Hey all,
Whady'all use for finding perch in the dead of winter? I was knockin'm dead in the fall, all the way through November/early December including one that neared the State record, but now I end up hooking trout on the rigs I'm fishing for seemingly non-existent perch.
I'm using 1/8(or 1/4...I forget at the moment) pech pattern"Gitzit" jigs tipped with a bit of worm. I've also recently added a hookless silver and orange "Kastmaster" spoon about 4'' up on the leader for added attraction.
I'm fishing a small lake with a maximum depth of about 35'. Ive covered the lake shore to shore without any action, save for the occasional trout.
Any suggestions or tips'd be highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Larry

Hmmm. I wonder if a small jig with a maggot on the end would interest them? That always worked ice fishing back in Wisconsin.

Try to find an edge of a weedline or some kinda structure in 30ft of water or more. Jigs work great but i think just half a worm on a 3 ft leader works anywhere. It always outfishes a jig. It seems the colder it gets the deeper they go. Sometimes really deep. Structure is the key though.

I'm far from experienced in winter fishing for perch, but I did come up with a couple of techniques when I lived in Spokane that produced through the ice and in open water both.

The key, I found was two part: find structure and then find the fish. Once you find schools of fish on your depthfinder, slowly, and I mean slowly, move or drift with a slip sinker rig and a small piece of perch meat on a hook.

If that fails, then I would try this: anchor your boat at both ends directly over the school or structure so that you're locked in place like you're ice fishing. Take a smallish jig head with no body and thread on a couple of Berkley's Power Bait crappie nibbles. Drop the jig to the bottom, and take up the slack in your line to the point that you just feel the weight of the jig. Then wait. If there are perch in the area, they will move to the milking crappie nibble and pick up the bait ever so gently. I learned this ice fishing on the Potholes and then tested it in Minnesota. The technique worked better than anything else when the perch weren't snapping.

Probably the dead-stick presentation was or is more important than the bait you use. Maggots are great as are meal worms and a small section of nightcrawler. This time of the year, I think small works better than big in the bait department, but that could just be my prejudice.

If you anchor, you might also try some of the ice flies dropped straight down. And perch eyes make a great bait.

Good luck, and please post your results.

Steelworker,
I have been having success using a swedish pimple and an eyeball. Also a Northland buckshot rattler with an eyeball has been producing. I have been fishing a few of the lower potholes lakes. Took a 14 incher and a couple of buckets worth of good sized perch! Get em while the gettings good!

Another vote for the jig band wagon