Old Pictures and Memories

So these aren't crappie, but are just as tasty and they weren't caught in Missouri. I was browsing some older pictures after a new phone purchase and found these. I would love to find perch down here, but I haven’t found any below I80. Before I moved to Missouri I was in the ‘burbs of Chicago and there was a magic time of year when the jumbo perch would venture in to certain Lake Michigan harbors. Close enough so that you could cast from shore and do pretty well. When the magic time of the year hit, everyone that fished knew they were there and sometimes you were lucky if you could find a decent spot. These were caught in the Montrose Harbor area off a point referred to by the locals as the Horse Shoe. I only caught three on that day, but they were nice ones. This was the very last time I was fishing down at any of the Lake Michigan harbors. Hopefully these pictures upload and size okay. They were taken back around 2008.

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Perch are great! Love catching them when they're big enough to get some meat off of 'em. They're as delicious as they come!

But you're right...ya gotta head north.

Though I *did* hear of some MO lake that held some...and dandies at that. Bull Shoals, maybe? Wapp?? I forget. All I know is I was surprise A.F. to hear that.

I love perch, they are my very favorite to eat. I always wondered why we don’t have any down here. Anyone Know?

Not common but some in Bull Shoals, they eat good.

Those are some fatties for sure! Havn't ever caught any but my buddy is a Ohio boy and he talked about how they used to go up to Erie and get on Perch boats and ketchm all day.

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Originally Posted by hdhntr

Those are some fatties for sure! Havn't ever caught any but my buddy is a Ohio boy and he talked about how they used to go up to Erie and get on Perch boats and ketchm all day.

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Yep! Erie is another good place to catch them. I was on Erie Walleye fishing one time, but never Perch fishing. I think Perch are just as good as Walleye.

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Originally Posted by Hocky

I think Perch are just as good as Walleye.

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I'd have to agree! They're in the same family as Walleye, after all.

We grew up on perch dinners on Friday nights in WI.

Lake Lotawana in Blue Springs has some pretty nice ones in it. The first time I caught one I had no idea what the heck it was since I had never fished north! They are tasty!

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Originally Posted by Joedog

I'd have to agree! They're in the same family as Walleye, after all.

We grew up on perch dinners on Friday nights in WI.

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Yes, the Friday night perch dinners are one of the few things we miss. We lived in the NW 'burbs and would venture over the boarder to visit some of the Wisconsin Supper Clubs every now an then.

Was our favorite ice fishing fish in SD. Bunch o them and you are set.

When fishing for walleye in Canada we would get mad when we caught perch instead because we were limited on minnows. Didn't know they were good eating. Of course we ate walleye every night.

Love eating them along with walleye! Of coarse not a lot I don't like to eat!

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Originally Posted by LSL Angler

When fishing for walleye in Canada we would get mad when we caught perch instead because we were limited on minnows. Didn't know they were good eating. Of course we ate walleye every night.

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when I was younger dad used to take us to Ear Falls, Ontario fishing for Walleye and Pike. That was on Red Lake Road. Great times for sure and yes, we would eat Walleye every night too!

We always called blue gill and sun fish perch...never knew perch were different.
I just learned something else on CDC.
....but for this thread, I'm super impressed with the picture quality of that 2008 camera.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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Originally Posted by Baitwaster

We always called blue gill and sun fish perch...never knew perch were different.
I just learned something else on CDC.
....but for this thread, I'm super impressed with the picture quality of that 2008 camera.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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You are correct about the name 'perch'. That name seems to be a universal name for what ever. My wife had never eaten them before. She was raised on the Mississippi river and her dad always called river drum 'Perch'. We were in Wisconsin once and Perch was on the menu, which I ordered. She looked at me very weird. At that time I did not know the back story on her version of Perch. She tasted it and I made a believer out of her!

Regarding the pictures, it appears I was wrong about the year, but not too far off. The year was 2009 and the month was May. Here are the details on the picture.

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Originally Posted by Joedog

We grew up on perch dinners on Friday nights in WI.

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I only spent ~6 years up there JoeDog but we instantly recognized that a Friday fish fry was religion in 'Sconnie. I do miss it up there. Paired with a Cow or 9, of course.

The jumbo's are harder to find these days, we fished for them on Lake Michigan when the salmon weren't around and the old timers would talk about the days of buckets full of 14"-16" perch which are downright toads!

U

I’ve only caught a few of them when we went to Wisconsin but they were good to eat


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Brings back memories of being stationed at Great Lakes and catching buckets full of perch from the breakwater on the base. I also caught several through the ice on the Fox river.