Perch on I-bay

[steinea286]

Im new and not exactly sure if this is where I should be posting this but it looks like people look at it often. My cousin has rented a boat for the middle of sept to fish I-bay. He wants to catch ANYTHING. I know a little about the bay but not a whole lot and know that the perch start coming in at about that time of year. Any techniques on catching these good pan frying fish at this time of year? If not how about other panfish (gills and seeds). I know that I should be able to catch a few bass with Senko's or something but any information on location and some kind of tactic to catch the JUMBO's would be much appreciated.

[GAMBLER]

The perch don't start coming into the bay full force until October. Some smaller perch and decent perch are there in Septmeber. Gills and seeds are along the weedlines all over the bay. Pike, walleye and bass can be caught along the drop offs and weed lines using traditional methods for each species.

[W.W.IV.]

I fished I Bay this morning for perch. Started picking up 10- 12" perch with a south wind. the wind shifted to the northeast and the bite ended, fished in 7to9 fow.

[steinea286]

fish with minnow? Drag worms? Anything like that to catch em?

[GAMBLER]

fateheads dragged on the bottom. worms catch mostly dinks. buy jumbo fatheads if you can.

[W.W.IV.]

I was using small shiners up to 3". It will be two or three weeks before it gets really good. Like Gambler said forget the worms. Good luck.

[steinea286]

Well thats good to hear. My cousine planned a trip for the 12 of September because hes hosting a bachelor party. Fishing in the morning and would like to catch enough fish to have a good fish fry. With the weather as cool as it is, I hope the perch move in. How do you rig the minnows? Small jigs? Bare hooks with sinkers? Any ideas are appreciated..

[GAMBLER]

I just rig 2 hooks above a egg sinker. drag the sinker on the bottom and you will find them. A lot of the time, you will get doubles. Some guys have luck with slip bobbers and minnows but I find fishing the bottom is more productive.

[lake patrol]

minnow over sinker. Works great out by the buoys that mark the beginning of the channel. Closer to the channel or off to the sides of it in shallower water use crappie jigs 16th ounce with spikes. Have limited out every time in past years. Good luck

[steinea286]

I bought some 3 way swivels and some gear last night and started to get some rigs ready. I put a crappie jig on the bottom, hooked up to the 3-way swivel and then a 1/16 oz jighead about a foot above the bottom jig. I figure I can let it all down to the bottom and then fish anywheres from 6" to 3' or more off the bottom depending on where the fish are. Sound ok? Also, do you guys typically hook the minnow through the back of the mouth? I have been thinking that hooking them through the mouth would result in a lot of lost minnows and not as many fish in the cooler. Thanks again for all the information, I'm looking forward to this trip!

[jimski2]

Success in perch fishing is rigging up your lines for sensitivity of your line and pole. Use 10/4# Kevlar line like fireline crystal. It is like a "guitar string" sending up the crunches of a perch as it sucks in your minnow and scales and crushes it before swallowing it. Use a light action tip on pole so even though you feel nothing, the weight of the perch will bend the tip telling you to set the hook. Use no swivels or snaps, direct tie your snelled hooks to the line for more sensitivity. Always tie your sinker close to the bottom hook. This will keep your bottom hook in the mud where the perch normally feed. The bottom hook outfishes your other hooks 3 to 1.

On Lake Erie we fish for perch in 80 feet of water today in the heat of the summer so prepare your boat with at least three times the depth of anchor line, like 250 feet. A small 10# anchor helps since you have to move a lot to find "the Glory Hole" where the perch do not stop hitting. Use your graph to find the schools on the bottom 5' of your screen.

Most importantly is to immediately keep your fish in a cooler of ice. You can take a couple days to clean your catch if you ice them down immediately after catching them.

[steinea286]

I would like to thank all of you that gave me information on this subject. My first trip on Irondequoit Bay was spectacular as we caught well over 100 fish and kept 39 fish between 11" and 15" in just 3.5 hours of fishing. Used an awful lot of bait but everyone on the boat had a blast. The fish fry for dinner was almost even better Thanks again and good luck to everyone!