07-30-2014, 07:03 PM
Wife and I attended a family reunion at Cascade Lake, ID and of course we had to wet a line while we were there. Fishing was tough early in the week due to high wind and waves, but it settled down toward the end of the week and we did much better with the catching. Planned on treating everyone to a perch fish fry and almost panicked when the perch weren't to be found. Caught some trout just in case, but it wasn't until Saturday that I found and learned how to catch those big perch.
They were in the shallows, 8 to 10', amongst the weeds feeding on 1" minnows. I dropped a piece of worm down, but few takers. Thanks to an unknown local who pulled up along side me and started to pull them. He used a small piece of worm with a light slip sinker above it and cast it into the holes among the weeds. Bingo! So we copied him and promptly got enough for the fish fry. I thought it was interesting that the perch wanted the bait moving before they would hit it. Water temp was 68F in the morning and up to about 73F by the end of the day.
All of the trout we caught had sores from parasites. Most had 20 or more red spots on them. Locals said Cascade was bad, but lakes closer to Boise were worse. Checked out the blog and it seems they have an infestation of water worms. Not supposed to be a problem, but sure made the trout look bad.
Tried for some Kokes near the dam, but could only catch the bows. Love that lake, but I really think it is a much better winter lake than summer lake. Planning to go back up one more time before ice time. Hoping those perch won't have moved too far!
Sorry, didn't get any perch pictures, but several were in the 13" range and most over 10". Made great filets which were even better with my crispy Long John Silver's batter. Here's some pictures I did take:
[signature]
They were in the shallows, 8 to 10', amongst the weeds feeding on 1" minnows. I dropped a piece of worm down, but few takers. Thanks to an unknown local who pulled up along side me and started to pull them. He used a small piece of worm with a light slip sinker above it and cast it into the holes among the weeds. Bingo! So we copied him and promptly got enough for the fish fry. I thought it was interesting that the perch wanted the bait moving before they would hit it. Water temp was 68F in the morning and up to about 73F by the end of the day.
All of the trout we caught had sores from parasites. Most had 20 or more red spots on them. Locals said Cascade was bad, but lakes closer to Boise were worse. Checked out the blog and it seems they have an infestation of water worms. Not supposed to be a problem, but sure made the trout look bad.
Tried for some Kokes near the dam, but could only catch the bows. Love that lake, but I really think it is a much better winter lake than summer lake. Planning to go back up one more time before ice time. Hoping those perch won't have moved too far!
Sorry, didn't get any perch pictures, but several were in the 13" range and most over 10". Made great filets which were even better with my crispy Long John Silver's batter. Here's some pictures I did take:
[signature]
