Perch Schooling Behavior- Psychology of Calling/Holding them in your Area

[jig-jig THUMP]

Hey All,
Thought I'd post on some observations I've had in the past concerning Yellow Perch school traveling/atracting/attention holding behavior patterns.  My comments here are in reference to observations I had while icefishing in MT from 2000-2003 over many-many trips.  There in MT at that time (and still legal now I think) you could fish 6 lines in the water per person.  I pretty much fished just 1 at a time, using my Vexilar to help show when the fish approached my bait/lure.  I got some nice sized perch and in decent numbers most of the time I went. 

I often went with a friend who did not use a fishfinder but did put 6 lines in the water most of the time.  These were not "dead-stick" presentations.  He had built what he called "jiggers" that had a the rod set in a pivoting fulcrum-balanced condition with the bait near the bottom.  The "jigger" was a battery operated rotating arm that was set to periodically brush against the butt of the rod, basically tapping it say every 10 seconds or so.  This lifted the tip of the rod maybe 3-6 inches (he could vary the height lift according to fish activity level that day) and let it free-fall back to resting position.  He had spring bobbers attached and could tell when a perch had sucked in the bait because the spring bobber would just bend down when the rod got bumped by the jigger.  Then he'd go turn off the jigger and wait for the bite which he got most of the time.  He set the rods up in a line maybe 5 ft apart and sat at one end so he could watch them all at once.

The long and short of it is that he most often out caught me by say maybe half again of what I had caught using 1 rod and Vex.  We fished very near each other and somewhat varied spots from day to day so I feel confident that my observations of which I am about to speak are accurate. 

I think that he consistently out caught me because of all of the action that his 6 rods had going on down there all the time compared to my one.  I think that his pattern attracted and held the attention of the roaming schools of perch better and for longer than my presentation did.  A strong hunch on my part and I have no other explanation for what I saw as a predictable pattern.  By the way, there were other guys out there fishing 6 dead stick rods (no action at all except maybe 1 they were jigging blindly).  I consistently out caught those guys with my 1 rod and Vex so it wasn't just a question of having 6 lines in the water vs 1.

Of course my friend had a lot more work involved in drilling all of his holes and setting all of those lines out compared to my work (though I did drill and fish a lot of holes trying to find fish).  And if you look at it on a "Fish per Rod" level then I outfished him.  But at the end of the day, his bucket almost always weighed more than mine.

Hope this helps other understand a little more of what goes on down there under the ice.  Any other ideas/explanations of what I observed.

jjT

[Sgt. Pepper]

i would also like to add that perch have a "mob" mentality.  from my observations with an underwater camera, i have noticed the perch racing and fighting each other to get the bait.

i think the most important thing about perch fishing is this: once you catch a fish, get another lure/bait down there as fast as you possibly can.  i have, on many occasions, caught fish on bare jigs within seconds of each other. 

[scavengerj]

Good write-up jjT. Sounds like this would be something to try with a dead stick next to one of these "jiggers". Wonder which bait would get hit the most often?

Sgt. I agree with the mod mentality. Then it just becomes a matter of keeping them in the area. Just don't throw the shorts back down the same hole.

[jimski2]

Always keep bait in the water to keep the perch holding in your area. If both lines have fish on them, pull one up, rebait and get it back on the bottom before the other line is hauled in. You end up with a lot of double headers on the second line. The scent of the bait pulls more fish into your area. Even if you set the hook on a fish, wait a little before you pull it up, a second fish may grab the other minnow in the feeding frenzy or competition.

[fatleroy]

jig-jig thump this is great, been also talking with other peoples - perch are said to travel in school size large to small - in a circular pattern - if you come upon small perch - stop fishing for 45 minutes give or take as this is the average travel time for the circular pattern, lets the big perch back in front. Never tried this myself -the patience thing. Was told this by fish culturing person.

[PERCHPULLER]

I believe you have to keep their attention or have action to attract them last week it was slow and we took a huge weight and bounced it on bottm to stir things up seemed to help create bites!

[duckman111]

never went and just targeted perch until last friday. went to a spot a friend had shown me a couple of weeks earlier. he caught 14 out of there that trip i was 3oo yds away off a point trying to catch walleye.this time i decided to try the perch got out there set up and was marking fish but couldnt get a bite for about 2 hours was about to pull up and move then all the sudden the dinner bell rang.i couldnt keep up with my tipups i just stuck to my jig pole as quick as i dropped it down i got a fish. this went on for about 2 hours then dinner was over. still was marking fish but they were done.

[xeon]

Sometimes I notice having a deadstick with the same bait in a hole a foot away from one your jiggin gets allot of bites on the deadstick.

[jig-jig THUMP]

Looking back at my original post I realize that I should also have metioned there were many times where my buddy would do well by setting his baits in contact with the bottom (just barely).  Then they'd get lifted and pound back down into the silty bottom which I think caused a stir which attracted and held the perch into his area.

I have caught them many times by letting my jig, spoon, or jiggin' rap smack into the bottom then let it rest just barely off the bottom so I can feel the take.

jjT

[Irish Jigger]

I kinda do the same thing as mentioned before. I'll fish 2 rods and set one as a deadstick with a spoon and a live minnow within a foot or two from me, even if they don't want to eat the minnow setup I truly belive the movement and flash keeps them around longer before they move on. I also noticed if I'm catching smaller fish alot of times the larger fish will hit the minnow rig.

[highsparks]

  A lot of the good perch lakes I fish are very shallow , under 10 feet of water .  Many aroung 6-8' deep .  I like to carry a shock corded tent pole , long enough to touch bottom .   Assemble the pole and stick it down your hole and rake the bottom in a circle about 4-6' in diameter .  Then fish in the middle .  If your out on a mud flat the stirring action will cause a cloud of silt and bug larvae .  This will hold the perch in your area .    It works , but you will draw attention if people se you doing this and may get surrounded by fisherman....

[beeverfishing]

  A lot of the good perch lakes I fish are very shallow , under 10 feet of water .  Many around 6-8' deep .  I like to carry a shock corded tent pole , long enough to touch bottom .   Assemble the pole and stick it down your hole and rake the bottom in a circle about 4-6' in diameter .  Then fish in the middle .  If your out on a mud flat the stirring action will cause a cloud of silt and bug larvae .  This will hold the perch in your area .    It works , but you will draw attention if people se you doing this and may get surrounded by fisherman....

Interesting idea...

[ICE KID]

One day, me and my dad were fishing about 15 feet away from each other in 10 fow, I had a camera, he had a 5 gallon pail of minnoes, Every once in a while he would throw a scoop of minnowes down the hole and he would get all kinds of action and I would get nothing and there would be zip on the screen, until 15 minutes later, then I could see the fish go from his hole to my hole and I would get a few, that is until dad threw another scoop of minnowes down the hole,>, eventually I got sick of it pulled my camera up, drilled 2 new holes right by his, put the camera in one, my jig in the other and started catching fish at the same rate as the old man, 10 minutes later, the fish stopped biting, my dad waited another 5 minutes, and put more minnoes down the hole, but nothing bit, and thats the way it stayed the rest of the day, and I think it's because my dad putting minnoes down the hole kept them there until the minnoes were gone, then they would swim my way and my jig would keep them there until dad threw minnoes down the hole and then they'd swim back over to him, and by me moving closer to him, once the minnoes were gone there was nothing else to keep them there except for our jigs, and by the time more minnoes were put back down the hole, all the fish on the screen were gone.

[jig-jig THUMP]

  A lot of the good perch lakes I fish are very shallow , under 10 feet of water .  Many aroung 6-8' deep .  I like to carry a shock corded tent pole , long enough to touch bottom .   Assemble the pole and stick it down your hole and rake the bottom in a circle about 4-6' in diameter .  Then fish in the middle .  If your out on a mud flat the stirring action will cause a cloud of silt and bug larvae .  This will hold the perch in your area .    It works , but you will draw attention if people se you doing this and may get surrounded by fisherman....

Sparks-
Interesting idea.  I have heard of pounding the bottom with a toilet plunger (on maybe a 10 ft pole) for saltwater flats fish like flounder.  They say it attracts them pretty good.  Maybe for the same reasons you mention.  Will have to give this a try this season.  Thanks for the idea.

jjT

[Fish_Tko]

just might have to throw a golf ball retriever in my shanty. I think they stretch out to about 15 ft.

[kingfisher]

thanks for the tips

[jig-jig THUMP]

I've been looking at some videos on Youtube showing underwater scenes from perch icefishing trips.  Some of these show a bottom disturbance with silt being kicked up (mostly from a fish being hooked and brought up). Most often this seems to draw a few more perch into the area to look at what happened.  I haven't seen one where it spooked nearby fish away.

jjT

[ryno]

i mentioned this idea before but take a clear gallon jar and drill several holes in the lid, right in the middle put a small eye bolt and attach small rope, tie on some real weeds or similar stuff right above the jar.  now..the jar will be filled with lots of minnows!  i figure this will attract fish by structure, scent and obviously flash.  than ya just dangle a live  minnow couple feet away and they wont be able to resist...and all those minnows in the jar will keep em interested till ya get your hook back down.  the bonus is when ya need more minnows...just pull it up and take a dozen out. this idea just came to me awhile back and havent tried it yet since been fishing on refuge lakes that prohibit minnows.

[PERCHPULLER]

Interesting idea!!

[A- bomb]

or if you know someone that pours thier own lead jigs just have them fill a muffin tin (one muffin) full of lead.  it weiighs about a pound. take a rod tith some fire line 20/80 and just set it in a close hole...
pound it when needed as it will send up a huge plume!!

[Chi]

i would also like to add that perch have a "mob" mentality.  from my observations with an underwater camera, i have noticed the perch racing and fighting each other to get the bait.

i think the most important thing about perch fishing is this: once you catch a fish, get another lure/bait down there as fast as you possibly can.  i have, on many occasions, caught fish on bare jigs within seconds of each other. 

     

     I would agree with all that say the key is to keep bait down there, helps to keep the perch from moving out of the area. experienced this the other day fishing near two guys, they were fishing 4 rods while I fished two and sometimes only one, they had there 50 limit by 10ish, took me till 12:30 to get a limit. ( lesson Learned)
   Sgt. Pepper I see your from Presque Isle, wife and I go there in the summer with the dogs, nice place. where are you Ice fishing down that way, seems like allot of PA guys are coming up to Chautauqua lake from north east PA.

     Chi