Lakeland Yellow Perch

[Alberta's Lakeland]

One of the favorite fish to catch is the yellow perch. These tasty little fish are fun for the whole family and Alberta's Lakeland has some of the best lakes in the province to catch them. Crane Lake, located between Cold Lake and Bonnyville, has an excellent perch population. They can be caught from a boat or from shore by wading out and casting to the edge of the many weed beds the lake has. Once a school of perch is found, anglers will have constant action all day long with several fish at a time following your lure on every cast. The best lures for this kind of fishing are small spinners and tiny spoons tipped with a small piece of dew worm. Slip bobbers with a tiny jig tipped with bait is another effective technique and also quite a relaxing way to fish. A short drive from Crane Lake lies beautiful Ethel Lake. This lake offers a chance at a true trophy perch with fish over 2lbs caught regularly by lucky anglers. The mouth of the creek on the north side of the lake is one of the best spots to find these hump back fatties. The number one lure on Ethel is the jigging rapala tipped with maggots and jigged aggressively in water 15-20ft. deep. A good sonar unit is the key to find the fish but once found the action is often non stop all day long. One of the best perch lakes the Lakeland has to offer lies in the Whitney Lakes Provincial Park. Laurier Lake has a mix of both numbers and good average size fish that are always eager to bite. The many deep weed beds around the lake offer perfect perch habitat with schools so thick your lure will not make it to the bottom before a fish eats it. The number one lure in Laurier is the jig in sizes 1/16- 1/32 with anglers needing several colors to match the water conditions on any given day. Maggots and dew worms are the best baits to tip your jig with to entice these feisty fish. Remember follow all the regulations in the Alberta Fishing Regulations and please practice catch and release. Come out to Alberta's Lakeland for the day and stay for a lifetime.