The awesome perch lakes of yesteryear....

[Vacation]

I've never caught a good perch in Alberta. Been here since 1997. However as a kid in Sask the best came out of the Beaver River near Beaval....2 pounders every time u found a school.

[dodger]

Originally Posted by pinelakeperch

Pine Lake was a good perch lake in the 90s.

And the 60's.

Dodger.

[lromanchuk]

Originally Posted by sns2

North Buck, Missiwawi, Blackett, Jackson, Kinnaird, and Helena to name a few.

This.

[Howard Hutchinson]

I remember going ice fishing with Dad in the early-mid 70s' to Crooked Lake, near Fox Creek. Dad chained up the 69 Chevy 1/2 ton, 2wd and down the trail we'd go headed for the lake. Seemed like a loooong drive in there...We caught a bunch of those orange finned footballs back then. We'd stay in Fox Creek that night and Dad would thaw the fish out in the tub, then get to filleting. I was amazed at how some seemed to come back to life in the tub of water.

I loved catching the Pike then as I didn't see the value of the Perch back then. As a kid, you want the BIG ones I guess...Fond memories.

[Red Bullets]

Centrally, Coal, Pine, Sylvan, South Buck and Pigeon lakes all had great perch in the 70's and 80's. North towards Athabasca lakes had lots of nice perch too. Venice lake by Lac La Biche had loads of jumbo perch. Was catching them at Venice with only 10 inches of water under the ice. Coal lake was crazy good too.

Pigeon was my favorite. Sight fishing and wading in 1 to 3 feet in June, 1 to 6 feet shore fishing during summer, 10 to 14 feet at first ice until Christmas, 20 to 35 feet after Christmas. Always used to catch several 12 to 13 inch perch in Pigeon.

[Wendigo]

Waiu
Snipe
McMillan
Hastings
Hasse
Jackfish
And a lake by iron River
Too bad social media killed them
Loose lips sink ships and decimate perch lakes

[briangeorge]

I remember in the 60's Laurier Lake up by Heinzburg Alberta was absoultely crazy perch fishing. I imagine it is like alot of the other lakes talked about DEAD NOW.

[RACKER]

Super Mario im sure knows !I always thought Sylvan would produce some big ones with all the varied terrain,depths and weedlines.

[Jims83cj5]

Originally Posted by pinelakeperch

Pine Lake was a good perch lake in the 90s.

It was awesome in the mid 70,s when I as a kid, lots of 12-13” ers

[dfarms11]

Fork Lake when I was a kid. Won a local fishing derby there!

[slough shark]

Originally Posted by RACKER

Super Mario im sure knows !I always thought Sylvan would produce some big ones with all the varied terrain,depths and weedlines.

Sylvan used to have a bunch of perch and some half decent ones 20+ years ago, walleye seem to have pounded them back a lot, they are still there but not like they used to be. Hopefully the walleye get knocked back to a manageable level and we may start seeing some more in a few years.

[Jigsalot]

Originally Posted by briangeorge

I remember in the 60's Laurier Lake up by Heinzburg Alberta was absoultely crazy perch fishing. I imagine it is like alot of the other lakes talked about DEAD NOW.

Wow. I used to drive up there in the late 90’s and it was crazy. Some of the best perchin I ever had but I have been there forever. Long drive from here. May as well drive to Slave now

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

Centrally, Coal, Pine, Sylvan, South Buck and Pigeon lakes all had great perch in the 70's and 80's. North towards Athabasca lakes had lots of nice perch too. Venice lake by Lac La Biche had loads of jumbo perch. Was catching them at Venice with only 10 inches of water under the ice. Coal lake was crazy good too.

Pigeon was my favorite. Sight fishing and wading in 1 to 3 feet in June, 1 to 6 feet shore fishing during summer, 10 to 14 feet at first ice until Christmas, 20 to 35 feet after Christmas. Always used to catch several 12 to 13 inch perch in Pigeon.

X2

[moose maniac]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

I used to fish 2 lakes exclusively for perch in the 80,s and 90’s.
Joker lake east of peace river.
Goosegrass out by gods lake.
Was incredible. Haven’t been to either in 20 years.
Anyone been?

Not much for perch in either lake anymore mostly pike

[James.m]

I live 20 mins from south buck so if anyone wants to go target them let me know.

[trigger7mm]

Late 70’s and early 80’s....Moose, Ironwood, Long, Blackett, Spring, Frenchman, Fork, Tucker, Pigeon, Mink, Crooked, South Buck, Missawawi, Lower Mann, Chickenhill, Coal, Pine, Mcmillian, Slave.....the list goes on. Fished them all, and caught dandies in all of them. There was a small private lake just north of Lake Eden west of Stony Plain that we used to catch jumbos In as well. Awe, the good old days.

[Moosetalker]

I always thought it worth a head scratch our Yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
are a small panfish topping out at just over 2 lbs at16"
Compared to Caspian(Perca fluviatilis) European perch which can Rival Bass for size at 6 lbs.

Same holds true for Zander European Walleye. Fish Dr Gord Pyzer thinks they might be the next invasive species.

[buckmaster]

In the early 80,s Sandy beach was a popular lake with perch; I don't think they were big but remember catching lots. I think back then the limits of perch were 30. Bonnie lake, Hanmore lake used to have decent perch as well. Havent fished hanmore lake for about 15yrs now.

[Commander B]

Originally Posted by Moosetalker

I always thought it worth a head scratch our Yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
are a small panfish topping out at just over 2 lbs at16"
Compared to Caspian(Perca fluviatilis) European perch which can Rival Bass for size at 6 lbs.

Same holds true for Zander European Walleye. Fish Dr Gord Pyzer thinks they might be the next invasive species.

For the European perch dreamers KANALGRATIS perch pro 7 has started on YouTube. Top 5 longest perch 2.38 meters, yes meters, on day one. Have to be over 30cm to count


B.

[PerchBuster]

[fish99]

sylvan still has some perch over a pound , you have to go deep thou

[Strix]

I am surprised with over 50 posts and no one has mentioned Lac La Nonne. I recall going there in the late 50’s and 60’s and catching the big humpbacks on a treble hook baited with 2” spottail shiners. We would frequently get walleye too, we called ‘em pickerel back then, on the same setup.

[elk eater]

Spring lake also know as Edmonton beach had some pretty nice perch back in the 80’s.

Beaver lake by Lac La Biche had some monsters when you found em.

One things for sure the glory day’s of piles of monster perch seem to be behind us.

That being said I have been particularly pleased with the way the AB govt has been reaching out to fishermen for their views over the past couple of years. Seems like they are more engaged in hearing what we are seeing and what we want from our fishing resources. Would sure be nice to see them tackle the perch problem

[elk eater]

Originally Posted by James.m

I live 20 mins from south buck so if anyone wants to go target them let me know.

This thread has inspired me to go after em again. I’m sure they are still there. It was never a lake you would pull your limit but you could always get a few and they were large so you could make a meal of it.

I love the challenge of trying to catch the impossible. So many of my buddies just want to go and catch a pile of whatever as long as they catch. I really enjoy trying to figure out the how, when, where, and why.

Hit south buck about 8 years ago with a couple of buddies. They wanted walleye and I was driving so out to my perch hole we went. Hadn’t been there in years. They were annoyed and sceptical. Said they have “ never seen a perch out of this lake “. We drilled some holes rigged up and dropped lines. BOOM fish on !!! Pulled up a real nice perch 10-11 pot bellied mini lunker. While the looks on their faces was priceless. Fished another 3 hrs moved around a little and not another bite.

[Moe]

Best perch fishing of my life was the winter of 1987/88 at Angling Lake by Bonnyville. Big fatties one after the other that whole winter. It's been a long time and I have no idea what it's like now.

[AK47]

Originally Posted by Commander B

Top 5 longest perch 2.38 meters, yes meters, on day one.

.

Are they talking Nile perch lol. In what world European perch grows over a meter?
Thats the official records:

As of May 2016, the official all tackle world record recognised by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) stands at 2.9 kg (6 lb 6 oz) for a Finnish fish caught September 4, 2010.[6] In January 2010 a perch with a weight of 3.75 kg (8 lb 4 oz) was caught in the River Meuse, Netherlands.

[Drewski Canuck]

Given the obvious support to restore many of the Perch Lakes that were winter killed during the low water years, and have now regained viable water depth, is there any way to have the Minister flagged to this Thread for re stocking Perch and some Pike in a few of these lakes?

It seems a no brainer to go to some of the lakes with significant numbers of perch, such as Ghost Lake by Athabasca, do a netting in the spring, and truck the mix to one of the devoid but refilled lakes for re stocking. Multiple age classes would be introduced with a lake that is loaded with feed that has been unutilized.

Missawawi would be a prime candidate, and in 10 years time, would be producing catchable numbers.

Drewski

[bezzola]

I pulled some hogs from amisk back in the day good times.
We sledded into a lake last year 10” perch all day went back last week and didn’t even see a fish on the camera.

[Stinky Buffalo]

Back in the 70's and 80's we had friends who targeted perch, and some of those were massive! We didn't go after them ourselves, however.

Lots of the lakes that were named in this thread are ones that my father-in-law fondly refers to when he talks about the fishery of yesteryear, when the kids were younger. Some of these lakes have all but dried up in the meantime.

[Reeves1]

Reading this took me back to my teen years, in southern Ont.

Was fishing for (don't remember, but likely Walleye/Pike) and was catching LOTS of Perch in the 16"+ range ......and left because at that time, I didn't know they were great eating

Found a dug out near Hinton one time. It was -30 or lower & stopped anyway & drilled a hole. 20'+ deep. Pulled a bunch of Hogs out & went to Jasper.
Rented a room & put them in the sink to thaw so I could fillet them later.....came back late that night & half were on the floor & the other half swimming in the sink !