Even though the temperature hasn’t been above freezing for about a week, I’m looking forward to ice out and chasing some perch. I usually throw them shiny minnow-like wet flies and streamers, but was wondering what you guys like to use.
Yellow perch are the one fish that I like to eat, so feel free to throw in any recipes too…not that there’s anything wrong with frying them in butter and cornmeal.
Im very interested to hear suggestions also, and for the same reasons. While I dont have anything to add, I do have a good story for you.
Im musky fishing, 9 weight rod with a 6-inch pike fly on the Iron River, Michigan. Im having very little success compared to my spin-casting, texas rigged weedless companion who is reeling in northern after northern. The 1 musky we hooked up with got off at the boat. I cant cast too far into the weeds as I dont have a weedless fly, and that seems to be the trick. I continue casting to the edges and finally get a hookup. Fish feels small, very small…and it is, an 8 inch yellow perch trying to devour a 6-inch pike fly. Now I dont know if this little guy was on a death-wish or what, but making that much commotion in a river filled with pike and musky…I had to laugh. The fly was nearly as big as him! I released him as we werent prepared to take anything home that day, but I doubt he lasted very long in those waters.
Thanks for something to reminisce about while its 10 degrees outside 
I agree with you on the eating and I really enjoy fishing for them. I usually use something along the line of a weighted nymph, like a Prince Nymph or a PT nymph in size 10. I like to put a little flash in the fly as I think it helps. Here is a picture of a fly that I used last September with great success on the perch. Click on picture to enlarge.
Tim Anderson
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This is the pattern that I’ve caught the majority of my yellow perch on. It’s a also good pattern for sunfish, bass and trout, particularly stockies.
www.danica.com/flytier/jcaruso/estaz_bug.htm
Besides frying them, we used to fillet them and steam the fillets with some crab boil, and serve them with drawn butter and/or cocktail sauce.
That estaz fly works great,especially with small lead or bead chain eyes.Also try a small grey/white Clouser about 2" long.Dont forget conehead wollybuggers,they catch everything.
good shad fly too
I have caught a lot of perch jigging a simple chartreuse marabou streamer with a spinning rod (ice fishing) in thirty feet of water. I’m sure that they would take it in shallower water too.
Recipe: melt enough butter to fry perch and add enough red wine to double volume of liquid. saute a clove (or three) of minced garlic and some diced green onions in the mix and then add the perch fillets. poach perch in mixture for about ten minutes turning once. Remove perch from pan and turn up heat to thicken sauce. Serve with sauce over perch.
Just had some the other night that I caught through the ice. Instead of fried in butter I fried them in extra virgin olive oil and use the local Jonnycake white cornmeal.
As far as flies go I usually get them as by-catch while chasing bass with white muddlers and zonkers.
oh yeah, i like the house autry for rolling fried fish in, has a decent flavor, add a little JO spice if ya like
As you stated in the beginning, any minnow like streamer should work. The way I like them best is deep fried with beer batter on them.
They love grubs here in VA, so I use any white small pattern with a little flash at the ends, they also tend to like the yellow and black bumble bees in the summer. UUUMMMMM YUM YUM
Geeze the recipes you folks are throwing out there are incredible. I’ve caught some yellow perch in shallow water in the warm spring bays using a bead-chain clouser. Yellow over white with some flash. Couldn’t have been much deeper than five feet but some dandy perch. Only time I’ve ever caught 'em on a fly. Usually ice fishing and very, very deep. JGW
Dang, you guys are making me hungry with these recipies. Thanks for the great fly tips too! I’ll definitely try some flashier patterns with estaz and experiment with some weedless adaptations to help me get into the thick stuff.
For Yellow Perch, I have done well with McGinty wet flies and Tellico nymphs.
This fly is so universal that the chartreus color variation caught the state record steelhead on April 1, 2001 (20#-3 oz.). But then, most of our flies are extremely versatile.
Joe
