Perch Lakes?

Hey guys, I have been in search of a couple lakes that hold perch in the metro area. I know about Winnie and some of the northern lakes but i have had no luck finding lakes in the metro (besides Eagle) that hold perch with any size to them. With a 9 month old and a wife that works full time I am only getting a Tirp to LOW and Red Lake this winter, gotta take what I can get. So with that being said it is local lakes for me and I lost.
I am new to perch fishing in the sense that I haven’t done it since I was a kid 20 years ago. Are there certain types of lakes to look for (depth,structure,Size)?
I have a couple of friends that don’t believe me that they are damn tasty fish and I am looking to prove them wrong, they think I am pulling thier leg. I grew up going to friday night perch fries, would probably pass up a walleye for a good perch fillet.

Any help would be appreciated.

Kind of a tough call in the Metro area. Perch are a fish that tend to do better in large lakes where they can school and find safety in numbers. Smaller lakes in and around the Metro are mostly fertile lakes made up of mostly panfish and larger predators like pike, musky and bass that tend to keep perch populations in check, or at least small in size. I have had some luck on Prior Lake catching some nice sized perch along with sunnies. Unless someone else has a better idea, you may just have to target sunnies and crappies, and take your incidental perch. Otherwise, Mille lacs is only 2.5 hours away! You can contact IDA Pro Staffers Bob Carlson and Scott Steil (And others here on IDA!) for up to the minute perch bite info! Let us know how you fare!
Good luck!
Tuck

We used to find some very nice perch on Rice Lake out of Maple grove. It has been a couple years since I have been out there but worth a shot. This is an old farm field that has been flooded. Very shallow with lots of humps. We ran abunch of holes then started working till we found fish. No good maps that I am aware of.

Let me know if there still there.

Thanks Guys, I am going to have to manage a day trip to Mille Lacs and give that a shot. I do enjoy the crappies a ton and there a lot of options close to home for them. From what I hear it sounds like the bite on Mille Lacs is the best in the morning, is there much of a late night bite?

Actually, the best perch bite on Mille Lacs is during the day. They are not a night feeder. The walleye are on the prowl then, and perch become bait. I think they “Belly to the bottom” after dark. They cooperate quite well during the day. Any of the mud flats at mid lake will get you on perch. I recommend Hunters Point for access. They have roads that go right out to the flats. Scott and Bob are usually avaiable for day trips too!
Tuck

I have fished Rush for Perch. I usualy get around 10 that is the best I can ever do up there. They are good size. We fish them in 20 to 30 feet. I put the camera down to find some little humps or bloodworm holes if you can find them drill a bunch of holes and try it. For me that is the closet lake to the metro even worth trying.

Twice last winter I fished Fox lake (near cirle lake, near millersburg, south 35W) and Cedar lake (new prague).

When on Cedar Lake we were fishing for crappies, but but both times I caught some nice perch 10-12″ range. South of the submerged road in about 10-12′

On Fox lake I had better luck with fish from 10-13″, but I was fishing deeper water then about 20-30′. I don’t have a vexilar or portable fish finder. Since I was able to catch 5-6 fish each time, I assume there might be a decent population. (30 minutes south of Burnsville.)