minnow bait for perch

[Badback]

I have never used minnows before while fishing for perch so I bought a jar of Emerald Shiner Minnows and set it up and used the Aqua-vu to observe…Many perch were interested, followed it as it was being jigged and hung around….The minnow fell off so I went back maggots and that is when I witnessed a interesting event…The minnow was on the bottom and a perch swan up and ate it, then swam towards the camera a spit (or regurgitated) the minnow out ….My question to the forum is, has anyone had luck with this bait (minnows preserved in the jar) and perch?

[nicemustang]

I'm not a fan of the preserved minnows. I think the scent and texture is off (they are very tough) and maybe they don't taste quite right. I've observed the same as you, they go for it but ultimately they spit it out. They smell weird to me, so I can see how the fishies feel the same way.

At the start of the season, there was "perch bait" at bass pro. It was a smaller sized tub of very small fresh frozen minnows. They worked well for perch in burnstick and for brookies as well. I haven't seen them since so and mine are now soggy and gross. Too bad.

[calgarygringo]

I second the small perch minnows. We have used them at Cow and Burntstick many times and done quite well. The magotts work well and we have had huge success with meal worms as well. I don't usually see too many using them and when I have shown them to others and they don't recognize them as bait. Give them a try sometime as well and you will be surprised....

[nicemustang]

Yeah that...humpies like the action. The last time we were out fishing at BS and there would be lots of small perch on camera. We'd catch alot and it was good. Dropped a small jig head with minnow down and immediately 2 large ones came from no where. We didn't see any big ones until i had the minnow down. Caught the smaller one of the two, it was 10"! As soon as i put it back down, 3 more big ones came back. Didn't get any right then, but a fwe minutes later got a 12" and 13" 10 minutes after that. Took them a while to commit to the bait, likely would have not caught them with out the camera.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by nicemustang

Yeah that...humpies like the action. The last time we were out fishing at BS and there would be lots of small perch on camera. We'd catch alot and it was good. Dropped a small jig head with minnow down and immediately 2 large ones came from no where. We didn't see any big ones until i had the minnow down. Caught the smaller one of the two, it was 10"! As soon as i put it back down, 3 more big ones came back. Didn't get any right then, but a fwe minutes later got a 12" and 13" 10 minutes after that. Took them a while to commit to the bait, likely would have not caught them with out the camera.

when wiggled just right I have never seen perch so aggressive to the point of hitting it just like a trout on the run. really amazing...but...you have to find the right sized minnows. They have to be either fresh...or frozen...never preserved.

[goober]

I have had good success with minnows. I like them just for the reason mustang described, they seem to weed out the small fish. Big fish like big bait! I have even torn the head off of a minnow I was using as pike bait and had success with that as well.