Nice Perch

One thing I am getting good at is catching White Perch off our dock. These fish look and behave a little like the white bass (stripe) I fished for back in Tennessee. The weather here has been rotten, but I found long enough breaks between the rain squalls Monday evening to catch our dinner. My most effective perch fishing method so far has been to cast a "Beetle Spin" tipped with a small piece of shrimp. I allow it to sink to the bottom, then pick it up just fast enough to get the blade to flash. If there's a fish nearby, he'll hit it. Because of the rain there was very little boat traffic Monday night, and the Bay was very active. I saw my first sea turtle. About as big around as a hubcap, it came up several times around the dock and didn't seem to feel at all threatened by my presence. There were also many cow-nosed rays swimming around lazily and a new species of fishing bird that I haven't noticed before. I'd fish for a while, then duck under the boat awning when the rain got too hard. I probably caught upwards of 30 perch, but I only kept the 8 largest. We accompanied our perch filets with fresh squash, cucumbers, and onions from the garden. Yum yum! -Shawn