Stubborn perch?

[A Wood]

So my favorite pond down the street is literally full of jumbo freak sized yellow perch. Problem is that I can only seem to catch them 1 out of every 5 or 6 times out. I can see them on the electronics they just won't bite. Normally I use small Swedish pimples or rapala raps etc. Do you guys have any crazy thoughts on something I am missing.
As a side note when I typically fish other ponds I really clean up on the perch but they are all 5 inch normal perch..
Do perch when they get to the 10 inch plus range only feed ever so often??
What are your thoughts...

[RFeyoMN]

To me they seem to get more aggressive the bigger they get...and can almost always be caught. Downsize, 2lb line, 2 or 3mm tungsten jig, small bait like a red spike.

They'll also "nest up" as I call it. Where they seemingly go dormant. They get in a divot on the bottom and just sit in the mud. I've had a half dozen at a time in camera view do this at once, for as long as 20 minutes or so. If they do it, they're done. You likely won't mark them or know your marking them.

I usually like to fish big baits, but if they're not biting, I immediately downsize.

[RFeyoMN]

Also, can you confirm they are big perch and not something else? Tiny perch, sunfish, etc.

[A Wood]

See now I need a camera to confirm. This pond has dark tea colored water and my old aqua view shows me nothing. The water is so tanic that the lm bass we catch have a strange blue color to them. I am assuming they are perch because we are fishing on the bottom in 15-17 ft. I have never caught a perch smaller than 8 inches here so I guess I just assume they are all giants. I am hitting it in a few hours and will try a micro approach is it is not a slug fest. Thanks adam.

[FTC]

Live bait. Try dead sticking a minnow, people around here clean up every year using tip downs.

[A Wood]

Okay so I tried the micro approach today with tungsten jigs and live wax worms. It was an all out slugfest with bluegills perch and sunfish... Not a ton of perch but I guess catching 10 inch slab bluegills is a good trade. I have never even caught a bluegill in the pond before so one like this was a shocker to me. THanks guys.

[rude150]

Nice gill!

[Albyfish]

[RFeyoMN]

Odd you never caught those on a jiggin rap. I've caught a lot of big gills on tiny raps with waxies/spikes. Maybe you use bigger ones. Gills don't really like a vertical presentation like a spoon...at least in my experience.

Those tank gills are cool fish!

[dudewheresmyboat]

1. Downsize bait
2. if they chase up just to look try pulling out the jig and drop it back down. I've found perch to be very aggressive with this approac.h

[brnzbaklvr]

I have really good luck dead sticking when things get slow.....Also gives me free hands to snack and drink beer...lol

[jhanson1114]

Downsize, when the fish are finicky like that I downsize to a 1/64 oz tungsten with a euro larva. Not the most fun to fish, but I was out with 3 people the other day and they were using spoons and a little bit bigger jigs, I out fished them 10-1.

[Fish Boy]

Stick to the small pattern for a few trips see if you can get a 11 or better gill now.

[A Wood]

So I really downsized yesterday in the shack and went with a small lindy head with wax worms. I pounded giant perch and a few 9-10 in bluegills as my 2 friends sat next to me and caught a combined 3 fish for the day jigging spoons and other assorted baits. I will say though I also added a clam nitril spring bobber to my set up and I think that also made a big difference. I am starting to really like this micro thing.....

[Royjulius]

Nice. I'll be whacking some gills this Saturday.

[DrewFlu33]

Sounds like you've got it figured out, but one extra thing you might try is to pound your jig on the bottom a few times. This seems to work for any fish on the bottom, but especially for perch. My working theory is that it's because they eat a lot of nymphs and whatnot that burrow into/emerge from the bottom substrate and this sets off that instinct for them.