Dmitch
2/21/2016 9:45:00 PMnice catch! what depth were you fishing in? they reaching more shallow water yet?
Eugene
2/21/2016 9:46:00 PMThe Quadfather - I never caught them before, so I am very happy about new fish to my bucket :) Also I heard they are very tasty!
Eugene
2/21/2016 9:47:00 PMDmitch - perch starts from ~60 and deeper, 70, 80, etc. Nothing is in shallow water yet :(
Eugene
2/21/2016 11:02:00 PMGuys - an important update! It is not a northern pikeminnow - it is a peamouth!
Reelemin22
2/22/2016 12:39:00 AMCan you eat the peamouth ? I've caught them before in Lake Washington, but didn't know what they were so I threw them back.
Eugene
2/22/2016 12:55:00 AMReelemin - there are some recommendation from Washington Department of Health page 18 of WDFW pamphlet - is says do not eat northern pikeminnow and carp from lake Washington. But there is nothing about peamouth, so it is hard to say, maybe they are edible but maybe not. From my side I am definitely going to eat them.
reelinanrockin
2/22/2016 11:42:00 AMNever eat a chub or a squawfish or a pike minnow. They are scrap fish! Cut them up and use them for bait if you catch one. They all make the best perch bait. Even cut them up in small pieces and use them for chumming. Small mouth bass will take the meat too on a drop shot.
Eugene
2/22/2016 11:52:00 AMreelinanrockin - thank you! There is a some difference between squawfish and peamouth http://www.pikeminnow.org/how-to/how-to-identify-a-northern-pikeminnow/how-to-tell-a-northern-pikeminnow-from-a-peamouth The most important aspect that peamouth is a native specie and it should not be treated as trash fish. If you do not want to eat it - just throw it back, it is a part of ecology system - IMHO!
Reelemin22
2/23/2016 3:15:00 AMThanx for the info. about the Peamouth. I like the idea of using it for perch bait. With a name like "Peamouth", it doesn't sound like something you should eat. I'll read up on it. Take it easy. Fish on !!
Amx
2/23/2016 5:10:00 PMPeamouth = good
squawfish = BAD!!!! KILL them, feed them to the crayfish or Eagles.
squawfish = BAD!!!! KILL them, feed them to the crayfish or Eagles.
Bradabass
2/24/2016 4:52:00 PMEugene, could you please give me a quick rundown of how go catch perch this kind of year?
Eugene
2/24/2016 5:07:00 PMBradabass - I am very new to perch fishing - that was my second out for perch ever. Briefly - just go to depths ~60-80 feet and watch fishfinder. When you see bunch of fishes near the bottom - start fishing. I use sinker 2oz 2 hooks #2 and live worms - you can buy them or just dig at backyard as I did. I have also tried various soft plastic baits (twister, minnow, mullet, shad, etc) - perch goes for anything. But from my experience live worms work the best.
RL44
2/26/2016 3:46:00 PMI use salt minnows that you can buy in a pouch then after you catch a perch cut him up in small chucks and use that for bate I use a bottom weight and a perch rig with 2 hooks
tyee4me
4/17/2016 11:08:00 AMWDFW statewide general regulation of no minimum size and no daily bag limit on perch! AWESOME
Eugene
4/17/2016 3:29:00 PMtyee4me - be careful with those perches. They contains mercury, PCBs and DDT. Check WDFW pamphlet page 18 for more info.