Just wondering how many minnows one should figure, per person, when fishing Lake Erie for perch?. Also what kind?

DJA,
When I get minnows I tell the guy at the bait store to give me enough for the amount of people fishing, (3 people I tell them I need enough for 90 perch+ count on some junk fish). Make sure you get Emerald Lake shiners- sometimes you have a difficult time getting them but if you are in Pt Clinton Wozniak's Sunoco Station west of Downtown has a boat and they get their own. If that fails try Jeanett's on Catawba, Also the bait barn going toward Davis Besse. People will tell you the chubs or gold shiners work just the same but I think thats a lie. You cant beat emeralds!!!

Good Luck

Deffinately emerald shiners, unless you hit a feeding frenzy, nothing else compares.

Get at least 2 dozen per person. We went out last week and caught about 70 Perch in about 4 hours. The Perch were not JUMBOS but in the 7-9 inch area. We were in about 23 feet of water right out in front of the NUC towers in Monroe. We used Shiners. The small ones seemed to produce more fish compared to the big ones. We used spreaders with red white and blue spinners. We were the only boat in the area but when started to catch fish about 20 othert boats joined in with us. We started fishing around 3 pm and left as the sun sent down around 6:30 pm. If the bait shop has green worms get a dozen or two and put out a couple of lines with floating crawler harnesses for Eyes. Good luck and beeeeee safe out on the water.
Scott

How do you hook them? How do you keep them alive?

When I go out perchin I always take too many minnows! You can't buy them on the lake! I figure on two scoops per person. Most bait shops on Erie sell them buy the scoop or buy the $$ amount. Always error on the heavy side. I hook all of my shinners twice. When the fish are on it won't matter how they are hooked, but sometimes it does. When it seems to matter I hook them straight down through the middle of their back just far enough behind the gills so that you can turn the hook and hook them again up through the head. When hooked this way the shiner will hang perfectly straight on the hook.

To keep them alive you will need an airator, but they work just as well dead. I always put the dead ones in a small bucket on ice to keep them firm until I use them. Dead shiners are lots easier to hold and hook!!

Tracy
Tracy

how much do you pay for minnows in ohio or other states.

In Minnesota metro area I am paying 3.25 for a scoop of Fatheads. 6.00 for a Doz Shiners and 2.75 a scoop for crappie minnows.

Holy Moly! Don't let our dealers down here know that! Budman

On lake Erie, we pay anywhere from 1.25-$3.00 a scoop. Somewhere around 4-5 dozen per scoop depending on how big the shiners are, where you go, and how abundant the bait is.
Tracy