Hey there....you hit on a tip Ive been using for some time for crappie.... I actually used a gallon pickle jar but now use a big plastic jar that pretzals came in.
I have been trying different glow sticks and find that coleman work the best...the light will dim when cold but still seem to get about 4 hours of light out of them. Never tried it for perch but dont see why it wouldnt work...
Im going to do the "jar in a jar" with the sticks to try to get em a little brighter and last a bit longer....