PERCH!

To start, it has NOT been a good year for perch fishing.  That said, dad and his good friend Jerry hammered the perch out on Beaver Dam Lake yesterday.  These were some of the biggest perch I have seen caught in Wisconsin in a LONG time...measuring up to 12.5".  I would love to say that these were caught completely due to their fishing skill, but any fish we have ever caught from Beaver Dam Lake are credited to a pretty random encounter....

Last year, I was fishing out on Beaver Dam Lake with dad and not catching anything.  We had fished for about 4 hours and caught only a tiny crappie.  I began having stomach issues and needed to find a bathroom in the worst way.  I ended up at a porta-john located at one of the boat launches.  As I was leaving, and feeling very relieved, I ran into an older guy who was just launching his boat.  He asked if I was catching anything and when I said no, he said "That is ridiculous, we have been catching limits of perch.  Follow me an anchor close."  We followed him and watched him put on a perch catching clinic.  He even gave me his phone number and told me to call him to find out where the fish were biting.

Fast forward to a year later (yesterday) and dad called him up to see about buying some bait that he raises at his home.  He said they weren't biting on his bugs, but that dad should get small minnows and dead stick them 2" off of the bottom.  He even told him exactly where to fish.  I have never met anyone who gave out fishing info so freely...but I am very thankful he did.