Put in this morning at Billy Drier and went to hollow creek! The water in the river area was muddy but the water at the back of Big Hollow was good and 47.8deg. Birds were working near the bank on loons and small shad. caught a few small perch around them. Mover to deeper water 49’ and read lots of fish at 25-35 caught some super perch and 1 keeper striper there on shiners! moved to Christal Lake and caught a good fish on a curly tail grub in about 3’ water, nice day ,had to home early tho!
We started out with planers for striper, but the wind had other plans. Because it was pretty windy I went to the 3/4 ounce spoons. If the wind had cooperated I’d have had a 1/2 ounce spoon on instead of 3/4. I caught most of my fish on a white with silver glitter 3/4 ounce Berry spoon.
On Saturday morning I bought most of Sportsmans supply of the 3/4 ounce silver CC spoons along with some 3/8 ouncers and some more 1/2 ounce Berry’s. I had a bunch of gift cards and put them to what I hope was good use. I think I’ve got enough spoons and red treble hooks to last me for atleast 3 or 4 years.
I’ve only had a few days with friends or family when we’ve caught over 100 perch. I’ve had to quit after an hour or so when the limit used to be 30 each. I’ve also seen 150 perch come from one spot in two days of fishing with three guys when the limit was 30. Only had one day recently with over 200 but we had 4 folks in the boat that day.
Perch fishing is a piece of cake compared to striper fishing. Just look for bait and/or fish on or near the bottom in relatively clear water. Fish the spoons vertically being sure to get the spoons down to the fish. I prefer to let the spoons hit the bottom on every fall. Good boat control is a must!! Hold the boat directly over the fish. If you haven’t caught a fish in 5 minutes move on to the next batch of fish. Give them 5 minutes to bite and move on to the next group of fish, etc. Continue moving around until you find fish that are biting well and note what depth they are at. Key in on that depth at similar locations.
Along with white perch you will at times hook some pretty big fish on the spoons. I prefer atleast 14 lbs. test but you can get by with lighter line. Fluorocarbon is my line of choice because it sinks instead of floats and it has less stretch than mono. Also, the deeper the water the stiffer I like my rods. I seem to hook more fish this way. I like catching a lot better than fishing.
quote:
Originally posted by Lawcrusherquote:
Originally posted by steelytomLaw, You can always drop a crappie minnow down. If they are there they will eat them as fast as you drop them. I have 6 year olds and I prefer the single hooks over the trebles. Plus playing with the minnows will buy you some more time on the lake
Wellcraft V-20 sportfish with a 200 Evinrude
Agreed, but what is even more important than the bait is … location location location … LOL
I keep hearing about these places that produce 100’s of perch in a day … I just need to figure out how to find them … If only I could get my Wife to stop STRIPER fishing long enough for us to find some perch … LOLOL
… it’s my Wife’s fault we HAVE to fish !!!
2005 Sea Pro 2100cc / Yamaha 150hp 4-Stroke
Rick, Do you know what a school of perch look like on a depth finder? If you see one, drop a spoon down and you will probably catch some.
If you do not know what to look for, as far as a school of perch, on a depth finder, please post, and we will upload some photos.
Rick K
We did catch 1 23 inch keeper on a dowrod herring suspended at 35 feet while we perch jerked. I was surprised we didn’t get more striper with all we were marking. Think I’m going east next time I fish the lake. The mud has really messed us up this year… Still it was a nice Sunday fishing with my good friend Spoon!
Xpress HB-22
175 Yammy Jammer
Rick K … Yeah, I have no idea what anything looks like on a FF …
We’re called Team Stone Age for a reason …
Up until a couple of months ago we were using divining rods to locate fish in Lake Murray …
I was able to pickup a Lowrance Elite 5DSI for cheap, but to be honest … All we’ve ever marked on it so far is bait …
I think I saw an arch once … In simulator mode … 
I really think we catch fish in spite of ourselves … Lol …
No, but seriously, please post pics if you have them … I would like to confirm what we’re seeing on the screen … Thanks
… it’s my Wife’s fault we HAVE to fish !!!
2005 Sea Pro 2100cc / Yamaha 150hp 4-Stroke
I will look thru my archive, but my teammate, Fogman can probably send you some from next weekend!
Rick K
I’d also try several colors, sizes and/or brands of spoons. If I ever had to bet the farm on a spoon it would be the 1/2 ounce Berry, atleast from fall through early spring. Put a different spoon on each rod until you find out the preferred one for that day, time and location. When conditions allow I’ll usually jerk two rods each with a different bait until I find out what the fish want. A lot of things can affect the perch including water temp, clarity, wave action and availability of shad. Best advice I can give… if you’re not getting bit, keep trying different spots. Sometimes you only need to move 20 or 30 yards to find the hungry ones. Sometimes the schools will spread out over a hundred yards or more on flats near creeks. That’s when I like the old foot controlled trolling motors.
Crusher, I’ll check my photobucket album to see if I still have screenshots of perch. I did some presentations on spoon jerkin’ for stripes and perch and had plenty at the time. However, there are none on my Iphone right now. They may also be on an old thumb drive around the house or my band room office:smiley:
For the most part, perch at first glance will appear as a dense, multicolor double bottom. When you zoom in 2x while jigging, you’ll see they behave a lot like stripers on a small scale. Being from the same genus of morone, the white perch are pint-sized cousins of our beloved stripers.
Xpress HB-22
175 Yammy Jammer
Couldn’t find any perch shots on photobucket. I’ll check my thumb drives whenever we get back to school. If we make it back on Thursday, I’m headed up to Limestone College in Gaffney for an honor band clinic through Saturday. If I make it out on Sunday, I’ll shoot some perch screenshots for you. If I don’t get out again until the 8th, there will be no farting around with perch. We need to find stripes for the MSC tournament. Had trolling motor problems and went “0for” in the January tx:stuck_out_tongue:
Xpress HB-22
175 Yammy Jammer
I spent a few hours this morning on Lake Marion between Eutawville and the dam. Very brisk to say the least but, the water temp was 42.5 - 43 degrees and it was very stained to muddy.
Molon Labe!
Until you have loved a dog, part of your soul remains unawakened. - Anatole France (paraphrased)
RIP my “Puppy Dog” 10/15/2004 - 1/14/2013
quote:
Originally posted by BowhunterI spent a few hours this morning on Lake Marion between Eutawville and the dam. Very brisk to say the least but, the water temp was 42.5 - 43 degrees and it was very stained to muddy.
Molon Labe!
Until you have loved a dog, part of your soul remains unawakened. - Anatole France (paraphrased)
RIP my “Puppy Dog” 10/15/2004 - 1/14/2013
But the question remains … Did you catch anything?
… it’s my Wife’s fault we HAVE to fish !!!
2005 Sea Pro 2100cc / Yamaha 150hp 4-Stroke
quote:
Originally posted by Lawcrusherquote:
Originally posted by BowhunterI spent a few hours this morning on Lake Marion between Eutawville and the dam. Very brisk to say the least but, the water temp was 42.5 - 43 degrees and it was very stained to muddy.
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>But the question remains … Did you catch anything?
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>Short answer is “no”. I guess that we weren’t holding our mouth right. A friend of mine called and wanted to try out his new rods and new fish finder on some cats. We had some of the nicest shad that you could want and were trying to drift. The wind died down and with no trolling motor, there was no drifting.
By the way, the definition of ‘envy’ is: Being in a 20ft. bay boat, air temp. is around 20-25 degrees F., and seeing a fully enclosed pontoon boat that you know is running some sort of heater inside.
Molon Labe!
Until you have loved a dog, part of your soul remains unawakened. - Anatole France (paraphrased)
RIP my “Puppy Dog” 10/15/2004 - 1/14/2013
famous words of the all knowing fish guru…How many dead did you count rattatat?
quote:
Originally posted by RADDADDYThere will definitely be a shad kill between now and next Thursday. Watch for the fish to go up the river to follow the “chum” line
quote:
Originally posted by toppybluefamous words of the all knowing fish guru…How many dead did you count rattatat?
quote:
Originally posted by RADDADDYThere will definitely be a shad kill between now and next Thursday. Watch for the fish to go up the river to follow the “chum” line
Toppyblue, are you out just trying to cause trouble or what? Seems to me you are going out of your way to stir up crap for RADDADDY.
Bob Van Gundy
Marine Designs,Inc.
Custom Aluminum Fabrication
803-727-4069
While working on my 2 275 gal bait tanks today saw a lot of turtles sunning on the bank of my pond! Hope that means spring is not far off! Installed a new pump in the creek and redid the drain system on the tanks. Used the drain valve as a drain with an elbow and a length of pipe , when it fill past the top of the pipe it pushs the trash and bad water off the bottom of the tank. Have herring in one and hope to get some gizzs tomorrow for the other
I think maybe we need a new thread. We are way off topic!
quote:
Originally posted by Rick KI think maybe we need a new thread. We are way off topic!
Ya think … LOL
… it’s my Wife’s fault we HAVE to fish !!!
2005 Sea Pro 2100cc / Yamaha 150hp 4-Stroke