Do you love big bluegill?

Exclusively Yellow Perch in a cold wet snow from shore

Inhaled the white Bucktail .The float was set for 2-2,1/2'

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Comment by dick tabbert on November 10, 2012 at 7:01pm: David when I live in N.C. we would fish the river systems fishing for Catfish and them White perch would bother us all night. I don't care to eat them but my fishing partner wanted them so we always got a good mess for him.

Comment by John Sheehan on November 10, 2012 at 7:01pm: Yes ,again good info!! Nomadic moreso than Crappie I believe David! I 've gotten into Whites pretty good following boiling baitfish in a boat before but the Tabbert spreader tecnique seems to be the ticket not casting to them like I've done.Never tried spreaders but I fish very small lakes.

Comment by John Sheehan on November 10, 2012 at 6:54pm: Jim Gronaw and Howard Webster have both said the shiner or minnow is indeed the favored bait for Jumbo Yellow Perch .I only fish shiners through the ice on tipups or traps as some call them .I don't like carrying around live shiners in buckets in the other months .My go to is the jig tipped with a mealworm or crawler piece.My biggest Perch is only 12 and 1/2" caught trolling a Rebel Wee R Crawfish Crankbait.Jumbo Perch in the 15"and up class is what the "Experts" catch on a regular basis I would think . But i do pride myself in getting Yellow Perch and Bluegills for that matter any month of the year through the waters I know well .My goal as a Multi species fisherman is to do that consistently .I made up a Bluegill calender photo album of a bluegilll pic from each month of the year and would like to do that with as many species as I can .That's a worthy pursuit in my eyes.

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on November 10, 2012 at 6:51pm: "The White Perch always seem to be hard to target but show up sometimes when trolling or when first catching other species. I never caught the numbers in my lake like YP. Thanks as always David for your research and input. Sure wish we could wet a line sometime together!"

In what I've read about white perch, John (and precious little is available), the single thing that stands out is the impossibility of predicting their behavior. The spot that was overloaded with them today will be devoid tomorrow. Meanwhile when you least expect them, they show up. SO your experience certainly backs up what is documented.

The latter happenstance is how I encounter them most of the time. I'm fishing for something else - usually shellcrackers - and I start catching white perch. Inevitably I pull them from some deep water spot like a submerged creek channel or hole.

I do recall one spot on Lake Murray where they were fairly predictable... well, I should say where you stood a good chance of hooking up with them. The schools move around a lot, something I believe is common for the entire moronae family of fishes. But we considered a particular cut channel behind L. Murray's Dreher Island a reliable white perch area.

If would enjoy fishing with you, John. Who knows what the good Lord has in store. Regardless, you and all the BBG clan, are in my thoughts. Hope you wow 'em at your next gig.

Comment by dick tabbert on November 10, 2012 at 6:51pm: David when you catch a mess and eat them you won't forget them they'll be on the top of your list of fish to eat.

Comment by dick tabbert on November 10, 2012 at 6:46pm: Ice fishing is good when we have good Ice. Most of the coves we have are inlets to marinas and most of the time need permission to fish. Most of that fishing is for Crappies though. We have a couple big parks on Lake Erie loaded with gills when the ice is safe one being west harbor state park and East harbor state park. Have seen a couple video's on you tube with people fishing there. Water is quit shallow. Might be work checking into the video's.

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on November 10, 2012 at 6:39pm: I have caught yellow perch twice that I know of. Once was on Langley Pond (the worlds largest pond, btw) and once on Lake Murray (both here in SC). Obviously, I'm no expert!

But from what I do know, the minnow is the go-to bait for yellows. Worms are next. Spreader, Dick? Now there is something you don't see around here. Sounds like you two guys ARE perch experts.

Comment by John Sheehan on November 10, 2012 at 6:35pm: Always wanted to fish Lake Erie .My fishing bud/brother Greg use to tell me how good the fishing was when he was out there in Ohio at the Palmer Chiropractic school.

Would love to catch a mess of Jumbos! How's the ice fishing in the coves on Erie?

Comment by John Sheehan on November 10, 2012 at 6:33pm: Great account Dick! I have had success doing basically the same thing .Yellow Perch on the long drift is a great way to enjoy a beer with the nephew and catch fish ! Usually dragging lifting/falling a worm tipped jig .I employ a drift sock and have had good days doing this in late fall on very cold windy days .

Comment by dick tabbert on November 10, 2012 at 6:24pm: Great perch John. In Lake Erie now is the time for the Jumbo's. I remember when the wife and I went out this was before electronics to catch them great tasting fish. Some time we would be spot on and hall in what we needed and then there were the times we worked for them. We would bait up our lines with a spreader and minnows. What we would do to locate them was easy and quit productive. We would hang our lines over the side of the bout let them sink to the bottom and reel up 3 cranks of the reel handle. Then we would drift. When we get a couple bites close together we knew we would be in the perch. We always got lots of perch.