During late September and all of October 2001, I venture to Long Lake twice a week in search of perch. Some days I get em and other days all I can catch is squawfish. I think the squawfish (now called Pikeminnows) are doing to the perch like they do to the small salmon in other areas, i.e., gobbling them up as fast as they can. The additional problem is the presence of brown trout and even pike nowadays that are as carnivorous as the squawfish. The other day I caught a 26 inch squawfish that had to be at least 6 lbs. I was going to bring it home for people to at least look at, but it started to stink up my boat so I dumped it. It might have been a new state record? Sometimes I catch crappies, but I prefer perch for filleting and eating. I hope to try the lake again a few more times before the snow flies.

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