14” perch....

[Team Anzac]

Cowper Lake used to pump out some serious pearch back in the day also.

[Michael_Brown]

Firstly you need to find a place known for producing big perch and spend your time there. In Alberta, Slave Lake is probably top of the list as it offers the space and food resources to grow numbers of big perch. Yes big perch are found in smaller bodies of water but more numbers of big perch are found in bigger watersheds.
Secondly, big perch tend to hang around different areas than small perch, not sure if as they get bigger they tend to hunt different food resources but generally if you are catching bunches of small perch, the giants might be elsewhere.
Our best luck has always been away from community holes and crowds, if looking for new water, I start looking on sand flats 6-12 feet of water near a creek/river mouth.
Also most fish are caught actively jigging. I tend to use small jigging Rapalas and Northland Puppet minnows. Now here is my trick. I don't tip the lure with any bait just plain. I find any attached bait kills the swimming action but I do chum the hole with bits and pieces of minnow during the day.
Plan to be quiet in shallow water and being in a dark hut with clear water can help spot giants that are nearby. Of course cameras work well for this also.
I have been fortunate to see multiple perch stretch the tape to 16 inches and beyond but this was in another province. Still hunting for yellow monsters in Alberta. This winter will see some dedicated time in pursuit of jaw droppers and I will post any results. Let me know if anyone wants to join the hunt.

[SNAPFisher]

Holy crap! Those bottom two look like the perch that ate all of the Alberta perch
Truly awesome perch there.

Thanks for sharing.

[Bigspiker]

Those are some slabs !!!!!
The big perch are certainly where u find them
I punched 63 holes on Sunday
2 guys fished 5 hrs hard !!!
And the reward ... KEPT 8 nice fattys
The best stretched out a hair over 14 inches
The smallest 11.5 inches
A total of 14 bites and 4 lost up the hole,8 kept
All fish were of the same size class and caught between noon and 230 started fishing at 9
a few walleye and small pike before noon
First perch was the biggest ,Last one the smallest,whatever that means ?
My point is you have to fish known trophy perch Lakes by hunting hard and long no matter big or small water to find and catch more than one or two jumbos in a trip
Oh did I mention I drilled 63 holes before I found the spot within the spot
( 150ydsX150yds)
1/16 oz northland forage Minnow in glow perch tipped with mealworm hooked on 2 trebles and maggots on the other treble and my hook never stops quivering and vibrating with occasional twitches and jigs on the bottom 6 inches in 12 feet of crystal clear water
Stomachs full of micro scuds/shrimp
Just Sayin

[Kurt505]

Originally Posted by Team Anzac

Cowper Lake used to pump out some serious pearch back in the day also.

Ahhh the good ol days!

[capper]

Keep the perch porn coming! Those are some amazing fish! Can’t wait to hit the lake again! I’m in total awe of those 2 hogs in the above photo. True giants, I can’t even put words together to explain how jelous but also invigorated I am. I don’t expect to catch fish that big but god dame it I’m going to try....

[Michael_Brown]

Originally Posted by capper

Keep the perch porn coming! Those are some amazing fish! Can’t wait to hit the lake again! I’m in total awe of those 2 hogs in the above photo. True giants, I can’t even put words together to explain how jelous but also invigorated I am. I don’t expect to catch fish that big but god dame it I’m going to try....

Well if you want perch porn, I have a few more photos.

14.5 inches long, 14 inches around. Not a Jumbo its a cube.


Sometimes you find a gem in open water as well.


All Ontario fish, so now its time to find some photogenic Alberta slob donkeys.

[Fishslayer99]

Originally Posted by Michael_Brown

Firstly you need to find a place known for producing big perch and spend your time there. In Alberta, Slave Lake is probably top of the list as it offers the space and food resources to grow numbers of big perch. Yes big perch are found in smaller bodies of water but more numbers of big perch are found in bigger watersheds.
Secondly, big perch tend to hang around different areas than small perch, not sure if as they get bigger they tend to hunt different food resources but generally if you are catching bunches of small perch, the giants might be elsewhere.
Our best luck has always been away from community holes and crowds, if looking for new water, I start looking on sand flats 6-12 feet of water near a creek/river mouth.
Also most fish are caught actively jigging. I tend to use small jigging Rapalas and Northland Puppet minnows. Now here is my trick. I don't tip the lure with any bait just plain. I find any attached bait kills the swimming action but I do chum the hole with bits and pieces of minnow during the day.
Plan to be quiet in shallow water and being in a dark hut with clear water can help spot giants that are nearby. Of course cameras work well for this also.
I have been fortunate to see multiple perch stretch the tape to 16 inches and beyond but this was in another province. Still hunting for yellow monsters in Alberta. This winter will see some dedicated time in pursuit of jaw droppers and I will post any results. Let me know if anyone wants to join the hunt.

Great write up, sounds like you have them dialed in! FYI chumming is illegal, you may or may not know this...I may or may not be guilty of this myself Just a good thing to keep to yourself if you do happen to accidentally drop some minnow pieces down the hole.

[NSR Fisher]

I think he knows chumming is illegal in Alberta, if you read his posts clearly he states a lot of his experience perch fishing is back in Ontario.

I don't actually know if chumming is illegal in Ontario, but there's enough reasonable doubt that we should be jumping on the guy without knowing the regulations where he is fishing.

[Michael_Brown]

Not really chumming in terms of feeding fish, the occasional minnow piece potentially fell off my hook in Ontario where its legal and I would spend all day jigging aggressively trying to re-hook the lost pieces. Giant perch keep interrupting my recovery efforts by grabbing the lure. I took photos of them to use as mug shots as a way to publically embarrass them for their poor life decisions.
Some areas of provincial legislation might be outdated and in need of modernization but that is a different topic and applies to every province.

[NSR Fisher]

Yeah I figured you were speaking of your time in Ontario. Don't sweat it man, people are a pretty quick to jump the gun when it comes to claims of poaching, etc.

No harm, no foul :-)

[Fishslayer99]

Originally Posted by Michael_Brown

Not really chumming in terms of feeding fish, the occasional minnow piece potentially fell off my hook in Ontario where its legal and I would spend all day jigging aggressively trying to re-hook the lost pieces. Giant perch keep interrupting my recovery efforts by grabbing the lure. I took photos of them to use as mug shots as a way to publically embarrass them for their poor life decisions.
Some areas of provincial legislation might be outdated and in need of modernization but that is a different topic and applies to every province.

Well said! Michael, got a good laugh out of that.

NSR, he also talks about Slave lake and Alberta and if anyone took offence to my comments and thought they were directed as "poaching" or that i was "jumping the guy" should fill out a hurt feelings report...sounds like the OP didn't take offence to it.

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by Michael_Brown

Not really chumming in terms of feeding fish, the occasional minnow piece potentially fell off my hook in Ontario where its legal and I would spend all day jigging aggressively trying to re-hook the lost pieces. Giant perch keep interrupting my recovery efforts by grabbing the lure. I took photos of them to use as mug shots as a way to publically embarrass them for their poor life decisions.
Some areas of provincial legislation might be outdated and in need of modernization but that is a different topic and applies to every province.