Bassgrabber, I thought of something else in the meanwhile. Were the "perch" little minnow size specimens? If so, they could be Bigscale Logperch, which I caught 2 or 3 of at Silverwood in the past. They are in the true perch family along with their cousins Yellow Perch, Walleyes and Sauger, but they are unfortunately too tiny to be of much interest for intentionally catching, or eating. They are an interesting curiosity which was introduced to the central valley way back in the 1800s for reasons I know nothing about, and they still survive there and get swept southward with the aqueduct water.
Here is a link to some photos of some Bigscale Logperch from Putah Creek.
http://calfish.ucdavis.edu/species/?uid=6&ds=241