A Taste For Perch

PIKE and perch have an interesting relationship.

- Andy Black

Pike, being an apex predator, predate on perch, but they don’t get it all their own way, because perch eat pike eggs and juveniles. Pike are the winners in the long run though, as they munch on a lot of perch in their lifetime.

Studies have shown that pike generally eat what is available to them, and in some waters perch will make up the majority of their diet. These waters are unusual though, only occurring where there’s a high population of perch and few other species to predate on. As far as pike anglers are concerned, the thing that matters the most is that pike love to eat perch.

Perch can be found in most waters, but not usually in enough numbers for them to come at the top of a pike’s menu, though they will always take one that is in distress.

There are exceptions, often in waters where you wouldn’t really expect pike to show a preference for perch. I have found that perch imitations are what many trout water pike really want, often ignoring other patterns. When fishing pressured waters, I will also turn to perch patterns, finding that they outfish other lures.