Originally Posted by
LEfriend
You can get a good debate started on here about minnows for perch. The conventional thinking is that nothing beats Lake Shinners and that inland minnows like fatheads don't work very well. Sometimes the bait shops get golden shinners when the Lake Shiners aren't available...some fishermen swear by goldens and some at them. If I couldn't get live shinners, I would take frozen emeralds next over anything else, then goldens third. Spotfin shinners are real good, but hard to find.
As for size, I want a 1 1/2 inch thick minnow to hold the hook easily. For bigger minnows lots of times we cut them in two...sometimes all you need is a quarter inch chunk on the hook. Avoid pinheads...they are too skinny to keep on the hook and you get robbed blind.
Good luck