Silver Perch fishing in Florida

Silver perch are small drum, silvery with yellowish fins, that school over grass flats, oyster bars and around docks and bridges throughout Florida's bays, estuaries and tidal creeks. They rarely exceed a few ounces, so they are chiefly a fun catch for kids and a first-rate live bait: many anglers call them yellowtails and rate them second only to pigfish for big spotted seatrout, while redfish and snook take them eagerly. They are around most of the year, most abundant in the warm months, and bite on any tide with some water movement. Use ultralight tackle, 6–8 lb line and a size 6–8 hook on a split-shot rig or sabiki, with a speck of shrimp or squid fished near the bottom along grass edges and pilings. Keep them in a well-aerated bucket and hook them lightly through the lips or behind the dorsal for trout. Their fins are only mildly spiny, but handle with wet hands to protect bait you plan to use.