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Might have been the last time for my canoe out on the water this Spring, but it's been fun....Buddy and I hit R.P. 0730, heading North right away, toward the dam, trolling our way slowly toward the cliffs...he was dragging a gold Jakes lure (didn't work), then had success with orange X skull fly, w/spin blade in front..for him, also rainbow assasin, and pink/silver sparkle crappie killer w/spin blade in front worked good.....I started with pink metallic squid w/spin blade in front (hot again) so retired it after 3 hook-ups, then home made chartreus assasin w/spin blade (good) and retired that, then watermellon mini squid w/added blade (good) and retired that, then silver/red Needlefish (good) and retired that, then silver Rapala caught 1, but too hard getting two treble hooks out, so I retired it after that one.....Very pleasant morning, with winds holding off 'til we left about 1200....1 1/4oz weights got us down to where these rainbows were hitting, at about 12 to 15'.....With my elec. troller, it's easy to adjust speed frequently, and hits often came when bumping up....All fish caught were 12 to 14", except 1-18"er for my buddy on the rainbow assasin....Now maybe time for the "big" boat....Guluk...
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Thanks for the report Joe, do you ever try jigging for perch during the soft water season?
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Hey Curt.... you know, I just haven't tried that, but it sounds intriguing...gotta see if I have an anchor rope long enough to hold me in some of those deep spots....Have you heard of it being done successfully on our local reservoirs? BTW, my last time there I talked to a DNR/DWR guy and he said perch fishing (ice) should be even better next season, with sizes similar to first couple weeks at Echo....he said they put in over 100 bottom structures to help with spawning and fish hideouts....Rockport was good to me, possibly even better? Who knows? I do know that perch fry is hard to beat, and this is the first year I did the perch taco thing, and that was pretty darn good too....
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[#0000FF]You do not have to fish deep for perch in the summer months. In fact, they often come in pretty close to shore. The only time you need to anchor is when you find a school over a hump or rock pile. Otherwise you can just drift or use the electric to move you down the shoreline as you cast into fairly shallow water.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]No need for an auger or an ice scoop either. Biggest hassles are the power squadron who like to run the banks in between you and the shore.
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We has jigged for perch at Echo and Pineview last Fall, so for sure you can do it, just have to find good groups of them to catch numbers. Good to hear about Rockport, did the DWR guy say how large the bottom structures was that they put in there?
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How's the forage base at Rockport (baitfish wise)?
When I lived in PA I was quite serious about chasing perch in the Pocono Lakes... shallow weedy ones (<10f ft deep) and big reservoirs. Those that had either Golden Shiners (shallow/weedy) or Emerald Shiners (big water) were the ones that gave up 13's, 14's, and 15's on a regular basis. Especially big lakes with Emerald Shiners... perch magic.
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Hey Curt...We were on our way out, and I didn't think to ask how large or where most were planted.....but I will try to find out....I would think good sonar would pick them up, but I'm just guessing................................................................
..........Hey Pat....I love dragging the auger up and down those slopes, enjoy slogging through the slush layer, freezing my fingers trying to get a tent set up, then finally getting a nicer fish to bend my 2 foot pole, and then it disappears after the nose bumps the bottom of that ice hole.....it's great!...but one of these days I will try for perch on the soft water.....tks...
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."I love dragging the auger up and down those slopes, enjoy slogging through the slush layer, freezing my fingers trying to get a tent set up, then finally getting a nicer fish to bend my 2 foot pole, and then it disappears after the nose bumps the bottom of that ice hole.....it's great!...but one of these days I will try for perch on the soft water".
[#0000FF]You need to join Masochists Anonymous...with their 12 cast program.[/#0000FF]
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I joined that support group back in '89.......but I'm still stuck in step 2....step 3 was a little too radical, so I backed off for awhile.....
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[quote Jmorfish] BTW, my last time there I talked to a DNR/DWR guy and he said perch fishing (ice) should be even better next season, with sizes similar to first couple weeks at Echo....he said they put in over 100 bottom structures to help with spawning and fish hideouts...[/quote]
Hey Joe, did you see KSL Outdoors this past weekend? They posted a short video of those structures you were talking about, pretty interesting stuff, it looked like they put a lot of it in a central location, so it might be easier to find than I thought. The video even show GPS, not the exact location but you might be able to get a good idea where to start.
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