The 2009 ice fishing season might be on its last leg…. but don’t throw in the towel quite yet! Matt Grow and I headed north last week in search of aggressive yellow perch and we found exactly what we were looking for!
Conditions simply could not have been better! Bright, sunny days. Little to no wind. Temps in the 40’s. As I look back the only way this trip could have been better would have been if we would have remembered SUNSCREEN! Man, I’m still recovering from one nasty burn. Why o’ why do I forget the sunscreen year after year for these late ice trips?! You’d think I’d learn… but I never do.
For this trip Matt and I decided to head off to Leech Lake after hearing some good reports on one of my favorite fish species to catch through the ice. Neither Matt or I had ever set foot on Leech Lake during the winter so our trip presented a challenge as we really had no idea where to start on this big lake. Thankfully we were able to get some general info (area, depth, bottom composition) from a couple friendly contacts and with that info in hand we were off like a shot with augers in hand ready to rip up the ice in search of what we hoped would be easy to find and overly aggressive yellow perch.
We got the aggressive part right! As for "easy to find," well, they WERE easy to find. If you like punching holes. And more holes. And yet…. more holes. I have trigger thumb from holding the throttle down on my strikemaster I punched so many holes! But that’s late season perch fishing. Putting in the time to find the fish is 99.9% of the battle as once you find them the action is typically as fast as you can handle and well worth the effort!
We started our search in Sucker Bay working the points just outside the shallow portion of the Bay where deeper water in the 13′ – 20′ range could be found. The area looked very promising on the Lakemaster map but only smaller perch were to be found in this area. With both Matt and I hard at work on an auger it is amazing how much area we could cover, and eliminate, with 30 minutes of auger work followed by some hole hopping. The fish we did mark and catch were very aggressive. Unfortunately all the perch in these initial areas had "head and tail" disease. As in… their heads were too close to their tails. If memory serves we caught the heck out of the 5" – 8" perch in this first area… definitely not what we were looking for on this trip.
So we kept pushing out of the bay working towards the main lake. More holes. More hole hopping. Lots more small’ish perch. Until we found a rock / gravel bar that topped out in 12′ of water that tapered out to 16’… surrounded by sand! On top of the reef the perch were chasing large minnows and the perch were incredibly aggressive. No need for a subtle approach or small baits…. these perch were on the feed chasing 4+ inch minnows! A #2 Custom Jigs & Spins Demon Spoon or a 1/16 Oz. Slender Spoon was the ticket, tipped with the head of a minnow, and once the schools of larger perch was found the action was fast and furious until the school would move on and force Matt and I to get back on the augers to relocate our roaming quarry. Using the Lakemaster chip in our hand held GPS units allowed us to "guesstimate" where the fish were most likely to head next saving us immeasurable time as the fish seemed to be sticking to the shallowest portion of the reef throughout the middle of the day. If you knew where the next "top" on the reef was located you could almost predict where to look next and more often then not… the Lakemaster chip was dead on!
The average size of the fish kept was in the 10" – 12" range with the largest perch just a touch over 12". No super sumos were iced on this trip but the quality of the fish available was fantastic and the perch were largely free of any parasities / worms which makes Leech Lake a phenomenal winter destination for those that love to chase the jumbos!
Speaking of those minnows the perch were feeding on… does anyone recognize the species from the photo attached? Neither Matt or I were familiar with the species so we took a couple photos to see if we could I.D. them once we got back home. Any help would be appreciated.
As for the ice conditions, things were in great shape for either sled or ATV travel. Access at the shorelines required a little common sense as there were some soft spots but once you were on the lake you were supported by 30+ inches of clear, solid ice with 2" – 4" of snow to keep the sled tracks cooled. I would bet by now that anglers would be limited to ATV travel (we did see full-sized trucks on the lake but would NOT advise anyone do so) as the snow is most certainly gone off the lake by now. Gaining access to the lake will be the problem over the next week or so but once on the lake there’s more than enough ice to support an angler using common sense.
I’d like to thank Matt Grow for being a fantastic ice fishing partner on this trip. Given how hit and miss yellow perch can be and the work it takes to find them a guy needs to be willing to break a sweat and put a little back into things out their on the ice… and Matt fishes HARD making this type of trip an absolute blast. Thanks again, Matt. We’ll have to add this one to the list for late ice next season.
Who’s got one more ice trip in them? I know I do. I’m leaving for parts north on wednesday hoping to tangle with some late ice gills. We’re running on empty regarding the 2009 ice season but I’m not ready to throw in the towel quite yet. I will however be bringing along some STRONG sunscreen.
A few more fun pics…
The pout were on a TEAR up on tops of the reefs chasing the same baitfish the yellows were after. We got some super cool underwater footage using our MarCum 825c cameras of eelpout trying to eat, push around and generally bully the camera head. Of course we turned the tables on a couple of them when they showed our jigging spoons just a little too much attention!
And last but not least… a couple close shots of a jumbo on the ice. In my opinion a big yellow perch is one of the neater looking fish in fresh water!
Troutperch? Check out this link. The color pattern looks right, but hard to tell for sure without seeing the fins.
If it is I win the chicken dinna’! That was my guess out on the ice.
Thanks for the link, J.
Yup, that’s the one. Troutperch. We’ll have to commit that to the memory banks. Those yellows were up feeding on those troutperch, which appeared to be spawning themselves or readying to do so. If a guy learned more about when and where those troutperch spawned there’s almost certainly a pattern to follow that would consistently put you on big yellow perch. And late season eelpout. If that’s your thing.
Great job James and Matt. There’s nothing more rewarding than fish like that after drilling so many holes.
As for the troutperch….. I still learn something new everyday on IDO.
Great report James! I love fishing for late jumbos. The harder you work the more you get rewarded.
Thanks for another informative report James. Thats a nice lookin pile-o-perch. Plus you got the bonus burbout… nice! If you got an itch to get more ice fishin’ in before you focus on open water, keep in mind that the Northern Pike season NEVER closes on Rainy Lake. I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, just a little reminder. And I’m guessin Rainydaze would have a good idea about the ice conditions.
Thanks Again for keeping us weekend warriors up-to-date,
Erik Osberg
“Remember, it’s not about HAVING time, it’s about MAKING time”
Great post James
I to have to put the sunscreen in the boat.
For me on Pool 4 this year my walleyes have that dreaded head and tail disease. Things are going to get better.
Excellent work gentlemen! Always a pleasure to see any bite that’ll reward the hard workers and send the weak-at-heart home to an easier bite. You earned them and learned alot in the process. Thanks for sharing all you learned so that we could learn also.
Joel
That looks like a great late ice trip. Good weather and great fishing
My face is almost recovered. This was once again the scenario where I was beat down tired and nearly defeated. It certainly is nice to have a partner pick up an auger and go. Its a breath of fresh air and encouraging.
Those baitfish were definately troutperch,….Which were also in spawn mode. We never picked them up suspended. They were definately key in our search though. As usual, great fishing with you James!
Thats a great job fellas! I have yet to see the Matt the hole puncher in action, but I hear its a sight to see!!
Jami
great report, I also had my first experience ice fishing Leech last month, I was not disappointed. Plans are being made for a return trip or two. I also made the mistake of leaving the sunscreen behind, was the first time the inside of my ears peeled! This was also my first try with the Lakemaster map, that cut the learning curve way down, and by the time we hit our second stop, it was lights out. I was initially a bit leary hearing of some type of virus showing up a few years back in the Leech Lake perch. We did find one large perch with blotches in the meat which resembled half cooked tissue. Doing some research, the virus can show up in other species and in other lakes, and has not been shown to harm humans. Need to go resort hunting for a resonable resort with nice cabins.