Perch Ice fishing

[Typical]

Some of you guys are experts when comes to perch ice fishing, I never had much luck finding perch.
Can someone tell me where to go ice fishing for perch ? I live in Edmonton

It seems to be getting harder and harder to catch perch in Alberta these days.

Also when is the best time for ice fishing for them ?

[Eyeswideshut]

When I was younger, I always had luck with maggots,.. of course its been awhile since I have gone. But now that my kids are old enough, I may get back into it.

[Versatile]

I was just thinking of this. Lastyea I took a week and devoed it to perch fishing. I found the majoity of them at 35 feet. I used a small jig tipped with maggots. Seemed some days they wanted aggressive jigging and other days they just wanted a small wiggle. I have an Aqua-Vu and it really helped.

Eyeswideshut have you ever fished Bear Lake North west of town? I was heading back south and bring back my ice fishing stuff. You interested in trying Bear out? Says in the regs there are perch in there.

[Johnny]

Not sure where to go....but I did alot of perch fishing when I was younger on Lake Manitoba. We used pickerel rigs with bacon or any kind of meat until we caught the first one....then we would pop their eyes out and put it on the hook. Perch eyes worked the best for whatever reason. We generally fished a couple feet off of the bottom.. We would drill a hole and if no bites in 10-15 minutes, move another 200 yards and drill another hole. We would keep on moving until we found them. Good luck and good fishing....try to keep warm. I don't miss freezing my as# off in Manitoba.

[Eyeswideshut]

I was just thinking of this. Lastyea I took a week and devoed it to perch fishing. I found the majoity of them at 35 feet. I used a small jig tipped with maggots. Seemed some days they wanted aggressive jigging and other days they just wanted a small wiggle. I have an Aqua-Vu and it really helped.

Eyeswideshut have you ever fished Bear Lake North west of town? I was heading back south and bring back my ice fishing stuff. You interested in trying Bear out? Says in the regs there are perch in there.

Last time I fished them was at Sturgeon Lake east of here. As far as Bear Lake,.. its just a slew,. I will check out the locals and see about how the fishing is in there. We have land close to it, so it would be just a matter of hoping on the quad and crossing a piece of crown land.

Theo nly other place I have ice fish was around Lac La Biche,.. thats not too far northeast of Edm for the OP.

[Eyeswideshut]

NM,.. I am dumb,.. I confused it with Hermit lake,.. might have to try Bear out this winter.

[Morph1]

has anyone tried the Spring Lake just past Stony Plain this past summer ?
3 years ago there was tons of perch and some in 10-14" range, I know the lake was purposly winter killed a year ago to get rid of them and restock it with rainbows, but some people say that the perch probably survived,
there were days in the summer when you could catch good 100 of the buggers in a day plus some nice rainbows.
Just wondering whats happening there now.

Cheers!

[nicemustang]

Not sure about lakes around Edmonton, but Cow Lake and Burntstick lake are awesome. If the moons are right, and it's a good day, you can catch them each time you drop it. I use a small jigging spoon, gold and orange colors work best. If they are bitting and you're getting lots of little ones, put on a len thompson (five of diamonds), smallest one you can find. I use maggots exclusively. In burntstick, i've caught 12-13" perch....and lots of them. They like sandy bottoms, in about 18-20 feet is where i've had the most luck.

Pic of one trip last year, we caught hundreds this day but these were the big ones.
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6989/perchqn9.jpg

[Eyeswideshut]

Very nice

[pecker]

Not sure about lakes around Edmonton, but Cow Lake and Burntstick lake are awesome. If the moons are right, and it's a good day, you can catch them each time you drop it. I use a small jigging spoon, gold and orange colors work best. If they are bitting and you're getting lots of little ones, put on a len thompson (five of diamonds), smallest one you can find. I use maggots exclusively. In burntstick, i've caught 12-13" perch....and lots of them. They like sandy bottoms, in about 18-20 feet is where i've had the most luck.

Pic of one trip last year, we caught hundreds this day but these were the big ones.
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6989/perchqn9.jpg

nice perch . thanks for sharing the info & pictures.:wave::wave:

[BorntoFish]

Thanks for sharing the info. I am looking forward to getting into some perch this winter.

[dodger]

Good post Typical and thanks for those pictures nicemustang. I find it interesting when you said they like a sandy bottom in 20' of water. I have always tried to find weed beds at about 20' for Perch threw the ice. Now I have to go check out the sandy areas and you know what that means " I have to drill extra holes ". I'm sure glad that I picked up a camera last summer and I'm looking forward to SCHOOLS IN for the Perch :lol::lol:
Dodger.

[mulecrazy]

One thing that has worked well for me is exploitation of an area. Once you find some the drill the crap out of the area. Every 10 feet have a hole. This way when you drop it down leave it near the bottom for a few minutes. if no bite the raise it a couple feet and drop it to the bottom, then bring it back up to about 6-10 inches off the bottom. If still nothing after a couple minutes move holes and repeat. Often I will hit 2-4 fish in a hole before the school moves on. keeping mobile and chasing around the schools is necessary. Perch will bite on a wide variety of baits. My fav's are maggots, mealworms, worms, minnows, power baits, and corn. Another thing I like to do is set up a pike tip-up in the middle of my setup. Often the perch will attract the pike and it gives you a little extra action if the perch fishing slows down.

[Mish]

I don't think I've ever ice fished Burnstick, but I have to agree with mustang on Cow. It's nonstop action in the winter at Cow, even fending off the little ones is fun :)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y267/IndigoCowgirl/P1190026.jpg

[whiskybaron]

Hey Eyeswideshut I would not waste my time fishing bear lake near grande prairie for perch the nutrient overloading and winter kill over the last 15 years has made it useless you will be lucky to find anything in that sluegh it is no deeper than hermit lake to the south, and for that matter the cutbank used to be good for perch but is now dead. Better to go somewhere else.

[Alberta Bigbore]

I don't think I've ever ice fished Burnstick, but I have to agree with mustang on Cow. It's nonstop action in the winter at Cow, even fending off the little ones is fun :)




I was told all the perch in Cow were small. And that some decent trout still exist. Just dont know if its worth a trip from edmonton

[Eyeswideshut]

Hey Eyeswideshut I would not waste my time fishing bear lake near grande prairie for perch the nutrient overloading and winter kill over the last 15 years has made it useless you will be lucky to find anything in that sluegh it is no deeper than hermit lake to the south, and for that matter the cutbank used to be good for perch but is now dead. Better to go somewhere else.


Ya thanks for the info,.. I was kind of skeptical myself. Seeing as a friend lives over by the lake and he was like "perch, ummm I don't believe so"


Cutbank used to be awesome,.. but its too bad that the water levels have been so bad over the years, and the winter kill has put an end to everything in that lake. I will probably go to Sturgeon again, but it gets so crowded unless you go to the far east side of the lake which is access through the reserve.

[FisherPotch]

One thing that has worked well for me is exploitation of an area. Once you find some the drill the crap out of the area. Every 10 feet have a hole. This way when you drop it down leave it near the bottom for a few minutes. if no bite the raise it a couple feet and drop it to the bottom, then bring it back up to about 6-10 inches off the bottom. If still nothing after a couple minutes move holes and repeat. Often I will hit 2-4 fish in a hole before the school moves on. keeping mobile and chasing around the schools is necessary. Perch will bite on a wide variety of baits. My fav's are maggots, mealworms, worms, minnows, power baits, and corn. Another thing I like to do is set up a pike tip-up in the middle of my setup. Often the perch will attract the pike and it gives you a little extra action if the perch fishing slows down.


This is purdy much the way I likes to do it. Except remove "corn" and replace with "shrimp chunk".

But I would try putting the tip up away from where the best perch action has been. This way the tip up attracts the jack to an area (i usually place the tip up in the more shallow holes) meanwhile you hop hole to hole in the area where you have been catching most of your perch. Rather than attracting the pike right into the middle of the area you are working.

[jrs]

Cow Lake is fairly small and be prepared to be surrounded by a ton of people on pretty much any weekend. Just mentioning this as i did not know what to expect. It's still fun but if your looking for jumbos you may want to look elsewhere. I saw a few nice ones taken last year, 13-14'' but they were fairly skinny compared to many perch i've seen and weren't all that heavy. Still very tasty but lots of work to fillet. I've caught most of my big perch on either smelt or minnow heads though i've only had about a dozen succesful trips for perch in my life. A yellow Marshmallow worked well at Cow if memory serves me correctly.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b158/edsicom/Fishing/IMGP3468.jpg

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

If you want perch around edm , youll laugh but cardiff and morinville pond stacked with them. And your able to Keep 15 I do beleave, but double check. the regulations.

[bunnyhunter]

is cardiff/morinville a good spot for ice fishing with kids? love to take my son perch fishing, we got a new little ice hut ...he keeps asking every day when we are going ice fishing!!

can be perch/trout as long as the actions fun.

I also heard that hasse lake has illegally introduced perch....anyone know if they are still there?

J

[4D7]

where are some good places to ice fishing for perch or just ice fish around calgary?

[Alberta Bigbore]

If you want perch around edm , youll laugh but cardiff and morinville pond stacked with them. And your able to Keep 15 I do beleave, but double check. the regulations.

but they are pretty much all small. Mornville res has bigger perch on average than cardiff, and so does the fish and game pond.



I also heard that hasse lake has illegally introduced perch....anyone know if they are still there?

J


Again??? LOL

[AxeMan]

Last time I fished them was at Sturgeon Lake east of here. As far as Bear Lake,.. its just a slew,. I will check out the locals and see about how the fishing is in there. We have land close to it, so it would be just a matter of hoping on the quad and crossing a piece of crown land.

Theo nly other place I have ice fish was around Lac La Biche,.. thats not too far northeast of Edm for the OP.

Eyes, is this the Bear Lake west of Barrhead near Clear Lake? If it is, I went and had a look at it this summer when I was camped at Clear lake. I had a look because I heard rumours of good sized perch in it. It looks more or less like a big slough but maybe. Clear Lake is shallow too but holds some good fish. There is good access from the county road on the south end of the lake. Is this the same Bear Lake?

[Eyeswideshut]

Eyes, is this the Bear Lake west of Barrhead near Clear Lake? If it is, I went and had a look at it this summer when I was camped at Clear lake. I had a look because I heard rumours of good sized perch in it. It looks more or less like a big slough but maybe. Clear Lake is shallow too but holds some good fish. There is good access from the county road on the south end of the lake. Is this the same Bear Lake?


No, northwest of Grande Prairie a few miles.

[seahawkfisher]

axeman;
i fished out there a couple years ago and we caught some decent ones
had to go through a bunch of little guys to get a good'r though. did you find good/ close vehicle access? we had to hike in down this steep bank through some trees that looked like it had swallowed up a few 4x4's
cheers

[DoubleCam]

If you want perch around edm , youll laugh but cardiff and morinville pond stacked with them. And your able to Keep 15 I do beleave, but double check. the regulations.

BBJ I dont know if Cardiff is stacked with em, I fish that lake religiously for big rainbows down deep and have yet to hook up on a perch!
Got some nice rainbows, no perch. Morinville is good, on the west side of the HWY however!

[Mish]

I was told all the perch in Cow were small. And that some decent trout still exist. Just dont know if its worth a trip from edmonton

They're skinny, but still fun to fish. Never targetted trout, but got some small pike outta there.

[2430M]

where are some good places to ice fishing for perch or just ice fish around calgary?

Not my area but I found some older threads you could go through and maybe get an idea? Best I can do for ya.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=15468&highlight=Calgary+fishing
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=13045&highlight=Calgary+fishing
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=2175&highlight=kid%27s+fishing


*edit*...not really for perch

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

BBJ I dont know if Cardiff is stacked with em, I fish that lake religiously for big rainbows down deep and have yet to hook up on a perch!
Got some nice rainbows, no perch. Morinville is good, on the west side of the HWY however!

last year I cought tons, about 20 yards out , on the golf course side dirctly across from there. a bit of a hike with heavy gear.

[allenford]

last year I cought tons, about 20 yards out , on the golf course side dirctly across from there. a bit of a hike with heavy gear.

sounds good John....

I'm planning heading out this saturday for a drive to cardiff and morrinvile.

[DoubleCam]

last year I cought tons, about 20 yards out , on the golf course side dirctly across from there. a bit of a hike with heavy gear.


ahh yah. in that little bay hey? its quite shallow back in there, there are some nice holes though.
Maybe I will see you out there this year... have to chat it up!

[AxeMan]

axeman;
i fished out there a couple years ago and we caught some decent ones
had to go through a bunch of little guys to get a good'r though. did you find good/ close vehicle access? we had to hike in down this steep bank through some trees that looked like it had swallowed up a few 4x4's
cheers

Seahawk, that is good news. I am going to get up there first chance I get. The access I found was straight west out of Clear Lake park right at the entrance to the park and then more or less straight west. The road curves around the north end of Plunger lake a bit. Follow it right to the very south end of Bear Lake. There is a road that goes straight south there. I think it is range road 65. The access is quite good. A liittle trail leads from the road about 100 yards to the water. It is really shallow there and someone has corduroyed the shore so a small boat could be launched.

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

sounds good John....

I'm planning heading out this saturday for a drive to cardiff and morrinvile.
Good luck let me know how you do.

ahh yah. in that little bay hey? its quite shallow back in there, there are some nice holes though.
Maybe I will see you out there this year... have to chat it up!
Forsure I think ill be down for that not sure how much ill get out. I have to get my quad home here and put it in my truck so ill have it for trips like this. Just wont put it on the ice on them little lakes or ponds.

[allenford]

[QUOTE=BIGBADJOHN;223741]Good luck let me know how you do.

I will , John.

By the way what do you guys use for trout and perch in ice fishing?

beef heart? cheese?

[FishHound]

caught a few small perch alst night using kernel corn on the west side of the highway = six inches of ice where I was on the south side