Find the Greeters
By: Jeff Beckwith

While often times over looked as a game fish by many, Yellow Perch can be some of the most fun fish to fish for that swims in our northern lakes. They can be as aggressive as a school of Piranhas or as shut down as any fish you will ever find. Some people say, “Oh Perch. You can catch them any time.” Well good luck with that one as this is not always the case.

Using the LakeMaster software to locate major bars and breaks can save you a ton of time. Many times I will look for a location that is not far from a weed line and is close to deep water. Other times I may be looking for a sandy area that Perch love to roam. Once you have located the primary structure your task has just begun. Now it is time to find the spot on a spot. By that I am talking about finding a pod of mud or silt, a recess that may only be 1-2’ deeper, a small rock pile or a transition from hard to soft bottom. All these spots act as fish magnets.

To begin with drill a series of holes in a staggered pattern either up and down a break line or scattered on the top of the structure you are fishing.

To really locate these spots on a spot a quality locator is needed. My choice is either a Vexilar FL-18 or the Fl-20. These units not only will detect the presence of fish but also tell you many other things you may want to know. Things such as bottom density, depth changes as well as the presence of bait fish. All these are important while looking for quality fish.

When searching for perch keep in mind that they can be very curious in nature. While cautious they always seem to want to check out something that is new or something that may catch their eyes. Presentation for me normally always starts out with a jigging spoon normally in the perch colored pattern. I will tip this jigging spoon with the head of the minnow. When tipping the hook a bit of detail sometimes can make a difference. If you lay a jigging spoon in your hand with the split ring on the hook end standing up you will notice that the treble hook (I normally use trebles on spoons) has one barb that sticks up without twisting the split ring. That is the hook I will put the minnow head on. I run the hook into the mouth of the minnow, up through the hard part of the head and then pinch the body off. Always pinch them off just behind the dorsal fins so that the fins will act as little flippers when light jigging is preformed.

When dropping that spoon in a hole for the first time I am watching my locator for “Greeters”. Greeters are those fish that will race in to check out what is falling. Most of the time they are the aggressive feeders you are looking for. I have found that often times in the Perch world the larger fish of the school may often be the highest in column. If a fish is seen racing the lure stop that lure before it reaches the depth of the fish. If that fish does not slam the lure take it away by pulling it up and drop it again. Depending on the aggressiveness of that fish I may do this several times before that fish will commit.

Yellow perch are not only fun to catch but also a great for the pan. It is really hard to beat a fresh mess of cold water perch. Keep a few for a meal and let the rest swim for another day.

Good Luck out there and be safe.