need info. on yellow perch

[mkeller]

A local community lake stocked a few thousand jumbo yellow perch in it about 3 years ago and as far as I know no one has taken any out of it. From what I have been told about them they spawn before the walleye, is this right? Would I fish the same place I fish for walleye? What is the water temp. the perch will start moving in to spawn? This lake is maybe 38 feet deep in the deepest part, has a chunk rock dam, and several berms that have rock, and is usually very clear. I think that the perch have to be 10" to keep and have been told that is a big perch. Any info. would be much appreciated

[slabsrus]

They are going to be spawning in the low to upper 40 temps, 42 - 48 degrees.
Their eggs are deposited in a gelatinous string over short weeds or brush. In my area they are often moving toward spawning grounds prior to ice out and begin the spawn right after the ice has melted. On some lakes there may still be ice on parts of the lake whereas the prefered spawning area may be open water. Live bait is the most popular method of taking the true jumbos with minnows and wigglers being on the top of the list but we do catch a lot on jigs and soft plastics. I often use a HALI with the chain and hook removed and replaced with a 2 inch piece of 2lb mono and a teardrop or micro jig tipped with a minnow. Then about 10 - 12 inches above that I will tie another jig in line and use some sort of soft plastic, depending on what they are interested in on that particular day. As far as depths go, we have caught them in water as shallow as 18 inches and as deep as 70+ feet. If they are being picky we will often use a single 1/16oz jig tipped with a minnow and set it right on bottom and just jiggle it, stopping every 10 seconds or so to allow the fish to suck it in. You must be quick on the hook set when using this method as they will often spit it really quick.