Brownlee perch

[Brittany Chukarman]

The perch really turned on today. In 4.5 hrs we landed 171. They ranged from 6"-13" and there were 45 that were real good size perch for most anywhere. Most of them had recently spawned and they were feeding heavily on crappie fry. Lots of doubles using a chartreuse tube on the bottom and a dropper above with a strip of perch belly. Took me 2.5 hours to get them filleted but the guys went home with a pile of fish.

 

[idahofishnhunt]

Damn nice haul!

 

[BuzzH]

Plenty of good eating there...

Nice.

 

[ashersdad]

Wow! Looks yummy!

 

[mtmiller]

Yummy. Sounds like a great outing.

 

[Big Fin]

Dang, I need a perch lake like that nearby. Going to thaw the last pack of walleyes after seeing that picture.

 

[Sytes]

Alright, what the heck is the secret to cleaning those? They appear squeeky clean!
Garlic, butter and a gathering fit for a good darn time!
I really have not done much of anything with perch so queue me in please. I may keep a few next time if I can clean 'em as well as you have there.

 

[belly-deep]

My mouth is watering...

 

[mdunc8]

You're killing me. I can give you my address in the event that you have leftovers.

 

[noharleyyet]

Dinner bell.....

 

[idahofishnhunt]

Very nice haul!

 

[fishing4sanity]

Get that fryer going, looks like it's time to eat! When will the crappie be biting good, or are they already?

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Alright, what the heck is the secret to cleaning those? They appear squeeky clean!
Garlic, butter and a gathering fit for a good darn time!
I really have not done much of anything with perch so queue me in please. I may keep a few next time if I can clean 'em as well as you have there.

My dad helps me and we set up kind of an assembly line. Using an electric knife I take the fillet off, scoop out the ribcage then fillet the skin off. The fillet then goes into a pan of cold water. Dad swishes it around in the water then trims off fin tissue and any bones I may have missed. From there they go into another pan of clean,cold water. From there they go on a screened-bottom rack to drain.We both have overhead water where we work to keep the knives and cutting boards clean. In a good year we do around 10,000 warmwater fish.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Get that fryer going, looks like it's time to eat! When will the crappie be biting good, or are they already?

It seems to be improving daily but still really slow. The word from everyone who has seen them is that they are "huge". Real thick 14' fish. I don't expect big numbers this year but some real quality fish. I'll make a post when they get going. My next charter is Friday and I'm hoping to get into them. Fridays crew are coming all the way from Great Falls. The group who caught the perch were from up your way, Moses Lake.

 

[Duck-Slayer]

Very awesome catch, I'll be headed over ther maybe this weekend,
Matt