(11-26-2022, 10:58 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Hey Pat, question for you, do you soak your fillets in water before you package them for freezing? I do this on mine to get the blood out of them before freezing them.
I drop the newly removed fillets into an ice water bath as I am filleting. If I have a large batch, I may scoop some out after rinsing and put them in a plastic container in the refrigerator to await the next batch. But yes, I do give them a good rinse. Not so much of a blood problem with perch as with catfish and some other species. Then, I freeze them in just enough water to cover them and squeeze out all excess water and air bubbles. When they are ultimately thawed there is no trace of blood and they taste as good as fresh caught.
(11-26-2022, 11:52 PM)EyLayo Wrote: Good job Pat. Caught some perch on your twirly dropper last weekend, but I think it was a bit too aggressive for the gills today. Only mild interest in it. Rainbows liked it thoughGood on ya. I have always done better with a smaller finesse approach on the bluegills. Perch and trout are more aggressive and eat bigger meals. If you are interested, I am going to be making up some micro dropper jigs...on 1/8 oz. bodies and down to size 8 hooks...with only 1" dropper wires. I think those will have some acceptance among fishkind. And so far Hali and Johnson don't make anything smaller than about 1/4 oz. Lemme know if there might be a couple of colors you'd like to try.