Six straight weeks of stock declines has shaved about 6% off the top in major market averages in April. That hasn’t been good for income investors holding high-yield equity securities, but it has been for Treasury bond holders. In fact, the flight to quality in Treasury bonds has caused the price of long-term Treasuries to soar.

Over the past six weeks, long-term Treasury bonds, as represented by the iShares Barclay’s 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE: TLT) have climbed about 4%.

By comparison, dividend-paying equities such as the ones found in the iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (NYSE: DVY), are down about 1.7%.

The relative performance of DVY versus broader indices such as the S&P 500, which is down about 4.6% over the past six weeks, shows that dividend stocks are actually holding up a lot better than the overall market. Still, the recent decline in dividend stocks can’t compare to Treasury bond ownership during this downturn.

So, is now the time to jump the dividend-stock ship in favor of bonds? My answer here is an emphatic “no,” and here’s why.

First off, when it comes to investing for income, yield should be top priority. Right now, the yield on a fund such as TLT is 4.22%. That’s a quality payout,  much better than the 3.23% yield with DVY. However, the search for high-yielding dividend stocks should by no means be restricted to traditional dividend sectors such as utilities, consumer goods, industrials and financials — the sectors that make up the lion’s share of DVY.

What I consider high yield is dividend-paying equities with yields well north of 5%. Yes, these aren’t the easiest securities to find, but they are out there in abundance if you’re willing to look past those familiar, boring dividend names like Chevron (NYSE: CVX), General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to name just a few of the stocks in an ETF such as DVY.

If you are an income investor looking for yields, you need to look into unconventional high-yielding sectors such as Master Limited Partnerships, or MLPs, shipping companies and even telecom stocks.

Many of MLPs are in the energy sector, and some pay yields that more than double those of DVY. One example is Pioneer Southwest Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: PSE), an oil and natural gas MLP with a yield of 6.89%. Shipping companies such as Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. (NYSE: TOO) pay a yield of 6.8%, and the widely held telecom giant Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) now is yielding 5.46%.

When the wider equity market undergoes its inevitable bouts of selling like we’re seeing right now, an income investors best refuge is high yield.

Sure, finding those high-yield securities isn’t always as simple as buying so-called blue chips, but that doesn’t mean you have to abandon the dividend equity ship. Instead, do a little homework and dig up those high-yield gems just waiting to find a home in your income arsenal.