Patuxent River Yellow Perch - 2/20/12

[MetroMan]

Foursteps and I took advantage of today's holiday to go and catch some fish. We launched out of Jug Bay at low tide this morning around 8:45-9AM. We went upstream and fished one of the local haunts for yellow perch. Today we fished using artificials instead of minnows. We had a steady pick of fish throughout the morning, with throwbacks mixed in.

We both ended the day with 7 yellow perch. I thought for a moment that we would limit out, but the bite slowed down for us as the incoming tide grew stronger. Slack tide provided the best action. We drifted in our target area, catching fish in 15' of water. Biggest went 12.5", smallest I kept was 9.5". 6 females full of roe, 1 male.

It was a great day out there. I was glad to have success on artificials today.





cleaned again using the "10 second" method



Oh...here is my fancy battery bag:



Its a dry bag that I got a couple years ago and never used. Cinches down perfectly, providing a convenient carry handle. The wire hole serves for ventilation as well.

Great day on the water.

[J.A. Veil]

Nice work guys. Those are some good looking perch. I'll bet they are tasty too.

[ictalurus]

Nicely done, gents. I've been thinking about heading up there this week. We you using a perch rig or just jigging single lures. It fascinates me that perch often bite best on a slack tide. I'd love to know why.

[new2yaks11]

Great catch. I missed out on what turned out to be a pretty nice day. The last weather report I saw last night forecasted winds 15+ out of NW and highs around 43. Didn't sound too good for a comfortable day on the yak.

Boy were they wrong. Again!!! Glad you took advantage of the day off and the great weather. Nice yellows there.

[MetroMan]

Thanks. I suck at counting. Got 8 of em. Bill, they were caught on standard bottom rigs made from mono. The baits were simply hooked as you would do a minnow. Had I been thinking, I wouldve used jig heads in a drop shot arrangement for better bite detection.

[Shady]

Good lookin' Perch you got there!

[Foursteps24]

I had a great time out there today as this was my first trip of the year/ maiden voyage on my new yak. I ended the day with 6 . There were 3 boats anchored in close proximity and they had steady action as we did on low tide. The perch are here in big numbers on the Patuxent . Not sure how long they will be here but now is the time. When we mad it back to the launch a groupie of guys we fished with earlier this morning had a nice stringer of Crappie. They went farther up river in there power boat. Go Get Em Boys!

[chex]

Nice! Glad you got out there and caught some really beautiful perch for dinner.

[tufnik]

Nice work. MM, are you getting close to 10 seconds?

[MetroMan]

Nah lol. I don't even try. Maybe a minute on a fast attempt. It is easier to get a good grip when removing the skin by holding it under running cold water. It takes away the slippery slime.

[moc]

Great catch guys. I was thinking of going to Wayson's or Jugs today, As I checked the board, It did not look like anyone was going out today. So the lazyness hit me and I decided to get some work done on my yak and around the house. PM me the next time you head out. I may tag along. I may try to get out on Weds afternoon (Dependinfg on work) or Sunday. Wednesday's weather is suppose to be awesome..... I cannot beleive it is Winter.

[Meadeo]

Nice haul of perch WTG!

Meadeo

[nay_sayer]

Those are beau-ti-ful! Great work guys. I'm jealous, I had to sit in a conference room listening to people drone on about nothing for 9 hours yesterday.