My boys have off from school this week (spring break) and I was going to take them fishing. Joe Pool state park has a perch pond that I was thinking they would have fun with. Question is..... What is the best way to fish for perch and what bait/lure works ?
Has anyone fished the perch pond at Pool ?

Thanks for the help.
Keep Reel'n
Vance

Good for you.
Cane poles if you have them or light tackle.
Small lb. line.
You can use dern near anything for bait. Canned corn works great for my kids. It's easy to bait a hook with and isn't "icky".
You can also use worms, hot dogs,bologna,bread, bugs, etc.
Use a small hook and small bobber and have fun.

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GOD Bless America and our Troops

Crickets are the best bait for bream I have found. They cant resist them. Also worms but not night crawlers they come off the hook too easy look for the ones called little wigglers or red wigglers. They are real skinny and go on a small hook well. Really small hooks are a must! Couldnt tell you the # but I mean small... Other things will work I admit but worms and crickets will really get em biting. In a few more months they will be spawning and crickets will fill a five gallon bucket with palm sized bream in an afternoon....

good luck

Jason

This subject comes up every year. Here is an answer from 2001, still true and works great!

Most fun I've had pan fishing I learned right here on this board. Try fishing for them with Black Flys. You can get'em at Wally world, like the Accardo 'Bream Killer'. Tip the fly w/ Chartreuse Berkley crappie nibble, fish it on 2lbs test, we use as small 3/8" weight bobber to be able to cast it. Using a 2' leader, it will slowly sink and then LOOK OUT. Sometimes they take it just as it hits water. Bend the barb of the hook in, still catch as many, easier on you and fish. With my Grandchildren the flys keep the rebaiting of hooks down so everyone (including Granddad) gets some fishing time. The black is best color. Try it, it is super fun.

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Thanks and Gig'em, Mark Fairchild

I HAVE NEVER FOUND JOE POOL TO HAVE A GOOD POPULATION OF PERCH. I SAY THIS BECAUSE WHEN BASS FISHING, I RARELY GET PERCH BITES ON SOFT PLASTICS. HOWEVER, LAKE ARLINGTON IS LOADED WITH PERCH. YOU CAN CATCH THEM FROM THE SHORE OR A BOAT. FROM THE SHORE, THE LONG DOCKS ESPECIALLY THE ONE ON THE RIGHT AT THE ARKANSAS LANE RAMP. OR FROM A BOAT, THE CONCRETE WALL ACROSS FROM THE ARK RAMP. THE BEST BAIT FOR ME HAS ALWAYS BEEN MEAL WORMS (AVAILABLE IN THE FISHING SECTION AT ACADEMY). THEY ARE HARD SHELLED AND FIT THE HOOK NICELY WITHOUT THE MESS OF NIGHTCRAWLERS. ALSO, THE PERCH LOVE THEM! I USE A LONG SHANK, SHORT BARBED BAIT HOOK, 6 TO 10# POUND TEST AND ULTRALIGHT SPINNING TACKLE. JUST PINCH A SPLITSHOT 6" UP FROM THE HOOK AND DROP IT IN. THEY SEEM TO SUSPEND AT DIFFERENT DEPTHS DURING THE DAY AND IT CHANGES FREQUENTLY. JUST EXPERIMENT WITH DIFFERENT ONES, USUALLY STARTING A COUPLE OF TURNS OFF THE BOTTOM. GOOD LUCK. JOEL

Procraft..

If you're any where close to Carrollton, there are 3 ponds close to my house that are great for perch. Some neighborhood kids caught over 50 of them last week in a few hours on worms. Also quite a few bass in them. Email me for directions if you're interested.

I beg to differ with JoelM on this one. Joe Pool has a good population of perch. I sat in the very back of one little cove last year and was getting bit by perch on minnows while fishing for crappie. Went to the marina and bought some Nightcrawlers (Seems like nobody has red wigglers anymore) and went back to that same cove and cleaned out the box of nightcrawlers within a couple of hours. And that was with cutting the nightcrawlers in itty bitty pieces.
What a blast.
I suggest one of the coves that is just SouthEast of Lynn Creek Marina. Get way in the back and find some shade with some timber/lay downs. The hook size is #6 or #8 Snelled Hooks for me. The ones with the leaders. Attach the hook via leader to a swivel with a small bell weight under a small bobber. You should have trouble keeping your line in the water.
Otherwise, you can use a 1/32 oz chartreuse/black crappie jig under a small bobber and they will hit that too. Might even coax a crappie or bass into hitting it.
Hope this helps.
Great move in taking the kids/grand kids out perch fishing. It's the way I believe that most of us start out fishing. I know I did.
Good Luck!!

-Jeff

Every spring I go to Ray Roberts with no bass rods, nothing for whites, nothing for crappie; I take my fly rod and 1 ultra light rigged specifically for bluegill (Perch, bream, whatever. I'm from Missouri, we called them bluegill.) I take crickets if I can find them or red worms if I can't. If I catch them in the open away from the trees I tie a popper on the flyrod and have a ball. People that know me, or see me, think I'm crazy; out in a $20,000 bass boat fishing for bluegill (until they try my bluegill et-tou-fe!). I really don't care. Everytime I catch one it makes me think of my grandfather. He's the one that taught me to fish. I was probably about 4 years old at the time. We would go out on the local city lake in a homemade plywood row boat my dad built. Grandad would fish for catfish while I caught bluegill. I can still remember the day I graduated from my old cane pole to one of his old Johnson spinning reels (I still have it. I broke the rod but still have the reel). Grandad passed away when I was 10 but I still recall those few years of fishing with him as one of the best times of my life.

Any time you get a chance to take your kids, or grandkids, fishing DO IT. Maybe they will be left with memories like I have. I have 3 daughters and try as I might I could not get any of them interested in fishing. Too yucky! I am waiting for grandkids now.