Prarie perch are plentiful and tasty

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/07/2022 (1495 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It took a while but the perch population on this big lake is back! I had a chance to go out last week to Delta Beach on the south end of Lake Manitoba with a couple of friends. We put the boat in at the new boat launch and marina right at the Delta Channel. It was a well constructed launch and access was easy. There is still the older launch as well and a new graveled parking lot for your vehicle and trailer.

With that out of the way we headed out on the lake to the 10 foot mark, looking for some hard gravel with some scattered rock. According to friend Jim Price this is where both the perch and the walleye like to hang around. While not very successful on our first try we ventured to three other areas until we found an aggressive school of perch, mixed in with both walleye and freshwater drum.

While we only landed five walleye the perch fishing was spectacular with many fish in the 10 inch or bigger range.

For the first while I was the only one not to catch multiple fish until I learned the key to getting these fish to bite. Both Jim and friend Dan McCrae would lay their rods out straight over the side of the boat. No rod holders were used, and the rods were laid perfectly flat with the jig just a touch off the bottom.

They were both using a 1/8th ounce chartreuse jig with a half shiner minnow. Patience was the key as they would wait for the fish to load up on the jig before setting the hook. Jim says with the low water clarity at that end of the lake, the fish must find the bait by smell, so little movement is best.

As the day wore on I found that a 1/8 oz jig with a one inch Keitech 2 inch Easy Shiner swimbait was really triggering the bigger perch to bite.We fished from an anchored position for the majority of the fish and it proved effective once the fish were found.

Meantime the smallmouth bass fishing on our lakes in the Whiteshell and Northwestern Ontario has been outstanding as the fish recover from the spawn. Mike Corrigan has been catching multiple fish on a fly rod. He says with the water warming to over 20 Celsius on many of our lakes right now insect hatches are on big time.

He says the key is to find areas where the mayflies have been hatching at night and watch for pockets where the “spent wing” stage is accumulating. The smallmouth bass will be patrolling and gorging themselves with dying or dead mayflies in these areas.

He ties on a dry fly and uses a small twitch to get the fish’s attention. Walleye can be fooled as well during the early hours. As the winds pick up during the day the fish seem to shut down.

Lake Winnipeg has been good as well for a variety of species of fish. Friend Craig McDougall had his family out to a day on the lake recently. He launched at Winnipeg Beach and headed south. He started by trolling crankbaits in 20 to 23 feet of water with good results. Later he found that the walleye had moved up on the sand flats in 10 to 15 feet of water. He and his family had a fun day and topped it off with a burger at the end of the day.

Anglers Notes:

One of the best tasting fish on the planet are perch, especially those from Lake Manitoba. They are parasite free and especially sweet. A few years back they put in a limit of 25 fish when the numbers were declining from commercial overharvest. That’s when the commercial fishers voluntarily raised their mesh size to 3 ¾ inches to allow the perch to come back. It has worked in spades, allowing this lake to once again be a bucket list angling destination.

When cleaning a perch I prefer using an electric knife. The serrated blade on the knife allows you to easily cut through the tough skin of the perch. Once off the backbone, I then use a filleting knife to take off the rib bones. Perch do have little pin bones but they easily cook up and do not cause any issues.

I dip the small fillets in egg then dip in Kaboom mix. It is a local company from Oakbank and they make one of the spicier Cajun coating mixes on the market. I use a mixture of two thirds sunflower oil to one third butter. I cook it just above medium heat. You don’t want to burn the butter and you don’t want the fish to soak.

I have cooked some for multiple friends and all say it is the best fish they have ever had. I would have to agree. Serve it with your favourite side and dipping sauce and you have a meal of a lifetime.

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