Finally, A nice slab perch from Lake Erie. Went out this morning in the early AM. Hit the piers before work. Bite was ok, lots of dinks. Landed one very nice football size Lake Erie Perch. A good sign of things to come. What I did notice was The Oldtimers were keeping buckets of small perch. I was frowning upon that so I decided to ask a long time old timer buddy why he was keeping them. His response was quite interesting. He stated he liked the little ones. More flavorful fillets, with less lake taste. He insisted that there were less contaminents in the chunks of meat than the larger fish. As a true old timer, he eats perch on a regular basis and consumes large amounts of Lake Erie fish. When I looked in his bucket, almost full by 7:00 am, tthere didn't seem to be much meat for battering and frying. So I asked him how he prepares the amall ones. He told me his secret. He makes pickled perch with the little ones. His creative recipe is as follows. He scales the fish and takes the head, tail, fins and entrails off. Rinses, and cuts the fish into small chunks bone and skin on. He then quickly fries the fish just enough to brown it. Then he puts them into a special recipe. 1 cup sugar, 1 cup white venegar, onions, and 1 tablespoon pickling spice. Keep them in the frige 5 days. Take out and enjoy. He says the flavor is remarkable and the vinegar softens the tiny bones making this a delicious treat. He eats them for breakfast before heading out to the pier. I believe this might be worth a try.
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