Perch Fishing with Dave and Tracy 8/17/21

When I woke up this morning, I already knew the forecast was looking great for today. So, I slipped out of bed and poked my head out of the back door, to make sure that Mother Nature wasn't pulling one of her fast ones on us again. She wasn't.
I smiled, when I saw all my garden spinners at a dead standstill. "Good, light winds today", I muttered to Dexter as I scratched the top of his head. I closed the door, and headed to the kitchen to make my morning coffee...Dexter followed behind, looking to get a treat, or two.

I left the house at 4:30, even though I didn't need to meet my crew until 6:15, over at Catawba. I wanted to stop at the gas station, and then hit Hi Way Bait for minnows, because they still open at 5am...(most others open at 5:30, or as late as 6am now).

No one had Emeralds around here that I know of, so we were using Golden Shiners from Hi Way. They were a perfect size Goldie...about an inch and half long.

Then, I hit up Herb's Bait for some frozen emeralds. I was not impressed with them, because the cups were full of scales that had fallen off the minnows...super messy. I like freezing mine in Wintergreen Rubbing Alcohol, because...1. They firm up. 2. they like the flavor, and the scales do not fall off of them, like they did with the salted/frozen ones. 3. The water never fully freezes, so thawing them takes no time at all.

Jannette's Bait had Goldies and frozen too.

With minnows in my possession, I headed over to Catawba to get the boat ready, and wait on my crew. Dave and Tracy, from the Toledo area, showed up right on time.

We headed NNW out of the ramp for about 8 miles, and after setting down and looking around with the Solix, we set up using the Spot Lock on the Ulterra. To this day, I'm so glad I don't have to drag an anchor up over the side of the boat anymore, and just let the motor hold us in place. Such a treat.

Anyway....it was perching. Tracy and I used crappie rigs that I make myself, and Dave used a spreader. At 2 1/2 hours in we only had 45 of our 90 limit, and I could sense a slow-down in the bite, as the sun got higher in the sky, this morning.

Once we had 56 perch in the cooler, I decided that maybe we should move, rather than wait any longer to see if anymore were going to roam through again. It seemed to me, that they had moved, and weren't coming back anymore, so we moved.

We would move three more times, and not find a good bite in any of those spots, even though the Solix showed some good marks below us. The only difference between our first spot, and all three other spots, was the clarity of the water. The marks looked the same as they did in the first spot, when the bite was good, but the algae was a lot worse, which made the water murkier.

They called it with a 1/2 hour to go...so, we came in 4 short of their two-person limit. But, the good news is, there was a fella at the ramp that had come in after us. He didn't feel his 5 perch were worth the effort to clean, so he asked Tracy and Dave if they wanted them. Of course, they said, "Yes."
So, we ended up taking 61 perch to the cleaners, for a total of 20 pounds (or, 3 fish to a pound).

Dave and Tracy commented on how relaxing it was, how nice the weather was, how much fun they had catching fish....so, you know what that makes me.... that's right...that makes me happy! Another adventure accomplished.

Tomorrow's forecast, is calling for light winds out of the south, turning variable, and staying below 10mph. It will be cloudy, and there's a chance for rain at 10am. Temps will be in the low 70s most of the morning.

I have two repeat customers that I have fished with for a few years now. I call him, "Santa", because he looks like him, and he plays one sometimes at special events. Cally Morgan, and his friend, Bill, will be walleye fishing with me for the next two days, and then I'm off for the weekend. I have family coming to visit. Woot! Woot!

Stay tuned....

Capt Juls