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After Friday's debacle at Lake Cassidy, that night I decided I would drop a crawdad trap in Lake WA, then use a couple little ones for bait for bass the next morning.

Well, when I got to my trap at 5:30 am? Empty. Zero. So, I called an audible and decided to go buy some herring and do some of this shore salmon fishing I've been reading about.

I can tell you SIX places in Port Angeles to buy herring. I'm sure there are more. Well, after driving around Lynnwood and Edmonds for 90 minutes stopping at grocery stores and gas stations and quickie marts, I gave up and drove back to Lake WA. It blows my mind that people are so disconnected from their environment here in the city that there is literally NO WHERE to buy herring. I did finally find the bait shop hidden in the Edmonds Marina 2 days later, but what a mind blowing waste of time trying to buy something that should be readily available.

So I finally get on the water at Lake WA about 7:30. I want to catch a monster smallmouth, so I spent a lot of time between 7:30 and maybe ... 3pm or so, in 25-35 feet of water. It was not meant to be. Not long after I got there, I did have one really strong hit, but on the 3rd dive for the bottom it popped off. I drug around a drop shot with nightcrawlers, with a senko, with a plastic fish, with a plastic crawdad, the only thing that got a hit was the nightcrawlers.

So after a while I got bored and fished for some perch, and of course they were happy to volunteer. I tried a little more shallow to get some rock bass, but they were simply not cooperating. Maybe they only come out in the evening? Because I got nothing until maybe 3pm, and then only 2 really tiny ones at perch depth. I did catch 1 smallmouth about 6 inches, and 1 bluegill. Everything else was perch.

People tell me that perch come in swarms, so I found the right depth and just dropped anchor. I decided to find out how many perch are in one spot. So I drop nightcrawlers directly under the boat. I finally gave up after 15 or 20 perch. I went to crappie jig for a bit to try to entice some rock bass with no luck, until .... yep, perch on my white plastic grub. Then another perch. Hmmmm, says I .... so I took the bobber off, and dropped the white grub directly under the boat. Didn't even move it, just let the waves jig it for me. The perch liked the nightcrawlers better, but not much. I caught enough to prove it works. Which is good news, as it's way less troublesome than chopping up nightcralwers and rebaiting! I caught enough perch on that white plastic grub that eventually they ripped the tail off it haha. Come to think of it, I did catch a nice pumpkinseed doing that same thing. So 3 non-perch fish. Fast forward to the end of the day - I decided to run a contest for dumbest fish, and low and behold the rock bass won. I tried those dumb little pink "gulp" baits that I foolishly had wasted my money on - yes, perch will bite on those too. But even perch have standards. The winner of the dumb prize - a little rock bass that hit the white grub with no tail haha.

Overall it was an amusing day of fishing. I would have rather been trying to catch salmon, but it worked out ok.

I released ... who knows how many perch. Well over 50. Kept what's in the picture - 3 perch, the pumpkinseed, and the dirty, ugly, varmint.

G-Man

9/15/2014 3:32:00 PM

Here is the skinny on bait for perch. Use whatever you have to catch a perch. Fillet the perch and cut small strips, leaving the skin on one side, and use it for bait. Make sure to put the hook point through the skin and it will stay on for a long time. In Lake Washington, chumming is legal, so cut up the carcass of the freshly caught perch you used for bait, into small pieces and toss them overboard, next to your boat.

PS - If you fish for crab, keep your small perch and use them for bait. Cut them into chunks for the bait box or use them whole with a bait pin.

N E 1 FISSION

9/15/2014 3:58:00 PM

Ed's Surplus 5911 196th St Sw, Lynnwood, WA 98036
Phone: (425) 778-1441

whorde

9/15/2014 8:18:00 PM

Thanks for the advice. I have heard that about perch. I have actually done it before. But I've found that while you definitely can catch perch on strips of perch, it is not high on their list of desirable baits. Normally perch will preferentially take the bottom bait of the drop shot, whatever is closest to the bottom. But they will go up for the worm in slot 2 if the strip of perch is lowest. I have never tried rigging up only strips of perch. Maybe next time I'll see how that goes. You're right it's a lot more durable than a worm. Perch for crab huh? I may have to try that! Also, thanks for tip on Ed's Surplus.

Amx

9/15/2014 8:25:00 PM

perch eye ball.

Idiotfish

9/20/2014 2:27:00 PM

Nice report. Fresh perch is supposed to be the best for crawfish bait. Why buy bait when you spend a couple bucks on a jig, cut the first couple and just murder the 6 and 7 inchers. I like to ease out deeper for the bigger ones.

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