7/22 Perch

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Went out this am for a start to perch season...boy...I was not the only one!!! Went straight out of Metzger Marsh canal to 21' ft of water. Bottom was covered with good marks, boats were everywhere !! Perch season has begun !! Extremely lite bites and picky eaters, had to dance the minnows to entice a bite but nice quality of perch. I am retired and ckean my own, so I am fussy on what I keep and clean, gives me more excuses er reasons to go out more days. Only kept 10, but smallest was 9" plus and biggest was 10 plus inches. Nice fillets !!

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Out again today, same area north of MM outlet until I hit 21 ft of water.. No marks until I reached 20' and then heavy marks at 21'. Extremely lite bite, in fact it was really no bite. The perch would just grab the minnow piece and hold it. No pulling no movement at all !!
Sometimes they followed the lift until near surface before they fought back. Wnded up just laying on bottom for a few minutes then start a slow lift...almost at surface before I knew anything was on !! Kept 20 nice ones over 9" long coypke 10" in there, no jumbos. I clean my own, and hate cleaning little 7 inchers, so I try to keep just those at 9" or over. Besides that gives me a reason to keep going back out !! With the weather forecast for the rest of the week, this will provably be it until the weather settles.