10-14-2013, 03:55 PM
[#0000FF]How do you describe the taste of salt to someone who has never tasted salt?
Most of us perch hounds have fished for many species but still harbor a fondness for perch. Ditto for bluegills and even small smallies. It ain't so much about the size. It is more a matter of first having to hunt them down...finding the fish. Then it becomes a matter of figuring them out. They are members of the same family as walleyes. True, they have a reputation of being easy to catch...and they are under some conditions. But not always.
What keeps most of us going back for more abuse is the memory of trips on which we caught large numbers of large perch...footlongs or bigger. If you catch them on light tackle they put up a pretty good scrap. Some of the bigguns will actually pull a little line off the reel against the drag.
Because perch are usually prolific and reproduce well enough to sustain some harvest they are a good fish for folks who like to bring home a large batch for a fish fry. They are easy to fillet
and there ain't many fish that are any better on the table.
During the years before more Utahns took off the "trout blinders" and deigned to pursue non trout species, perch were considered trash fish and were often thrown up on the bank to feed the wildlife. These days there are arguably more folks who would rather eat perch than trout. And a whole lot of us who would rather fish for perch.
Us humans are creatures of habit and we usually develop our own preferences and styles based upon what we have been "learned" by others and by what is locally available...when it comes to fishing. The dink perch in Newton and Hyrum could hardly be expected to get anybody excited about perch jerkin'. But a few trips to Starvation...or Yuba, Deer Creek, Rockport or Echo...during the good times...would help alter your opinions.
In the meantime, take advantage of what you got and keep an open mind.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Most of us perch hounds have fished for many species but still harbor a fondness for perch. Ditto for bluegills and even small smallies. It ain't so much about the size. It is more a matter of first having to hunt them down...finding the fish. Then it becomes a matter of figuring them out. They are members of the same family as walleyes. True, they have a reputation of being easy to catch...and they are under some conditions. But not always.
What keeps most of us going back for more abuse is the memory of trips on which we caught large numbers of large perch...footlongs or bigger. If you catch them on light tackle they put up a pretty good scrap. Some of the bigguns will actually pull a little line off the reel against the drag.
Because perch are usually prolific and reproduce well enough to sustain some harvest they are a good fish for folks who like to bring home a large batch for a fish fry. They are easy to fillet
and there ain't many fish that are any better on the table.
During the years before more Utahns took off the "trout blinders" and deigned to pursue non trout species, perch were considered trash fish and were often thrown up on the bank to feed the wildlife. These days there are arguably more folks who would rather eat perch than trout. And a whole lot of us who would rather fish for perch.
Us humans are creatures of habit and we usually develop our own preferences and styles based upon what we have been "learned" by others and by what is locally available...when it comes to fishing. The dink perch in Newton and Hyrum could hardly be expected to get anybody excited about perch jerkin'. But a few trips to Starvation...or Yuba, Deer Creek, Rockport or Echo...during the good times...would help alter your opinions.
In the meantime, take advantage of what you got and keep an open mind.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]