PERCH FACTS

[fiesty]

Perch will bite at night, you just slow down the movements of your jig.  But, if you fish all night, then you'll be worthless the next day, so when I can, I sleep at night and fish early.  Most of the perch we catch are sporadic, we'll get a hit then move on, then get another hit in another area.  It depends on whether you are just going to fish for active fish, or stand around watching them on the finder and the viewer waiting for them to become active.  Me, I move until I hit active fish, fish the active fish till it quits, then find some more active fish.  Life is too short to tease the things you love...

[crappieloo]

We waited till all the perch fishermen were off the lake and started fishing around 6:00pm last night. The guys that were there all day fishing perch know that ''perch dont bight at night'' on this lake. I never caught one here at night also. We are strictly crappie fishing here and it was a lousy night.
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caught on a tip-down 10 ft. down in 15 fow. You can barely see the shanty in the backround at 10pm.

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10&3/4 incher
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This one was caught at 10:10 pm about 3 ft off the bottom on a jigging rod tipped with a minnow.

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[big walleye]

I have to agree with slip bob. You really don't know much about perch until you study them on an aqua-view. I have yet to catch them at night and I must say the bite increases around dinner time. hey every lake is different. They are so tasty in winter. can't get enough of them. Great fun for children.

[Dr. Iceano]

caught perch all day long before but mostly at sun up or sundown; never got any at night

[crappieman12887]

Most of the time perch go to bed when it gets dark.  I have watched em on my aquaview at Lake George at dusk and you can just see em set the fins and slink back down in the sandgrass and they don't and won't bite after it gets dark in my experience.  Some guys say they have caught em and from what I have witnessed with the camera I can't imagine they are too aggressive after dark but I have heard of guys catching them after dark.  Perch feed by sight mostly not smell that's why they only usually bite during the day.  They may have highly developed sense of smells but they feed by sight.  One more thing, if you have not spent some time watching large schools of perch or individuals on an aqua view you really would be surprised at how they behave.  I learned more about perch last winter with my camera than I could have learned in fishing 30 years without one.  What's going on down there is not what you think until you see it. 

come on bob you know you dont need a camara to catch fish ,i for one have caught alot of perch at night on a full moon fishing under the stars on goerge the bit tends to slow some from the day bit but believe me i have caught some nice messes under the stars bill

[crappieloo]

I think the reason why most guys dont catch them at night is because their perch fishermen and not crappie fishermen
Btw we caught two more at night last Saturday night.

[Swift]

Did alot of night fishing for Perch a long time ago. There would be a flurry right at dark then nothing until 9 or 10 for some reason. From that point until 3 or 4 in the morning you would have some fairly steady, not furious, catching of fish that averaged better than those you would get during the day. Pinhead sized minnows right at the base of the transition break into the basin. Just can't pull all nighters like I used to, getting old.

[crappieloo]

Thanks Swift i knew someone else out there caught them at night.

[Swift]

Crappieloo - At one time there were many guys that would go after them at night in my area. We all became older with other responsibilities so it died out or fell out of favor. A few large shanties dedicated to all nighters were on a couple bodies of water used for nothing other than catching Perch, then the vandals/arsonists hit 2 years in a row so we quit building ours (8'x12'x8' for 5 of us). Nowhere near as enjoyable sitting on a bucket in the open doing this but still did it for a couple of years. Probably an untapped gold mine of fish just waiting there. Haven't seen anyone at night on those Perch holes for many, many years.

[Chasseur]

Thanks Slipbob.  I appreciate what you are sharing from your experience with the camera.  Some have told me that the camera has also revealed the following:

1.When lake trout do not disperse the perch as broadly and for as long as we once suspected.

2.Snowmobiles scatter the perch greatly and for longer lengths of time that do the power augers and the 4-wheelers.

3. Your jig could be a foot above or below the perch and the'll move to it if their interested.  You need not be at exactly the same level.

[fishryc]

I find it interesting how many people have taken perch at night. I've taken only one at night at lake Onieda while drifting a worm harness on the bottom. (I do also fish night time crappie- but never caught a perch then) I think time of day depends on the body of water. 90% of my perch fishing is done during the spring and fall runs in the Lower Niagara and all creeks and bays between the Lower Niagara and Point Breeze that feed into Lake Ontario. (Some time spent in the bays of Monroe County) All these areas require the same parameters#1 Fish on the bottom, start at daybreak, live emerald shiners for bait. You wouldn't think of deviating these parameters!! Bite slows 90% by 9 or 10AM. You'll get an evening bite, but not nearly as hot as the AM. On the contrary, when I fish the perch in the east Lake Onieda grassbeads, we use fatheads hung three to five feet under a bobber. Plus, these fish bite all day, even in bright sun. Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks- all day - worms - on the bottom. Sping @ Chautauqua- all works- top, bottom...minnows,maggots, worms...bobbers or bottom. For me, these times and techniques have never changed for the given body of water. Anyway, I found this a very intersting topic and learned I gotta get an Aquavue!

[SLAYERFISH]

Never caught one at night,either! Most of mine come at midday,all afternoon till dusk,then they stop.

[grumpymoe]

for you and what lake you fish,it works for you that is what counts
i have seen some guys stating they have got perch at night in over 55
years of ice fishing i have never got one at night but that doesnot mean
they didnot everybody does thing different,i would love to see how they
do
RAT
 

...in all the years of fishing, I never thought that perch fed at night.....until last year on an overnighter, caught a 13+ perch at 3:15 am......sure took me by suprise to see that....Grump

[iceman_4432]

11. Taste good deep fried with a bunch of spices 

This is my favorite perch fact   YUMMY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Neat info thanks.

[king fisher]

neat facts

[BillP]

Also taste good with butter and garlic

[taxi1]

I think Ill disagree with them feeding at noon. 90% of the time I find them feeding better the first couple of hours. Just my 2 cents.

The perch in my pond feed best an hour before dusk and shut down completely when it gets dark. But I wasn't using a lantern.

[taxi1]

I dont fish for them and have caught them at all hours after dark. They usually start at dark for about 1 hour and then shut off till 9, then back on and off throughout the dark hours. I'm fishing for crappie and get long runs of perch in total darkness. Its not that im doing anything special,cause their buggin me and i dont want them. It all depends on what body of water you are fishing.
Just remember you cant generalize everything. Example: I took my neighbor who is a Lake walleye expert out(open water fishing) and i had a long cast (river fishin) that no sooner hit the water and a good size fish jumped up and back down for a good fight. I said ''theres one''. He said ''no way, walleyes dont jump''. OK, i kept my mouth shut and a minute later pulled up a nice walleye.
Cool huh?

I caught a fish in my pond in open water that was jumping like one of my smallmouth. When I got it in I was flabbergasted to see it was a yellow perch. Yep you can't generalize in nature. There's a deep natural lake near me where guys catch bluegills in 35 feet of water icefishing at night with lanterns. Go figure.

[taxi1]

Here's some more perch facts:

The female is the fastest growing of the two sexes and ultimately gets the biggest.

Up to 30 percent of a female's body weight is composed of eggs just before she drops them in spring.

The yellow perch is a coolwater fish. Optimum growing temp is 74 F.

As far as aging fish the otolith bone is more reliable than scales. Scales get harder to read as the fish get older (rings get closer together) and have been known to be inaccurate.  Studies have show fish that were of a known age and then aged by the scales were actually older than the scales showed.

How's this for a big perch? 16 1/4 inches and 2.81 lbs.  Caught on a rosey red fathead minnow February 05 in one of my ponds.

[Sax_]

Did you grow that thing in an aquarium or what 
haha very nice perch

[taxi1]

Nope I don't own an aquarium. She came out of a .62 acre pond.

[crappieloo]

taxidermist, i was fishing a 1/2 oz. spinnerbait in the lily pads in the Hudson river was there was a wild thrashing,jumpin yellowish orange  largemouth bass on the lure.
I fianally got here in and it was a big slob perch.
I could have sworn it was a largemoth till i had it in my hands.

[taxi1]

taxidermist, i was fishing a 1/2 oz. spinnerbait in the lily pads in the Hudson river was there was a wild thrashing,jumpin yellowish orange  largemouth bass on the lure.
I fianally got here in and it was a big slob perch.
I could have sworn it was a largemoth till i had it in my hands.

I think I got the perch I thought was a smallmouth on a nitecrawler. Never say never with animals. I've heard of cats as affectionate as dogs, get walked on a collar, and eat vegtables. You never know.

[king fisher]

nice perch taxidermist so u grow them fish in your own ponds how many ponds do u have

[taxi1]

nice perch taxidermist so u grow them fish in your own ponds how many ponds do u have

I have four ponds. This one came out of the biggest pond on the property. BTW I had her aged just recently and she was only 6 years old. She was three years old when I planted her into the pond back in 2002 at 9 to 12 inches.

I will plant some in a pond that receives cold overflow from my trout pond this spring. If all works out well I will be able to hand feed these unlike the previous perch I have planted and water temp will be perfect in summer in the mid 70's for optimum growth. Should be interesting to see if I can grow them larger than this one.

[king fisher]

so do ponds for the perch have to be fairly deep??? whats a size worth planting them??

[crappieslayer22]

interesting...

[Jim111]

That's a VERY heavy perch Taxidermist. We've caught a lot of big perch and using postal scales, even the ones fat as heck and over 16 inches ever weighed more than 1.78 pounds. Never got one to hit the 2-pound mark.  We fish walleyes at night a lot and often catch a perch or two on our tip-ups, sometimes quite a few even. When we nightfish for rainbows in the summer (in boats, with lanterns and anchored) we get HUGE schools of giant perch under us, almost all night long. They are feeding on zooplankton at that time (daphnia), which are attracted by the light. We can clearly see the perch as they actively feed for hours on end.
-Jim

[taxi1]

I can assure you it weighed 2.81 lbs as it was weighed on two certified scales. Mine said 2 lbs. 13 oz. and the grocery stored electronic scale said 2.81 lbs. Within a hundreth of a pound or two if I remember right.

One thing to keep in mind is many anglers measure their fish with a tape measure over the top which makes them longer due to the curve in body. This fish was measured on board intially and of course there is a tape measure under it for the picture. If I would have measured it like many anglers do she would have gone well over 17 inches.

Additionally keep in mind the closer they are to spawning the more the females weigh. Up to 30 percent of their body weight can be eggs just before spawning.

[Jim111]

I'm not questioning the fish's weight,...or your honor, believe me. We use a "board" to measure our fish, with a nose-snub at one end, so we get an accurate (and legal) measure. It's necessary on some species here, especially in walleye lakes that have slot limits. I see other nearby states where perch over two pounds are checked in each year too. I just can't figure out why ours are so much less, even when chuck full of eggs?  Look in "Jumbo Perch" post(How big are jumbos). My wife Sherry is holding a 17.5 inch perch in that photo and it was VERY full of eggs. It weighed 1.72 pounds.-Jim