Perch Fishing..Here are some questions for you IF you know the answers:

[cagetrapper]

1.. What is the best depth to fish for perch in the winter time, thru the ice. I've watched shows before on TV and they only fish in 6-8' of water..I've caught some in 25' plus..I'm talking about Campbell Lake on 84th Street.

2.. Is it better to fish for Perch at night? or during the day. Perch are cousins of the Walleye, and Walleye do see pretty good in the night-time.

3.. What are the best baits to use for Perch. I've heard Minnows. I've tried them on Campbell Lake, but Wigglers seem to do better.

4.. Would it be wise to crack a Lumunious Light and send it to the depths to possibly draw in the Perch? or would it just scare them away.

5..  Lures...What's the best one to use. A Teardrop? a Jig of some kind?

6..  Would it be good to take a Summer Anchor and bang it at the bottom to stir up the mud and possibly draw in Perch?

Please let me know about these questions. I'd really love to take the big ones out. My Biggest Perch out of Campbell Lake was 13" long. I know there are bigger ones in there since no one really goes for them. And it seems impossible to catch them during the Summer.

Thanks again.

Stan
Cagetrapper

[panfishman13]

1.. What is the best depth to fish for perch in the winter time, thru the ice. I've watched shows before on TV and they only fish in 6-8' of water..I've caught some in 25' plus..I'm talking about Campbell Lake on 84th Street.

2.. Is it better to fish for Perch at night? or during the day. Perch are cousins of the Walleye, and Walleye do see pretty good in the night-time.

3.. What are the best baits to use for Perch. I've heard Minnows. I've tried them on Campbell Lake, but Wigglers seem to do better.

4.. Would it be wise to crack a Lumunious Light and send it to the depths to possibly draw in the Perch? or would it just scare them away.

5..  Lures...What's the best one to use. A Teardrop? a Jig of some kind?

6..  Would it be good to take a Summer Anchor and bang it at the bottom to stir up the mud and possibly draw in Perch?

Please let me know about these questions. I'd really love to take the big ones out. My Biggest Perch out of Campbell Lake was 13" long. I know there are bigger ones in there since no one really goes for them. And it seems impossible to catch them during the Summer.

Thanks again.

Stan
Cagetrapper

1. it doesn't really matter how deep the perch are as long as they're there
2. yes and no, i find that perch bite well in the middle of the day and right as it's getting dark when it's dark and they stopped biting either leave or fish for something else
3. anything with meat on it worms, waxworms, spikes, mousies, etc. i've never caught them on minnows
4. it depends on the water clarity in murky lakes i would use a glow jig or a glow lite to tell the perch where the food is, in clear water you can fish with a bare hook and a worm if you want, otherwise just use a jig
5. this this one
and this one

6. no, use something smaller like a 1/2 oz.bell sinker or a drop shot sinker, anything bigger would just scare them away and take up a hole

[IceFishinJoe]

I am from SE Mich and do qite a bit of Perchin' on Saint Clair so I will answer from my experiances.
1. First ice I usually get them in real shallow and later in the winter the jumbos tend to move out around 8-12.

2. Morning or the last hour or 2 of light seem to produce best, I pick up a few durring the day but not as constant.

3. They can be caught on anything, I usually use a Ken's or Smackin Jack spoon with a Jensen egg and jig for them.

4. They usually dont bite at night , I usually switch for the eyes then.

5. and teardrop or like I said Kens or Smackin Jack spoon tipped with a jensen egg.

6. I  know of a lot of people that take "mudders" with them, I usually just smack the ground a couple times with my spoon to stir it up, sometimes it workes, sometimes not all depends.

[ChillerThriller]

1) depends on the time of winter for depth. Early winter they are usually shallower and late winter they go deep until spawning when they come back to the shallows. if your lake has any narrows or flats adjacent to deep water i would try there because it is a bottle neck and thats where fish tend to congregate. also if the deepest spot in your lake is 30 feet they can usually be found in 6 to 20 feet of water, usually not in the deepest holes in the lake.
2) In the morning to about noon seems good, then the predator fish seem to roll in for a while around noon. depends on the lake but i can usually catch perch throughout the whole day, some times are slower than others but i still can catch fish in most hours of the day. as menthioned before though the few hours before dark seem to be good.
3, 5) I like to use wolfram jigs, russian hooks, and marmish lures. they all work good tipped with maggots or mealworms. minnow sections work for the largest of perch but they dont come around too often. greens, golds, yellow and orange mixes seem to work the best for me. and vary the size some days little tiny jigs work for me when nothing else will and some days they will hit big spoons. change it up if you are seeing fish but not catching. maggots and meal worms
4) Perch dont eat much at night. i imagine that they just swim around with their mouths open or hide at night because they have poor night vision. even though they are related to the walleye their eyes are not developed in the same way so perch dont bite as much at night. if you are in their area and drop a glow lure down they will prolly find it and you will catch some fish.
6) i use large len thompson spoons or other large heavy spoons with a gold back on them. perch have gold tinged scales and when you jig the largest size lens they create vibrations and emit a gold flash, much like a feeding perch. this technique has brought in many kinds of fish for me nad i usually use it to attract fish to my location. you pump it a few times and then switch to your other thing and they usually come in and munch it.

[scavengerj]

- early ice - shallow/mid winter - deeper/late ice - shallow
- if there are walleye in the body of water the perch tend to shut down and hug bottom at night since the walleye are looking to eat them
-minnows/waxies/maggies
- not sure any sort of light source would do much good. They are hiding
-demons/forage minnows/rattle spoons/rat finkies/ratso
-usually use just the lure or spoon

[lindenborn]

Yellow perch live on flats depth can be different, I can catch them any time of day not as good at night,  I use a frostee jigging spoon or hali jig or any ice jig tipped with Maggots.  To me the most important key is my vexilar fl-18  hope this helps  people here in Maine think perch are trashfish not sure why I love to catch and eat them--I am from texas though, just stationed here in the navy.

Lindy

[RealityCheck]

hey cage trapper, nice to see you around.

[blue mule]

i think it depends on the lake. where i live, with the GLOBAL WARMING  the ice will form 3-4 times every winter. that's gotta mess up the fishin. if we have ice into march, the lake i fish we do really well. i've caught perch at night, but i was after crappies, but they can be caught at night. minnows seem to work well, but if you can catch one try a perch eye. tthey seem too work for everything. got a 5lb. bass on one this season. everything will work someime' but nothing will work everytime.

[fiesty]

All depends on the body of water and the weather patterns and conditions...check out the PERCH forum...

[walleye wacker]

1.. What is the best depth to fish for perch in the winter time, thru the ice. I've watched shows before on TV and they only fish in 6-8' of water..I've caught some in 25' plus..I'm talking about Campbell Lake on 84th Street.

2.. Is it better to fish for Perch at night? or during the day. Perch are cousins of the Walleye, and Walleye do see pretty good in the night-time.

3.. What are the best baits to use for Perch. I've heard Minnows. I've tried them on Campbell Lake, but Wigglers seem to do better.

4.. Would it be wise to crack a Lumunious Light and send it to the depths to possibly draw in the Perch? or would it just scare them away.

5..  Lures...What's the best one to use. A Teardrop? a Jig of some kind?

6..  Would it be good to take a Summer Anchor and bang it at the bottom to stir up the mud and possibly draw in Perch?

Please let me know about these questions. I'd really love to take the big ones out. My Biggest Perch out of Campbell Lake was 13" long. I know there are bigger ones in there since no one really goes for them. And it seems impossible to catch them during the Summer.

Thanks again.

Stan
Cagetrapper

1.I have caught perch in all depths. If they are there they will bit.
2.I have found them to shut off at night and a 12-4 bite is usually where it's at!
3. I perfer minnows but have heard of waxies mousies, ECT.
4.Never tried it but i do know that my friend has a crappie light and if i fish about 5-10 ft. away from him in my shanty i get wore bites then he does .
5.I like to use something with gold on it. usually a small mini spoon or a teardrop
6.It wouldn't hurt to do that but like i say if they are under ya they are gonna bite!

[cagetrapper]

Thanks for the TIPS guys.
I'll be going to Al and Bobs now to spend a Wad now..

I'll be looking for something w/ a Gold Backing, maybe a new rod, line, bait, you all the the routine..lol


Stan

[Mainehazmt]

up here those bait stealers prefer a 60 cent smelt or a minnow 

[Jigmup]

I would say that the largest flat after the first transition from the shallowest to the deepest. Meaning, a large flat occupying the deepest water on a small lake and a large flat that would be the first transition from shallow to deep on a big lake. Slow tapering. Not steep.

I would go to a small swedish pimple with a minnow head and work aggresively. Suspended fish will be most aggresive. Single fish will be hesitant. Multiple fish will hit.

I would try a Rat Finke or Marmooska for neutral fish and a plain hook and minnow for negative fish.

Drill lots of holes on the flat. When one hole goes dead.....move!

[PERCHPULLER]

Perch dont bite at night cant see like a walleye in dark

[jimmyclaude]

I have a bunch of new techniques to try now

[bucketbass]

6- 8fow what are you guys kidding me what are you fishing for bait?
try going out deeper as the year goes on late feb early march start running to the shallows
i always use minnows, the bait depends on the body of water im fishing
there are a couple places were i never bring a minnow you learn this from
experience not iceshanty, dont believe everything you see on here you have to play around
this is just the things i know were i fish good luck try all different variations try tying 2 jigs on one line if you dont have a
marcum or what not you may be able to tell if they are suspended
i use swidish pimples with minnows thats how all my bigger perch come up through the holes
if finikee i use spikes on a jig a whopper/rat finkee