Catchin’ Perch IN SPRING

By Ronnie Parris

I’ll never forget a trip I took several years ago. My clients that day were from South Louisiana. When the client asked me if we had any coon tail in our lakes, I replied that we didn’t. A little while later, he caught a really nice yellow perch and as he saw it, he hollered, “Yeah, yeah, big coon tail!” I’m not sure if the wildlife resource department stocked them or if they were always a few here because I never caught one ‘til I was probably 18 or 19 years old. Vic Bridges and I were fishing Noland Point, catching crappie, when I caught a small perch. Not really knowing what it was.

Well, several years have passed since then and all our local lakes seem to be getting more and bigger perch every year. The perch are one of the prettiest fish I’ve ever seen. Bright yellow and green stripes with brilliant orange fins. For table fare, they just can’t be beat. We recently fried up a big mess and I really think they’re better than walleye. My favorite bait to catch perch is minnows but I’ve caught them on crickets and worms to. They are aggressive feeders and I’ve had good luck on ice jigs and crappie lures like the smaller Bobby Garlands. I’ve caught them on spoons and small plugs too. If you have good electronics, you can usually find them, especially from December to March when they bunch up for the spawn.

Contrary to their cousin, the walleye, they don’t run up in the headwaters in the moving water but prefer to spawn on shallow flats. After the spawn, they tend to migrate back to deep water for the summer and can be caught all year long. I’m not really sure why the perch are doing so well with the walleye numbers going down, despite the state’s stocking

CRAPPIE CLUB continued from page 6 from September to May on generally 6-7 different lakes in our region, or East Tennessee, with such big-name sponsors as ACC Crappie Stix, Crappie Cove, Crappie Magnet, and Sniper Marine. ETCC also has some pretty well-known angler champions from the larger known crappie tournaments such as the Crappie USA Trail. Those names include Neal Alvis and Scott Bunch, Winners of the 2020 Crappie USA Points Champions.

In Closing, let me say JD Dyer and myself were treated like friends by everyone and we were honored just to fish with this caliber of passionate anglers. For anyone looking to fish this trail or sign up as a member of this brotherhood of anglers, contact Matt Xenos, Scott Bunch, or me and we will be happy to steer you in the right direction to do so.

Tight Lines and God Bless, Perry Hensley efforts. I think it’s because the walleye still try to spawn in the headwaters and at this time, the bluebacks are there by the millions eating all the walleye eggs as well as the small walleye that are lucky enough to hatch. Hopefully, we can get stripers stocked soon and they can eat enough bluebacks to lower their numbers so the walleye can bounce back. At the time of this article, it’s still a little cold so be careful when taking kids out for a day of fishing. You don’t want them to have a bad experience with the cold and not want to go back. Be safe, have fun, and go out and catch a good mess of coon tail!

Ronnie Parris is owner and head guide of Smoky Mountain Outdoors Unlimited-Fontana Lake Fishing Guides, headquartered in Bryson City, N.C., heart of the Great Smoky Mountains www.smounlimited.com; (828) 488-9711.

We o er both full and half day trips with the most competitive rates available. All tackle and supplies you will need while you are on your trip is covered by our listed price.