Does fall turnover mess up perch fishing the way it does bass?
It scatters them briefly, then does them a favor. When the column mixes — surface hitting roughly 10–13 °C (50–55 °F) at northern latitudes — uniform temperature and oxygen open the entire basin at once, and schools that were pinned above the thermocline spread through water they could not use all summer; for a week or so, contacts get random. But re-oxygenated deep flats are exactly where perch want to winter, so post-turnover is when the deep basin bite switches on in earnest. Endure the messy week, then start hunting the 6–12 m (20–40 ft) flats.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
Same topic, other species
- Why does crappie fishing fall apart during fall turnover? — Crappie
- How does fall turnover affect muskie fishing? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- Does fall turnover shut pike down like it does bass? — Northern Pike
- What does fall turnover mean on a trout lake? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- What does fall turnover do to walleye fishing? — Walleye