Macman catches biggest perch he’s ever seen
What’s happening in East Bay, located on the east side of Polson Bay on Flathead Lake
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News from Dick Zimmer, The Macman
It appears that we are closing in on the end of a perch cycle. There is a huge number of incredibly large mature fish, and by large, I mean they are consistently bigger than I’ve ever seen in a lifetime of having fished there. Thirteen inches is not uncommon.
For bait, I use nightcrawlers on flies. Smile hooks or just bare hooks above a bottom weight are effective. Last time out, in an attempt to pick up the occasional smallmouth bass that passes through, I included a Gary Yamamoto three-inch watermelon-colored Senko Fished Wacky on a jig head in my tackle. It proved to be a very successful bait for those huge perch that I fished just over the edge of the boat’s gunwale.
Several things will create a scenario where fishing close to the boat will often be the best fishing: the shade offered by a boat in shallow water and the small pieces of bait that are lost close to the boat act as chum, as well as the fact that other perch will follow a hooked fish up to the boat. Smallmouth bass have a tendency to seek the shade from a boat.
For those of you familiar with the spring perch fishing, you’ll find that the highest concentration of fish are toward the center of the bay – further west than normal. Because these fish are old and many of them will die before this time next year, it makes sense to harvest as many as possible to avoid waste.
The powers-that-be put a 10-fish over 10-inches restriction on us, being ignorant of good perch management practices.
I submit that probably a million perch have been taken from the bay in the last five or six years and that the pressure that has been put on them has allowed the survival of enough small fish, which are heavily cannibalized, to ensure a continuing spectacular fishery.
Lake trout fishing has been good in the Yellow Bay area from a 200- to 240-foot depth for the smaller best-eating fish. The Delta area at the north end has been producing many large lake trout and an occasional pike or bull trout. Depths of 10 to 80 feet, using a whole bait-fish, is most effective with a tube jig and offering good possibilities on a second pole. The whole fish method has also been taking some pike at the south end of Swan Lake.
Echo Lake is still giving up good catches of smallmouth bass, which have now moved into shallow water.
For more up to the minute information, give us a call at 406-675-0068 or my personal cell at 406-250-0241. Email us at macman@ronan.net. We always appreciate photos of fish caught on Zimmer Tackle. Send those to my wife’s smartphone at 406-214-8686. The store, Zimmer Tackle in Pablo, is closed due to COVID-19, but people can still order by phone. We are providing drive-in and pick-up services – like what restaurants are doing.
