Where are the big ones?????

[mich-fish]

   Caught probably 35 dink perch yesterday and maybe 1 keeper. Couldnt keep them off the line, but where were the large fish? Any ideas?? Are they possible deeper?, I was in 10'-12' of water or maybe that body of water does not support the larger perch.. It should, there are plenty of big slab crappie and I know it has a small walleye population in the lake and plenty of bass and pike.. Maybe there is to much competition for them to grow large, but I surely think they would get over 4"- 6".. Any ideas would be great, lookin for a nice perch fry... Thanks and good fihing for everyone...

[MSUICEMAN]

don't know what water you were fishing, but some lakes just don't seem to produce any size in the perch. i know of a couple where its hard to get anything over 6". the water in these lakes seem like they would produce good size perch with the depth being good, clarity being good, and forage seems to be alright. the same lakes hold good sized gills, crappie, bass, and pike. Just seems like some do, and some don't.

i am however going to do a little more exploring this year in them. I know in some of the more northern lakes they fish pretty deep for fish during the winter (which is different than the fishing on lake st. clair), and maybe the fish follow that trait in the southern inland lakes more too.

steve

[hali-man]

I have been successful in the past fishing around the edges of and under the dink schools. Perch (like a lot of fish) seem to travel with similarly-sized brethren.

[bigredonice]

I do a couple of things when encountering dinks.  I like to move around alot.  I've found if I cover enough water, I can usually find areas devoid of dink perch, but with schools of other panfish or large perch.  From there, Either go deep, or go shallower.

In other places, I've found that the larger perch will be in with the smaller fish, you just have to figure  out a lure that targets just the larger perch, like jigging raps or a jig & minnow.  The aqua-vu also helps as you can pull your bait away from the smaller fish, and just target the larger fish as they swim by.

[iceintheveins]

Generally lakes that produce lots of small panfish don't produce many big ones. You probably will have to find a lake that produces bigger ones to have any sort of realistic shot at a bigger one.

[mich-fish]

   Thanks for all the input and ideas. I'm going to try and get back there this evening and try some different things. If I hadnt pulled some decent gills out of those holes I would have moved, maybe I should try around the edges of that area and see whats there.. I generally fish right off the bottom for the perch maybe the bigger fish were just above them.I do use 2 jigs, 1 about a foot above the bottom one to get those fish that are off bottom a little higher. Like hali-man said maybe I'll change jigs and/or bait and see also.. If I remember correctly I was using a nuclear ant which they destroyed and ripped the legs right off. At this time I do not use electronics(hope Santa is listening) to see whats going on down there.. Anyway I very much appreciate all the replys and will keep checking back..Not sure if it makes a difference but I'm in southern Michigan at the Indiana border and we do have some really nice perch in the area.. Thanks again and good fishing to all...

[cold_feet]

Mackdaddy
Do little fish grow to be big fish? Or are they just born big?  

Mich-Fish
 Big reds ansewer is good to follow. Keep moving to find them The lakes I fish we have the same problems Lots of smaller fish to weed out before you get the slobs. That is why I got a camera Big fish didn't get big by being stupid and eating anything that comes along. Sometimes you get lucky to hit a school of big Perch but for the most they are mixed in with younger more aggressive Perch. Try fishing deeper expansive flats during the early ice season then as spring rolls near move to shallower areas preferably the Northern end of lake. Even weed areas in spring will hold plenty of bigger Perch as they ready themselves for the Spawn. Another thing to try is downsizing your jigs. Many times a big Perch will shy away from big bulky jigs. Minnows too might work although some bodies of water the Perch will not touch Minnows. Make sure you have a variety of bait on hand to try.
Cold Feet

[firsticerules]

well i don't know the details of the body of water your fishing (ie,structure,depth ect) but if your gettin the small ones in 10-12 FOW i would say the bigger ones are still reasting in the deeper water. if it's possible go to where it's 20' or deeper and try it. Good luck

[jimski2]

Lake Erie and Seneca Lake have big perch. The reason too many lakes have small perch is a "Lack of Catch and Take" fishing. A water can support so much biomass, and you can have a lot of small perch or some big perch. Failure to harvest the perch causes the situation where you have a lot of small perch and also no walleyes because the ravenous perch eat all the fry that hatch. There are very poor growth rates in the perch just as you have when there are "too many cows" in a pasture. Good conservation practices do not mean limit all your catches or catch and release fishing is right. A balanced harvest where fish such as perch and walleyes are harvested at practical rates, not just take all the walleyes and ignore the perch which we do all too often.

[hali-man]

A balanced harvest where fish such as perch and walleyes are harvested at practical rates, not just take all the walleyes and ignore the perch which we do all too often.

Very good point!

[BillP]

I went to this conservation camp they hold big perch but this lake in Charlton

[reelbigfish]

  Early ice I'd go deep for perch.  Fish your two jig rig close to the bottom until you
find fish.  Jig up from the bottom to around 4' off then back down an inch or so at a time cause the jumbos are more agressive and will feed above the school of dinks.
Stir up silt on the bottom once and a while.  Best color for perch is "perch color" as
they feed on their own fry.  Chartruse and yellow, Pink and white, and solid silver all
produce well in medium to smaller sizes.  Horizontal jig on top, vertical on bottom.
  In Feb. move shallower till last ice.  Your 10' to 12' depth should work but try a
few holes in as shallow as 2' toward iceout.



Ted

[taxi1]

I've noticed even in my .62 acre pond the big perch are not as a rule in with the smaller perch and bluegills. Yesterday I moved even though I was catching lots of fish and tried an area of deep water that I normally don't fish. (Previous area was deep too.) Anyway, no bites for about a half and hour, and I was just about to move again when I picked up two perch just short of 14 inches one right after another.

The perch in my pond hang within 2 feet of the bottom and are almost always in the deepest water of the pond which is 11 to 12 feet.

Last year it took me two weeks to find the bigger perch but when I did they were dandies. One was 16 1/4 inches on a board and 2.81 lbs. Here she is:

[Kirk]

try using bigger baits and what i do to trigger biger perch strikes is to drop yr jig right down to the bottem and stur it up a bit, this is fun to watch on the aqua-view

[Walleyeslayer25]

I agree kirk I like to use big minnows on my tip downs and large spoons tipped w/ minnow heads or eyes on my jigging poles. I catch a lot more jacks than smaller ones w/ bigger baits. Also the bigger perch relate to the deeper large flats avoid drop offs, some bigger ones may be shallower but there will tend to be a lot more smaller ones.



                                                   
                           Tight lines 

                                                             

[PondPro]

i wish i had my own pond with big perch in it

[taxi1]

i wish i had my own pond with big perch in it

I can assure you it didn't come easy.

I'd trade it all to be in a good remote area of New York. Used to live out east as a kid. Loved it.