# Perch in DELAWARE/ALUM???



## icefisherman (Jan 10, 2009)

I have heard many people claim that there are big perch in Delaware lake if you can find them. I would like to know in general where i could find these( if any) in either alum or Delaware. I do not have a fishfinder yet. Is this a myth or not? ANY tips would be appreciated. THANKS and good luck on the water.


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## TDFleischer (Apr 5, 2010)

I caught a small yellow perch from shore at alum once.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Alum, Delaware, Buckeye, Indian,Scioto, all of em have Perch. Good luck catching a limit. Heard the bite is best on the Ice.


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## icefisherman (Jan 10, 2009)

acklac7 said:


> Alum, Delaware, Buckeye, Indian,Scioto, all of em have Perch. Good luck catching a limit. Heard the bite is best on the Ice.


Thanks for the feedback. Was looking for open-water tactics catch them and places for that matter.


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## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

I don't think I'd waste my time on Delaware or Alum looking for open water perch. Have caught several out of Alum, but they're few & far between & small. Since they've been dropping the water level the last few winters to work on ramps, etc. the weed beds have decreased greatly & has hurt the population IMO. Never was really very good, now it's worse.
Indian would be my pick if I had to try.


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## icefisherman (Jan 10, 2009)

T-180 said:


> I don't think I'd waste my time on Delaware or Alum looking for open water perch. Have caught several out of Alum, but they're few & far between & small. Since they've been dropping the water level the last few winters to work on ramps, etc. the weed beds have decreased greatly & has hurt the population IMO. Never was really very good, now it's worse.
> Indian would be my pick if I had to try.


Thanks for the advice, i will take it to mind. I have been up to Indian on the ice and caught them but never tried open water. I really just wanted to know if there were any BIG perch in either Alum or Delaware. I am going to try Indian this year and hopefully have success. GOOD LUCK ON THE WATER.


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## Capital outdoorsman (Mar 27, 2006)

I've fished central ohio for about 8 years now. Mostly Hoover/Alum/O'shay. I have caught 2 perch. Both were about 5 inches long. No central ohio lake has a good population of perch. Not size or numbers. Indian is the only one that you would have a reasonable chance to get a good perch or two.


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## BuckIfan09 (Mar 25, 2009)

They are definitely at Alum Creek. In the attached pictures I did catch decent size perch for the area. They are nothing like the size at Lake Erie but for our area I thought they were good. I didn't catch them in abundance and they were not caught in the main body of Alum. I waded in the creek and fished in the deeper pools whenever I can find them. 

Also, I've caught perch in Hoover Res. Again, not in abundance. Usually from trolling and keeping the bait low in the water and going pretty slow. Usually in the 2nd pool or 1st pool near the 2nd pool.

Just some ideas. I was not trying to fish for perch at any of the above mentioned trips.


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## ironman172 (Apr 12, 2009)

have caught some keepers at alum through the ice, 30ft of water....never fished for them any other time and really wasn't then either....but they are there, not sure of numbers, and I would suspect right on the bottom like winter time....one had fresh teeth mark's on it from either a big saugeye or muskie....lucky it got away to the fryer


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## icefisherman (Jan 10, 2009)

BuckIfan09 said:


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Wow this makes me want to get out on the water right now! I have also caught perch in some streams feeding into lakes (3 to 5 in), but not that big. There are many who think there is none...... and then there is you. This is the exact answer i was looking for and greatly appreciate your feedback. Now i have a starting point and some confidence. THANKS and good luck on the water.


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## puge (May 14, 2009)

I would love a couple good perch lakes in the area. It is the first fish I remember catching with my dad and grandpa in Indiana. I have caught a few in Buckeye but that's about it. I really hope the experimental stocking they did last year in Grand Lake St. Marys has good results and maybe they will broaden it to other lakes in the state. Come on now there is no way our toothy friends wouldn't much rather eat perch than shad...


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## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

I did not say there were not perch in Alum or Delaware, but it's nowhere near what I'd consider a decent , fishable population. Wouldn't exactly get too excited over two perch caught accidentally while fishing for saugeyes & crappies. Over many years I've caught a handful of keepers out of central Ohio lakes, mainly Alum, but to me that's not what I'd consider a fishable population. I could catch more muskies out of Alum than decent perch !!


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## Deazl666 (Mar 30, 2012)

There's a pond down in southern Ohio on some property owned by a commune where I used to live (long story) that contains (probably "contained" at this point) the largest yellow perch I've ever caught. The owners put it there on a lark, and it survived and got big. What a nice surprise catch that was...


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## BuckIfan09 (Mar 25, 2009)

T-180 is right. I was not looking for perch when I caught them. I was saugeye hunting. The perch came about when I got tired of casting and retrieving for saugeye. I rigged up my other pole with a minnow and bobber and had the minnow sitting practically at the bottom. They barely hit that hard and I missed more than I caught. I have never really found a large concentration of them. But good luck out there, hopefully you can report to us that we are just not fishing the right areas. 


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## icefisherman (Jan 10, 2009)

BuckIfan09 said:


> T-180 is right. I was not looking for perch when I caught them. I was saugeye hunting. The perch came about when I got tired of casting and retrieving for saugeye. I rigged up my other pole with a minnow and bobber and had the minnow sitting practically at the bottom. They barely hit that hard and I missed more than I caught. I have never really found a large concentration of them. But good luck out there, hopefully you can report to us that we are just not fishing the right areas.
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> 
> Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


Well... i was just thinking... since you weren't fishing for these perch and caught them. Maybe if i actually tried to specifically target perch then i might have a better outcome. Perch are group oriented fish (well should be/like in Erie) especially within a lake like alum with musky and saugeye. So if people can catch them on the ice somewhat consistently.... then why not open water. I think that people just aren't up for the challenge to try to find them and fish for JUST them. I'm sure they are down there somewhere (even in small numbers) i would be glad to catch a couple for bragging rights, not for the dinner table. Yes, i like to fry up a basketfull of crappie every once in a while. But i believe in letting fish go that i will not end up eating that night i catch them. Plus that can lead to bigger fish for me to catch in the future.


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## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

Good luck & I too hope you find them. 
We did actually target them when the boys were younger, the weedbeds more widespread, and the poulation was higher. After picking up a few here & there (mostly dinks), but nothing to make it worthwhile, we went back to the saugeyes & crappie. We catch the most now when we run bottom bouncers for eyes, but just not very many.


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## USMC-BUCKEYE (Apr 2, 2010)

Every time I catch them it's cuz I'm fishing below the crappie in the spring. So personally I would suggest finding crappie and then fish below them. Not sure if I'm right but that is where I always catch them.


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

icefisherman said:


> Wow this makes me want to get out on the water right now! I have also caught perch in some streams feeding into lakes (3 to 5 in), but not that big. There are many who think there is none...... and then there is you. This is the exact answer i was looking for and greatly appreciate your feedback. Now i have a starting point and some confidence. THANKS and good luck on the water.


I hope you realize those are just two perch in a mixed bag, not a sink full of perch. They are in there, but you'll be lucky to catch any at all. I've caught 2 out of hundreds of other fish. I'd love to be able to fish for them around here as well. I still think the creek channel is the best bet. No evidence to back that up though.. Anyone ever jig the creek channel in deep water? Anyone ever fish the deep water at all? Talking 30+ feet on alum.


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## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

In the spring especially I fish the creek channel for eyes & have caught them as deep as 43' , near the dam. Heck I've caught cold weather crappie to 36' ; you talk about a light bite!! Never caught any perch from the deep water whatsoever, most are in the 10-15' range.


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## fishguy 888 (Aug 8, 2012)

grand lake St Marys and Indian Lake have a good perch population. Some locals at Indian Lake have caught limits before and not on the nice just have to know where and how to find them


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## CRAPPIECOMMANDER (Feb 25, 2006)

fishguy 888 said:


> grand lake St Marys and Indian Lake have a good perch population. Some locals at Indian Lake have caught limits before and not on the nice just have to know where and how to find them


I too have heard of success on Indian and I have seen some BIG perch come out of there in small numbers. I also hear Bucyrus #4 can be a little known hotspot but you couldn't prove it by me.


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## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

My FIL & I used to fish St. Mary's and we'd get some nice perch from it, but not limits. Had to contend with tons of channel cats hitting the minnows & small jigs though. Haven't fished it since he passed away ...... need to get back up there.


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## fishguy 888 (Aug 8, 2012)

early spring and late fall are the best times to catch the perch at st marys


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## MDBuckeye (Sep 29, 2009)

Early Spring and late Fall are probably best at any of our deeper impoundments for perch. I don't suspect there to be a large number at all in Alum because of the lack of weeds from the dropping of the water levels every year it seems. Buckeye and Indian are the only two central Ohio lakes I know that have decent weed/lily pads that pan fish thrive on.


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## Bonecrusher (Aug 7, 2010)

I've personally seen a 13 incher come out of Delaware. During the fall crappie tournament at Alum last year we caught more perch than crappie. No size to the Alum perch.


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## DHuelsman (Apr 26, 2013)

icefisherman said:


> Thanks for the advice, i will take it to mind. I have been up to Indian on the ice and caught them but never tried open water. I really just wanted to know if there were any BIG perch in either Alum or Delaware. I am going to try Indian this year and hopefully have success. GOOD LUCK ON THE WATER.


Why waist your time and money fishing for big perch in a small lake. If you want large perch that have not been genetically changed then go to Port Clinton Ohio and launch your boat at a state park and fish about a mile off shore in about 30-35 feet of water, drift until you get into the Perch then set an anchor. you can set and catch them all day long. Use a spreader and minnows.


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## jray (Jan 20, 2006)

pulled around 30 6-8 inchers one day 2 years ago on the south end in deep water. Never tried since those were not large enough to mess with in my estimation. imho the musky and saugeye population are the only thing that prohibits alum from having good perch fishing. Those guys that are taking saugeye in 30 ft of water in the summer those fish are targeting perch again only my opinion.


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## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Hmm, tell me more about the saugeye in 30fow? Creek channel? I've only ever caught saugeye in 15 fow or less.


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## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

When I mentioned the deep water saugeye I didn't say anything about it being summer. In fact it snowed the day I caught my deepest fish !! Deepest I've caught them in the summer is probably in the 22-25' range & yes in creek channel. The thermocline sets up in the summer making catches below it very unlikely.


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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

Yip - Alum & Buckeye forsure have them - I seem to always catch one or two while at crappie fishing. I just can't seem to catch a lot of them at any given time.


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