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Catching
Jumbo Yellow Perch - By: Capt.
Neil Renouf - Feb. 2004 |
 If
you live near Lake Moomaw or any of
the tidal rivers and creeks of
Virginia there is no reason to have
cabin fever. Ring perch are tasty,
hard
fighting and even with possible water
temps in the low 30's eager to eat
during their spawning season in February/March.
Livebait tactics and
techniques vary a little between lakes
and rivers, however the top artificial
bait remains the same. Vertical jigging
blade baits puts quality fish in the
boat, day after day during the colder
months, period! I prefer a 1/4 oz.
gold
Silver Buddy /Riverside Ripper on
six/eight pound Berkley XL using a
graphite rod to feel the short vibrations
as I pull and drop the lure back to
the bottom (using this method we have
caught perch up to 2lbs 2oz.). In
shallow water (eight feet or less)
use one or two inch tubes on a1/32
head and six pound Fireline. Tubes
should be a mix of vibrant colors
(chartruese,orange, pearl, yellow
etc.).
Yellow perch spend most of their time
on the bottom, if you are fishing
more than three feet off the bottom
your chances start dwindling to fill
your
cooler, you may still catch fish,
but you are not in the concentration
of the
school. Perch are primarily sight
feeders, eating juvenile bluegill,
threadfin
shad, alewives, grass shrimp and small
crayfish and unlike the closely related
walleye, perch do not feed at night.**Insert
pic2** Good electronics is
important, using my Lowrance X15MT
they will mark as short thin lines,
generally no more than 1/2 foot from
the bottom. A rule of thumb for any
body of water- big perch like deep
water, obviously deep is relative
to where
you fish. Productive water depths
at Moomaw usually start at 18 feet
and
for places like the Chickahominy river
eight-12 feet.
 The
state record up to this printing is
2lbs7oz. caught at Lake Moomaw. It
should also be noted that the prior
state record was also from Moomaw.
I pulled a page from my fishing log
of the best yellow perch day last
year on the lake-March 28th. Sunny,
water temp 52 degrees, caught 21 citations
in
18 foot up to 1lb.8z. stopped catching,
moved and started fishing in 30 foot,
landed four more citations up to 1lb.14
ozs Most fish were caught on live
alewives fished on downlines. A downline
simply consists of ten pound XL line,
enough pinch on weight to keep straight
down and a #6 plain eagle claw hook,
tipped with med. minnow/alewive. For
a trophy yellow perch to qualify as
a
state citation, it must measure 12"
or longer and have a certified weight
of
at least 1lb. 4ozs.
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