Early season backwater perch tactics?

What would you recommend for a guy looking to chase some perch in pool 3 or 4 backwaters this time of the year.

Am I looking for holes in these sloughs? If so, larger basin deeper spots or mor localized holes? Or should I be fishing stumps or transition areas in the shallows?

Adjacent to current areas or more still water?

Bait?
Jig & crappie minnow / plastics
Slip bobber?
Minnows, worms/crawlers, waxies?
Small rippin raps? Vertical or cast?

I’ve not targeted them before, only caught them while walleye or pan fishing, intermittently

Thanks!

Fish afternoons (sunny days if possible) as even a degree warmer water can make all the difference.

Having a little current nearby helps as it can be a food source or the funnel for how the fish travel, but I catch 98% of my Spring perch out of current. I look at the area’s general proximity to the main river to gauge where to start. By now on Pool 4, most of the perch we’ve caught are in their spawning locations well away from the main river. Get away from crowds and if a spot isn’t productive don’t give it too long. Often times the swarms of people you see are working areas that constantly get pressure. You will see tons of dinky fish being caught in the community spots.

We caught probably 80-100 perch last Saturday between two guys in an afternoon and could’ve legitimately kept 75 of them with a majority falling from 10-12″. Small jigs tipped with crappie minnows retrieved slowly can be good, a good old fashioned wire hook with just a split shot tossed to the bottom is often tough to beat. Bobber fishing a crappie minnow can be productive also. Some guys toss out a piece of crawler on a jig, but for me minnows are better and bring bigger fish. When you time it right, I think they’d just about eat bare hooks though.

Thanks Bucky. What depth should I be targeting?

BoatsHateMe wrote:

Thanks Bucky. What depth should I be targeting?

Most of the fish we caught were in 5-8′ of water. I am sure many are being caught in different depths though as well