One of the best tasting fish in fresh water is the yellow perch. What this species lacks in fighting ability, it more than makes up for in their superior taste. One of the best times to fish for perch is in spring. The cold waters this time of the year makes their flesh very firm and tasty. This is also one of the easiest times of the year to catch a limit.
Early Spring
Very early spring can find the yellow perch still out in fairly deep water. When the water gets around the 40-degree range, perch will begin to spawn. They usually spawn on emerging weed growth left over from the fall. They can be found in areas anywhere from 15 to 35 feet depending on a certain lake’s littoral or shallow water region. This area is where the majority of life remains in most bodies of water. These depths harbor fish fry along with lots of food.
When spawning starts, the female perch will spread her eggs on the weed growth, the males will fertilize the eggs and then both of them head out to deeper waters and do not protect the eggs like other species. After both male and female recuperate from spawning, they often head back to more shallow, fertile waters to feed.
Catching early spring perch is just like buying property. It’s all about location. Perch will filter into a lake’s shallower areas such as a north or south end that receives warming creek or river waters. Looking for perch on a lake known for good spring fishing is usually quite easy . All you have to do is find the armada of boats stacked up in key areas.
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Spring Perch Tactics
Catching spring perch can be quite easy. Top choices are usually small minnows such as fat heads or small jigs used for crappie and other panfish. If you can find them, live bait such as oak leaf grubs work as well. They can be found along small streams and ditches. They are the larva stage of the crane fly.
It often pays to keep moving for spring perch. While you may have success in one area, the schools often keep moving and will relocate often. They may come back to an area after venturing out. This is usually a region that has lots of bait.
A fairly large perch may run around the one pound mark with certain lakes producing fish over two pounds. Many avid perch anglers will not keep a perch unless it’s at least 10-inches long. A good rule of thumb for anglers is to measure the distance with your hand spread out from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pinky finger. It’s often a good guide to measure 10-inches.
You don’t need heavy tackle to catch spring perch. Many avid perch anglers will use ultra light tackle with a 4-pound test. Personally I like to use a six pound Seaguar fluorocarbon leader tied to 8-10 lb braid line for perch. I also like to use a Lew’s 7’6” medium light spin rod. Something you might want to use for walleye jigging. The added length works great for fishing off a dock or out in a boat.
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The drop shot rig where you have a tin wire hook such as a number 2 or 4 tied above a bell sinker is an ideal set up. For more sensitivity, use a tungsten weight. The rig keeps the bait off the weed growth and in view of fish. Some anglers even will use a double drop shot rig with one hook tied about 8-12” above the bottom hook.
Late Spring Fishing
During late spring and right before summer begins, perch can be scattered at different depths and areas of the body of water you are fishing. While bass fishing with larger lures, I have actually caught some of my largest perch. If a perch angler is having problems catching smaller fish, besides changing the area, larger lures and/or live bait can trigger bigger perch.
Last spring, I was fishing a local multi species derby on one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York. I was cranking deep weed lines for smallmouth bass. I ran into a school of nice perch casting a ¾-ounce deep diving crankbait. One of the several perch I caught was one over a pound and took one of the top places in the perch category.
The largest perch I have ever caught that was over 15-inches long was caught in 35’ feet of water. I was sliding a ¾-ounce spider jig for smallmouths when the large fish hit.
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Once the water warms up, perch like other fish don’t seem to be as tasty as when they are caught in cold water. Many perch anglers wait until the water cools off in October and November until they resume chasing perch.
Perch Preparation
Probably one of the most delicious and popular ways to cook perch is to deep fry them. To make them taste better, use peanut oil. Take the filets and roll them in flour with some salt and pepper. Then dunk them in an egg/milk wash. The fillets can then be rolled in breadcrumbs. I prefer to use an Italian seasoned one with some added parmesan cheese. Only cook the fillets until lightly golden brown and serve with tartar or cocktail sauce.
Perch may not give you a fight to remember them by, but the platter of great tasting fish will have you chasing them spring after spring.
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