Freshwater
Yellow Perch
Where to find them, how to catch them and the tackle to use.
01Introduction
The yellow perch is a golden panfish with bold dark vertical bars, one of the most common and popular fish across the northern U.S. and Canada. It travels in schools, bites all year, is a favorite of ice anglers, and is excellent to eat. Most are 8 to 12 inches; a 2-pounder is a real trophy.
02Where to Catch
Range: native from Nova Scotia and Quebec west to Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, south through the Great Lakes and Mississippi basins to Ohio, Illinois and Nebraska, and down the Atlantic slope to the Carolinas. It has been introduced in many other waters.
Habitat: lakes, ponds and slow rivers, usually over mud or gravel bottoms near weeds. Perch feed on and near the bottom. Smaller perch stay near shore, while bigger ones roam more open water. Perch school by size, so if you're catching small ones, move until you find bigger fish. On big lakes in summer, perch often school in deeper water.
03How to Catch
Open water
Find the school, then hold in place quietly. Fish a minnow or piece of worm near the bottom on a jig, a drop-shot, or a multi-hook "tree" rig. A small rattle spoon can call fish in, and a perch-colored jigging minnow lure works all year, since big perch eat small ones. When perch keep stealing bait, switch to small finesse plastics on a light jighead.
Spring
Perch spawn in April and May as the water reaches the mid-40s to mid-50s°F, laying their eggs in long, stringy masses.
Through the ice
Ice fishing is the classic perch season. First ice often brings aggressive fish in the shallows. Search with a spoon or jigging minnow lure, then work the bottom zone: perch pick a lot of food off the bottom. Try "bottom skipping" (drop the lure to the bottom and snap it back a few inches), or lay a tiny jig tipped with grubs on the bottom and barely jiggle it. When a school gets wise, move and look for another. By midwinter, as oxygen drops under the ice and shallow weeds die, perch often move to nearby drop-offs and mid-depth flats.
Finding bigger perch
Perch can overpopulate a lake and stay stunted. For jumbos, try waters with fewer perch and less fishing pressure.
04Tackle
An ultralight spinning rod or ice rod with 2- to 6-pound line (the smaller the lure, the lighter the line) lets you feel light bites. Carry small jigs, jigging spoons, jigging minnow lures, small plastics, drop-shot and tree rigs, and live bait. Only go on the ice when it's safe, and check your state's regulations for perch limits.
05Questions anglers ask
Why are all the perch I catch the same size?
Yellow perch school by size and age, and males and females sometimes school separately. If you're catching small ones, move and look for a school of bigger fish, usually in deeper, more open water.
When do yellow perch spawn?
In spring, usually April and May as the water reaches about 44 to 54°F. Females lay their eggs in long, stringy masses; there's no nest.
Why do I only catch stunted perch?
Perch can overpopulate a lake and stay small. Big perch are more often found in waters with fewer perch and less fishing pressure.