Author Topic: perch for pike bait  (Read 10961 times)

Offline pikeman80

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perch for pike bait
« on: Dec 18, 2007, 02:44 AM »
With all these new regs in NY and VT for bait i was thinking about rigging up some perch for trophy northerns. Has anybody had luck using perch as bait through the ice?
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Offline Danderson

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #1 on: Dec 18, 2007, 03:19 PM »
i know a lot of guys do in mass. i've tried a few times without any luck, but the perch were a little too big.

a guy used dead crappies one time when i was out on the ice. landed a small 26incher and then we all crowded around his hole when he got another flag. lost a 20 plus pounder at the hole on the a dead perch so i guess they do work :o

Offline Kierran

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #2 on: Dec 19, 2007, 09:47 AM »
i've tried a few times without any luck, but the perch were a little too big.

I doubt the size of the perch was the problem.  A hungry pike probably didn't cruise by your offering.  A natural forage fish should work, no matter the size.  Pike can take down huge bait.

Offline deadsmelthead

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #3 on: Dec 19, 2007, 03:35 PM »
I head out with large shiners to start off and just in case the Perch aren't on the bite. I prefer the Perch in the 4-6 inch range. I have used bigger and I usually clip a fin or 2 off of them. I started using them about 3 years ago saying hey what the hell lets try one of these little guys, it wasn't in the water for 10 minutes and FLAG with a 15lb Pike on the other end. At first I thought it was dumb luck . Until the next outing trying. This time it was in the water  longer but it still caught a big Pike.

Now all I do between flags when Pike fishing is jig for Perch out in deeper nearby water. I think one of the reasons the Pike are so willing to take them is for one the regularly feed on them, 2 when you take a tiny perch out of the school in 15 fow and make it look a little wounded and throw it on a tip up in 5 fow or less they can't refuse it.. I think using Perch is the equivalent of dangling a bacon cheesburger in front of the TV when football is on. If you haven't tried them, I highly recomend using them after all they are a natural bait.
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Offline Icefish4Life

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #4 on: Dec 19, 2007, 10:22 PM »
Recently I read a comment in an article, by former fishery biologist Gord Pyzer,  regarding perch as forage. If I remember correctly, their abundance and slower metabolism in winter (slower=easier for other fish to catch) makes them an almost universal forage fish.

On a personal note, my biggest pike caught had a fairly fresh 9+ inch perch in its stomach, along with others in different stages of digestion.

Offline pikeman80

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #5 on: Dec 21, 2007, 12:03 AM »
it makes sense but i have that pike like soft body longer thinner bait like suckers because they are easy to digest, but then again they eat anything
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Offline deadsmelthead

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #6 on: Dec 21, 2007, 05:52 AM »
it makes sense but i have that pike like soft body longer thinner bait like suckers because they are easy to digest, but then again they eat anything

My argument to that would be if they love them so much how come they aren't out in the deepest part of the lake hunting them down. INstead Pike are found pretty much in the shallow stuff where perch and other panfish hang....
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Offline Doggz1

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #7 on: Dec 21, 2007, 09:24 PM »
perch flurish in most of the fisheries i've fished in Mass.  One place in mind has the perfect combination of ingredients for prime pike....has shallow shoreline about 4-5 feet deep with 10-15 feet the deepest portion of this 45 acre pond...it has a very well known river dump in to it and the vegitation and structure is perfect. 

These pike come into this place from the river every year and CHOW on yellow and white perch which by the way if you want a pin for perch this is the place to go....thats all they eat!!!   I've been using natural pond shiners in here and have pretty good luck....used a dead perch one time or another and caught a few decent pike... they love them.

Dont be afraid to go out and just try your own thing...fish all perch bait for a day see what happens...a few dead a few lively...who knows it may work for you...good luck man
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Offline bradleyj

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #8 on: Jan 11, 2017, 02:12 PM »
Recently I read a comment in an article, by former fishery biologist Gord Pyzer,  regarding perch as forage. If I remember correctly, their abundance and slower metabolism in winter (slower=easier for other fish to catch) makes them an almost universal forage fish.

I've found that perch are also the best tip-up bait for...bigger perch.  When we fish for perch we'll bring out a few shiners with us to bait all the traps initially but we switch them over to dink perch that we jig up while we're out there.

Offline WVBoy

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #9 on: Jan 24, 2017, 11:23 PM »
With all these new regs in NY and VT for bait i was thinking about rigging up some perch for trophy northerns. Has anybody had luck using perch as bait through the ice?

Yessir...and Sunnies as well. I have been running a new tipup rig this winter and decided to change everything up. I typically buy XXL shiners for pike but decided to go another route this year. I found a dead perch on the ice thats been there for a few days, scraped some scales off, put some cuts in it, and dropped it to the bottom. Landed a 10# pike on that perch this past sunday. I'm sold
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Offline JTrottaNY

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #10 on: Feb 12, 2017, 06:52 PM »
How do you guys rig the perch on your tip ups so that they don't trip turn flags? Using some type of float?
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Offline UFCreel

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #11 on: Feb 13, 2017, 08:28 AM »
I use crappie a lot for pike. Because when i do keep one and clean it i often find crappie in their guts. I use 5 to 8 inch crappie. I hook them in the side. Just remember at least around here. That crappie counts towards your bag limit.
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Offline VT snotrocket

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #12 on: Mar 01, 2017, 05:32 PM »
I was fishing with a buddie a few years ago and we ran outta bait. Someone left about a 10" river perch on the ice. I would guess it was there for a couple days. This was saint paddys day and had been warm. It was not fresh for sure. We said screw it and we put it on a tipup in about 2' of water.  2 hours later we landed a 40" that weighed 17lbs. I wouldn't hesitate a minute to use perch for bait.
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Offline lingcod

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #13 on: Mar 03, 2017, 08:00 AM »
One area on the lake that I fish is loaded with pickerel. Using minnows, I caught smaller pickerel, but I started using dink perch and caught much bigger fish. This should translate for pike, me thinks?

Offline pmmpete

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #14 on: Nov 28, 2017, 12:35 AM »
Whenever you catch a pike, check what kind of fish it has in its stomach, and use that kind of fish for bait, if it's legal.  For example, in the lakes where I fish, probably 90 percent of the fish which I find in the stomachs of pike are kokanee.  This, despite the fact that the pike were caught in or at the edge of weed beds which contain a lot of perch.  It isn't legal to use kokanee or other salmonids for bait, so I use smelt or herring, which look similar.  I also find a fair number of northern pikeminnows (a/k/a squawfish) in pike stomachs, so I use them for bait as well. I almost never find perch in pike's stomachs.  But the situation may be completely different in other lakes.

Offline pmmpete

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #15 on: Dec 01, 2017, 09:22 AM »
My argument to that would be if they love them so much how come they aren't out in the deepest part of the lake hunting them down. INstead Pike are found pretty much in the shallow stuff where perch and other panfish hang....
As I stated in my previous post, in the lakes where I do most of my pike fishing, probably 90 percent of the fish which I find in the stomachs of pike are kokanee.  But I caught those pike in or at the edges of weed beds which contain a lot of perch.  This means that even though the pike like to hang out in weed beds, they are ignoring the perch, and they are doing the majority of their feeding in deep water, hunting for kokanee which in those lakes typically hang out about 30 feet down.  But that is just in those particular lakes.  Pike have different feeding preferences in different lakes.

Offline WalleyeAdventurer

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Re: perch for pike bait
« Reply #16 on: Dec 09, 2017, 09:56 AM »
I dabbled a little bit last ice season using live perch on tipups unsuccessfully.  I'd clip multiple fins and have them higher off the bottom.  I was told I might have better success hooking the perch upside down so that they'd struggle more.  Will most assuredly be trying that the next time I catch a perch.
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