Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations When do Yellow Perch Bite the Most?

For those that have YP in their regularly fished ponds, when do you see the most fishing activity? So far for me in NE Ohio, it's been early Spring only. I fished all Summer and only caught maybe 3-5 of them which has been somewhat disappointing considering i've stocked 400 of them.. Now that Fall has arrived and water temps are cooling down I am wondering if the YP fishing will pick up a bit?

Shallow water in the spring is the best at my place. We do catch them in the summer in the deeper water fishing the bottom. Early morning and last hour of the day fishing are the best.

When you fish in the shallow water what type of lure / bait are you using?

In the spring just after spawning. For us the last week of April. They are very aggressive until mid June. Worms work the best early spring then they will start to hit the minnows till June. April to Mid May you can just hold the worm in the water with out casting and pull them out.

Fishing deep we use a hot pink jig with minnow or white jig with a minnow. Bright day bright head. Dark day dark head. Very little luck with worms after June. Crayfish work well suspended just from the bottom in the summer. They will hit the crayfish hard so be holding onto that rod.

We have not had much luck with artificial baits and our yellow perch. Always seems to be live bait works the best. After September we don't have much if any luck at all. I wonder if we feed ours to well and they have lots of fat ready for the winter.

Cheers Don.

I caught them with a jig for the first few years, then it slowed down. Then I started getting hits with smaller lures. They were still working ok for a few fish, just about any time of year, as long as I was fishing early am or almost at sunset.
My grandkids caught 30 or 40 a few weeks ago. All with worms. Some under a bobber, and some just slowly pulled in on the bottom.
If I’m trying to catch a lot of YP in a short time (think fish fry) I’ll go to worms, but otherwise I’ll stay with lures. Same ones the SMB hit in shallow water.

When it cools in fall/winter YP will feed on other small fish (BG) as the BG metabolism slows and the BG with it slow down. YP being a cool water fish will maintain activity levels when BG slow.

my younger days in the sand pit full of perch I used the ABU SHYSTER In yellow with brown spots. Very effective and when slow put a small hunk of creek chub flesh on the treble hook.

I've been trying worms near the bottom and a small mepps spinner.. no luck on yellow perch though. I've got lots of healthy sized HSB and bluegill.

My YP are most active in water temps below 70, so Spring and Fall are the go times. 1/32 oz jighead tipped with a crawler piece or small FHM worked on the bottom is how I approach them. Often they are very shallow and hit just near shore. If that doesn't work try small FHM on a tru-turn aberdeen hook beneath a float and let it drift. If fish are active you can flip tube jigs and work them along the bottom.