Jonas Green 6/4 - Rain and Rays

[J.A. Veil]

I have had a tough time finding perch over broad areas or in large numbers so far this spring. They are out there but seem to be in small bunches spaced apart. On my Thurs outing, I caught two in one area, two in a second area, and three in a third area -- that was it for over three hours of casting. And I tried lots of areas that day.

I have a few river spots where I have caught perch traditionally. But your best bet for perch is working in one of the creeks or coves reachable from the Severn launches. Try a variety of shallow habitat types (near grass beds, near fallen wood, near riprap walls, near shallow docks) and try to learn a pattern. Until the perch come in thick, it will require some trial and error. On a hot sunny day, try casting into the shade.

[Dimo]

Sounds good, I'll keep at it and thanks for the tips. I've also got to time my efforts to the tides better.

[rob-kayak]

The wings have hard cartilage in the middle. So, first, I cut along the cartilage to get two "filets" off of each wing. Then I used kitchen shears to cut the meat into manageable strips, clamped down one at a time to my fish cleaning cutting board and let the knife follow along between the skin and meat like I would any other fish.

A lot of skate recipes call for soaking the meat in buttermilk, for at least a day. There are some places that on the shore that offer fried skate. They often label it Chincoteague skate... which I guess is where they are getting it. Or maybe it's like the renaming of Chilean Seabass from Patagonian toothfish. And the long association of the Chincoteague oyster.

[Skidsteer]

Re: Perch - I have also found them to be scattered as John said. I'll add that they seem to be on the prowl rather than stationary. Here one minute and gone the next.

I have also only had luck with a couple fish from each spot.

I did find a good group yesterday which was the best I've found so far this year. I'm guessing it won't be long and it'll be game on.

[Mark]

Dimo,

If I can add to what John and Skidsteer have said, white perch just haven't arrived in large numbers yet.

I've caught a dozen this year in two outings but later in the year a dozen in an hour or even less time will be routine.

Spinners and/or lures of flashy colors of some kind from Mepps to Beetle Spins are irresistible to perch.

However, until the perch arrive in numbers they seem less aggressive and I've noticed they may require a slower retrieve than they will later in the year.

Try slow-rolling your baits now and that may help.

Eventually we'll come to a point in the year when you cannot pull your lure fast enough to deter them.

Good luck,

[Shady]

Last year, I found that the perch didn't really kick into a good summer pattern until the rays had left or at least thinned out.

[jsquare]

Dimo, as others have said, I found very spotty results hunting for the perch recently. I just don't think they have arrived in numbers yet. I was fishing the main river and tried hard oyster bottom first with no success. I then moved in closer to the docks and fished around the pilings with curly tails on jig heads. Found a few around the docks. I then moved on and fished some rip-rap walls with Road Runners and my go-to perch lure, a 1/8 oz Super Rooster Tail. Found a few more perch around the rock walls.

They should be in thick in no time.

[jsquare]

Oh if anyone is interested, there are a number of good videos on youtube addressing cleaning a skate/ray.