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View Full Version : Little Bay Perch, Sat. 4-21-12



raywriter
04-21-2012, 05:38 PM
A friend and I stopped at Bay View to talk to Chris about 9:30 this morning, and to get some bait. He suggested heading out off Saunders Point to chase some perch, and we had been thinking about that area since we did well there last year at this time. The advice was dead on, and we made a very nice catch, consisting of 30 keepers including some real footballs up to 13 1/2 inches. Most of our action was from noon to 2 pm, and we left about 2:30 pm. Minnows, crawlers, and wigglers all worked. We bought two-inch minnows specifically because they can attract larger perch. Perch rigs straight over the side of the boat produced well, and slip float rigs out farther away from the boat produced good action. Our best depth was 46 feet. Some of the big perch were so slabsided that they had a profile that reminded me of smallmouth bass. All in all, it was another great day on the bay! As a side note, we also caught a few walleyes which were released.

Here is something to consider: When we set the hook on a fish that was obviously larger and felt heavier, we brought them up more slowly so they could recover better and could be successfully released. That's what we did when we thought we had walleyes on. The water was so deep, we had to think about that. In a couple cases we were surprised to find that they were actually jumbo perch.

The Bait Shop Guy
04-22-2012, 10:21 AM
Thanks for the report, Ray. I talked to several people that did good mid day yesterday. That's one of the good things about perch - you don't have to be out at the crack of dawn to get on a good bite, (especially nice when the mornings start out at below freezing!)

My dad and I didn't get out until after I closed the shop. They were biting good for the first hour, but the average size of the fish had dropped way down. We caught around 40 fish, but only had 7 keepers. Then about 7pm the wind died off, and so did the bite. Oh well, I'll try to get out a little earlier today.

xtroll
04-22-2012, 11:23 AM
Thanks for the info all... only thing better than perch is lobster, and my gas tank (or wallet) isn't big enough to boat to Maine...

"Men and fish are alike. They both get into trouble when they open their mouths."