2018 SMSC Summer Perch Jerk

[bushwacker]

I agree fully. We need to keep them all. 8”+ for the fry all the rest for the garden.

[medicineman]

I will take all the advice I can get on catching these fish- have 2 grandchildren, 4 and 5 yrs old, that I would love to put on fish. What do they look like on a fish finder ? Seems like it would be hard to tell whether it was perch or a school of bait.

Thanks !

[medicineman]

Sorry- i didn't read the entire post- I see lots of good fish finder pictures. Thanks !!

[tiltntrim]

May 30, 2018 15:27:53 GMT -5 choochoo said:

I have a rules question. I often have my daughter, FIL, or other friends with me when perch fishing. Do I have to hold my catch separate to enter? Can I turn in fish under their name? How do I handle a cooler full of fish caught by multiple people?

Good questions Choochoo. Thanks for bringing them up. The scenarios you describe are encouraged! This is a fun event and we want to do our best to keep it that way!

Youth:
We prefer not to award cash prizes to individuals under 18, thus the rule that you need to be 18 to submit your catch. However, we will have gifts/prizes for youth who assist with the catch, but those prizes will not be based on catch. If the youth want to keep track of the numbers they catch that would be great! We can announce those numbers at the Fish Fry for acknowledgement!

For multiple adults on a boat:
I'll give some examples of how a boat with 3 adults and 1 youth, all fishing for the perch, could submit the fish:

• Total catch - 46 perch, 8" or bigger
  
• One adult could submit all 46 and receive 4 tickets, with the remaining 6 fish credited to the next catch he/she submits.
  
• Two adults could submit fish, one submits 20 fish and receives 2 tickets, the other submits 26 fish and receives 2 tickets, with a credit of 6 fish to that individual.
• Three adults could submit the 46 fish divided any way they choose among those 3 adults.

Just keep in mind:

• Drawing tickets are awarded to individuals (not boats) - 1 ticket for every 10 perch submitted and accepted.
• All individuals must be fishing for the perch.
• For a catch to be submitted for an individual we must have that person's name, phone number, email address and number of fish.
• One person can submit the catch of other individuals who were on the boat. Just have their info as stated above.
• An individual can only win 1 drawing prize ($100), regardless of the number of tickets issued to them.

I hope this helps clarify. We understand there is an element of "the honor system" involved with this and we trust it will be followed.

[johnr]

May 31, 2018 6:08:18 GMT -5 medicineman said:

I will take all the advice I can get on catching these fish- have 2 grandchildren, 4 and 5 yrs old, that I would love to put on fish. What do they look like on a fish finder ? Seems like it would be hard to tell whether it was perch or a school of bait.

Thanks !

If you’re below the bridge or below gills/crazy horse and it looks like a ton of gizzards, there’s a real good chance it’s perch. Drop a worm and you’ll know in a quick minute!

I’ve got a 3 year old daughter and she was wacking the perch all last summer, two at a time even (at 2.5 years old). I’d bait her rod and I taught her how to drop it down and set it in the rod holder, and all she had to do was wait. They’d practically hook themselves and she had no problem reeling them up.

It’s an awesome way to get a kid into fishing, because once you’re on them they will bite till you catch every one of them. The kids stay interested and it gives them a ton of experience just learning about fishing in general in a very short time. Do it once a week for a summer and you’ll have a kid who not only loves to fish, but who has the experience and confidence to do it themselves.

[bushwacker]

Ok I got an orange pool noodle today to display when I am on perch. I am going to put it straight up in the air on my T-top feel free to come help catch them. I’ll be in my hydra-sports CC with Reely Blessed on the side or a blue Sweet water pontoon. Hope to be back down beginning of July.

[CrMiller]

Great..... An orange flag saying “come help me get more fish for Craig to clean”. Haha

Bring it on! Hope to have better luck than last weekend.

[hambone]

Alright guys I will be in bull run early in the morning, I’m going for 10 tickets worth, haha I hope🤪 Anybody in the area come on by I will be in CC hydra sport, with spider rigging poles out, I don’t have no orange swim noodles but if I get on them i will shoot some flares or something 😆😆

[johnr]

Good luck. I’ll be out there somewhere in the lower end trying not to hook myself in the back of the head again with the fly rod. 🙈

They’ve been MIA this year for some reason. It’s about that time though.

[hambone]

Jun 15, 2018 7:52:32 GMT -5 johnr said:

Good luck. I’ll be out there somewhere in the lower end trying not to hook myself in the back of the head again with the fly rod. 🙈

They’ve been MIA this year for some reason. It’s about that time though.

I’m in bull run now, they here!!
I need a orange noodle to deploy

[johnr]

Jealous!!!

[medicineman]

So I am FINALLY gonna try catching some perch. Will have one young fellow with us- hope to put him on some fish. Has anyone been catching them lately ? I am going Saturday and could use any help on where to look for them, how deep they are, etc- not sure how these hot days may have affected them. We will be launching at Hales Ford bridge- guessing I probably need to head toward the dam ?

Thanks !

[johnr]

They’ll still be in 10-20’ of water. Whether they are schooled or not will be a game time decision that they make, as I haven’t figured out what drives the massive schools yet. Last week in bull run, they were scattered everywhere. The weekend before, it was thick schools.

I’d start looking around the state park in coves, in that 10-20’ of water. If you think you see some, drop a drop shot rig down and you’ll know soon enough. I prefer flatter bottomed coves. If it’s steep, they’ll likely not be in there. Sometimes they’ll be in the creek backs, other times they’ll be in main creek channel or even main lake channel coves. So look all over the place, and don’t stop till you find them.

You can also check the back of Becky and Betty’s. Sometimes they school in those creeks and coves in those areas. Really any creek between there and the park has potential too, I’ve just never done any fishing in them to know for sure.

[medicineman]

Thanks man- I really appreciate the advice. One last question- are worms the best way to go ? Should I just pick up a couple dozen night crawlers somewhere or is there something better ?

Thank you again- I will report back on my day.

[johnr]

I catch plenty on worms, just using 1” pieces. Cut alewife chunks will do it too. I like using a 1/4 oz kastmaster as my weight.