Sk8man

I don't keep any 13 inches plus so when I have done it I attached the balloon to a larger one hoping that it was part of a pack of good ones and they have a little more power to get away from the boat. Just take a length of mono with a size 2 hook on one end and  and hook it to the cartilage part of the mouth so it won't easily pull out. Tie up a relatively small balloon and then tie the other end of the line to it. You can usually release the fish afterward as it is often in good shape. They often try to get back to the school so that's your cue

You are welcome on my boat anytime Gill

yep you got it Mike.

Great, but that is not the water clarity we deal with. It looks there as cloudy as after a rain, and yes the perch are less wary in that condition, but all I know is what I have seen during much of my 78 years fishing the Finger Lakes .

When ice fishing if you look down the hole and watch perch when someone makes loud noise on the ice (as in power auger nearby, walking with cleats without snow etc.) they scatter - sometimes for quite awhile before they return. Also, when the water is very clear in shallow water in a boat you can come up on a school, and when someone walks around or moves on the boat they can scatter. Even when they detect movement of the boat in shallow clear water. I've seen it happen dozens of times over many years so it isn't a "random event or behavior".

The silver one at lower left is a Les Davis

$2.05 (I'm a big spender)

Magee is pretty good but over priced in my opinion. I had a lot of canvas done by him when I got my boat new and then later had to have it re-sewn because of the cheap thread that was used for the seams which deteriorated in the sunlight (to the tune of $800). John Mann of Sodus Bay Canvas is a much better option both in terms of quality and pricing. There is a big difference in the quality of thread used for the seams and most folks don't realize it and the good stuff is quite a bit more expensive.

Best of luck with the boat John. Looks like a great deal for someone and I know you take a lot of care for your stuff so whoever buys it will be a "happy camper".

The paint job on these spoons looks about as good as it gets!

Frogger. It was probably from arm wrestling Signalman for the honor of pulling up the anchor. 

Bob: Anyone who thinks they have perch totally figured out is fooling themself.  They have become more line shy and more easily spooked by the clear water as Brian says.

Spot lock is very useful when the water isn't moderately rough but it can jump the lock under those conditions and can be a constant battle. Sometimes perch want the bait moving so drifting can be more effective and as soon as you stop and lock up or anchor they may stop hitting. Sometimes they respond better to jigs dragged along the bottom and won't touch suspended bait. When anchoring some guys just get in a hurry and throw the anchor out and then wonder why the fish aren't hitting. It pays to gently and quietly slide the anchor into the water; and some folks make a lot of noise walking around in their aluminum boats and drop things on the floor etc.....not great either.

If using an anchor it can be productive drifting until you find a school or pod of perch and coast by them and slowly and quietly slide the anchor in the water once past them aways and cast back into them from a bit of a distance. It is especially important to be away from them and not directly on top of them when you stop or anchor. Usually once the boat has been there anchored up awhile the perch can be less skiddish and may end up near and under the boat and it is a matter of trying to keep them there once it happens which is a reason for using one rod as a "dead stick". There are times when perch don't give a rats butt about any of it and will hit regardless of what you are doing.... if you have the right bait.

Yep. A lot of folks call the silver bass and white bass the same thing too. I think the white perch is actually a member of the bass family.

16 hours ago, whaler1 said:

Are white perch and silver bass the same thing?

Just different names for the same thing Bill. I think the Silver Bass is kind of a "local" designation. We used to catch bunches of them at May's Point and the Seneca River as a kid.

The unfortunate thing (among  many) relating to the use of Artificial Intelligence is that they are now able to couple a photo with the actual voice of someone so it will be very difficult if not impossible to spot some of these scams.

Running "fake" meat as you note has the opportunity to "tune" the bait much more than running true meat rigs or "live" rigs. Running them on lake O for Pacific salmon is a bit different than running them for lakers or browns/Atlantics on the Finger Lakes too as the salmon on Lake O aren't mainly bottom dwellers so you are running them fairly high in the water column with your other stuff or somewhat below it. On the Fingers meat rigs are often run much more near the bottom and frequently with frozen sawbellies rather than imitation bait. A lot of times folks run surface oriented stuff along with the meat rigs or even riggers up considerably higher. The right speed for the roll of the bait in that situation is very Touchy" to get right and maintain along with running spoons and that is what I was referring to Rick. The range of adjustment isn't any where near what it is for the stuff you are running (ie. the "fake" bait). In that respect I think the newer stuff is superior.

I would add that it can be more difficult to get things running right when you mix things up. Running meat effectively highly relates to running it at the right speed so that the bait is rolling right. When you add spoons to the mix it is important to know which spoons to use so that they run at compatible speed with the bait. Often the effective running speed for meat rigs is considerably slower than that for many spoons and different also than other attractors such as flashers and dodgers. Just something to be aware of. Direction of current can also be a complicating factor.

One of the things to be aware of is that often the larger the hook size the fewer hits when the perch are fussy which is "usually" They also don't seem to like exposed hook points.

Thanks for re-posting Stan. Rick gave an excellent update on the current status of things from the ten years ago that the original post was made. All this stuff is still relevant.  Rich emphasized the most critical part of the whole thing : the roll and getting it right. It makes all the difference in the world in results.

23 hours ago, Long time fisherman said:

Thanks again Sk8man! 🙂 At 80 im pritty much a fair weather fishermen..🥶 Good luck ice fishing!! 

I guess I can relate as it is a question mark for me as well from year to year at 78

It was an American Eel Pete. I know lampreys are a delicacy in Europe.....they can have them!  I must admit I do like seeing them though with their heads off

Years ago fishing near Maxwell creek in my 13 ft Whaler during late July I was trolling along running a dodger and fly and a dodger and squid in about 30 ft of water. I had a real good hit on the squid combo and grabbed the rod and started reeling it in. Right from the start it felt odd as the rod was bouncing around all over the place while reeling. When I got it near the boat I realized it was an eel about 3 1/2 ft long. I didn't want to lose my set-up so I carefully brought it to the side of the boat and was going to use needle nose pliers to release it when it slithered over the few inches of gunwale into the boat. It was wriggling around like there was no tomorrow and finally after pinning it to the floor I was lucky enough to be able to release it. Unfortunately for me though it had slimed all over the floor and bench seat and it was nearly impossible to clean and was present for many weeks afterward so I guess it got the best of me after all.

Through the lips with the hook point upward Good luck when you do go. I'm hoping for ice fishing maybe this weekend

Yep sometimes you have to experiment when they are fussy it can help to go smaller hooks like 8's but then a lot of times the bait is easier to pull off without hook-ups especially with fatheads

Certainly depends on a lot of factors; method used, water depth, clarity of water, live bait or artificials (e.g. plastics) used for example. Drop shots or jigging are the most common methods used. If drop shots are used the hooks can either be tied directly to the main line or leader, or a loop can be used to extend a couple inches off the leader or main line with the hook at the end of it. I use setups with both methods and depending on conditions or results I switch off on them. The advantage to using the direct tie method is increased sensitivity, while the loop method tends to have better action of the bait and maybe less feel of the line. I usually tie the first hook up about 18 inches from the bottom (can keep Gobies off too), and the second up about 2 ft or so from that. Depending on conditions I use #4-8 hooks (gold Aberdeen mostly) For the sinker on the bottom I use 1/8th or1/4 oz. tungsten weights at the bottom of the lower hook. The other method involving jigging either bucktail jigs by themself, or small jigs of various weights depending on depth and/or water conditions which determines the weight used. Brown and black jigs have been the most effective over time for me.

Check out Madrivertackle on Ebay as an option.

We have fished quite a bit at the north end for perch with drop shots and haven't had any problems with gobies with our setups with first hook about 15 t0 18 inches up.