Well I don’t mind a bit of ice-fishing for perch. But it’s not as trilling as fishing for big bass and pike. Actually I’ve caught quite a few pike that were obviously filled with spawn. One can tell they were bloated underneath and just behind the head. Fishing for ice-out pike is quite different then fishing for pike in the warmer months.
I use a very slow jerkbait technique with a ~5 second pause in between jerks at ice-out. Also I just barely reel up the slack, between the small jerks-twitches of the rod tip. Sometime I just see my line move slightly and set the hook. The fish generally don’t hit hard at ice-out and won’t move far to take a bait. Unlike a pike in May-June that will pound it from (3 to 5)’ away. Of course once hooked they don’t act sluggish. I use X-raps and husky jerks that mimic the areas bait fish, but every once in a while I throw a clown or firetiger color. Usually the natural colors work best, but sometimes they seem to like the flash of some crazy color.
From what I understand they don’t bite when actually spawning, but will take an occasional bait just prior to or after the spawn.
Hope that was useful.
