Perch Perch,mid summer

[jimski2]

 

A few boats daily fishing for perch now but no reports from them, start looking at 55 foot depths. That is where the mud bottom meets the shale bottom and the mud is where the critters that perch feed on live. You can move out to 65 and 70 foot now the lake surface temperature is at 77 degrees. The perch can suspend above the thermocline but dive deeper to feed on the bottom mud. Your fish finder may indicate fish schools ten foot solid on the bottom at this time of year and you will only be able to handle one line as the perch will be on as soon as your line hits bottom. Extra lines result in fewer fish and lost bait as you waste time rebaiting those extra lines. Good luck and remember those unharvested perch do a number on your walleye and bass populations.

 

 

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[Ten Percent]

Hey Jimski2..would you fish for them same way as in the spring? If so, would the local bait shop still carry emeralds?

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[jimski2]

Minnows, even goldens if that is all you can get, on the mud bottom. Plastics like Maki's, twister tails, etc. Anchor up in 70 foot you need over 200 foot of anchor line. Drifting in light winds or Spot Lock electric motors that holds you over the school are the best. Wind changes while anchoring can take you off the hot spot. Most important is a good fish finder graph. If nothing is down on the bottom, keep on moving and looking for fish first. Groups of boats are not necessarily ideal if only a few boats are catching. Watch for boats catching and that is good.


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[jimski2]

Another deal is wet flies bouncing on the bottom.


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[jimski2]

Add in perch eyes


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[lineman49]

  Jimski2,  all great info. thanks!

[H20chrome]

what type of wet fly just a standard soft hackle? Perch eyes seem to work better for me in the winter tipped on a jigging spoon. Try a drop shot rig using an aberdeen hook and threading on a 3" berkly powerbait trout worm, let it hit bottom and just shake your slack line, leaving the sinker on the bottom the whole time. tying your hook 20 inches up from your sinker lets you super slowly dead fall the bait by letting some slack in your line, watching for the line to jump. 6 pound test braid to a micro swivel then mono or flouro helps tremendously at those depths.

[jimski2]

Palomar knots give more sensitivity to your pole than swivels and snaps. You then have a connection like a violin string.

 

 

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[zadvorney]

cool info guys. Thanks

[Pequod1]

One of my baits that has not been mentioned is cut bait from the belly of a perch or silver bass.  I have used it successfully in Erie and currently in the finger lakes. As far as plastics go, the shape has not mattered much but the color has. Change it out until you find what works and use it until  it stops working then change it again. 

[H20chrome]

On 7/22/2017 at 8:52 AM, jimski2 said:

Palomar knots give more sensitivity to your pole than swivels and snaps. You then have a connection like a violin string.

With the amount of line twist I get when tying direct like that its not worth the hassle to me, and I can still feel every little tap, using blackbird micro swivel

 

 

[jimski2]

Many times a perch will inhale your minnow, then crunch it up to scale and crush the bones. You will not see the top of your rod move but you can feel light vibrations on your line and the knot helps you feel them. If your line twists up so bad keep spare rods handy.


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[Aquaman]

Seems like everybody's seeing good perch pods out deep while trolling. Me too. Anybody stop and drop on em. Think that's my next plan while the eyes need to regroup after flip

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[garrymny]

8/4 out of Sturgeon point. I was drifting for walleyes in 60 -62 FOW. We caught 3 nice perch on crawler harnesses in a about a 200 foot section of our drift . I guess I should have thrown anchor at that point??? We saw lots of fish (or bait) clouds on the bottom. Some bigger fish arches suspended at 30 and also on the bottom. I checked with the Fish Hawk and the water temp was 74 surface and 72 at 60 feet!  So, I dont kow what to think of all this. I am a beginner on erie, usually troll for salmon on Lake Ontario.

[jimski2]

Too much emphasis on water temperature is not the best indication of fish presence, more important indication is dissolved oxygen level of the water. Decaying biological matter removes oxygen from cold water and warm water above the thermocline. Some late summer conditions after a long hot period have the best dissolved oxygen near the warm surface water. Wave action, rain and cloudy conditions bring the fish to the surface where your fish finder will show no fish anywhere . They flee from your boat and the sonar cone is too small to indicate fish.


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[jimski2]

Hey Jimski2..would you fish for them same way as in the spring? If so, would the local bait shop still carry emeralds?

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[jimski2]

Emeralds are taken mainly from the Niagara River where they spawn. When the surface water temperatures reach 65 degrees they move out to deeper water in Lake Erie. We caught a lot of emeralds in the light of our lanterns when we fished for blue pike in June till they moved deeper. I remember Ohio bait dealers setting lanterns on inner tubes to catch emeralds out deep in the summer. The lantern light attracts phytoplankton to them and the emeralds and ciscoes ride to feed on them.


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[lineman49]

  Jimski2, More power to you!   with your wisdom & knowledge & the mention of catching blue pike how long have you been around? lol  You always have great info.   I can remember my father coming home at 7 am while I was waiting for the school bus & telling me to get the fish out of the trunk which I would do & there would be a burlap feed bag full of blue pike in it, I guess every one did that back then, its really too bad.  He also said the lake behind the steel plant looked like a small city with all the boats & lanterns out there at night.   I recently caught what looked like a blue pike on a Canadian fishing trip in June.

[jimski2]

The blue pike were not fished out. They were exterminated by smelt. Also exterminated back then were other cold water species like lake trout, ciscoes and whitefish. The unharvested smelt were finally brought under control by Canadian trawlers and trout and salmon stocking programs. Fishing does not exterminate a specie, they become scarce and fishing then stops. A few survive for the future. The cold water blue pike fry and fingerling were consumed by the smelt biomass.


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[Aquaman]

Anyone try those deep pods of perch lately

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[Ten Percent]

Anyone try those deep pods of perch lately

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Hey Aquaman...where abouts are you noticing them? I see the mid & western basin boys are starting to chase em. Probably should throw a little perch gear on the boat if we got lucky and limited early on the eyes

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[Aquaman]

Hey Aquaman...where abouts are you noticing them? I see the mid & western basin boys are starting to chase em. Probably should throw a little perch gear on the boat if we got lucky and limited early on the eyes

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Started seeing them 2 weeks ago off catt. Guys were grabbing some incidental on harnesses us too. 80 ft saw some packs at Dunkirk 80 to 90 and Barcelona near perch nets

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[Pequod1]

I have seen them all the way out to 110' but they are small pods at this time.  By the time you set up and drop a bait down they will be gone.  I usually start fishing for them at the end of the month but I will be out in LaLA land until late September. Should be good when I return.

[jimski2]

Perch are available off the Cattaraugus Creek area. One boat came in from 71 foot of water with a 100 perch limit this week. Our problem is the older bait dealers now depend on delivered golden shiners. Pin head emeralds are now available in the river, although they are small, they work better.


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[Dmd113]

How many guys use the mud hook rig on bottom?