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Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens)

The yellow perch is the most widely distributed member of the perch family. Favored habitat of yellow perch is a weedy,
warm water lake.  Of which we have many here in central South Dakota.

They spawn in the spring when water temperatures are in the 45° to 50°F
range.
The female swims among sticks and weeds in open, shallow water near shore as she emits
a long, gelatinous ribbon of spawn.
In this manner, the semi buoyant, adhesive egg mass is woven
among the weeds and brush.
Males, as many as a dozen, follow the female and fertilize the eggs.
Eggs may number from 10,000 to 48,000, depending on the size of the female.

No parental care
is given to the eggs, which hatch in approximately 3 weeks. Schools of young perch feed on
zoo plankton. Young perch are slow swimmers, and the schools provide abundant forage for
walleye, older yellow perch, and most other predacious fish. es.

The yellow perch put up a good fight when hooked, which gives an added thrill to younger anglers. It is a popular panfish and good eating.
Perch seldom reach large sizes, the average being l/4 to 3/4-pound fish of 6 to 10 inches.

Easily caught on natural bait, flies, and small spinners, they are often the mainstay of ice fishermen
using jigs and small minnows. In addition, the yellow perch ranks right along with the various
sunfishes as being the impatient young angler's old standby.

I went fishing for perch a few weeks ago and learned from a young man by the name of Kyle, how to consistently catch Perch in a lake filled with other fish. He had a very simple little trick.

Using a crappie rig baited with night crawlers he threw out about 40 feet from shore and then taking his left had would pull on the line with short little pulls. Keeping this motion up would keep the worm moving on the rigs and entice the Perch to bite sooner. He was pulling them in sometimes two at a time.

I was using a similar rig only I attached a small bobber to the top of the crappie rig to help hold the baited hooks up off the bottom. I too was catching but not nearly as fast and sometimes I would hook a small blue gill or bullhead.  The little trick of jerking the line was apparently attracting just the perch because that is all Kyle was catching.

Try it and I'm sure you will increase your success at catching yellow perch.