Finally got on the ice for a while on Sunday. It had been almost two weeks since I was able to punch some holes and my jig poles were starting to collect cobwebs! My destination was Bone Lake in Polk County, WI. We heard they were getting some perch through ice up there and that was enough to get us thinking about making the drive north. With the pending winter weather advisories and below zero wind chills, we almost opted to fish a lake a little closer to home. Boy am I glad we didn’t, as Bone provided us with a very enjoyable day of perch fishing.
This was only my second time on this lake. The first was quite a few years ago, and the results were not very good. I decided to fish this lake based on the advice and recommendation of Gen’s Bait & Sport Shop. With the wind chill making things uncomfortable, we really couldn’t wait to get the Otter Mag Lodge set up and the heater going. We got lucky and marked fish in the first holes we drilled. Dropped the camera down and they were just what we were looking for – perch. It didn’t take long once things were set up for me to let my buddy know fish-on!! Fortunately for us, these fish bit all day. We were on the ice, set up and fishing, by about 11:30 a.m. and had action almost immediately. The peak bite time for us was between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. with the perch bite really tapering after five. To be honest though, there really wasn’t much of a lull in the action until after 5:00 p.m.
Besides the action being fantastic, I would have to say I was also pleased with the overall size of the perch. Now, I’m not talking the jumbos that Devil’s or Mille Lacs turns out (boy wouldn’t that be great if I was), but they weren’t bad sized. Last time I ice fished this lake, we caught lots of really small perch, so I hoped I would find a few better fish this time out. Most of the ones we were catching were in that 7 to 10 inch range, with a fair number at or just over 10”. Our biggest for the day was just over 11”. Again, these are not those nice humped back jumbos, but they sure made my Sunday afternoon very enjoyable.
We located our perch today in approx. 32’ of water. The active perch were anywhere from 6” to 3’ off the bottom. Just keep an eye on your electronics to locate the depth that they are at. We also had a fun time watching these guys on the camera taking our offerings. We experimented a little today, when the action would slow, with different presentations. Two presentations definitely iced the most perch. The first was a glow teardrop with a minnow fished below an Ice Buster Bobber. At times it seemed like we couldn’t get the minnow down there fast enough. The other key was using big minnows to catch the bigger perch. We were using fatheads and big crappie minnows. The other presentation that worked well was jigging spoons with minnow heads. Our spoons of choice were Swedish Pimples and Forage Minnows. We also caught fish on teardrops baited with waxies. However, the fish caught on this presentation tended to run smaller.
How do you get to Bone Lake from Amery? What model camera do you have that is visible at 32′? I’m thinking about purchasing an Aqua-Vu, but am not sure which model to get, what do you recommend?
From Amery, take hwy. 46 north to hwy. 8. Take a left onto hwy. 8. Once on 8 you go only a couple hundred yards then take a right on cty. road H. Stay on H for a while. Cty. road H will eventually turn into cty. road I. After approx. 5 – 8 miles on H & I(I’m just guessing on the distance!)you will take a left onto cty. road G. Go approx. 1/2 mile and you will come to Dueholm Road. Turn right on Dueholm and the landing will be approx. 1/4 mile (maybe even less) up the road on right hand side.
As far as camera goes, I have an OVS 400. I personally am happy with it. There was a thread on IDA a while back about cameras, and both OVS & Aqua View got good reviews from site members. It will just boil down to your personal choice, as both are quality cameras. One of the things I liked about the OVS is that it is all one easy to carry & store compact unit. But all cameras will have their good and bad features. I would recomend going to a retailer like Gander Mountain that will have the different brands and compare them side by side. You may also want to do a search on this site and see if you can find the thread on underwater cameras.
Thanks for reading my report, and let me know if I can be of anymore help.
Don’t kick to hard Horseshoe! I think there will be more opportunities as that ice looks like it is gonna be around for a while.
Thanks for the info, Coot, much appreciated!
Great report Coot. My last trip on Bone has been a while ago also. We used to get
some really nice perch there then all we could get was 4 inchers. I don’t know
what happened but I hope it dosen’t happen like that again. The last time I was up there it
didn’t matter where we drilled as long as it wasin deeper water there were 4 inch
perch everywhere. Glad you caught some decent ones. Another choice for Saturday.
besides Wissota. Thanks again Oh do you ever use salt pork for bait? Steve
Have never used salt pork as bait, but have been known to experiment with Dominoes pizza LOL!
Bone is definately worth a shot, but I bet that is quite a drive for you. I would like to get back up there on Sunday myself if it’s not too cold.
We were up at Bone lake on Wed . only fished sm minnows , in the AM only tell noon . perch were plenty , limit reached , most under 8″ , will be trying this weekend ,perhaps a afternoon will produce larger size
dustytoms
Yep salt pork from your local grocery. Cut of the good part and save for cooking
your green beans with and just save the rind for fishing. Slice real thin in say 1/2 inch
lengths and put on your hook. The fish won’t get it off the hook and one piece will last
a long time. Experiment with lengths to get the action you want. I think maybe Saturday
may be a Bone lake afternoon. I also like fishing Big Round for Perch and gills you
guys fish that one also. Steve