Perch like areas with deep water and structures that block sunlight and provide them places to hide. Boat fishing is a good way to get into deep water, and allows you to move quickly if fish aren’t biting or the school moves. Shore or dock fishing are good places to catch perch.
What depth is best for perch fishing?
Summer. Small perch can usually be caught in fairly shallow water year-round, but large adults head toward deeper water as spring turns to summer. By June, rocky areas in 8 to 12 feet of water are prime targets. By August, you can expect to catch perch as deep as 25 to 35 feet.
What month is best for perch fishing?
Perch fishing is usually best in the early morning or evening hours during late spring and early summer and late afternoon or evening in late summer. In autumn, both morning and late afternoon-evening provide excellent fishing. In the natural lakes, the best fishing is usually from late summer until late fall.
What is the best bait for surf perch?
Popular baits for surfperch include mole crabs, marine worms, sand shrimp, mussels and clam necks – the choice depends on availability, convenience and personal preference. Many anglers gather crabs, worms and shrimp during low tide from the same beaches they’re going to fish later.
What is the best bait for perch fishing?
Perch fishing with worms tends to produce the best results, but maggots, prawns and lobworms are also amongst the best bait for catching perch. You can also try feeding the perch, spreading some maggots over the area you intend to fish. But don’t go overboard as perch are small and can fill themselves up quickly.
What size perch is worth keeping?
I find that 9-11 are the best keepers. 12+ the rib cage gets a lot more rugged and they’re hard to clean, and you don’t get that much more meat from a 13 than from an 11. Big ones are great for a picture, but 9-11 is ideal for eating.
What time of year are perch most active?
Perch Feeding Behavior
Spring and fall are ideal perch seasons–summer far less so. As we mentioned above, by mid-summer, as the temperatures start to really rise in shallow lakes, they’ll often become lethargic and stop feeding.
What color lures do perch like?
As far as color goes for lure selection its really going to depend on the body of water you are fishing, but generally I like starting out with UV green, UV pink or orange and then a natural perch color.
Are perch bottom feeders?
Angling: Yellow perch are day feeders and are primarily bottom feeders with a slow deliberate bite. They eat almost anything, but prefer minnows, insect larvae, plankton, and worms.
How do you fish surf perch from shore?
How to Catch Surf Perch
- Check that your bait is securely affixed to the hook.
- Cast as far as possible into the surf.
- Reel up slack so you can feel the surf (or a perch) pulling on your rig.
- Wait for a bite.
- Set hook and reel in your dinner.
What is the legal size for surf perch?
10½ inches
Redtail surfperch (Amphistichus rhodoterus) have a minimum size limit of 10½ inches total length.
How far do you cast for surf perch?
60-100 yards
When surf fishing, the best action is further out. You’ll often need to cast 60-100 yards when fishing from the beach. This is because you typically want to cast beyond the breaking waves, where hungry fish often congregate and feed.
What is perch favorite food?
Insect larvae, midges, mosquitos, scuds, smaller mayflies, and bloodworms are the primary food source for young yellow perch. And even when fully grown, yellow perch will continue to feed on aquatic insects in many water bodies.
What size hooks for perch?
HOOKS FOR PERCH FISHING
Match the hook size to the type of bait used but generally you’ll be looking at size 4 to 10, with a wide gape and medium gauge wire. A lot of commercial fisheries will only allow the use of a barbless hook but if not, go for a microbarb.
Are perch good eating fish?
Perch fish is a good-tasting fish, with a sweet taste and an excellent flavor. Perch also has a firm and crumbly texture that is favored by many. While it doesn’t have a mild flavor, it is not a very “fishy” fish and holds up well when cooked with other ingredients.
How old is a 2lb perch?
Within 4-years, such fish can reach 2lb in weight. Perch are able to swallow prey up to 60% of the width of their mouth, even attempting to take prey larger than they may swallow.
How old is a 15 inch perch?
There were some perch that were 15 inches that were 5-7 years old and then there were some that were that size that were 12 years old. My guess would be that the 12 inchers that you were catching were 3-4 years old with a good food source and maybe 5 years old with a poor food source.
What is the best tasting perch?
According to popular belief, White Perch caught around Chesapeake Bay tend to have the best taste.
What depth of water do perch like?
Perch prefer to spawn in shallower water of between 3 and 10 feet with an optimal water depth of 6 feet.
What size lures for perch?
Use lures in the 6cm-9cm range, as these are ideal for perch, and pay attention to the diving depth of the lure. The bigger the vane on the front of the lure, the deeper it will dive. By far the best shape of crankbait for perch is a short, stumpy body that produces a really fast wiggle action.
Are perch deep or shallow in winter?
At first ice, perch can be scattered anywhere, but by mid-winter most will be on mid- to deep flats. They’ll stay there until the last weeks of the season, before moving close to their spawning sites. Shallow flats, weedy bays and reedy shorelines will produce some of the year’s best perch fishing during ice out.