Perch Fishing Tips (Learn The Best Ways How To Catch Perch)

Sweet, tasty, and full of flavor, it’s no surprise that perch is one of the most popular panfish among fishers. This guide will teach you some various perch fishing tips for catching all types of perch in different seasons and locations. We’ll also break down the equipment you’ll need so you’ll be hooking panfish after panfish with ease.

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Common Perch Types (& How To Identify Them)

Silver Perch
This species of perch fish is the smallest in its family. They’re oval-shaped with a small and beak-like head. Despite the name, silver perch are often grey, gold, green, or dark grey. Once you see your perch catch is paler on the sides with a white stomach area, then you’ve caught a silver perch.
White Perch
White perch are one of the most adaptable fish as they can be found in shallow saltwater as well as in freshwater rivers and lakes. The fins around the pelvic, anal, and belly are often a rosy red color. Older white perch species have a hump on their back and tend to be olive, gray-green, silvery gray, dark brown, or black.
Yellow Perch
With big fins, bright-colored body, and distinctive stripes, yellow perch are considered the king of panfish by a ton of devoted fishermen. They range in color from pale yellow to bright orange, and they have6-7 dark, vertical stripes on their side. With a small pointy mouth and divided dorsal fins, they’re one of the easiest panfish to identify in the States.

Equipment Needed For Catching Perch (& Best Setup From A Pro Angler)

Rods and Reels

Perch are smaller panfish, so you do not need heavy rods or reels. The best combo you can choose for these panfish is a light or ultralight gear with a 6 to 8-pound test. We recommend rods that are 6.4 to 8 feet in length, and that’s suitable for soft lures. Check out our guides on the best jig rods and reels, or drop-shot rods if you’re purchasing gear that’s specific for perch fishing.

Fishing lures/baits

Getting the right baits and lures are essential when perch fishing. These species move quickly when they have cover, so you won’t get many bites with heavy baits at the end of your line. We recommend live minnows, maggots, and even small pieces of crayfish meat as baits. As for lures, stick with plugs, jigs, and spinners in yellow or white designs. That should get a perch’s attention in a hurry.

Hooks and terminal tackle

The best way to get more catches is to match your hooks to the type of bait or lure you’re using. Generally, hooks in sizes 4 to 6 are ideal for live baits, and 8 to 10 are better suited for plastic lures. As for a line and leader, fluorocarbon is your best option for both. It’s almost invisible underwater, making it extremely discreet. It's also more resistant to cutting (predator’s teeth) than braid and nylon.

Tackle storage

Once you’ve got your gear, it’s time to focus on where to store it all. A good portable tackle storage unit will help you from cutting trips short by losing tackle at the water. Check out our recommendations for the best tackle boxes on our site.

Where To Fish For Perch (Their 5 Main Habitats)

1. Catching perch in lakes

Lakes are a great place to find yellow and white perch, especially in the springtime. The best perch lake fishing tip we can give you is to find small pockets of deep water (less than 20 feet) and focus on using floating lures

2. Catching perch in weedy areas

Casting your line into rocks and weed beds is a great idea as they prefer these habitats rather than large and open bodies of water. They also have the perfect natural camouflage to blend into weedy environments. This gives them a lot of protection from predators such as walleye, bass, and pike.

3. Catching perch in shoals

Perch are shoal fish, but, as in many other species, they become more solitary when they begin to grow and get older. Even though their shoals can be hard to locate all year round, your best bet to finding them is right after their spawning season. Use some vertical jigging techniques when fishing for perch in shoals

4. Catching perch at deep water

Once the weather begins to get hotter and the water temperature rises, perch will move to deeper waterways. Usually, this will be 20 to 25 feet deep. We recommend targeting deep-water perch from ledges, drop-offs, and deep holes with muddy or rocky bottoms.

5. Catching perch in ponds

In ponds, you won’t find too many silver or white perch. However, yellow perch can live very well in this environment. Yellow perch are a lot more piscivorous than other panfish, so they have their influence on a pond fish community. This means using small pieces of live bait will better your chances of catching perch fish in ponds.

How to Catch Perch (8 Game-Changing Perch Fishing Tips)

1. Use another perch as a bait

Perch aren’t fussy eaters in terms of live baits, and many anglers use their first small perch catch as bait to get the attention of even more perch. Simply fillet each piece about 1-inch and leave the skin attached to gain success.

2. Master the drift

If you're fishing from a boat, don’t just stay in one small area of the water. Allow your boat to drift (so long at it’s less than 0.5 mph). This will allow you to cover more water.

3. Chumming

Attract more perch to the area where you're fishing by occasionally sprinkling some rice, corn, or broken eggshells onto the surface. This is called chumming, and it really helps lure more perch to you.

4. Perch callers

There are commercials ‘perch callers’ on the market that generate noise underwater. The noise gets the attention of perch fish and brings them to your fishing location. You can make one yourself; here’s a video that explains the DIY process.

5. Running the boat motor

If you’re not interested in buying or making a perch caller, then your boat motor can do the same job. Turn on the engine and let it idle for a short period of time. This method will only work in waterways that are 15 feet or shallower.

6. Drop shot rig like a pro

We’ve previously mentioned, drop shot rigs are a great setup for catching perch fish. You can add multiple hooks and an attractor (like a bead or spinner). Then add a jig as a weight so it can double as one of your hooks. It’s a sure way of gaining a perch’s attention.

7. Using glow-in-the-dark lures in deep waters

When fishing for perch at dusk, you can use glow-in-the-dark lures. It's best to add this lure onto the top hook of a drop shot rig as it will trick the perch fish and attract them to your hook.

8. Keep track of the perch spots

Perch fish tend to habitat the same area of water. If you find schools of perch in a particular area of water, be sure to save it on your map and return to the same spot on your next trip. It’s an easy way to find perch fish in the future.

Bonus: Seasonal Perch Fishing Tips (Catching Perch All Year Round)

Perch Spring Fishing
Looking for the best times for fishing Perch? In early spring, you can find a ton of perch fish in less than 10 feet of water. This is due to their spawning season as female perch spread their eggs over weed beds and shallow, rocky areas. The best technique for perch in springtime is jigging. Jog a small jig or light lure in shallow waterways, and you’re bound to get a bite.
Perch Summer Fishing
Once the water is warmer than 80 degrees F, schools of perch fish will begin to move into deeper waterways. We recommend slowly trolling small crankbaits in 20-25 feet of water when fishing for perch in summer. You can also hit your lure on the bed of the water on hot days. This will attract the perch by creating sounds and stirring up underwater sediment.
Perch Fall Fishing
Hitting your local lakes is your best bet if you want to catch perch in the fall season. It’s best to find a 5-10 feet body of water that tapers gradually into deeper water. They love to camouflage into vegetation and rocks in these areas, so be sure to target these areas.
Perch Winter Fishing
Large perch species are commonly caught in the winter months. This is because big perch species feed primarily on smaller fish, and the numbers of small baitfish fall. Perch has to work a little harder for a meal, so they're more prone to bite. Try jigging a small, live bait about 3 meters from the water bed to get the best results in the winter months.

Conclusion

You can learn a lot from perch fishing, and it helps that they’re great fun to catch. Whether you reel in a yellow, white, or silver perch, you’re in for a tasty treat. We hope these tips and techniques help you on your next fishing adventure and it leaves you with some fried perch on your dinner plate

Perch Fishing Tips: How To Catch & Fish Perch