This is a neat, fast little trick that will have you wanting to catch those pesky perch, and loving every minute of it. My favorite time to catch them is during the winter ice fishing season. I personally love perch, they have a very delicately flavored white meat that just melts in your mouth. But they are a pain in the ass (and fingers) to clean. Their dorsal fin spines are sharp like needles and will ventilate your skin if you're not careful. So watch the video below, and learn this trick before you go out next time.

Some of my favorite fishing is the spring run of steel-head up in Idaho. It can be pretty slow at times, but when you tie into one of those bad boys you better hang on. They can be a lot of fun on either a spin rod or a fly rod, and when you add a good current to their strength and size they can give you a real tussle. One of my favorite baits for them is to use roe. A little goes a long way, so when you or your buddy happen to get lucky enough to land a hen, save the the roe, make up some little roe sacks with some gauze, and freeze the rest. It will keep in a Ziplock bag for quite awhile. Make sure you label it with date and the species you got it from.

Perch are known to fisherman as being a rather precious type, and can often times be elusive, but when they decide it's feeding time, the action can be fast and furious. I know myself and others I have fished with have been in this situation, and you can run out of bait real fast. So what do you do? Use perch eyes. I know, I know, gross, right? Well get over it Sally. These little tidbits, for whatever reason, are like a magnet to perch. The easiest way to get at them is by using a panfish jig. Just slip it into the eye socket under the eye and pop it out. No time to be squeamish here, this will definitely extend your fishing day.

A lot of places will not allow the use of live minnows for bait, but for the areas that do, make sure if you have any left when you're done fishing, don't throw them back in the water unless that is where you got them from. It can spread invasive species and in most areas it is illegal. Instead, take them home and make "salties." Saltied are preserved minnows and will keep indefinitely under the right conditions.DO NOT use table salt when making these, they will come out mushy and be useless to you. Instead, use pickling salt, the kind without iodine.