Perch report Rattlesnake/Green area

[jonk]

We got out mid morning today. What with the wind and the storms that rolled through yesterday, didn't see much need to rush.

Started out slow. A lot of boats were off the monument on the east side, but after 20 minutes there, we realized it was just to get out of the wind. Headed through the chop to just south of Green, where several head boats and charters were. No luck there either. Moved to just east of Green and started picking up a few perch, but nothing great. Moved north to just SE of Rattlesnake and there was a good crowd of boats there, including most of the head boats from Drawbridge, Tibbels, etc.

We got there I'd say about 2:30 after having messed around at the other locations and in 2 hours had 45 perch in the boat for 3 guys, with the other 10 being caught off Green earlier. I'd imagine if we had gotten there a little earlier we'd have limited out. Then again, it might have had as much to do with the wind dying down as it did with location. Bite died off around 4:15, and by 4:45 we headed in.

Bite was fairly good, with many taking it like a walleye would on a drift rig... a long slow pull rather than the usual tap tap. Size was in the 7-9" range with a few smaller throwbacks and a few larger ones. Got one 11" fish, several in the 10" range, but 90% were 7-9s. Only one sheephead, and two small walleye in the 10-12" range that hit the perch rigs. Golden shiners.

About 80% swallowed the hook, so they were definitely sucking it in rather than just biting. Lots of minnows visible in the fish's mouths.

[Pathfinder]

Had a buddy met me at Catawba State Ramp 9:00 Sunday. Picked up some goldies and ice from Rickards on the way. Figured if we waited for the waves to settle down we might not have time get our limits, so we set off for a slow careful ride out to Rattlesnake. 3-5's was about right with a few big-uns thrown in to keep us awake on the way. Stopped South of Green 1st since fish were on the graph, but couldn't get 'em going so it was off to a spot SE of Rattlesnake that gave me quick limits a couple weeks ago in 31 FOW. Couldn't locate any big pods of fish with the sonar. They were definitely more scattered. We settled for the best bunch we could find and set up over them with the I-Pilot spot lock at 10:00. Started coming up right away. 7-1/2 - 9's, same size as two weeks before. It wasn't a quick up and down, but it was steady until 12:30 or so. Things got slow and it was 2:00 before we finished our two limits, 15 lbs at the cleaner. Only three white perch, one 10" walleye, and one 14" white bass. Got to spend a day on the water with an old friend and send him home with a nice bag of perch, so this was a GREAT day.