What are Lake Perch? How to Catch them? “Lake perch” is a very common name for a kind of fish that belongs to Perca genus. These are freshwater game fish, which are a part of Percidae family. There are three different species of Lake Perch that reside in various geographical areas. By definition, lake perch are freshwater fish. The yellow perch is very prevalent in many areas and can live in lakes as well as rivers. The Yellow perch is possibly one of the most popular fish to catch for a novice fisherman.
Yellow perch eat in the daytime and carry on a very active lifestyle, and remain fairly still in the nighttime. In order to catch a yellow perch it is important to understand their defense mechanism and other characteristics. The yellow perch raises its spiny fins when attacked and it inflicts damage to the predator, these sharp fins usually do the needful for the fish. For the anglers who wish to go fishing the yellow perch, be sure to handle perch with care to ensure that the spine fin does not prick or cut you.
The very first thing a fishing enthusiast must do is to prepare everything for the daylight hours as the yellow perch is very active then, and is most likely to feed during the day. Much like trout fishing, it is crucial to be aware of where your shadow is, ideally a fisherman does not want their shadow to cast onto or near the area they are fishing. A shadow moving across the water near where you are fishing lowers the possibility of the fish being caught, and possibly spooking the fish into hiding.
Yellow perch is very fond of various items when it is about food, so one can make use of almost anything for bait. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an artificial lure to catch a yellow perch but going ahead with the right approach must not be forgotten. Using gang hook for yellow perch is not required most of the time but it would be good to do so, if one wants to have multiple catch. Here using the standard equipment will also do as long as one doesn’t have to stand for long hours holding onto the fishing rod at a wrong spot.
Fishing for yellow perch is not ideal in the evening or night hours. Perch are simply not active enough during the night hours to warrant any type of targeting. Although they are a favorite fish to catch during the day hours and are proven to be one of the easiest fish to target.
One of the most important things in fishing is to watch your hands as any unnatural odors that stay in the hands can ruin the entire fishing schedule of the day. Keeping few things in mind and following the necessary precautions, yellow perch fishing is an interesting and fun way to pass a few hours.
Types of Lake Perch
There are many types of lake perch that are available around the world. Lake perch is the favorite gamefish for many anglers as well as it is a fine delicacy that most of the people do not want to miss. The most prominent types of lake perch are described below;
Perca Fluviatilis or European Perch – It is mostly found in Asia and Europe, where this particular species has a green sort of color with vertical dark bars on the sides and orange or red coloring in its the fin tips. Australia and New Zealand has European perch brought into the fisheries for the fishing sport. Here it is known mostly as the English perch or redfin perch because of its origin and the physical characteristics.
Perca Schrenkii or Balkhash Perch – These are found in lake Balkhash of Kazakhstan and lake Alakol of Uzbekistan, while it is also found in China. The characteristics are very much similar to that of European perch, and it grows to somewhat the same size as well. While we did find some information on this perch, I was unable to find a good looking picture of the species, so if you happen to come across one please feel free to share it.
Perca Flavescens or Yellow Perch – This is the most talked about perch that is bit paler and smaller in comparison to the European perch. It is found in Canada and United States. In most of the northern areas of these two nations it is mostly known as lake perch also. It is very special for its food quality and it is often raised in the hatcheries to be introduced into the areas where it is not common to be found. This species of fish only reach to a size of 15 inches and weights up to 2.2 lbs.
Macquaria Ambigua or Golden Perch – This is a native perch of Australia that is found in the west of the Great Dividing Range till the Murray Darling river. This grows up to 24 inches in size and weighs roughly 1-2 kilograms in rivers. The largest golden perch that has ever been caught weighed an astounding 24 kilograms, caught in the early 1900s.
Bidyanus Bidyanus or Silver Perch – This is another native perch of Australia that is found in Murray River, although its presence has also been recorded in the north of Darling river. It is just a bit larger than golden perch.
Leiopotherapon unicolor or Spangled Perch – It’s a very common perch throughout the water bodies of Australia. Residing in pure freshwater to the saline sea water it can be found everywhere, but mostly in the fresh water. It is smaller than the golden perch and the silver perch at 12 inch in length and 18 oz in weight.
Pike Perch – It is mostly referred as walleye, which is a larger species of perch and found in North America.
There are many other species and sub-species of this gamefish that has its presence in major water bodies across the globe. A lot of anglers go to great length, just to catch their favorite perch and take the prized catch home. In this magnificent process they tend to catch a lot of small perch that they immediately release into the water to breed and get bigger for next season.
