I can not seem to catch a perch to save my life. I have been going to this city pond where I KNOW FOR A FACT there are lots of perch there (I have caught 100;s from there in the past) But for the last 3 weeks I can catch 1. I fish close to the bank, far out, shallow, deep.... nothing. When it gets cold do they stop biting or what?

I don't think they stop biting, I think they school up and move around less. I've seen Aquaview footage (under the ice) and the gills are still biting well. Cold may slow down their matabolism causing them to eat with less effort on the bluegills part. But...

find the school and put a waxworm, beemoth, maggot... in front of their face and I'll bet they'll bite.

Good advice Don. Keep searching for em. They are in deeper water and are not moving as much because of the cold weather. I am also having the same problem fishing spots where I have caught a ton of em in the past and now nothing. Fish off of the bottom and deep and be very patient. Soon or a later one will strike. Also take advantage of any warm spells that may occure. Good luck.


Oh Yea Welcome to the Texas Fishing Forum.

A good place to start is to learn the correct names and the habits of each species. There are no perch in the south except for a few small varieties. The fish you are calling perch are really varieties of sunfish. There are many sunfish. Around Wylie the most common are Bluegill, Green Sunfish, Redear, Longear, Pumpkinseed and Warmouth. Each variety has slightly different habits.



In general, though, look for the fish in the deepest water of the pond. Use small hooks and small baits. Tiny pieces of worms or mealworms are good. The hook should be a #10 gold Aberdeen. Use a small pinch on sinker and an oval balsa slip bobber.

I have the best luck on sunny days. High-pressure fronts will stop the bite for a few days. The best day is a sunny day just before the next front.

I hope this helps. There are some really good sunfish fishermen on this forum and I am sure some others will chime in. Good luck.

It's normally a hunting game in winter. Ya have to find concentrations of 'gills. They want to be in the deepest parts of shallow bays, but will move out if the weeds die or if the food is scarce. If they move out, then they will scatter to places like deep humps, rock piles, mud flats, hardwoods, fence rows and pole timber, etc... At least, the big ones will. This is the one time that I've personally found it easier to catch the big bream and not the lil' dinks. I don't know why, but it has been that way for me since I've started targeting big bream. The hard part is finding them. They are feeding on invertebrates and crawfish and things like that, so if ya find the bait, you'll find the bream. In other seasons, you can throw out your bait and the bream will come to you. That's not something that happens to often in the winter. Most folks think these fish are easy to catch when in fact they are only usually easy prey in the spawning times. Other than that, they are as worthy of a target than any other gamefish. Winter is the time you find out if you're really a bream angler. Hope this helps! Good luck and tight lines!

I've always heard of them referred to as perch or bream. We called it perch jerking. It makes no difference what you call them or what kind of sub species they are. They're all good in a skillet.

Gittchee sum earthworms..preferably red wigglers. I have a friend that raises worms and I love the small, fiesty wigglers about 2 inches long.

Thread a couple of the wigglers on a #8 or #6 cricket hook and set your bobber to hold the bait about 6 inches or so off the bottom. Move the bait and let it "rest" for a minute or two. Move it again and let it rest. You ain't gonna move it again because some big bull gill is gonna inhale that bait!!

+1 to Chuckwagon.

Whatever you use this time of year for 'gills....go slow and low. Slower than you can stand it and as low in the water column you can get without touching bottom.

i have found in ponds with large numbers of sunfish that i have my best luck if i can make them swarm where i want. to do this i throw 10-12 fish pellets(fish chow)- walmart sells a can for a few bucks in the pet dept. then i get crappie nibbles, usually pink or white, i use a 12 foot panfish pole and just land the crappie nibble right where they are swarming the pellets. in places i do this regularly i can catch 20+ sunfish in half an hour.


btw: some lakes in texas do actually have PERCH. Yellow perch have been introduced to a number of lakes the only one i know for sure offhand is Lake Baird. This can be verified by looking at stocking reports from the tpwd.

wyliefishdude: Have you had any luck with the advice posted?