Sk8man

$2.05 (I'm a big spender)

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Another example of why it is good to carry two nets onboard

Some real familiar faces in that pic

The unfortunate fact is that the elections in this state are at the root a numbers game and upstate votes don't really mean much these days. The state is run by downstate numbers.

Yeah. government was originally designed to serve the best interests of the people; not to impose your own opinionated will on others without any actual understanding of the issues involved or the consequences of those decisions.