Will try to get some perch, any advice?
 

Going pike fishing on Saturday with my cousin, but there is plenty of perch in that lake. I am actually more interested in perch this time around, but it is going to be a really warm day. In fact, quite a few warm days prior as well. By warm I mean around and above 30 degrees Celsius. So doubt anything will come of it, Pike - yes; perch - probably not. But... Any advice?

All and any is appreciated.

Thanks!

Small hooks,small various coloured jig/hook with meal worm, maggots and or small 5 of diamonds.

What we do is get to a weed bed, toss the anchor out, drag it around the bottom, stirs it up real good, as things start to settle the perch come in and pick off the freshly disturbed meals...drop your line in.

Good luck.

Great advice! Will definitely keep that in mind. Thanks!

I am really concerned about the heat though. Never had much success in such warm weather. Granted, I have not fished for perch all that much.

Many people are surprised how deep perch are. I like to fish them in as deep of water without going past the point where the air bladders start coming through their mouth. (Around the 25-30ft range)

Oh, they will be deep, especially in this heat. 32-35 degrees for Saturday.

Any more tips?

Im with him. Dont be shy to find them around 25-30 feet. 4 pound mono, 1/16 or 1/8" yellow jig tipped with maggots. You may need some drop shot weight to get you down. If you want to get some perch i would try for them alone for a period and try not to do pike/ perch at the same time. Look for them on the finder at that depth - they will bite all day even in that heat. Other small hooks will work too.

You can handline which is super fun, but at that depth it sucks a little bit. So use a super senditive ice fishing rod/reel. Other small hooks will work too if mine dont work.

Oh ya - obviously a foot off the bottom, maybe little more, maybe little less. Good luck man. Which lake are you hittin up?

Good luck!

What else do you look for at 25-30 ft? structure? rock bottom? sand bottom? drop off? weed line?

The ice fishing rod is a great idea...thanks for that!

Thanks for the input, Fishwhere. Great points! Will utilize them tomorrow.
Ice fishing rod is my plan :)

As for the lake, the original plan is not working out anymore, so I am going hit Joker lake by myself tomorrow with a canoe or an inflatable boat, haven't decided yet. I haven't been there in ages, so have no idea what it's like today. If perch isn't biting, I will go for pike.

Anyone knows where to get the maggots in Peace River? The only place I knew was selling them was the Petro Canada gas station by the IGA, but they dug it out.

Thanks y'all for the input! Will try to report tomorrow.

The ice rod works well at deeper spots with a spinning reel so you can get them up quick. Im honestly no pro in finding them but i would start very similarly to walleye - so off of points, stay away from bays, look for shallow water near by with an incline and fish the deeper side. Dont even think about fishing unless youre seeing a lot on your finder, thats a hard one to get by... seeing one, maybe 2 and stopping and wasting time. Hopefully you have a decent finder that they ll show up on, and not hugging the bottom too tight. I keep moving and dont stop until i hit them.

Only reason i say dont fish pike/perch same time is because you may bring pike into the area youre perch fishing, but more so because i find its better to commit to getting some perch instead of fishing a pike spot and at the same time attempt to get some - just gets a little discouraging because youre not likely to do too well.

But i hope you get into them - i love them. Been a couple years until ive had a chance to go for perch for whatever reason.

Good luck!

Used to be my favourite lake when I lived in peace. Caught my personal best there trolling a number 4 len Thomson while goIng for pike in the 90's. About 2 pounds.

Goosegrass was always good for perch then too. It's over by gods lake.

It used be nice. I have no idea how it is now from personal experience since I have not been there in years. Heard not so good things about it a few years back perch wise. Pike is still there for sure because a buddy pulled out a giant, pretty much literally, just a few weekends ago. So, I will try to report back if this is, in fact, where I will go.

I know exactly where the Goosegrass lake is, but have never been there for whatever reason. Maybe will give it a visit before the colds.

Fishwhere, thanks for the advice again. I really appreciate it. And no, it will not be perch/pike fishing. More like if perch is not biting, then pike it is. Also, I am going to fly fish for pike.

Still don't know where to get the maggots though.

Glad to help man! Always a good excuse to talk about fishing. Have a good one!

They had maggots at the Co-op gas bar in Peace River this winter. I haven't looked this summer for maggots though.

Gulp maggots work well also and any Canadian Tire has them.

Dodger.

To update, the fishing trip got cancelled due to something coming up that had to be dealt with. The trip didn't get cancelled but rather postponed to some weekend in the fall, I guess.

I did get to do some fishing at heart river dam today though. Lots of pike action. No giants; the biggest was just over 70 cm (about 28 inches) and the rest all under 55 cm. Was fun.

I will update this thread once I do what I set to do when I created it :lol:

Jpaul74, i did stop at Co-op gas bar and they did not have any maggots. So I am still looking.

dodger, I am not a fan of Gulp stuff, but that was what I was going to go with before the change of plans.

Thanks to all!