Wow. I cant believe i wasnt invited….. Those were some awesome perch. I really appreciate the use of the bump board on those hogs. Some folks talk size of fish by weight, others like myself measure all big fish. Many shows the guys guess, “oh thats gotta be all of 27, 28, 29 inches…..” Well, what was it? Its cool to see the true length.
Im with you James, big perch are the absolute best. I may be looking for a hovercraft for sale……
I may be looking for a hovercraft for sale……
Ya missed when Koonce had it up for sale…..I wonder if he still wants to sell it….. 
Cool show. 
.
Bring on the meat hunters. 
It’s not that big of fishery to exploit, but too each their own.
Some fisheries should not be exploited to the public and the perch bite in todays show is one of them. Not sure what’s worse, exploiting this perch fishery on today’s show or the St.Croix sturgeon fishery.
Mudshark,
Nope.. my baby is not for sale 
And as far as exploiting the resource…We can only teach keeping our resources in tact by selective harvest… There are many many things in this world that we need to do a better job of managing and we will not be able to control them all. So I take the positive approach by continuing to teach selective harvest. I challenge everyone to do the same
I hope you all enjoyed the show and Pailoperch…That bumpboard has corrected a few of my buddies in the past and has also proved them correct in their length judgement !!!
FISH ON !!!
Excellent show….
I fish open water just a little north of that area, still on pool 9. Not being a real successful perch fisherman, I can attest to the fact that it isn’t as easy to find and catch these fish as it looked. It is cool to see the dream of catching some of the caliber closer to home is at least possible. I’ll never get to Devil’s Lake or anything…
Having a resource like that closer is great. Respecting it is common sense for most I hope. Keep up the excellent work!
Great show guys 
I’ve seen the debate about slaughtering the pig perch for the last few years come up on a number of forums. I think todays show really shows how many miles of river is very seldom touched. Yes, guys go to the floats by the dam and load up on perch. But in the big picture, there are hundreds of spots per river pool sustaining perch. If more people practiced selective harvest and these more remote spots remain difficult to get to, our resources will continue to flurish
Hey James and Pat,
How about we try this next time ?
Very handy incase you had to wash up on your way home from the lake! My wife doesnt love my fishy smelling hands after a “good” day on the lake!
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dave Koonce wrote:</div>
Hey James and Pat,How about we try this next time ?
Very handy incase you had to wash up on your way home from the lake! My wife doesnt love my fishy smelling hands after a “good” day on the lake!
That was an awesome show. My favorite so far – especially because I fish the backwaters. But, A, I don’t have a fancy hover boat (awesome, btw), and B, I never seem to manage to catch perch as easily as you all did with jigging raps.
Great work, boys.
I’m a strong advocate for protecting the resource. I think that talking about the importance of selective harvest and demonstrating it in an influential way (which encourages others to do the same) is more impactful than educating people on the bite (which could lead to exploitation). Great show!
Mudshark,
Nope.. my baby is not for sale
I didn’t think so Dave….
Do you remember just 10yrs or so ago Perch like these were almost unknown on the river?
Great show guys, those were some pigs! I guess I don’t understand how a catch and release show at the end of ice season on the backwaters of the longest river in the country is exploiting a resource, but maybe that’s just me! 
Great show guys, those were some pigs! I guess I don’t understand how a catch and release show at the end of ice season on the backwaters of the longest river in the country is exploiting a resource, but maybe that’s just me!
I agree on a great show. Your thoughts on a catch and release show at the end of the season are off base. These fish are not in every backwater of the longest river in the country. They are in a specific stretch of this river, and exploiting them is a bad thing for the resource.
You can have a show and advocate the catch and release them and its great. I agree with it. Once its exploited it’s too late.
People love their panfish for table fare and they will come and take what they can. We’ve seen it all too often here on the Mississippi river.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>BigWerm wrote:</div>
Great show guys, those were some pigs! I guess I don’t understand how a catch and release show at the end of ice season on the backwaters of the longest river in the country is exploiting a resource, but maybe that’s just me!I agree on a great show. Your thoughts on a catch and release show at the end of the season are off base. These fish are not in every backwater of the longest river in the country. They are in a specific stretch of this river, and exploiting them is a bad thing for the resource.
You can have a show and advocate the catch and release them and its great. I agree with it. Once its exploited it’s too late.
People love their panfish for table fare and they will come and take what they can. We’ve seen it all too often here on the Mississippi river.
Hmmm, ok. Well, either peacock bass on the amazon then, or they just play cards. How many of them 15+ inchers can i fit in a 5 gallon bucket? 2 buckets? Please guys, no strip poker. 
Great show guys, those were some pigs! I guess I don’t understand how a catch and release show at the end of ice season on the backwaters of the longest river in the country is exploiting a resource, but maybe that’s just me!
That’s easy for you to say when you live in Minnesota.
This fishery was somewhat of a hidden gem. The show pointed out exactly what to do and how to fish the fishery. I understand that the Mississippi is massive and that there are numerous holes/spots like the one in the show. I also understand that ice conditions are not optimal but any one capable can be part of this fishery. Unfortunately, we all know that selective harvest is not practiced by everyone and that people also want a bite that easy “pickings”. In depth outdoors has a big presents in the fishing world and now this “little” gem of a fishery, has been seen by, I’m guessing by tens of thousands of, people all across the mid west.
For what it’s worth, I think that if you want to get specific, like the show did, you should leave the location out. You could still reference the lake mapping charts and show where you are and talk about structure, etc. but if you do that you should leave out specific cities and lake names.
My 2 cents.
They never tell their exact location in spot on the spot, they give you general areas and explain what to look for
Idk, when locals come on and start biatching about exploitation makes a guy really want to get down there and see what it’s about
Hammer, nail head….whack.
Idk, when locals come on and start biatching about exploitation makes a guy really want to get down there and see what it’s about
You buy the bait, I’ll fly the plane
Ha
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It’s a judgement call really. I know they sometimes omit the name or body of water, example the first episode of the season on panfish in michigan.
I trust their instincts here. I mean how many hovercraft are even registered? Is there another safe way to access these areas? There are lots of perch in much easier to reach locations, is this one worth the extra effort to that many anglers?
you should leave the location out.
Spoiler alert! When James does his spot on the spot he’s not showing where they fished that day, but the type of structure/area that can be similarly productive. A quick google maps search shows consecutive similar areas from Wabasha, MN to North Buena Vista, IA which is about 155 miles apart. I think you’ll be alright. They’ve done tons of shows on Leech, Pool 4, Mille Lacs etc. and despite being significantly smaller areas, all those bodies of water still hold plenty of fish.
I prefer travel by sea…
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I prefer travel by sea…
Hahahaha got room for one more!?!?!
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>nhamm wrote:</div>
I prefer travel by sea…Hahahaha got room for one more!?!?!
Ha! U kidding, we could stuff 100 guys on there, couple drift socks out both sides drifting down sideways with 200 lines out, make short work of those perch
Couldnt take it anymore. Woke up early this morn, packed up and headed se. Got to “THE SPOT” in my new air boat 5000xz, and couldnt believe my eyes…..
Pretty sure theyre cleaned out boys. Gotta move faster after next weeks show!
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For what it’s worth, I think that if you want to get specific, like the show did, you should leave the location out. You could still reference the lake mapping charts and show where you are and talk about structure, etc. but if you do that you should leave out specific cities and lake names.
If you think we did anything to endanger the spot we fished you don’t know us very well.
Nothing specific was shared. I’d bet $100 you couldn’t get to within half a mile of that location if I gave you 10 guesses.
The location in the spot on the spot segment in our show was miles from where we fished and was used as an example only. For the record, as I’ve mentioned in past TV shows, the area shown in the Spot on the Spot segments is NEVER-EVER-EVER (EVER!!!) the spot we actually fished in the episode.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>sheppy wrote:</div>
you should leave the location out.Spoiler alert! When James does his spot on the spot he’s not showing where they fished that day, but the type of structure/area that can be similarly productive. A quick google maps search shows consecutive similar areas from Wabasha, MN to North Buena Vista, IA which is about 155 miles apart. I think you’ll be alright. They’ve done tons of shows on Leech, Pool 4, Mille Lacs etc. and despite being significantly smaller areas, all those bodies of water still hold plenty of fish.
I never said that a specific location was given during the “spot on spot” segment of the perch show. If you watch the first 5 minutes of the episode, IDO gives up the exact state and city where there at. The spot on spot segments fine tuned their location that much more. I think it would be a different story if IDO told the viewer that they were in Wisconsin fishing the Mississippi and not include the city. BigWerm I get your point, but until you become a local and understand the history with this bite, Mille lacs, leech and most other bites do not conpair.
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