before I had to split. Do you ever have issues with them inhaling the smaller crankbait? I smash the barbs on my cranks but even so, the smaller ones I know will work great but those perch tend to try and inhale everything they go after. I release them and hate to have to deal with an inhaled crankbait. 

 

 

 

I caught this one a couple of years ago on Oneida, it looked like it had been dipped in JJ's! Amazing green/blue/chartreuse colour to it. The picture doesn't really do it justice! 

 

Awesome perch! And I agree, pics don't do them justice. I lived in quite a few different areas of this state and never caught or seen yellow perch. Only since I moved where I currently am did I start catching them. In fact it was the first fish I caught and I had no idea what it was, I just knew it looked amazing! it quickly became one of my favorite fish to catch

[Catch and Grease]

I've heard a lot about how good they taste... I'd love to try some one day!

[ww2farmer]

They only taste as good as the water they came from. The ones from my home lake (Silver) are very good, that is if you can sort through the 33 billion dinks to catch enough keepers worth keeping. They taste like POOP from watersheds where oily bait fish like alewives, etc....are a major part of the food chain.

[FunkJishing]

_{they taste great, but yes the better the water quality the tastier they'll look lol the water i fish them in is crystal clear. and guitarglynn1 sometimes, but i keep the needle nose handy. especially because yellow perch are super sharp lol they'll tear you up if you aren't careful.}

[FunkJishing]

here's the flick...

[dopey]

Perch are fun to catch and make great eating!!!!  Also any time you're trying to get a kid into fishing put them into a mess of perch and you'll get them hooked on fishing, just make sure to show them how to handle them so they don't get pricked!!  My grand daughter learned the hard way about not listening to Grandpa!! LOL

[GANGGREEN]

Two pound perch are a myth. 

 

 

[Tim Kelly]

So are four pounders.

 

 

And even fiver pounders....

 

 

Not yellow perch, but close.

[GANGGREEN]

Zonkers!  Now we'll have to pull out the zander pics to really knock their socks off. 

 

Those really are remarkable and if they aren't yellow perch, can I ask where, what, when and how?

 

[Tim Kelly]

LOL

 

They're European perch. The five is 5lb 4oz. The UK record is only 6lb 2oz I believe, so it was a big one! In northern Europe (Holland , Sweden, Denmark I believe they can get as big as 7-8lb. I'd like one of those!

[GANGGREEN]

LOL

 

They're European perch. The five is 5lb 4oz. The UK record is only 6lb 2oz I believe, so it was a big one! In northern Europe (Holland , Sweden, Denmark I believe they can get as big as 7-8lb. I'd like one of those!

 

 

Nice, thanks for the explanation.  I've always found perch to be my favorites and tell people quite honestly that I'd just as soon catch big, really, really big, yellow perch as anything else, bass, walleye, salmon, you name it.  I once saw a Youtube video of someone in Scandinavia catching some real honker perch, I guess at the time I didn't realize that there was a genetic distinction between them and what we have here in the states.

[Snakehead Whisperer]

So are four pounders.

 

And even fiver pounders....

 

 

Not yellow perch, but close.

Love those redfin perch.

 

I recently tied some tiny 1/32oz. hair jigs specifically for yellow perch. Results were pretty good, with a few decent sized ones. This is the largest so far this year. 

 

 

And the hair jig that I caught them on. 

 

[wnybassman]

Nice, thanks for the explanation.  I've always found perch to be my favorites and tell people quite honestly that I'd just as soon catch big, really, really big, yellow perch as anything else, bass, walleye, salmon, you name it.  I once saw a Youtube video of someone in Scandinavia catching some real honker perch, I guess at the time I didn't realize that there was a genetic distinction between them and what we have here in the states.

 

 

Bill, I've got a pretty good shot of you (I think Rob J took it that day) from many moons ago.  That was a fun day!!

 

[wnybassman]

This was a fun day too.

 

[GANGGREEN]

Yeah, as I recall, Rob J and I were getting doubles all day long and most were nice ones.  We took exactly half a limit, though we caught three times that many.  Fun.

 

[Dwight Hottle]

Perch hitting big jerkbaits.

 

[GANGGREEN]

Nice Dwight.  I had a pretty nice day on Erie this spring in what is shallow water by Erie perch standards.  I was trying to catch some late spring, early summer smallmouth and got smallies and big perch fishing smallie tactics.  Fun.