How do perch move

Get Digital Access. Subscribe To The Magazine. More Articles From Other Freshwater. There are more inch yellow perch than inchers, more and inch fish than inchers and so on. Get Your Fish On. Plan your next fishing and boating adventure here. Sign Me Up. Ready, Set Jason Halfen. See All Videos.

Buy Digital Single Issues. Don't miss an issue. Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet. Rifleshooter Subscribe. North American Whitetail Subscribe. In-Fisherman Subscribe. Firearms News Subscribe. Add an email address. One of my favorite winter fish species to chase is yellow perch. These fish grow big and feisty in some waters and are very tasty table fare too.

Here is a look at some tips to put jumbos on the ice and in the frying pan this winter. The first step in finding winter perch is choosing the right body of water, targeting a lake with a reputation for producing jumbos is sound advice. Mille Lacs, Leech Lake, and Winnibigoshish are three lakes that draw a great deal of winter perch angling attention. Once a lake has been chosen, the next step is finding the fish that swim there.

Metallic lures that create a lot of light and flash are affective too, especially in murkier water. While you likely can use a rod you already employ for panfish, bass or trout, a light graphite fishing rod with an open-faced spinning reel is just right for perch fishing. Many anglers prefer a longer rod over 6 feet because it allows them to cast small baits farther; but the rod should be thin and lightweight with a flexible tip for feeling light bites.

Bait hooks ranging from size 4 to 8 are ideal for most of the baits used for perch fishing. Some prefer hooks on the larger side because they are easier to remove and less likely to be swallowed. An assortment of light split-shot and bell sinkers will make fishing near the bottom a lot easier.

A variety of bobbers or floats in varying sizes and shapes will prepare you for situations where you want to keep your bait off the bottom. Although most commonly used with live bait, bobbers are also a good way to suspend a jig above the bottom. Yellow perch are among the most sought-after fish among ice fishermen, not only because perch are great table fare, but because their tendency to school together and bite in cold water makes it relatively easy to catch them in large numbers once you find them.

The best ice fishing baits for perch are similarly dainty. Tiny jigging spoons and teardrop jigs tipped with wax worms or spikes can almost always be counted on to get a bite. Yellow perch are native to the Midwest and Northeastern United States, as well as large portions of Canada. They are very abundant in the Great Lakes watershed. Perch also have been widely transplanted to areas south and west of their native territory, including as far west as Washington and Oregon.

Yellow perch inhabit lakes and reservoirs of all sizes, but they tend to thrive and reach the greatest size in deep, clear bodies of water with a variety of habitat.

Start by shaking the jig head closer to the bottom and working your jig back up slowly. Regardless of the bite, jig upwards in ft increments once you get Perch to follow. Separation drives Perch to commit to the bait.

Jig at a greater separation for more active fish ft and at a lesser separation for dormant fish ft. Perch feed on insects, freshwater shrimp, and smaller baitfish.

Start with an ice jig and soft plastic tipped with a waxie to mimic insects and shrimp. This smaller presentation generates the largest catch count of average sized Perch. The waxie is added for scent to improve commitment, and the soft plastic allows you to catch fish if smaller Perch steal your waxie. To target the jumbo Perch in a school you need to filter out the smaller fish with a larger lure. Tie on a flutter spoon tipped with a minnow head to mimic a baitfish.

The larger lure profile will intimidate the smaller fish, and the smaller tipping of bait renders an optimal lure presentation. Cold front s and other weather changes can affect how Yellow Perch bite. When the bite gets tough, you have to mix up baits and present ations to get them to com m it. When this happens, rig up a Perch Spoon Dropper Chain, which sports a spoon to call in Perch but also offers the bait a few inches below for a less intimidating commitment.

For even slower bites, a slip bobber with a ball of wax worms or small crappie minnow will incite a bite. Drill two holes 1 ft apart and set the depth of your slip bobber rig to 6 inches off the bottom in one hole.