Got out on the water about 7:00 a.m. today to try for some Perch. It was slow going for the most part in the a.m. for them but with that said the Blue Gill were hitting fast a furious. They are getting to be very large. One I measured was well over eight inches. Anyway, as the day progressed, I began moving around a bit and finally found the Perch in about 15 to 20 feet of water. I was amazed at their size as they have grown quite a bit since last winter. From years of catching stunted perch ice fishing on this lake, I did not think it would ever be possible for Silver to produce big Perch in any quantity but it is! The average size is now over 8 inches and today I caught a lot in the 10 inch range as shown in the picture. I think I know why this is.
I was initially skeptical of the Muskie introduction to this lake. I figured they would eat everything in the water, including an occasional water skier. Hey, you got to find the positives where ever you can. Anyway, it looks as if this predatory fish has thinned the perch out enough so they can grow. I believe this is true because on 2 occasions today, when the Perch suddenly stop biting, I started casting for Muskie and hooked up twice. The second hook up ended in disaster, as you can see from the picture, because as I set the hook the Muskie took off like a torpedo. The end result was a broken rod tip and a ripped up rubber fish. Although I was unable to bring any Muskie to the boat today I was fortunate to catch one in the 36 inch class last Sunday which was my first time fishing for them and definitely will not be my last.

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