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To be honest, Pete and I targeted Rainbow Trout at Silver Lake, as I had had decent luck with them on Saturday. This day was strange all the way around... arrived at Thornton Sullivan Park a bit after 6:00 AM, at which time the park is supposed to open. The woman who unlocks the gate was a no-show, until almost 7:30. When Pete questioned her as to why she was so late, she became rude and condescending to my friend. Finally made our way to the pier, lines in the water at nearly 8:00. Chilly at the outset, with temp at 51 degrees... cloudy and very foggy, strong breeze out of the southeast. Water temp at 64 degrees at 15' off the pier. I began with chartreuse Power Eggs on one rig, fl. orange on the other. Pete started with worms on one rig, PE on the other. About 8:30 Pete had a solid hit and reeled in a 12" Rainbow. That was it on the PE! Soon after, he had a hit on the worm, and reeled in a nice perch. From then on, it was non-stop action on the perch. Pete had found the "hunny-hole" and brought in perch after perch. I stubbornly stayed with the PE, until about 10:30 when I changed one rig over to worms, and began catching perch as well. I had a couple of hits on the PE, but no hook-ups... wind was a factor in trying to discern bites. Final tally was 36 perch, 7" to 8" with a couple of "piggies" at 9"... I caught 10, Pete caught the rest... the great "Perch-slayer" of the day... with a couple of bluegill in the mix as well. The strangest catch of the day, was the 12" Rainbow that Pete landed, using a piece of perch meat fished on the bottom! Bite fell off a little after noon, as the wind died down and the sun began to peek out of the clouds... began spitting rain on us, and we left the lake about 1:30.
Cleaning the perch is a ton of work, but dipped in egg and milk, rolled in batter and quickly fried in hot oil, nothing tastes better!
Enjoyed watching a big, beautiful loon fishing the lake and catching perch through the morning. Truly magnificent birds! PTL!

hooksetjou

9/30/2014 10:38:00 AM

Nice catch! I fished at Coulon Park on south end of lake Washington for perch but caught none. Other people hooked 2 or 3. That was about a month ago. Are there better lakes down Renton, Kent area for perch?

whorde

9/30/2014 3:26:00 PM

One day I'm going to have to pay you with a bag of perch so I can watch you filet them. It would take me about 6 days to filet that many perch.

snorider

9/30/2014 4:29:00 PM

I grew up eating perch and walleye in North Dakota. Now having lived in the PNW for 16 years I've had fresh ling cod and halibut. Still prefer walleye or perch!! It's the best!

Stansjoy

9/30/2014 4:44:00 PM

hoksetjou... Haven't fished them, but understand that there is some good perch fishing at times down your way. Try Sawyer, Meridian, Fenwick or Desire are good bets. Good luck! PTL!

Stansjoy

9/30/2014 4:51:00 PM

whorde... Won't lie to you, it takes a while to fillet those fish out... a labor of love! Key is a very SHARP fillet knife... put mine to the steel several times in the process. First cut, at an angle behind the gill plate to the backbone, then turn the knife on it's side and follow the backbone to the tail without cutting through the skin, flip the fillet over, lay the knife under the meat, along the skin and pull through, leaving a skinless fillet. Repeat other side... when I'm done with all the fillets, I go back and slice off the rib cage. Took my about two hours to fillet out 36 perch. Good luck. PTL!

juggalo

9/30/2014 5:50:00 PM

An electric fillet knife makes it sooo easy.try a mixture of flour and mashed potato flakes it's the best hands down

aquaking

9/30/2014 6:06:00 PM

Ya'll put to much time into filleting these guys! I gut them make a slice on each side of the head and down the back along the spine then grab the skin and peel it right off! Its amazing how easy the skin comes off! Batter, fry, fall off the bone well seasoned goodness! :)

downriggeral

9/30/2014 9:23:00 PM

Nice catch of perch! You can PM me for a really fast great way to clean perch; two slabs of meat on the backbone ready to fry up.
Alan

whorde

9/30/2014 11:15:00 PM

Huh. I didn't know they'd peel like a catfish. I'll have to try that. Thanks for tips everyone

hooksetjou

10/1/2014 12:11:00 AM

Stansjoy.. Thanks for the tips.

Idiotfish

10/1/2014 6:33:00 AM

Thanks for the report. I like reading your posts.

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