Perch Bait Other Than Live Minnows

[Donscs]

Hi Gang,
Thanks for the responses, I have a couple of pounds of salted minnows from Best Baits and was planning on taking some crawlers the next time I head out for perch. Really like the idea of popcorn shrimp and will add them to the list. Might even bring along some shrimp cocktail sauce, like Bobby said if I get hungry I can alway eat the shrimp.
Thanks Again,
Donscs

[kzoofisher]

Wigglers.

[Bobby Winds]

Originally Posted by kzoofisher

Wigglers.

Oh yea, Herb and Mr Carlson from WKRP recommend them too......

[kzoofisher]

Originally Posted by Bobby Winds

Oh yea, Herb and Mr Carlson from WKRP recommend them too......

The Cadillac of worms.

But I meant mayfly nymphs. We call them hem wigglers around here and they work great on perch through the ice, no reason they shouldn’t work on soft water.

[TRapperJones]

I have caught a few perch on the smaller lunkerhunt emerald shiner jigging raps...work really good

[reddog]

Originally Posted by kzoofisher

The Cadillac of worms.

But I meant mayfly nymphs. We call them hem wigglers around here and they work great on perch through the ice, no reason they shouldn’t work on soft water.

Im 61 years old and have never used a minnow for perch. ever. Its wigglers or crawdad tails, but primarily always wigglers.

[Bobby Winds]

Originally Posted by reddog

Im 61 years old and have never used a minnow for perch. ever. Its wigglers or crawdad tails, but primarily always wigglers.

But on Lake Erie Emerald Shiners are KING when it comes to JUMBO Perch fishing.....

[Donscs]

Just thought I would follow up and post my results using worms, salted minnows, and Shrimp.

Went out yesterday and while 2 of my buddies used spot tail minnows I only used worms, salted minnows, and shrimp, for perch. Perch reports in our area haven’t been very good, tiny and very small numbers, but thought we would give it a try. Made a few moves and finally got on a weed bed holding fish and we caught 62 keepers.

So here’s how I compared to the guys using minnows:

Worms – for the most part just tiny perch and gobies.

Salted Minnows – really no success.

Shrimp – I cut the shrimp into small pieces (little chunks) and into small strips. Not a lot of success on the small pieces but the small strips did OK. The strips were about 2 inches long and thick enough to thread onto a hook. Unfortunately I didn’t have a lot of the strips and while I would get nibbles on the chunks not a lot of good bites.

I used fresh shrimp that had been frozen so I thawed them out and cut them up. Next time I think I need to do a better job of keeping them on ice while on the boat. I had them in a little cooler on top of other bait so they were never sitting on the ice. After awhile they started to get pretty mushy.

While the little chunks didn’t work well for perch the catfish really liked them. While trolling or jigging we occasionally hook into a catfish, but nothing like this. I hooked into 4 catfish between 10 and 15 pounds and boated 3 of them and the last one finally broke my line. Was a hoot fighting these guys on a Quantum Micro Light rod, Tiny Lite reel, and 6 pound braid with a leader. Really didn’t think the drag or the rod could handle it especially when the rod tip would bend almost back to the handle.

Have to say the guys using live minnows out fished me but not going to give up on the shrimp. Next time I will only take strips and do a better job of keeping them on ice. I guess the shrimp didn’t do too bad because the other guys said they wouldn’t hesitate using them if they couldn’t find good live minnows.