Backwoods Alberta Jumbo Perch

[Brandonkop]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhctaahiiPk

This past March our Buddy Russel met up with us and took us along to a great little perch lake back in the bush. We had a tough day of fishing as the larger fish were off on vacation somewhere. Still had a great time out on the ice and caught a bunch of nice perch. They seemed to come through in waves and lulls. Check out these beautiful perch all caught in around 5 feet of water. Had to up the lure size to avoid the 3 inchers. Good thing they were aggressive.

[grouse_hunter]

Good for you! Your videos are fun to watch too!
The biggest perch I caught last season was 8"... I only targeted them twice, hence the result.

[bighorn1]

they are there to be had, just gota search a bit

[chucklesthe3rd]

another great vid, keep it up!

[Sooner]

I bet your inbox is always full . Great stuff as always. It would be awesome to find a backwoods perch heaven.

Dumb question, when you find a backwoods lake with perch and pike, are there usually Walleyes in the lake too?

[Fishslayer99]

Where did you catch these beautiful Perch Brandon? also can you tell me what depth, and lure size and presentation please?


BTW, I dont keep any i would just like to catch some and wont tell anyone...thanks in advance for your reply!

[3blade]

Originally Posted by Sooner

I bet your inbox is always full . Great stuff as always. It would be awesome to find a backwoods perch heaven.

Dumb question, when you find a backwoods lake with perch and pike, are there usually Walleyes in the lake too?

I fish a few of these spots as well. Walleye need clean rocks/gravel/sand to spawn and most of these lakes lack suitable substrate or in the inlet/outlet. As well these smaller lakes don't have the current/wave action to keep any part of the bottom clear of plant growth/sediment. Weed spawners like pike and perch do quite well. There are a few that have the right spawning habitat, and some hold the occasional walleye that has migrated in from some other part of the system during high water.

[huntin'fool]

Brandon, you'd be amazed how much better that lake was 3 years ago. Amazing what fishing pressure can do to a small waterbody.

Sooner - some lakes have walleye, but this one does not.

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by Sooner

I bet your inbox is always full . Great stuff as always. It would be awesome to find a backwoods perch heaven.

Dumb question, when you find a backwoods lake with perch and pike, are there usually Walleyes in the lake too?

Actually nobody has PM'd me this time. Probably cause winter and ice fishing are over.

That's not a dumb question about the walleye and 3Blade is right. These smaller bush lakes don't typically have perch. They're all prone to winter kill and no great habitat. Walleye are not native to a lot of Alberta lakes. So these lakes will have good populations of perch and pike mostly because there are no walleye. Walleye when left to their devices destroy perch fisheries as has happened all across the province. Has nothing to do with over harvest and everything to do with excessive predators! Poor move by the province in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Fishslayer99

Where did you catch these beautiful Perch Brandon? also can you tell me what depth, and lure size and presentation please?

BTW, I dont keep any i would just like to catch some and wont tell anyone...thanks in advance for your reply!

I caught all these perch on a lake in Alberta. Caught at 5 feet deep, mimic minnow I think its the smallest size. Its all in the video. But yeah that's what the questions sound like sometimes and I think that's what you're getting at.


Thanks for watching guys!

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by huntin'fool

Brandon, you'd be amazed how much better that lake was 3 years ago. Amazing what fishing pressure can do to a small waterbody.

Sooner - some lakes have walleye, but this one does not.

I don't know... after we fished there I saw pictures from a guy that had a pile of tanks. I'm pretty sure we just hit an off day.

Of course pressure affects small lakes, but this one doesn't get much from my understanding. Plus these fisheries are boom and bust. Could winter kill any time then it starts all over. So get them while they last. Must have had an excellent spawn last spring because there were a pile of three inchers in there. If it doesn't die the fishing will continue to be good. The biggest fish will be thinned but population should stay healthy.

[fishman]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

Actually nobody has PM'd me this time. Probably cause winter and ice fishing are over.

That'ser kill and no gre Walleye are not native to a lot of Alberta lakes. So these lakes will have good populations of perch and pike mostly because there are no walleye. Walleye when left to their devices destroy perch fisheries as has happened all across the province. Has nothing to do with over harvest and everything to do with excessive predators! !

Actually a perfect perch lake is a lake with both pike and walleye otherwise the perch will over run the lake and become stunted If u find a lake with big perch without predators in it will not stay like that long and they will become stunted from to many fish.

[3blade]

Originally Posted by fishman

Actually a perfect perch lake is a lake with both pike and walleye otherwise the perch will over run the lake and become stunted If u find a lake with big perch without predators in it will not stay like that long and they will become stunted from to many fish.

Not always, especially in small lakes. Yes they need a predator to keep numbers down. However walleye are the worst thing for perch, as perch basically sit motionless at night (divers can actually catch them by hand) and walleye are excellent night time predators. If there isn't enough angling pressure to keep the walleye in check you end up with a lake that has very few perch, very few pike and skinny stunted walleye. See pigeon, lac la nonne, etc etc.

Perch size is determined by food availability over winter, which is related to but not always a direct function of total population. In lakes that have significant freshwater shrimp populations, the perch grow huge in both size and numbers. In many of our lakes and ponds there is little food over winter and that's when you see stunting at a certain population level. The best small lakes have perch and pike only, the pike keep the perch in check but don't over populate and there is good recruitment and good numbers of both for anglers.

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by fishman

Actually a perfect perch lake is a lake with both pike and walleye otherwise the perch will over run the lake and become stunted If u find a lake with big perch without predators in it will not stay like that long and they will become stunted from to many fish.

Fishman thats not what I said. Northern Pike is a predatory fish of perch. I said Pike and Perch, no walleye. That is the best scenario. Your scenario is not optimal as I have described and can name numberous lakes that were once loaded with perch and now devoid after walleye protectionism.

3Blade knows his stuff... obviously a knowledgeable jumbo perch angler!

[waterninja]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhctaahiiPk

This past March our Buddy Russel met up with us and took us along to a great little perch lake back in the bush. We had a tough day of fishing as the larger fish were off on vacation somewhere. Still had a great time out on the ice and caught a bunch of nice perch. They seemed to come through in waves and lulls. Check out these beautiful perch all caught in around 5 feet of water. Had to up the lure size to avoid the 3 inchers. Good thing they were aggressive.

OMG Brandon! Your hand looks like it is frost bitten. Or covered in 3rd degree burns then dunked in oil. lol
Congrats on those nice perch.

[Fishslayer99]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

Actually nobody has PM'd me this time. Probably cause winter and ice fishing are over.

That's not a dumb question about the walleye and 3Blade is right. These smaller bush lakes don't typically have perch. They're all prone to winter kill and no great habitat. Walleye are not native to a lot of Alberta lakes. So these lakes will have good populations of perch and pike mostly because there are no walleye. Walleye when left to their devices destroy perch fisheries as has happened all across the province. Has nothing to do with over harvest and everything to do with excessive predators! Poor move by the province in my opinion.




I caught all these perch on a lake in Alberta. Caught at 5 feet deep, mimic minnow I think its the smallest size. Its all in the video. But yeah that's what the questions sound like sometimes and I think that's what you're getting at.


Thanks for watching guys!

Hahahah...guilty as charged, just had to give you a bit of a hard time. Great work on the Perch some amazing specimens without question!

[Sooner]

Well now i really got to load up the canoe and kayaks, fish finder and rods and take some friends with me to check out this one spring fed backwoods lake where i hunt.

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by waterninja

OMG Brandon! Your hand looks like it is frost bitten. Or covered in 3rd degree burns then dunked in oil. lol
Congrats on those nice perch.

Nah, my hands are fine. It's just the lighting, haha! I'm not a fan of gloves. Never get frost bite on my hands either.

[Game Hunter]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

Fishman thats not what I said. Northern Pike is a predatory fish of perch. I said Pike and Perch, no walleye. That is the best scenario. Your scenario is not optimal as I have described and can name numberous lakes that were once loaded with perch and now devoid after walleye protectionism.

3Blade knows his stuff... obviously a knowledgeable jumbo perch angler!

I don't fully agree with this statement, there are some smaller lakes that contain lots of smaller walleye with almost the same sized perch that live in the same system I've encountered. The perch are just as big in some I know of, you catch walleye following perch bites.
Maybe bigger lakes where the walleye grow bigger I'm guessing decimate perch..