01-10-2020, 05:38 PM
[#0000FF]Perch strips are great for catfish...both in Utah Lake and Willard. And don't be surprised if a walleye chomps on them too. They love perch.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I always do the first basic steps for prepping and freezing perch meat for bait...whether I am going to cut perch bait pieces later or use whole chunks for bigger fish. As shown in the pictorial tutorial I scale them, fillet them, cut out the ribs (optional) and then freeze several whole fillets in a bag. I do not rinse the fillets before freezing...trying to preserve as much of the natural flavor and scent as possible. And when I freeze them in water I use barely enough to cover them after I squeeze out the excess and all air bubbles...to prevent freezer burn.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Depending on how large your perch fillets are, you can use them whole, half or in strips. For cats I like a strip for adding to jigs and fligs, but a whole piece for dragging around as unadorned bait. And I usually hook the pieces in one end...hook first through the skin and the point partially protected by the flesh. Hooked through the end allows the strip to flutter a bit...and cats usually slurp the whole thing so you don't usually have to worry about them just nibbling on the trailing end. For me, hooking through the skin first seems to produce better hookups than running the hook through the flesh and out through the skin. But it's a subjective thing.
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[#0000FF]I always do the first basic steps for prepping and freezing perch meat for bait...whether I am going to cut perch bait pieces later or use whole chunks for bigger fish. As shown in the pictorial tutorial I scale them, fillet them, cut out the ribs (optional) and then freeze several whole fillets in a bag. I do not rinse the fillets before freezing...trying to preserve as much of the natural flavor and scent as possible. And when I freeze them in water I use barely enough to cover them after I squeeze out the excess and all air bubbles...to prevent freezer burn.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Depending on how large your perch fillets are, you can use them whole, half or in strips. For cats I like a strip for adding to jigs and fligs, but a whole piece for dragging around as unadorned bait. And I usually hook the pieces in one end...hook first through the skin and the point partially protected by the flesh. Hooked through the end allows the strip to flutter a bit...and cats usually slurp the whole thing so you don't usually have to worry about them just nibbling on the trailing end. For me, hooking through the skin first seems to produce better hookups than running the hook through the flesh and out through the skin. But it's a subjective thing.
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