From now until early spring is the time to hit the perch in Lk Washington. As we do every year we start about this time to fish around the south end of Mercer Island between the Sea Hawk training camp and the I 90 bridge. As you can see from the pix the bait (both stickleback and smelt) and perch are thick. We look for these schools on the finder and then dropshot them using a 1oz to 1 1/2 oz jigging spoon for weight (see pix of spoon). The weight is determined by the depth and how fast one is drifting to keep the lure on the bottom - as vertical as possible. Above the weight from 8 to 10" we have another bare hook. After we catch the first perch both the jig and hook are baited with perch meat with the skin as it is tough and the perch cannot easily pull it off. Many times you will catch 2 fish at a time with this setup. The main reason I use a jigging spoon for the weight is that most of the time your jumbo perch - 12" and better - prefer the spoon.

These fish need harvesting as there are times when we are over schools 15 ft thick and we drift 100+ yards before we leave the school. And they are excellent eating. With an electric knife I can fillet 2 a minute with a partner who finishes them by cutting out the rib cage.

Last year I tried to answer several questions on our perch posts that were brought up by guys who wanted to go after these fish. For some reason I must not have used the proper procedure to email them. Feel free to use the email below if you have any questions about this fishery and I will do my best to answer in a reasonable time.

jim1943p@outlook.com

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