Minnows for Perch

[IDFisher]

Last year I was fishing Cascade and caught a few nice perch and when i brought them up they puked up a couple mildly digested 1.5" perch minnows so i figured if this is what they're eating then that's what i'll use.  So I threw one on a small jighead and my Marcum lit up like the 4th of July, like i've never seen.  Problem is, i only had 1 or 2 and i think some of the smaller fish pulled them off my hook before i could catch anything but they were just swarming it.  So my question is where can I get some small minnows like that?  Has anyone else ever used minnows?

[hooknhunter]

You must be mistaken or came across a fluke.  Perch don't eat minnows.....


I don't know where to get good imitations.  I just use artificials (plastic, jigging minnows, spoons, etc.) and they seem to work just fine.

[bowhunter68]

Make sure they are dead minnows...lol

[IDFisher]

I did pick up a couple small perch colored jigging raps and they liked that ok but it was still nothing like the real deal.

[Woodland]

you could always trap some if it is legal? and then preserve them http://www.walleyeheaven.com/howtosaltminnowssaltedminnowspreserve.htm

[hooknhunter]

I know minnows can be harvested from the lake if you are willing to go through the effort but the ones I've been able to harvest were too big to "match the hatch" and didn't work any better (perhaps not as well) as my usual baits.  I did not cure mine, though, so maybe that makes a difference.  I also know a guy that was trying to buy them, but I don't believe he ever had much luck.  I didn't find it to be worth the effort.  Your results may be different than mine. 


I know the perch are pretty moody some times.  I have used minnows several times, but I've never found them to be significantly more productive than either a worm or eyeball.  Perhaps an appropriately shaped and sized piece of cut bait would do you well?  I think the regurgitated minnows must put off a different smell and they do seem to work well.

[RayneBidziil22]

go to your local  Petco ask if they have rosy red minnows if so there you go I use them up here in northern Idaho of course the minnows are dead before I go to the lake

[SoDakdick]

I fish with a guy that uses fat had on a jig head and He out fishes me most days but he keeps his own bait and they are 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch.

[fowl_language]

we used to do very well with minnows in the Midwest but only with live minnows which is illegal and Idaho unless those Minos were trapped in the same body of water that you are fishing I have also seen the large perch at Cascade puke up small perch but I am Not sure if it is considered a game fish if so it is illegal to use as bait every year try and use emerald shiners from Walmart which are about one to one and a half inches long and they never seem to out produce a natural perch color jiggin rap or wax worm and jig.

[Bardic]

A few posts from the regs:

"Note: Use of live fish, leeches, frogs, salamanders, waterdogs
or shrimp as bait is prohibited in Idaho, except that live
crayfish may be used if caught on the body of water being
fished."

So yeah, can't fish with live minnows at all from what I read, but can with live crawdads in the water they were caught in. So I don't know if you can get away with using live minnows, but catching a live one and killing it before casting it back in should be fresh enough.

Also, game fish can be used as bait, people use trout for sturgeon all the time and cutbait as suggested above works very well. You aren't allowed to waste fish though and the fish you used would still need to keep the head and tail in areas with size restrictions (I suppose up until you use the last bit of it as bait and throw the carcass to the crawdads and catfish). Yellow Perch are a gamefish, but there is an allowance in the regs to catch them using traps and nets. I think the only non-game fish we have are chubs, carp and suckers, although the occasional aquarium fish gets dumped so I guess that would count also.

"Trapping or Seining Minnows and Crayfish: Nongame
fish (minnows), yellow perch, and crayfish may be taken only
in waters open to fishing; provided the seine or net does not
exceed ten (10) feet in length or width, and nets and seines
must have three-eighths (3/8) inch square or smaller mesh;
and the minnow or crayfish trap does not exceed two (2) feet
in length, width or height. If the trap is of irregular dimension,
but its volume does not exceed the volume of an eight (8)
cubic foot trap, it is also legal to use. Nets and seines may not
be left unattended. Traps must be checked at least every fortyeight
(48) hours. All traps must have a tag attached bearing
the owner’s name and address."

Although I've never tried for them with a throw net or trap. Hopefully this is all clear and helps some people out. I think a strip of flesh off a larger perch would work just fine to emulate a wounded minnow.

edit: perchmasterson beat me to it.

[Idahogator]

That strip of flesh can come from even a 4" perch's belly.

With the silver inside lining it's a great bait that may get 30 or more on the ice, before needing a replacement.

You'll get a more flexible strip if scales are removed before removing it.

A piece 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" and 1/2" to 3/4" wide and boneless, then hooked near what was the head end will create a handle of the hook.

Now the best and most important part :   Lay on a board and cut out a small wedge. Cut this slightly off center to make one dangling piece a bit longer than the other.

You best make it look chewed on, easily done by using hemostats on the edges of the little "legs".    Get it in the water several times until it looks awfully ragged. 


PM me if this shouldn't be made public, but kept secret.       

[panfishman13]

i usually just keep a couple of dink perch, fillet them out, make cutbait in 1/2" strips, and pop the eyes. one or two 3" perch will last for for half a day.

perch are also the only gamefish you're legally allowed to trap, so i intend to start trapping them along with my usual haul of shiners and sucker minnows.

[Idahogator]

Good luck Panfishman.     

Aren't we lucky that perch are cannibalistic.     

[panfishman13]

very lucky! though i'm not terribly surprised, they're delicious!

[fowl_language]

No offense taken the more clarification the better.

Living on the border i confuse wa and id all the time i think they still consider yellow perch as game fish with the same bait rules as id.