Of marching bands and perch fishing

To loosely quote Professor Harold Hill, "That's a capital P, that stands for Playoffs, and that means Perch."

Surely you remember Prof. Hill. He was the leader of the River City's Boys' Band. Seventy-six trombones. "P" as in Pool.

Not coincidentally, I grew up fishing for perch not far from Mason City, Iowa, the original River City in Meredith Wilson's "Music Man."

Generally, the best fall fishing for yellow perch in the Flathead Valley starts with the major league baseball playoffs and improves through the World Series.

Perch feed more aggressively but, more importantly, become more available due to the decay and decomposition of weeds. Perch hug weed beds, so when the weeds fall apart, the fish not only scatter but also become more exposed to anglers. However, the flip-side to losing the security of weeds is increased wariness and alertness.

In summer, you might be able to sit on a weed bed and fish directly below the boat all afternoon. In fall, you'll catch more fish if you anchor a little short of casting distance from the weed beds, then cast your baits.

Fewer lure-grabbing weeds doesn't mean no lure-grabbing weeds, so one popular method for catching fall perch is to suspend your bait below a bobber. The bobber makes casting easier and holds the bait just above the bottom, where perch are most actively feeding.

From many hours of watching perch from a dark house in winter, I've learned big perch rarely look up to baits, whereas the little guys will follow baits nearly to the ice.

A lightweight spinning outfit with 4-pound test monofilament works well for fall perch. Gently rocking a big bobber imparts an enticing action to lures like leadhead jigs and Swedish Pimples.

Maggots, mealworms and strips of perch belly meat are good baits. I prefer pieces of nightcrawlers. Unused crawlers are dumped into the garden.

Many local lakes have tasty yellow perch. For starters, try Echo Lake, Smith Lake, Lake Mary Ronan, Lake Five and Island Lake.

And Prof. Hill can add Perfect to describe the taste of firm-bodied fried fall perch.