Do you love big bluegill?

Trophy Perch

Hey fellow perch jerkers! Let's talk about jumbos! First of all....what is a 'jumbo' perch? How big? Most folks would call a 12 inch, roe-filled yellow perch a jumbo. Some standards are smaller, and some larger yet on these delicious fish. To me, honest, one pound fish are indeed jumbos.

I have been reading a lot about the Great Lakes yellow perch populations and the huge numbers of big fish as seen on other sites. I have seen incredible fish up to 16 inches. However, they do not seem to have the body dynamics and weight as do fish from other lakes and reservoir around the country.

In my home state of Maryland, it takes a 14 inch perch to get a citation...a fish that biologist tell us needs 9 years to attain that size in tidal waters. They spawn in Feb and March, and the MD DNR has just allowed the keeping of 10 fish per angler this past spring after several years of limited and no-harvest regs.

For my money, I like Deep Creek Lake in extreme western Maryland. I have caught three individual fish from there that have weighed over 2 pounds, including my heaviest at 2 lbs 4 oz. and 15 .25 inches with a 12.25 inch girth. My longest fish was 15.75 inches, from Lake Carroll in southern PA. and got me the top 'catch and release' entry in the 2009 In Fisherman Master Angler Awards Program. Cool!

So guys, where else are the big perch? Piney Run, in central MD has giants, and so does Lake Moomaw in southwest Virginia, with their former state record at 2-7. Last spring, a 3 lb 2 oz fish came from Fanagan Reservior.

Jumbos, anyone?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Howard Webster on February 20, 2011 at 4:04pm

That is the shiner this 9 inch perch was caught on. The tip-up was set for pike

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on February 20, 2011 at 4:48pm

Well Howard you have proven a yellow Perch will be a pig for a big shiner!

Nice fat Perch there!

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on December 19, 2012 at 1:38pm

I get the idea Jim and Howard Waxies /Jigs..this fish had a shiner sticking out of its mouth ,it was nt one I lost and noone was fishing beside me .Some holes from earlier in the day may have been cut nearby though. 2011:

Permalink Reply by Rob Garner on April 5, 2011 at 12:54am

Great Lakes Perch tend to be on the longer side.There are definitely 2lbers out there right now,gearing up to spawn but you need to be in the right place and have the right equipment to get at them.(East winds on Lake Michigan make it no so boat friendly in April) but the perch are there in 30 to 60 Fow.You can catch alot of honest 1lbers or so in the summer most early season fish are egg (roe) weight anyway.I am still looking for a 16 to 17" from the Big pond.Also it takes about 5 years to reach the max size in Lake Mich.This would be the 12 and up range.

Some other good lakes in Wis would Geneva,Castle Rock,Petenwell, the Madison Chain.A number of the Flowages found along the Wis river.

Permalink Reply by Jim Gronaw on April 5, 2011 at 6:44am

One of the better perch bites in the East right now is in the lower Susquehanna River and the North East River, at the very top end of the Chesapeake Bay, in Maryland. However, at this writing, the spawn is over and the fish are slowly heading back to their deeper tidal haunts. Through out much of this past winter, anglers enjoyed catching their 10-fish limit of 12 to 14 inch fish on a variety of tactics.

I just got a taste of this fishery back in March but had quality fish at 13.5 inches being tops. Several years of moratorium and restrictive initial harvest limits got this declining fishery back on its feet and now it is emerging as one of the premier perch bites, even on the national level.

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on April 5, 2011 at 7:25am

Thanks for the good report Jim!

Permalink Reply by Vince Fusco on July 2, 2012 at 6:08pm

For me, here in Ga. any yellow perch over 1 lb. is a jumbo. These do not come long every day. I have caught a few over the years, with my best ever being 15" and 1 3/4 lbs. A friend of mine use to own a bait shop and had some small 5-6" yellow perch in a aquarium. I would go to his minnow tank and dip out a 2 1/2" to a 3" minnow then pinch it's head a bit to wound it , then toss it in for the perch to eat. These little perch didn't hesitate a bit when it came to attacking a minnow half their size. Now the funny thing is, we always used small minnows to tip our jigs with when fishing for them. Go figure! I guess we were "meat" fishing instead of trophy fishing. I have since moved about 2 hrs. from where I use to catch these and rarely get back down there anymore. I really do miss fishing for, and eating them.

Permalink Reply by Marshall Nerdrum on July 8, 2012 at 3:46pm

2-3 years back was great on Lake michigan for me the biggest was 17-1/4 five over 15 and over 50 bigger than 14. Last year only 12-13 or smaller. This year nothing over 10 so far. I start the year in illinois during march in 60ft of water and move to Wisconsin in June when it opens.I also fish Gogibic in Michigan, they don't run as long but are much heavier for their length. If I use live bait it's roachs,or crawfish. But most of the time it's #5 jointed shadraps or small 3in spoons. I have won a few ice fishing contests for big perch all caught on tipups with med roachs.

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on September 13, 2012 at 2:26pm

THANKS MARSHALL! ROACH'S I GUESS ARE CALLED SHINERS HERE IN THE EAST.THOSE ARE SOME BIG YELLOW PERCH YOU'RE TALKIN' 'BOUT .HOW ABOUT WHITE PERCH?

YOU CATCH YPERCH IN 60 ' OF WATER?I NEVER CAUGHT A PERCH DEEPER THAN 25' OR SO . THE AIR BLADDERS MUST BE STICKING OUTTA THEIR MOUTHS WHEN YOU PULL THEM UP FROM 60' . HOW DEEP ARE THOSE TIPUPS SET AT?

Permalink Reply by Marshall Nerdrum on September 15, 2012 at 7:33pm

You are right john, at sixty feet you can't release with stomach out ,I keep even the small ones then, can't see releasing to die, it would be a waste. Thankfully not that many small ones. As for tipsups its in 4-6 ft of water,If you get out enough you will notice a lot of people with what they will call wind flags, but you can bet they are perch, but they are hitting jumbo roaches set for Pike or other big fish that are to big to swallow, took a while to figure out.

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on September 16, 2012 at 8:04am

Marshall ,are those Perch caught at 60' in a summer thermocline zone or what? Thanks for your input .Sure wish I could fish for those Jumbos like you're doin'!!

I've heard you can pop the bladders with a pin and they'll deflate and the Perch can survive.Don't know how good that advice is though.

You don't get White Perch where you are?

Permalink Reply by Marshall Nerdrum on September 16, 2012 at 3:27pm

As far as I know I've never caught a white perch, plenty of white bass on Lake Mendota, but not in Lake Michigan. I used to carry pin, but noticed some of the fish were laying against bottom of ice and just decided to keep them. Haven't caught any nice perch this year it's by far my worst. Going to try Lake Delevan tomorrow for some, can't do any worse than the summer was.