Is Perch Good To Eat? – From the Lake to the Plate

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PERCH

ON TO THE PERCH

I had a feeling the Perch would be in a bit better biting mode than the Walleye because I could see them occasionally following my Walleye jig in. That shows activity. As soon as I got close to where I thought the Perch would be—pop! It was an instant hook-up.

For the next couple of hours, I culled through quite a few Yellows to end up with a half-limit in the box (plus my two Walleye). I normally don’t keep my full limit of Perch or other panfish (50 in my case with a sportsman licence) simply because it’s a lot of cleaning.

Not a whole lot of meat on this little sucker.

MY PERCH FISHING GEAR

My equipment for the Perch was an ultralight spinning rig with 8-pound test braid and a 6-pound test fluorocarbon leader. Ultralight is so much fun. Yes, 8-pound to 6-pound probably is not to be considered ultralight; however, as with a lot of my fishing, I go as heavy as I can. In this case, it didn’t matter. As a matter of fact, I do have some light outfits geared toward Trout, live bait Walleye, etc. that I sometimes use for panfish, but I prefer to use the ultralight rod action for the ultimate-in-fun factor.

As for baits, I used plastics. No need for live bait. A small 1/16-ounce jighead in calm conditions and a 1/8 if the wind picks up. Add to that a little 2.5–3-inch finesse minnow-type bait in a subtle or a bright colour pattern like white (or something with white in it) and I’m off to the races. The odd time I’ll move to a curly-tail grub or a tiny tube bait, but my main Perch plastic is a small minnow-style shape.

This is one of my favourite bait shapes for Perch. Others work, it’s just a personal thing.

I vary my retrieve throughout the day to see if something works better than others. If I see the fish high in a school on our Garmin LiveScope, I’ll cast out and swim the jig through the school. (I do this on many different species; scroll down to Swimming A Jig in this article.) If nothing is showing up on LiveScope, I’ll work the bottom of the lake. Simple and easy.

ANY BIG PERCH?

My Perch outing ended up being all I could ask for. I kept more than enough for a couple of family feasts (the entire Bowman gang loves Perch) and threw back loads of smaller ones.

These two would make even Simcoe and Erie Perch hunters happy.

The highlights of the day were two mongo-Perch that measured in at just under and just over 13 inches long. I know that might not raise too many eyebrows on Erie, Simcoe, Franny etc., but on the Bay of Quinte, those are nice ones! Rare for sure, but excellent for a tug-o-war on ultralight gear.

Filleted, washed, and ready for the next step.

I talked to my dad on the way home (He’s a Perch nut-bar like me) and after I told him how many I’d kept and had to clean, he said, “That’ll be good for a few beers.”

He was right.

Perch fillets prepared two different ways—both delicious.

The only thing missing from this meal was Dad. I chucked a sack of fillets into the freezer in anticipation that once this BS pandemic mode passes, he has got the invite for a meal fit for a king… and justifiably so.

Triple Gs: Golden-Gordie and Gluten—I can’t wait!

Pete Bowman

Pete, one of the most revered and popular anglers in the nation, has a tremendous love for the game… the fishing game. Pete’s vast knowledge of angling and ability to articulate it to audiences worldwide has endeared him to his fans who still see Pete as just “ONE OF THE BOYS”. Pete is also an accomplished and published outdoor writer and photographer as well as a sought-after speaker. In 2012 another of Pete’s ultimate fishing career highlights occurred when he was inducted into the Canadian Angler Hall Of Fame, something he never thought would happen. A Canadian fishing icon.

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