They are readily available from Tasmania and NSW, but their stronghold is definitely Victoria.

Where do you start looking for estuary perch?

If you've never caught an estuary perch it's as simple as finding some structure — whether it be timber laydowns, a fallen tree branch in the water, bridge, jetty, rock walls or a simple weed bed, these will all hold perch at some point in the year.

Personally, my favourite structures are bridge pylons and fresh tree branches that have fallen in the water.

Bridge pylons act as a safe house. The perch will ambush out from them once a bait fish or shrimp swim past it, so getting your bait or lures right into that structure will give you the best opportunity to tangle with our "southern barra".

When trying to pick a fallen branch or tree that's in the water, try looking for one with a bit of growth on it as the bait fish and shrimp will congregate in these and so will the perch. The old saying "find the bait and you'll find the fish" is definitely relatable.

So, what are test times to target perch?

I find the easiest time to target perch is summer, and is the most fun time also. It seems as though the fish spread right through the system and can be targeted on most techniques, but the most popular is surface lures in the late arvo/early mornings.

Winter is also a productive time to chase perch as they school up for their annual spawn and are usually found in the deeper sections in the systems from 2.5-5m, so using lures such as vibes and heavily weighted plastics will give you a shot at them.

If you're wanting to target them on bait then fresh shrimp, cut mullet and live minnow will have you connected to a bucket mouth in no time.

The best times of the day to target them is predominately early mornings or late arvos and into the night as they are a nocturnal fish and hunt at night. 

Where are the best estuaries to target them?

The most popular estuary in the south-west is the Glenelg River near Nelson.

The main highway bridge at Nelson itself holds perch most of the year, and also the hundreds of shacks that line the bank hold their fair share of fish too. Further up stream, you'll find many rock walls and fallen trees that make it a fun and exhilarating moment when you hook a big perch and they want to get back to their home.

The beauty about the Glenelg is you can target them from the estuary right up past Dartmoor on a wide range of techniques. Other notable fisheries for perch include the Fitzroy River, Hopkins River, Merri River, Curdies River and the Gellibrand River. All are accessible by both land and boats.  When landing perch be careful of a couple of spikes on their body, as they will give you a lot of grief. They have extremely sharp gill rakers and a nasty anal spine that can make your hand throb if spiked.

Handling perch is pretty simple with a lip grip being the easiest way to hold them as they have no teeth, but if you have a big one please support the belly as it can burst blood vessels in their neck and kill them, unless you're after a feed.

The perch is highly regarded as a great table fish by all who target them so a bag limit of five will feed most families. Their minimum size limit is 27cm, with most fish exceeding 45cm being classed as a good one.

The trophy size is about 50cm and anything over that is an extremely big fish for down here. According to Wikipedia, they can grow up to 10kg. But most fish that you'll encounter will be from 500g to 1kg.

In other news, the Garmin Marine South West Game Alliance competition is on again this weekend.

Anglers from multiple states will converge on our region for a range of prizes and categories including champion angler, champion boat, most tagged fish and the species list prizes also.

If you want to know any more, get in touch with the Warrnambool Offshore and Light Game Club at bit.ly/2ugxH5V

Not a game club member? No worries, they offer a non-affiliated membership for the weekend. Good luck to all competing, and stay safe out there.

Until next week, have a great week. Tight lines and best of luck.