Pool 8 Mud Flat Perch

With most community holes being pounded by people chasing Crappies the plan was to target perch in an area that hasn’t seen a lot of traffic. Mike C, Blue Fleck and myself set up near a sand shelf that drops into 18fow first thing in the morning with high hopes of finding perch. It wasn’t long and we knew it wasn’t the right move With Blue and Mike having enough of nothing and a short window to fish in, they packed up and head home. Me….I packed up the truck again and headed to a mud flat

Shallower water and a mucky bottom was a good call. After drilling a dozen holes with the Lazer Mag and things slushed out it was time to start dropping bait. First jig of choice was an Orange Moxy tipped with a waxie, only because it was the only thing that pulled me a mark fishing the first spot. Dropping the jig into the 3rd hole had marks coming off the bottom in 8fow and taking the bait at a depth of 6 feet. Bingo….we have lift off

There would be 2 – 3 fish caught from each hole then it was time to jump onto the next. The bite became tougher towards noon but with the right set up you could convince some of the orange fins to bite, a sure sign of the tail end to the bite It was also necessary to change things up after hitting a series of holes. I would make my rounds then change things up and start again.
The jigs that open up lips today were – Burnt Orange Tiger Mini Mert tipped with a minnow head and a Orange Chartreuse Lil’ Cecil tipped with waxies, both from B Fish N Tackle – http://bfishntackle.com/cart.php
And, the Silver/Orange Slender Spoon tipped with a minnow head from CJ&S – http://www.customjigs.com/index.html

Do you see a pattern here…..Orange was the color the perch in this area wanted. No finesse was needed to entice the bite. If a fish would follow 2 foot off bottom he was going to commit himself to the offering. Being willing to pick up a try plan B was the day saver and provided the Clark’s with a perch fry The fish were running from 10 – 12 inches. There were at least another 12 at that size and some 8’s released to go play in the mud again.
I know where I’m starting tomorrow
As far as the ice, I was on 7 inches today and the top is getting slushy. Hope we don’t see to much rain because the first 3 inches will go in a hurry

Good luck fishing people

Bret