Jonas Green - Weekend Perching.

[Meadeo]

Fished on Sunday from 11am to 4pm with Ilv2fish & KG at Jonas Green worked various structure from dock pilings to rockpiles along the shorelines. Between the three of us we had 75 fish each easyily.

Biggest perch hit 12" on the nose still no citation for us but one of these days it is bound to happen.

Strange catches to note:

1 summer flounder 10"
1 bluefish 8"
1 Yellow Perch 6"
10 Pumpkinseed sunfish 4"-8"
lots of small rockfish & croaker (like 6" fish)

Pretty much a perfect day on the water.. I had 14 perch in my bag from 11-12 inches man they tasted good after being on the water all day.

Meadeo

[ILV2F5H]

Good times in deed. I got a little sun burnt. I cleaned about a handful last night. Do you cut the fins off as well. I scale, gut, cut the fins and leave the head on but the fish looks more appetizing when you cut the head like whats pictured in your bowl. I tried filleting but even with the bigger perch it was hard to get good meat. Their body/bone structure made it hard to fillet.

[Meadeo]

I singled out the biggiest twelve perch and filleted and skinned them. Fried them in the deep fryer last night so gooooooddd...

The rest i scaled headed and gutted then rinsed throughly. For those i like to pan fry in the cast iron in egg flour and old bay.. The meat falls right off the bones.

I cleaned my entire box full last night as i wanted the fish as fresh as i could get it. Was pretty good at only keeping fish over 10" i had a small handful at 9" that snuck in the box =).

I tried to get you guys to use some sunscreen..

Meadeo

[john from md]

In my opinion, due to their size and structure, filleting perch increases the chance of getting small bones in meat. I would rather frying in a cast iron pan on the grill or bake in oven.

For frying, you don't need to skin them as the skin will ball up and fall off. They are also great baked. Mix up some eggs and milk, drop in headless/gutted fish, drop in some of your favorite breadcrumbs, bake at 350 for 20 minutes, serve with sliced lemon. Meat can be taken off the bone by taking a fork and pulling meat down away from the spine.

When frying, leave the tail on, when they are done, insert fork in lower side of fish, lift on tail and lower meat comes off. Flip fish over and do the same for the other side.


Ahh, my mouth is watering for some fresh perch now.

John

[Meadeo]

I like to fry the tails and eat them.. They are my favorite!!!

Meadeo

[ILV2F5H]

I bet you do like eating tails.

I like to fry them with the skin on so it makes its nice and crispy when you dont use batter.

[mango]

can you freeze perch? spot, croaker & bluefish don't freeze well in my opinion, but I would like to store some for later when the perch fishing might not be so good as it is right now. I have put some filets in water and frozen, haven't tried yet. What do you all do to keep fish around a little longer??

[ictalurus]

That's a nice mess of fish. Congrats on the awesome day.

[Shady]

I freeze just about all of the fish that I catch because me and the wife alone cant possibly eat all of the fish that I catch right away. In my opinion, Crappie, Bluegill, Perch, Striper, Trout, Flounder and Tog all freeze well and are still just as good a month or too after putting in the freezer. I just put them in a ziplock bag and get as much of the air out as possible. I've heard of others freezing fish in water, but I've never messed with that method. As you said, croaker and bluefish are definately better fresh. Catfish is ok frozen but not as good as fresh. It seems to me that the flakier meat freezes better than the more soft type meat....

[john from md]

I freeze perch to last a long time. The way to do it without losing flavor is to freeze in water. I keep the fish on ice prior to cleaning and then rinse in ice water after cleaning. I fill flat tupperware containers with cold water and insert fish. Freezing in water keeps the flavor and prevents freezer burn. They last for months like this.

As far as bluefish goes, if you take the trouble to smoke them and dry them, you can make fish chews that last a long time also. Got that one from an Eskimo friend.

John

[mango]

I freeze perch to last a long time. The way to do it without losing flavor is to freeze in water. I keep the fish on ice prior to cleaning and then rinse in ice water after cleaning. I fill flat tupperware containers with cold water and insert fish. Freezing in water keeps the flavor and prevents freezer burn. They last for months like this.

As far as bluefish goes, if you take the trouble to smoke them and dry them, you can make fish chews that last a long time also. Got that one from an Eskimo friend.

John

thanks John and shadyfisher85 for the info. John, we briefly met at Jonas Green 2 weeks ago. I will see how the water method turns out and get back to you on it hopefully much later in the year. Someone suggested adding a little salt to the water but I don't see a benifit to doing that.

[john from md]

Hello again Mango,

I never heard of adding salt to the water but you never know. In today's internet world, people are learning more about different subjects everyday.

John

[HJS]

Do you cut the fins off as well. I scale, gut, cut the fins and leave the head on but the fish looks more appetizing when you cut the head like whats pictured in your bowl. I tried filleting but even with the bigger perch it was hard to get good meat. Their body/bone structure made it hard to fillet.

ILV2F5H - I scale, gut & head my wperch, but I leave the fins intact. After cooking, being able to grip the fins makes it a little easier to get the fin bones out of the body. And yeah filleting wperch can be a little tricky. You need a very sharp knife and a fair bit of experience to get a clean cut. I generally only fillet the bigger ones, like 10.5" or bigger.

[yakersaltlife]

I usually let the fish sit in water with salt for a few hours to a day and then if im not going to eat them freeze them in a ziplock with water. you have to make sure there is enough water to cover all the fish and get all the air out too. It does two things, prevents freezer burn and makes it easier to thaw out when you go to use it. we do the same thing with shrimp when we get them from NC/SC.

[TXfly16]

Nice catch! What kind of set up were you using for the perch if you don't mind me asking, thanks!