I'm just getting back into the swing of things this year and haven't been able to locate the shad too well, so, most evenings before I plan on going out I sick the kids on the perch. It takes about 45 min to have enough for a few jug sets and drifting. We've done pretty well with them.

Here's my question/problem: How well does perch freeze and will blues eat it better than they do nasty frozen shad? Being a heartier fish I thought it might be worth a shot. I have a bucket full I'm trying to keep alive because I got too busy to go this weekend. It�s happened before, or I�ll have some left over after a trip. It's almost impossible in this heat to keep them for more than a few days despite moving them to a bigger wash tub with an aquarium filter and aerator hooked up to them. The wife won't let me keep them in the garage where it's a little cooler because they kind of have a funk to them. She's mean isn't she? ;-)

I have thought of going to Tractor Supply and just getting a really big trough that might hold even more water to help keep them alive. I�ll just have to convince the wife that�s yard art. Maybe she can paint daisies on the side of it or something. :-) My other thought was to build a live box/trap and keep it stashed under the water at the lake somewhere, but I figured it'd eventually get discovered and stolen if I left it out for long periods of time.

I suppose I could always take the little suckers back to the lake and dump them to catch another day, but all this made me start wondering how well they'd work thawed out. Anyone tried it? Any other ideas? Thanks!

There's an article on discover catfishing . Com where he shows and explains in great detail how to save and store your larger shad. A lot of people will tell ya you can't freeze them. However useing this guys method you CAN save bait for the hard times. Check it out. Let us know if it works for ya. Good luck man.

If the perch are big enough, eat em!

Fresh is always better.

get the cowtrough or a a kiddie pool from Walmart and turn it into a small pond. My little sister has always enjoyed catching grasshoppers and throwing them into my improvised livewells and watching the perch fight over them....lol you can even get a bit fancy and throw a few lillie pad bulbs in and make it look pleasing to the eye

Thanks for the info guys. I didn't even think of a kiddie pool. That's a good idea. Those big cow troughs are a little more expensive than I thought.