Perch Fishing Tips and Tricks

Perch have less than perfect eyesight and can often be found near muddy, rocky, or sandy bottoms as they try to avoid hungry bass, pike, or walleye. Because they can be anywhere on large flats or basins and are often grouped up tightly, it’s important to locate them before even thinking about dropping a line.

Use traditional 2D sonar to run on plane and mark them at high speed. Once you’ve found some fish, then use down imaging to better understand what is going on. Down imaging allows you to see fish closer to the bottom and have a more defined picture. Once actually fishing, live sonar is incredible for being able to not only see individual groups of fish, but most importantly, allowing you to see what direction the school is moving so you can stay on them.

Most perch fishing is done vertically once you find a school. In the past, we used large anchors to keep the boat in one spot. While this still works, it can spook fish, wear out your back and just be a whole lot less efficient compared to newer technology. Bow-mounted trolling motors that have Spot-Lock allow you to actually hover in place via GPS as if you were anchored, but without the hassle. This allows us to move many more times in a day without getting lazy or being sore the next day.

When fishing in depths less than fifteen feet, I also like to use a shallow water anchor such as the Minn Kota Talon. This spike-like pole goes down and holds the boat in place with the push of a button. It is often very effective to use both Spot-Lock and the Talon in conjunction to keep the boat from swinging. This little adjustment will keep your boat from moving when the perch are picky and want the bait presented motionless.

There are two different schools of thought when it comes to line. Some anglers like old-school monofilament because it keeps you from setting the hook too quickly and presents the bait a little differently.

Others prefer a braided line for the added sensitivity and better hookups in deeper water. If you have two rods for perch fishing, having one with each might be the best decision. Whichever you choose, going with a small diameter high-visibility line is a good choice. It can allow you to line watch for light bites and help you stay vertical with just the right amount of line out.

Perch can be caught on just about any lure category, but it is tough to beat a basic minnow rig. On the Great Lakes, a spreader rig is very popular because you can fish multiple hooks on or near the bottom without tangling. As many areas experience improving water quality, some perch anglers are using crappie arm-style rigs to deploy their minnows. The crappie rig allows you to run as many as three hook setups at different depths to see if active perch are directly on the bottom or slightly suspended.

While perch are notoriously easy to catch, they also can be quick to be picky. Many of the aforementioned rigs are available with colored beads, feathers, or spinners for added color and flash. One minute those rigs will get constant bites compared to other rigs, but thirty minutes later they only hit basic “naked” rigs. It is always wise to have a plain colorless rig handy at all times for when perch get picky.

Much like fishing a jig for most species, adjust the weight size to the fish’s mood and water depth. Use as heavy of a weight as you can to get down quickly, but go lighter as the bites get pickier to avoid missing strikes.

Minnows seem to be one of the best all-around perch baits. The type of minnow, however, can make a big difference in the number of bites you get. On my home body of water, emerald shiners are the primary forage, but bait shops often can’t get enough in the summer and fall when perch fisherman numbers are at their peak. When this happens, the shops sell the more readily available small golden shiners. Some days, they work just as good; others you can’t seem to buy a bite. Because of this, I like to preserve my unused minnows for another day, as discussed in a previous MeatEater article.

Regardless of the minnow type that works best at your local lake, always be cautious of the size of the minnow. Most anglers seem to think that minnows always have to be alive, and sometimes lively minnows do work much better, but more often than not having the right size matters more than if they are alive or not. This is why most of the best perch fishermen I know carry a large pair of game shears in the boat to literally cut the minnows in half at times.

The moral of the story is to just try different things throughout the day, especially when the bite slows. The good part is that when you have multiple hooks on your line (when allowed by your state), you can try several different bait setups at once to determine what is working best. This can also mean trying other baits, such as small pieces of nightcrawlers or wax worms.

Perch are like any other fish; they can go from suicidal to lock-jaw in minutes. Fishing for them can be as simple or complex as you want it to be, but you can’t deny that it doesn’t get much better than a laid-back day of perch fishing that ends with an incredible sandwich or fish fry.