Nobody suggested Text::CSV_XS yet. If your data is straightforward: no quotations, no embedded tabs or other hiding disasters, it will be slower than a plain split on TAB, but it is very versatile when dealing with the data

  use Text::CSV_XS;

  my $csv = Text::CSV_XS->new ({ binary => 1, sep_char => "\t", auto_d
+iag => 1 });
  my @row = ("") x 50;
  $csv->bind_columns (\(@row));
  while ($csv->getline ($fh)) {
      my @capture = @row[0, 2, 5];
      }
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