If anyone has any advice for catching yellow perch in their extreme southern range I would appreciate it. I've read many articles but they don't quite relate to the techniques that catch fish in North Carolina. Like other sunfish the best numbers are during the spawn which occurs at a different time in cold water conditions. Thanks in advance.
I've found a couple good reads and reviewed many Infishermen articles, so I'm developing a plan for this winter. I may never get to post a spawning yellow perch photo but it will not be because of a lack of effort. I live just minutes from the location where the North Carolina record was caught so that gives me hope as well.
I catch enough through the Summer to know I'm missing out. The filets of a yellow perch are the prettiest I've ever seen not too mention catching them in cold water. Absolutely!
For that matter White Perch fillets also.My buddy and I years ago on a trip to Sheepshead Pond in Maine,ate 30 White Perch fillets between us and washed them down with beer .You should have heard the burping that went on after that meal!
Hey Jeffrey, I was scrolling through the groups page and saw your request for yellow perch fishing techniques down here in the South. Many years ago I met up with a guy from North Dakota, and he taught me how they caught them up there. We fish the backwater lakes off the Chattahoochee River, which has a good population of yellow perch. We use a 1/16oz jig with a tube tipped with a minnow hooked through the lips. We pitch it out and let it fall to the bottom, then hop it back. Some days they seem to want it slow, and other times they want it hopped fast. I use blue and white tubes a lot, but have caught them on chartruse and white, green and black, etc. I have caught them on the bottom with red wigglers, as well as just a plain minnow under a float as though you were crappie fishing. Here the spawn starts most years around the first of March. The females go to the bank first, and then they are followed by the smaller males. I have caught them right next to the bank in as little as 1 1/2 ft. of water. My best one here was one that weighed 1lb 12 oz., but most here are in the 1/4 to 3/4lb. range. I hope this helps you some.
We're gaining on the Yellow Perch thing little by little down here in coastal North Carolina....Over the last month, my nephew Dan and I have caught our personal best perch and several other nice specimens.....The key to big fish is catching them during the spawn which occurs in our area in late January through February.....I will continue to hunt them this winter and beyond........
Nice coontail pictures Jeffrey and the eating don't get any better than that. I stocked 280 coontail in my pond this spring. Seems like every cast I catch one. I put 50 in last spring.
From what I know, consistent catches of yellows dePends on depth and bottom structure.
After the spawn, you have to look in 20-30 feet of water over structure like humps, sunken rock piles etc. They hang around such places looking for invertebrates, and small bait fish. If food is scarce, they move on.
These are open water fish that move around in search of food. A boat and depth finder are a must, and minnows are the preferred bait. Worms are a good second choice. Look for the schools, and get a jig, small spoon or minnow in there quick.
They are active in the day, actually sleeping at night... so no need to go too early. They school up in the twilight hour and swim toward shore until they run into the bottom, where they just "lay down" and go to sleepy in loose groups. When morning light again comes upon the water, they form back up and go back on the prowl
Once you locate a school, the action will be hot...until they move off. You can stay there, as they usually return - eventually.
Or you can head for the next hump, submerged point or other structure, as long as it is in the right depth. All this apples to white perch, too, and where you catch the one you are likely to get the other.
Again, I am no expert. But this is what the experts put in writing. There was a great article in South Carolina a few months back. Its was called presidential perch, if memory serves.
jeffrey,those we got in spades up here.lake michigan is full of giant yellow perch.they love minnows and crawdad meat .i use a crappie rig and not un common to catch em 2 at a time .always on or near the bottom.
The larger lakes here in the south are the ticket for yellows.
the Savannah River pretty much marks the southern limit of their
range. The tactics you Midwesters use would work as well here.
I don't have a boat, so I never get to target them properly. I content myself with catching them where I can.
looking through my pics, Yellow Perch catching from shore starts around the 3rd week of October and can be great till ice up .That's in my home NJ lake.
Larger lakes in my area that have yellow perch seem to only give up a few if any for anglers. I only know of one impoundment (55 acres) that actually will give up respectable numbers of perch on a regular basis. Although I will admit that when the weather chilled down the perch didn't cooperate as usual.
Upon the aforementioned trip I only caught one initially until a friend of mine arrived and he was equipped with a fish finder. We still only landed a handful. I was in my yak and usually I catch them fishing cover in the usual haunts but this day I kind of drifted the areas he marked while estimating the depth I offered my baits according to what he said his depth finder was marking.
I renovated an old pond on my property a couple years back. Stocked shellcrackers summer of '19, yellow perch fall of '19, then added smallmouth and hybrid striped bass this fall. Until I stocked them I'd never even seen a yellow perch. I sampled some yoy back in August, which is a good sign that conditions in the pond are suitable for them.
I haven't really fished for them yet, but I have caught a few while tormenting the shellcrackers. I'm looking forward to spring and seeing if I can catch a few of them. The advanced stockers that went in should be plenty big for the skillet by then.
This is the first one that I caught out of the pond.
Very cool Greg! I hope your perch do well this year along with your crackers and Hybrids.I hope you check in with us and let us know how they do. I know member Dick Tabbert has grown some nice perch in his Ohio pond.......Good luck.....
My place is just a couple miles south of I-70 in the middle of Missouri. I'm probably nuts for trying it, but if it works out I will have a fishing hole in my front yard that is quite unusual for this part of the country.
So far, so good. The YP that were hatched in the pond last spring are ranging 4"-5", and are nice and plump. I caught this little toad a couple days ago on a piece of nightcrawler. From the looks of her belly, the spawn is eminent, and ought to be a good one.
Jeffrey D. Abney
Oct 3, 2011
Jeffrey D. Abney
Oct 13, 2011
John Sheehan
Oct 13, 2011
Jeffrey D. Abney
Oct 13, 2011
John Sheehan
For that matter White Perch fillets also.My buddy and I years ago on a trip to Sheepshead Pond in Maine,ate 30 White Perch fillets between us and washed them down with beer .You should have heard the burping that went on after that meal!
May 9, 2012
John Sheehan
or was it Sheepscot Pond?
May 9, 2012
Vince Fusco
Hey Jeffrey, I was scrolling through the groups page and saw your request for yellow perch fishing techniques down here in the South. Many years ago I met up with a guy from North Dakota, and he taught me how they caught them up there. We fish the backwater lakes off the Chattahoochee River, which has a good population of yellow perch. We use a 1/16oz jig with a tube tipped with a minnow hooked through the lips. We pitch it out and let it fall to the bottom, then hop it back. Some days they seem to want it slow, and other times they want it hopped fast. I use blue and white tubes a lot, but have caught them on chartruse and white, green and black, etc. I have caught them on the bottom with red wigglers, as well as just a plain minnow under a float as though you were crappie fishing. Here the spawn starts most years around the first of March. The females go to the bank first, and then they are followed by the smaller males. I have caught them right next to the bank in as little as 1 1/2 ft. of water. My best one here was one that weighed 1lb 12 oz., but most here are in the 1/4 to 3/4lb. range. I hope this helps you some.
Jun 7, 2012
Jeffrey D. Abney
We're gaining on the Yellow Perch thing little by little down here in coastal North Carolina....Over the last month, my nephew Dan and I have caught our personal best perch and several other nice specimens.....The key to big fish is catching them during the spawn which occurs in our area in late January through February.....I will continue to hunt them this winter and beyond........
Jul 23, 2012
Jeffrey D. Abney
Welcome Jason....glad to have you!
Feb 4, 2013
dick tabbert
Nice coontail pictures Jeffrey and the eating don't get any better than that. I stocked 280 coontail in my pond this spring. Seems like every cast I catch one. I put 50 in last spring.
May 15, 2013
David, aka, "McScruff"
After the spawn, you have to look in 20-30 feet of water over structure like humps, sunken rock piles etc. They hang around such places looking for invertebrates, and small bait fish. If food is scarce, they move on.
These are open water fish that move around in search of food. A boat and depth finder are a must, and minnows are the preferred bait. Worms are a good second choice. Look for the schools, and get a jig, small spoon or minnow in there quick.
They are active in the day, actually sleeping at night... so no need to go too early. They school up in the twilight hour and swim toward shore until they run into the bottom, where they just "lay down" and go to sleepy in loose groups. When morning light again comes upon the water, they form back up and go back on the prowl
Once you locate a school, the action will be hot...until they move off. You can stay there, as they usually return - eventually.
Or you can head for the next hump, submerged point or other structure, as long as it is in the right depth. All this apples to white perch, too, and where you catch the one you are likely to get the other.
Again, I am no expert. But this is what the experts put in writing. There was a great article in South Carolina a few months back. Its was called presidential perch, if memory serves.
May 15, 2013
jim cosgrove
jeffrey,those we got in spades up here.lake michigan is full of giant yellow perch.they love minnows and crawdad meat .i use a crappie rig and not un common to catch em 2 at a time .always on or near the bottom.
May 15, 2013
Jeffrey D. Abney
Thanks for the information guys.....I get a little better every year with these guys....we just have so much water to cover and learn patterns.....
May 15, 2013
dick tabbert
Good stuff David
May 15, 2013
dick tabbert
Jim we do the same in Lake Erie. The perch will almost always be on the bottom and fishing a spreader its nothing to catch doubles.
May 15, 2013
David, aka, "McScruff"
the Savannah River pretty much marks the southern limit of their
range. The tactics you Midwesters use would work as well here.
I don't have a boat, so I never get to target them properly. I content myself with catching them where I can.
May 16, 2013
John Sheehan
They'll be in the shallows before too long David .Hang in there !
Sep 5, 2013
John Sheehan
looking through my pics, Yellow Perch catching from shore starts around the 3rd week of October and can be great till ice up .That's in my home NJ lake.
Sep 5, 2013
Jason Preslar
Larger lakes in my area that have yellow perch seem to only give up a few if any for anglers. I only know of one impoundment (55 acres) that actually will give up respectable numbers of perch on a regular basis. Although I will admit that when the weather chilled down the perch didn't cooperate as usual.
Upon the aforementioned trip I only caught one initially until a friend of mine arrived and he was equipped with a fish finder. We still only landed a handful. I was in my yak and usually I catch them fishing cover in the usual haunts but this day I kind of drifted the areas he marked while estimating the depth I offered my baits according to what he said his depth finder was marking.
Nov 11, 2014
Jeffrey D. Abney
Welcome to the group Greg!
Dec 28, 2020
Greg Easley
Thank you, Sir.
I renovated an old pond on my property a couple years back. Stocked shellcrackers summer of '19, yellow perch fall of '19, then added smallmouth and hybrid striped bass this fall. Until I stocked them I'd never even seen a yellow perch. I sampled some yoy back in August, which is a good sign that conditions in the pond are suitable for them.
I haven't really fished for them yet, but I have caught a few while tormenting the shellcrackers. I'm looking forward to spring and seeing if I can catch a few of them. The advanced stockers that went in should be plenty big for the skillet by then.
This is the first one that I caught out of the pond.
Dec 29, 2020
Jeffrey D. Abney
Very cool Greg! I hope your perch do well this year along with your crackers and Hybrids.I hope you check in with us and let us know how they do. I know member Dick Tabbert has grown some nice perch in his Ohio pond.......Good luck.....
Dec 29, 2020
Greg Easley
My place is just a couple miles south of I-70 in the middle of Missouri. I'm probably nuts for trying it, but if it works out I will have a fishing hole in my front yard that is quite unusual for this part of the country.
Dec 29, 2020
Greg Easley
So far, so good. The YP that were hatched in the pond last spring are ranging 4"-5", and are nice and plump. I caught this little toad a couple days ago on a piece of nightcrawler. From the looks of her belly, the spawn is eminent, and ought to be a good one.
Mar 23, 2021
Jeffrey D. Abney
That's great news Greg......love to catch those fat perch!
Mar 26, 2021
Greg Easley
So far my experiment is going well. Caught these a couple days ago. The fish in the 2nd pic would have been hatched in my pond in the spring of '20.
Oct 4, 2021