Devil’s Lake North Dakota – Big Perch 3/6/11

Not all bites we fish as anglers are carefully planned, well-thought-out, and perfectly-executed. In fact, most of the more memorable ones are those that we fish on a lark. Caution is thrown to the wind when word of a hot bite reaches an ice-fisherman’s ear, and plans that took the better part of months to develop are scrapped more quickly than you can say “big perch.” Perhaps the best plan of attack then is to be prepared for anything and everything, while hoping and wishing that nature (and the fish) cooperate with such a strategy. The best laid plans then, namely a big bluegill bite, are also subject to delay or cancellation. In our case, it was truck troubles. Specifically, an idler/tensioner pulley replacement in a cold parking lot, along with the shredded serpentine belt that the vehicle chewed up after the bearings in the old pulley failed. All of which isn’t too big a problem if you know a guy (Chuck Nordahl) who’s willing to bring you the only part in a 100 mile radius to be found on a Sunday afternoon from over an hour away….AND stick around to help you put it in!

With our window for the bluegill bite closing, another opportunity luckily came our way, and we were off to Devil’s Lake. Chris Koth of Perch Eyes Guide Service was on a good jumbo perch bite, and we were just crazy enough to scrap our previous plans to try it. Rolling with the punches right? Our spur of the moment decision was rewarded with the best perch bite that James or I had ever been a part of, both in terms of numbers and especially size. Fighting some pretty cold temperatures for March (-15 deg. F), we were happy to have James’ Otter resort house to fish out of. Inside the Otter, the show that these fish put on was second to none, and with the good water clarity we were fishing, all involved were able to watch it on the Marcum cameras as the story unfolded. Perch, pike, walleyes, and the occasional monster crappie were seen cruising all around, often displaying aggressive behavior towards one another. Whether bait was down or not, the screen was a virtual “fish-bowl”, keeping us glued to it for more than just the entertainment value.

This is one of the few bites I’ve been on where underwater cameras won’t just multiply your odds for success, they make or break them. The jumbo perch, while numerous, were not aggressive in all but the fewest of circumstances. Aggressive jigging, getting them to chase, pounding it on the bottom……all elicited some excited behavior from them but wouldn’t get the perch to commit. With the camera and enough trial/error, we were able to both unlock the methods needed for success, as well as use the camera for our strike indicator. After throwing the book at them, our most productive technique when fish were aggressive was a 1/16oz Custom Jigs and Spins Slender Spoon, tipped with a minnow head fished literally on-the-bottom. Surprisingly, sticklebacks, which “plagued” our bait container were a plague no more. The perch slammed these minnows without much thought. That said, when the bite slowed down, a Custom Jigs and Spins Ratso jighead (glow-white and orange were best) tipped with a live minnow was the ticket, but only if allowed to rest on bottom or be slightly jigged while still maintaining contact with bottom. Jig it upwards, and you’d either be snubbed by perch or assaulted by any of the several pike which were on camera constantly. The minnow needed to be lively, and at times, the perch would chew on the minnow for seconds (felt like minutes). Without the camera, you had no way of knowing just when the perch had the actual hook in its mouth. Set the hook prematurely, and they’d get your bait almost every time.

We were surprised to see crappies on screen, and even caught a few of them. The many more we saw on camera were very interested in our offerings, but often were crowded out of the picture by several hungry perch or pike. The ones we did catch however, resembled the perch. Extremely heavy and thick for their size (14”es), these were very fat fish, probably from all of the freshwater shrimp we’d see in scores every time a hole was drilled. It also bears mentioning that most of the perch we caught, especially during the slower daytime period, had a good deal to do with precise and often miniscule jigging movements. The 36” Thorne Brother’s Quiverstick and fly-reel combination absolutely excelled at giving us the control of these baits we needed. Other rods with softer tips simply created too much lag-time between our rod-lifts and the reaction of the bait, creating a less than natural presentation that these perch wanted nothing of. I was simply amazed at how finicky they were, yet how aggressive they could be when feeding it to them just the way they wanted it.

I want to thank Chuck, Jason, Chris, and James for being a large part of the best fishing I’ve seen all winter. I’m looking forward to getting out there to do it again!

Joel