Perch fishing on Lake Ontario?

[jeff4023]

Does anyone go out on Lake Ontario during the summer to fish for perch? I know Lake Erie is real good during the summer. I was wondering if Ontario is good like Erie is and where is the place to catch them?

Thanks

[thejigger]

I have fished for perch during the early summer on the big lake and found that off the bluffs you can see the perch in shallow water and catch them on jigs

[jeff4023]

Thanks, which bluffs are you talking about? Is it near Rochester?

[Tim Bromund]

I've often wondered the same thing. Olcott and Wilson Harbors are typically loaded with perch from October through May, Those fish have gotta be out in the lake somewhere when they leave the harbors.

Tim

[Grady95]

Small jigs with power minnows in tight to shore all over the place to the east of Rochester. You have to cull through until you find schools of larger fish, but they are there in abundance.

Makes a nice hour or two trip and you can usually come home with a nice fish fry.

The power minnows get them and help cut down on the number of gobies. Use anything like live bait and you'll just be spending all day catching gobies.

Good Luck. They're out there!

Grady

[jeff4023]

Is this tactic good all summer long or do you have to go out deep in July and August. I ask this because I go to Lake Erie and we catch them in 50 to 70 fow using perch rigs with minnows.

Thanks

[jsmac51]

Small jigs with power minnows in tight to shore all over the place to the east of Rochester. You have to cull through until you find schools of larger fish, but they are there in abundance.

Makes a nice hour or two trip and you can usually come home with a nice fish fry.

The power minnows get them and help cut down on the number of gobies. Use anything like live bait and you'll just be spending all day catching gobies.

Good Luck. They're out there!

Grady

Does anyone have information regarding Orleans County Lake Ontario perch fishing? Is it similar to that described in this quote? We love to troll and fish for salmonids but a change of pace is always welcome too and besides perch taste fabulous!

[jimski2]

Perch fishing has more angler days than any other species but the DEC fails to recognize it. Children love perch fishing as they can hold the line and do not sit around being bored while trolling. The DEC has really screwed up our perch fishing by limiting our access to minnows for bait. Perch relate to the bottom and the preferred water tempaerature. 80 foot is usually the maximum depth in summer months. The depleted oxygen in summer times cause them to raise up closer at times. Perch prefer mud bottoms rather than shale as more critters burrow in there. Little perch hide in weed beds and the big survivors roam freely. Use your fishfinder graph to find them before you set your anchor. Move every ten minutes till you find them. Keep your perch on ice in a cooler and you can keep on fishing and clean them tomorrow.

[jimski2]

Perch fishing has the most angler days than any other species. The DEC does not recognize this and has made access to minnows for bait almost impossible as well as very expensive.

Summer time perch like mud bottom and will be found at a preferred temperature as long as the dissolved oxygen is fine. Children love perch fishing over trolling since they control the rod and line. Use your fishfinder to find fish on the bottom, say 5 feet or nearer. Drop your anchor or drift slowly with a sea anchor bag to slow you down and keep contact with the bottom. Perch ggressively attack minnows laying on the mud, suspended minnows, they pick at. Light braided line will give you a very sensitive feel on an light action rod. Stack 2 or 3 #6 snelled hooks with one hook below your sinker to lay in the mud. Always carry ice in a cooler so you can clean the perch tomorrow as you do not want to quit fishing when you find them.

[jsmac51]

My wife and I were trolling between Point Breeze and Johnson's Creek in about 65 FOW a couple of weeks ago and we noticed large masses of fish on the bottom. We got to wondering if those might possibly be perch. Anybody have any thoughts? If there are perch in that kind of quantity then that is kind of a neglected fihery and a darned good one too.

[jeff4023]

Well, I was fishing on Lake Erie June 25 and June 27 and we nailed the perch in 60 fow. 3 guys on the 25th we limited out in about 3.5 hrs. 2 guys on the 27 and we limited out in 2.5 hrs. So I would have to say those were perch we marked.

Thanks for the report.

[jsmac51]

Well, I was fishing on Lake Erie June 25 and June 27 and we nailed the perch in 60 fow. 3 guys on the 25th we limited out in about 3.5 hrs. 2 guys on the 27 and we limited out in 2.5 hrs. So I would have to say those were perch we marked.

Thanks for the report.

Congratulations on the great catch on Lake Erie! However my question was if there were any thoughts about the liklihood of the fish we marked in Lake Ontario early in July at 65 feet from the Oak west might have been perch. I fished Erie for a lot of years and always caught perch in abundance. I am just wondering about the availability of these fine eating fish in the area of Lake "O" we are currently fishing.

[jeff4023]

I meant to say I bet those were perch that YOU were marking in 65 fow. Try using crappie rigs with small minnows right on the bottom or a couple of turns of your reel just off of the bottom. If the perch school like that in Lake Erie, Lake Ontario must be the same I would think.

[jsmac51]

I think you might be right. Surface temps and other conditions were conducive to perch. We are going to try the power minnow thing with lake erie perch rigs when we are up in a couple of weeks. We fished for them in Erie using small emerald shiners or if they were unavailable golden shiners or fatheads what ever the bait shops had. I have caught literally thousands of perch between the Peninsula and the Ohio line over the years so the technique is prety well known to us. Still a different lake may make for a need to adjust tactics. Although I can't think the habits of perch would be all that much different.