perch bait

[jonk]

I dock out of east harbor.

Last week I went to a bait shop I won't name, and he wanted 5 bucks for a single scoop of golden minnows. Probably 2 dozen or so.

Minnows have been tearing up the harbor.

I put out a 4 foot seine with some homemade dough ball in it and caught a few hundred minnows, mostly emerald shiners, in the marina in about 20 minutes.

Now, I don't think that perch, when they are hungry, really care what species of minnow it is. But I will say that at those prices, if I can net my own... well the seine I had, but it would pay for itself if you had to buy one within 1-2 fishing trips, if there are minnows around. And if there aren't? Put a lantern over the side right near the water, just after dark, toss in some bread crumbs, and there WILL be.

If there aren't? Go find yourself some of the really small Mr. Twisters, with a really small hook threaded through them, and some tiny spoons. Put one on each end of a spreader, with a redworm or a small cut of night crawler to get a little scent in the water. Or a minnow sized piece of cut bait, if you want to buck the law.

I've gotten more perch on small spoons or rubber baits than I care to recount. Then there was the day I got my first 10 pound walleye on a boiling July afternoon, when I had put a small Mr. Twister on a zebco with 6 pound line, jigging, back in 97... trying for perch, which were hitting our walleye lures. I figured, let's target the perch, since they are biting. Plus that lure gives a good chance of hooking into a smallmouth.

If I do get a bunch of minnows, I usually cure the leftovers myself. Some salt and a little time in the sun. Not as productive as fresh bait, I grant you, but they do just fine. Keep them in the freeezer after they are dry. The leathery nature of curing and drying will keep them on the hook quite well.