Macman Fishing Report: Perch cycle produces big fish

Fishermen, what’s happening in East Bay (East side of Polson Bay on Flathead Lake)?

It appears that we are closing in on the end of a perch cycle. There is a huge number of incredibly large mature fish. By large I mean they are consistently bigger per fish than I’ve ever seen in a lifetime of having fished there with 13-inchers not uncommon.

Night crawlers on flies, smile hooks, or just bare hooks above a bottom weight are effective.

Last time out in an attempt to pick up the occasional smallmouth bass that passes through, I included a Gary Yamamoto 3-inch watermelon colored Senko fished wacky on a jig head in my tackle. It proved to be a very successful bait for those huge perch fished just over the edge of the boat’s gunwale.

Several things will create a scenario where fishing close to the boat will often be the best fishing. The shade offered by a boat in shallow water, the small pieces of bait that are lost close to the boat act as chum, as well as the fact that other perch will follow a hooked fish up to the boat.

Smallmouth also have a tendency to seek the shade from a boat.

For those of you familiar with the spring perch fishing, you’ll find that the highest concentration of fish is toward the center of the bay further west than normal.

Because these fish are old and many of them will die before this time next year it makes sense to harvest as many as possible to avoid waste.

The powers that be have put a 10 fish over 10 inches restriction on us being ignorant of good perch management practices.

I submit that probably a million perch have been taken from the bay in the last five or six years and that the pressure that has been put on them has allowed the survival of enough small fish which are heavily cannibalized to ensure a continuing spectacular fishery.

Lake trout fishing has been good in the Yellow Bay area from a 200 to a 240 foot depth for the smaller best eating fish. The Delta area at the North end has been producing many large lake trout and an occasional pike or bull trout.

Depths of 10 to 80 feet using a whole bait fish is most effective with a tube jig also offering good possibilities on a second pole.

The whole fish has also been taking some pike at the South end of Swan Lake.

Echo Lake is still giving up good catches of smallmouth bass which have now moved into shallow water.

For more up to the minute information give us a call at 406-675-0068 or my personal cell of 406-250-0241. Email us at: macman@ronan.net

We always appreciate photos of fish caught on Zimmer Tackle. Send those to my wife’s smart phone at 406-214-8686.