It’s not too often I get the opportunity to chase Perch. I fancy myself a Bluegill & Crappie guy who prefers long rods and short water. I enjoy power fishing by bouncing from hole to hole, switching up baits while fishing the entire water column using stick and move tactics.
When I do chase Perch, it’s typically a hot game of cat & mouse in deeper water. They are restless nomads always on the move thus keeping Bret & myself constantly on our toes. The long rods are left at home and the Marcum LX5 has the zoom featured locked tight to the bottom.
The trip on Friday was no different. Bret, Mike and myself along with Dave Koonce & his future Son-In-Law Josh on Saturday found ourselves over 12-20ft of water, ignoring all but the bottom 2ft of the water column.
The Otters were set up with the LX5 and Showdown units and within minutes we were pulling marks up from the depths. Soon after, we found ourselves pulling up nice sized Perch with most keepers hovering around the 9″ mark. Custom Jigs & Spins Lightning Spoons, Jigging Raps and even Lil Cecils were hot when tipped with either minnow heads or waxies. On Friday, I found the smallest of Jigging Raps in the Perch pattern tipped with a pair of waxies to be dynamite. The best presentation for myself was to constantly twitch it and when the marks showed up on the flasher, keep twitching it and slowly raise it up. It wasn’t real hard to notice the bite. When that bait would start to rise, those Perch would hammer it.
Along with the jigging presentation, we found a great bite utilizing a deadstick. My set up incorporated a simple gold wire hook with a couple split shot pinched on about 12-18 up from the hook. This rig was set about a foot to a foot and a half off the bottom and it helped put more than a few nice sized Perch on the ice. Every one in a while I would pull the line a little to keep the minnow active and to make sure a small Perch wasn’t sucking the life out of my bait. More than once, I found that to be the case….
When the bite would slow, I found myself with anxious feet that wanted to get out and do some power fishing, running from hole to hole. This tactic yielded me one of the best Perch I’ve caught in some time. It taped out at just under 11.5″ long. The stick and move tactic paid off in spades, but it wasn’t too long after and I was back in the warm confines of my Otter cabin.
With abundance of perch in our locale we also found a lot of Pike cruising the area. The guys running tip ups were having a field day chasing flags. Unfortunately, the average size was just a bit too small for me to keep, but just big enough to put up a great fight and sometimes steal a jigging rap or 2. It was almost on cue, when the Perch bite would slow, someone would catch a Pike or a flag would go off. A couple times a pair of Pike were put on the ice and then shortly thereafter the Perch would slowly migrate back in to the area. That constant ebb and flow made for a great and exciting couple days on the ice.
I want to thank Bret, Mike, Dave, Josh & Shane for sharing Friday and Saturday on the ice with me. I had a great time and will be doing that again very soon.
Here’s a couple more pics from the day(s) adventure.
nice
Ditto.
Sure would like to get on the perch thru the ice like that someday.
Great report Blue.
Well done. 
Like you, a day of fishing perch like that just doesn’t happen for me too often. That was a blast and it’s great to see those perch making a comeback like they are. I kept just 7 which made a great fish fry for Bea and I on Friday night. That was some good eatin’ for sure. 
My best bait for the day jigging was the blue/silver foil Lightning Spoon (thanks Bret for sharing) 
with a minnow head – if you tried even a small minnow it just seemed to be too much to attract much attention. A Mini Mert Silver Glitter Shiner was my hot bait for the dead stickin’ with a live minnow. A bonus for me was a decent pike while jigging – “Uh Bret do you happen to have that gaff hook handy”? Those are always a blast on light tackle. Thanks for sharing the great day.
Nice report Tom Great pics You and the crew
Great report and a nice bag-o-perch
Awesome report Blue, you put me right back on the ice and what a blast it was
The first day there was no reason for me to make a move, my dead stick stayed busy and the lightning spoon was lights out when the nomads schooled through. Day 2 however Tom Donaldson was the man staying on the move and making all of us get off our butts and go chasing.
Day 2 also produced a bonus Walleye at 19 inches. The pike were running on the small side but they sure were a blast to catch.
Thanks again to everyone for great company and good laughs while I stayed on your shirt tails
Excellent report, pictures, and story Blue! Esp. the pictures, really enjoyed seeing the colors on those FAT perch. Sounds like an all-star assembly on-ice, the fish didn’t stand a chance.
Interesting how you mentioned the perch mouthing and killing your minnows, did you ever hook-up on those perch or were they only harassing and not getting the hook in their mouths? Nothing better than perch at picking apart your bait without getting a hook in their face!
Again, congrats gentlemen, looks like fun.
Joel
Yeah, hook-ups were a pretty good ratio. I had just enough weight to keep the bait in the zone and the spring bobber on my St. Croix rod gave away tell-tale signs of any Perch trying to sneak away with a free lunch.
I was really trying for a Pike to hit that minnow. I bet I sifted through those minnows 4 or 5 times looking for the largest of the fathead minnows I could find that would want to tangle with a toothy critter. No such luck though.
You did have some sardines in the bucket Blue
Dang nice Tigers there Boys!
Great looking fish guys