The Great Perch Search
by Rick Olson

It happens every year, and when it does it would be so easy to just stay home and forget it; But what fun would that be?   Besides, when the going gets tough the tough get going, and where they’re going is ice fishing.  However, even the toughest eventually see the writing on the wall and the wall is saying that a little change may be in order.  A little change like targeting a different species can be the big ticket to enjoying some quality time on the ice. 

When the hot walleye action of the early season fades away, sharp anglers often make the move to targeting a distant cousin, the yellow perch.   Unlike other species, perch seem to turn things up a notch during the mid to late ice season and the action can be phenomenal.  Another option is to double up and spend some of your time chasing old marble eyes and the rest trying to put a bunch of jumbos on the ice.

The author reveals a couple of tricks he used to nail this

Quite often the areas that hold walleyes attract and hold perch as well.  In fact it’s likely that the perch are the big drawing card for all those walleyes, and if you find one the other is probably near by. The key is finding one or the other, and then looking for specific areas that are holding concentrations ( a.k.a. the mother load).  The good perch areas usually vary a bit from the top walleye hot spots, but it’s really not that hard to figure out.

When you take a look at typical walleye structure, one of the first places to take a peek for numbers of jumbos is the deepest edge of  bar, hump or drop off.   Try poking around at the deepest edge where hard bottom meets soft, and look for perch to pile up.  Locating a big school is probably going to require drilling

a bunch of holes but the reward could be well worth the extra effort.

The process includes using a depth finder to the find the edge, drilling a couple of holes, and then spending fifteen minutes or so fishing to see if anybody’s home and moving on if they’re not.  The thing about perch is that if you’re on enough of them, you will catch them.

To help ease the pain of drilling a mess of holes a gas powered auger is in order and a high speed model like the Eskimo Shark is exactly what the doctor ordered.  The Shark can turn an area into Swiss Cheese in no time flat, and is often what you end up with when looking for the right school of perch.

If you’ve worked most of the structure but to no avail, you might as well work over the rest just to be sure.

Many times ten or twenty feet that way, or thirty feet over there, can make all the difference in the world, and you‘d hate to miss out by not finishing the job.

When you’re working the deep edge, don’t be afraid to get off the structure twenty or thirty yards or more, out in the middle of nowhere.  It’s a classic perch pattern and there is no way to know if they’re there without drilling some holes and making some moves.

Earlier in the season you can use a depth finder to shoot right through the ice  to locate structure and even fish, that is if the ice isn’t all busted up or too thick.  But by mid season layers of snow and ice can reduce the amount of information you’re able to garner, and it may take drilling and fishing to do the locating.

Another option to perch location is going right up on top, in the middle of the structure.   Walleyes will often make feeding movements into said areas at dusk and dawn, and is no place for any self respecting perch to be.   Mid day is another story however, and a time when perch move up and chow down on small minnows and larvae that they’ve found up on top.

Finding perch on top requires more holes and more moves as they can be just about anywhere.  It doesn’t take that long to know if anything is around, as they will quickly show up on a depth finder if you’re using the right bait.

The bait right bait for locating perch boils down to a couple of options including a #2 Jigging Rap or a jigging spoon like the new Blue Fox Flash Spoons in the 1/16 or 1/8oz range.  Both are small baits but are big enough to get down the hole in a hurry, especially if you use lighter line.  A good light line like Rapala’s Finesse Fishing Line in four pound test is the way to go.   You could drop down to two pound test but it usually isn’t necessary and you do run the risk of breaking off bigger walleyes that you happen to run in to.

If you’re using the Rap, you’ll probably need to tip it with live bait to get the proper reaction, although there are times when the action heats enough that you can go “naked”.  Those are the times that make for a whole lot of fun, but more often than not you’ll need to add something to get the job done.  A piece of a fathead hooked on the center treble is a good way to go, and about all you’ll need most of the time.  When the going gets a little tough, you might try hooking on a waxie or two the treble.  By late season the waxie becomes more effective and may be your best bet for icing big perch.  Same goes for the spoon; Tip it with a piece of minnow or a wax worm.

Good jigging techniques include big sweeps with the Rap, or sharp snaps with the spoon, followed by short pauses.  If you’re seeing fish on the depth finder that are coming in for a look but not taking the bait, you may have to alter your technique.  A good trick for turning the lookers into takers is to try and work them up, off the bottom.   If you can get them to follow, there’s a good chance they’ll take the bait.

Another trick is to follow a hard snap or sweep with a dead still hold, followed by a tiny little bump of the rod tip.  Many times that little nudge while they’re staring down a bait is too much for jumbo perch to resist. 

Rick Olson