We’ve rounded the corner on summer, and the clock is ticking as the pre-fall chore list or heading back to school obligations become the front burners instead of on-the-water activities. Summer days are winding down, but that doesn’t mean you have to throw in the towel on fishing. Late summer and fall are prime times for yellow perch fisheries in many statewide waterways. Yellow perch are colorful and identified by their golden-yellow, orange, and brass-colored bodies with distinct olive-green, vertical, triangular bars along each of their sides.
One of the top locations to catch a batch of yellow perch is Lake Washington, which is situated right in the backyard of downtown Seattle. Yellow perch are a very stable population in the lake that covers nearly 22,000 acres and stretches 20 miles from Kenmore on the northern tip to Renton in the southeastern most section.
What makes these fish even more appealing is the fact that they’re available to catch year-round, with late summer through early fall being the most productive fishing period.
Yellow perch average 7 to 10 inches (made up of three- and four-year-old age class fish), although some will be as large as 12 to 14 inches or longer. The official WDFW state record – https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/basics/records – of 2.75 pounds caught by Larry Benthien at Snelson’s Slough in Skagit County on June 22, 1969, could eventually be broken and come from King County’s largest watershed.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) biologists say this is largely based on ample feed and lots of “elbow room” for yellow perch to grow in Lake Washington, the second-largest natural-bodied lake in Washington.
Yellow perch spawn in the spring well ahead of many other warm-water fish species in the lake. The female perch are the largest and tend to grow much faster (maturing in three to four years) and are long-lived up to eight to 10 years.
Lake Washington has a diverse ecosystem, and you can also catch cutthroat and rainbow trout, catfish, carp, peamouth chub, brown bullhead, smallmouth, and largemouth bass, and black crappie. Another abundant fish is the “rock bass”, a species of sunfish.
Fishing gear and tips
Yellow perch is one of Washington’s several "panfish" species, which are very popular across the state because they’re easy to catch and a great introductory fishery for beginners, young kids, and an overall fun family fishing activity. They are outstanding in eating quality, similar to the white, flaky flesh of walleye.
On lightweight fishing gear, yellow perch will put up a good fight, and they’ll often stay active all day. It is not unusual to see thousands of perch schooling in shallow water areas of the lake, and while reeling one in, you could see many others following it up to the surface.
Even during the middle of a summer afternoon, yellow perch aren’t spooked by all the boaters and jet- or water-skiers zipping around Lake Washington.
The best period to target yellow perch begins around July, when the water heats up, and will peak in August through October. As winter arrives in November, yellow perch become harder to catch since they usually move into deeper water locations.
Yellow perch tend to school in shallow water areas, 15 to 35 feet, and you’ll find them close to the shoreline or on the edge of drop-offs. Look for them hiding in shaded spots along the cover of weed beds, milfoil, aquatic weeds, and lily pads, or under docks or overhanging trees and brush. At night, they’ll often look for cover in these locations to avoid predators such as smallmouth and largemouth bass.
Yellow perch mainly feed on small fish, crayfish, snails, clams, and smaller invertebrates.
What makes this fishery fun for everyone is the fact that there are so many locations accessible by boat or from the shoreline and public docks around Lake Washington.
The lake has plenty of elbow room to fish around Seward Park; Gene Coulon Park in Renton; Yarrow Bay in Kirkland; Magnuson Park; Andrews Bay; Newport area; Webster Point in Union Bay; Juanita Bay; Foster Island in the Montlake Cut; and docks at Mount Baker Park, Madison Park, Stan Sayres Pits, Leschi Park, Luther Burbank on Mercer Island, Kirkland, and Kenmore.
You can find a list of public fishing piers on Lake Washington on WDFW’s website: https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/01996/wdfw01996.pdf.
Fishing gear consists of a light-to-medium-action trout fishing rod with a spinning reel attached to a four- to six-pound test main line. Simply stick to a piece of worm on a 15- to 24-inch leader with a small salmon egg-style hook to a drop-shot egg-style weight.
Once you catch your first perch, you can use a small chunk of the meat or — believe it or not — even an eyeball. Colorful, tiny three-inch plastic worms or small-skirted crappie jigs and lures tipped with maggots, wax worms, or shrimp will also catch fish.
Yellow perch are light biters and tend to nibble on your bait, so don’t set the hook hard and let them play with the bait. Then wait for your rod to bend before you gently reel them up. Yellow perch are bait stealers, and don’t be duped when you occasionally reel up bare hooks. The great news is that once you drop it back down, you’ll likely be rewarded with an actual fish!
Additional lakes to catch yellow perch
Besides Lake Washington, there are many other statewide lakes where you can find yellow perch.
A standout yellow perch fishery in Eastern Washington is Curlew Lake in Ferry County, located northeast of Republic. For more than a decade, the yellow perch population has continued to rapidly grow and, combined with the average size (9 to 10 inches), has generated considerable enthusiasm by anglers.
“Curlew is a special place because it has ideal habitat, good water quality, and plenty of food that creates a fast growth rate for the yellow perch population,” said Danny Garrett, a WDFW biologist.
Other east of the Cascades yellow perch fisheries include Moses Lake and Potholes Reservoir in Grant County; Leader Lake, Palmer Lake, Whitestone Lake, and Washburn Island Pond in Okanogan County; and Roses Lake and Wapato Lake in Chelan County.
Shifting back to the west side of the state, yellow perch can be found in Lake Sammamish near Issaquah; Lake Whatcom near Bellingham; Sawyer Lake northwest of Black Diamond; Lake Goodwin northwest of Marysville; Lake Stevens east of Everett; Beaver Lake and Pine Lake near Issaquah; American Lake near Fort Lewis; Lake Kapowsin southeast of Puyallup; Angle Lake south of Sea-Tac Airport; Lake Desire in Renton; and Lake Meridian in Kent.
Before heading out, check the WDFW regulation pamphlet for specific rules at https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations. You can also find yellow perch information on the WDFW website at https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/perca-flavescens, including an informative video at https://youtu.be/-V5d--VkQ4Q.
Contributed by Mark Yuasa, WDFW
(Mark Yuasa is a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Communications Manager and longtime local fishing and outdoor writer.)
