Perch enthusiasts certainly know all about the awesome ice fishing lake Simcoe offers for Jumbo Perch. But in my books, the open water season is the number one time to 'cash in big' on the best Perch fishing Simcoe ever has to offer. For any anglers looking to mine some of this "Yellow Gold" here are a couple of tips to get in on the action.
Throughout the spring, summer and fall, feeding habits dictate fish location and the foods available to the Perch at any given time. Seasonal shifts in the food supply will determine their location and produce concentrations in key areas.
During the spring/early summer Perch roam (often in huge schools) across sandy flats with mixed spare weed growth and are feeding on the large schools of minnows in shallow water (5 - 10ft). The key to locating the Perch is to keep your boat moving by either drifting or slowly trolling with a electric trolling motor. Move your boat slowly across these flats covering water close to shore then out towards the deeper edges of the flat. Once you locate a school of Perch, slow down and spend more time fishing the area vertically than trolling. They will smack small jigs dropped and worked vertically and Perch don't have much fear of the boat so they will actually gather under the boat for a short period of time. When the school begins to break up, continue to move across the flats until you encounter another school. At this time of year the Perch will often move with the baitfish so it’s important that you keep moving also.
When the water starts to warm up various insect hatches start to emerge, and along with them one of the Perch's favorite foods..... the Crawfish hatch! Perch absolutely love chowing down on these guys and will show up in big numbers to feed on them. Crawfish will begin to hatch first on the shallow gravel and rock stretches located near shore. When the Crawfish have started approaching the 1" size Perch will emerge in huge numbers looking for some of these tender morsels. These small Crawfish will attract and hold schools of fish for days at a time and since these hatches don’t all occur all over the lake at the same time, this pattern can be good for a month or more. Perch will hit various jigs, spoons and especially small twisters and tube jigs worked over these areas. Tipping with a small shiner minnow or piece of worm will increase your success that much more.... especially when the bite slows down during mid day. Cast out your offering and retrieve it slowly back to the boat by hopping it along the bottom. When the fish are really finicky slow down even more by basically dragging you lure right along the bottom. When you feel the slightest tap or weight sensation set the hook! When the fish are not aggressive slowly working a jig vertically inches off bottom is often the ticket....especially with you impart frequent pauses holding your offering motionless.
Remember to maximize your success keep moving around when the action slows and be versatile trying different sizes and colours of lures. By doing so you will be sure to strike it rick on some of that "Yellow Gold".
Remember to practice selective harvest and release the really large females (12+in) to ensure a strong future fishery.
Picture insert: Greg Klatt with a couple of giant Spring time Perch. These egg laden females were promptly released after a quick picture.
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Nice perch sir! and thanks for the article.
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