07-18-2007, 10:54 AM
[cool][#0000ff]When the water levels are dropping, every day is a new day. The fish can really move around. A lot of the movement is dependent upon the baby perch. That's what the smallmouth and the larger perch are feeding on. The fish we caught were barfing up tiny perchies less than 2" long. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]When the water was up into the grass, at the far east end of the lake, that is where the little perch were hiding and the bigger fish were holding. Now, the water is dropping fast and the forage perch are moving out into deeper weedbeds and around thick brushpiles. Yesterday, most of our better fish came within a few feet of big weed clumps or thick brush. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You really need good sonar and some good prospecting techniques to locate fish. You will not be able to see the baby perch on sonar. They are usually inside cover. But, if you find those humps with weed beds (inside the buoys, not too far from the road, off the north side) then work the whole area around them. Once you find where the larger fish are holding, toss out a marker buoy, for close visual reference, and work the fish.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In the shallow (8-10') water where we got most of our fish this trip, vertical jigging was not always a good technique. The bigger fish were taken by casting a short distance, with light jigs, and then a slow retrieve just above the bottom. But, if you touch the bottom, you need to bring up your jig and remove the green algae that is coating everything now. It kills the bite on your bait or jigs.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In most cases, if you are catching small perch you should keep moving until you find where the larger ones are hanging out. But, if you find a good area, with lots of feed, you will catch all sizes together. Yesterday we were catching two or three year classes in the same 20 square foot area. And, as you can see in one picture, using larger lures did not always make the difference. However, I seemed to catch more large perch and fewer chubs by tipping my jigs with perch meat rather than worms.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We worked through the whole perch migration cycle at this time last year. We found some "go to" spots that usually produce a few fish each trip, but it always seems to take some looking to find the one or two larger schools of bigger fish.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]When the water was up into the grass, at the far east end of the lake, that is where the little perch were hiding and the bigger fish were holding. Now, the water is dropping fast and the forage perch are moving out into deeper weedbeds and around thick brushpiles. Yesterday, most of our better fish came within a few feet of big weed clumps or thick brush. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You really need good sonar and some good prospecting techniques to locate fish. You will not be able to see the baby perch on sonar. They are usually inside cover. But, if you find those humps with weed beds (inside the buoys, not too far from the road, off the north side) then work the whole area around them. Once you find where the larger fish are holding, toss out a marker buoy, for close visual reference, and work the fish.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In the shallow (8-10') water where we got most of our fish this trip, vertical jigging was not always a good technique. The bigger fish were taken by casting a short distance, with light jigs, and then a slow retrieve just above the bottom. But, if you touch the bottom, you need to bring up your jig and remove the green algae that is coating everything now. It kills the bite on your bait or jigs.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In most cases, if you are catching small perch you should keep moving until you find where the larger ones are hanging out. But, if you find a good area, with lots of feed, you will catch all sizes together. Yesterday we were catching two or three year classes in the same 20 square foot area. And, as you can see in one picture, using larger lures did not always make the difference. However, I seemed to catch more large perch and fewer chubs by tipping my jigs with perch meat rather than worms.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We worked through the whole perch migration cycle at this time last year. We found some "go to" spots that usually produce a few fish each trip, but it always seems to take some looking to find the one or two larger schools of bigger fish.[/#0000ff]
[signature]