Ice Fishing for Perch

[Wheels]

It’s been a long time since I last had a successful ice fishing trip for perch. I was hoping to go after some on the weekend. What depth do you guys usually find Perch in the winter months? Do they tend to stay quite deep or do they come into shallow areas as well, like next to the reeds,etc?

[fisher69]

Not sure what area of ab you are in? assuming up north since most of the guys here are.

im down in letbhridge and the only places ive ever caught perch are at enchant pond and forty mile reservoir. all the ones ive seen are pretty tiny so its not like a secret honey hole or anything. at enchant you can find them pretty close to the shore, in like 4-6 feet of water i think, and at forty mile same thing but i've also seen them out at the bottom in 30 feet too. just a small hook and a meal worm is all it takes to catch em in seconds.

[EZM]

Ah yes ..... perch .....

Simple answers is YES, all of the above.

Large Perch, the Jumbos are found cursing suspended in very deep water chasing forage, or right under the ice chasing scuds, and you can often set your watch as the school feeds through your area, steady action for 5-10 minutes then dead silence for 40 minutes then back they come through the same area slamming anything that moves ....that's kinda the deeper water scenario.

I've also caught some very big perch shallow, right in the weeds through the ice in a few feet of water ....

But typically, any weed edge, drop off, ledge or change is a great place for perch (and most species).

If there was one general rule to perch .... I'd mix it up to see what is working - small and subtle, to loud and large .... don't underestimate how aggressive they can be sometimes. I have used a 1" to 1.5" rattling rap type bait (what you would think to be too large for perch) and had some jumbos come in and crush it - you could hardly see them on the camera they smashed it so fast.

Usually I start with a jig or maybe a rattlin' flyer tipped with a minnow head and go from there. Watch the reactions .... if they are skitish I downsize if they are taking it you can stick to it or upsize to get the area buzzing with some bigger perch. Often times if you play around with medium and small ones the big ones come in and bully the small ones off the bait.

I always have a small baited presentation set up, whatever I'm using like the rattlin' flyer, and always have a rattlin' rap there too. Whatever the situation calls for, I can drop the next presentation down the hole and it's on a rod ready to go.

Good luck ...

[marlin1]

catching a nice perch is like finding a good woman . Doesn't happen too often . At least not for me in Alberta :) They are out there though . My biggest were in about 30 foot of water . Perch I mean , lol

[stob]

catching a nice perch is like finding a good woman . Doesn't happen too often . At least not for me in Alberta :) They are out there though . My biggest were in about 30 foot of water . Perch I mean , lol
tooo Funny

[Wheels]

Ah yes ..... perch .....

Simple answers is YES, all of the above.

Large Perch, the Jumbos are found cursing suspended in very deep water chasing forage, or right under the ice chasing scuds, and you can often set your watch as the school feeds through your area, steady action for 5-10 minutes then dead silence for 40 minutes then back they come through the same area slamming anything that moves ....that's kinda the deeper water scenario.

I've also caught some very big perch shallow, right in the weeds through the ice in a few feet of water ....

But typically, any weed edge, drop off, ledge or change is a great place for perch (and most species).

If there was one general rule to perch .... I'd mix it up to see what is working - small and subtle, to loud and large .... don't underestimate how aggressive they can be sometimes. I have used a 1" to 1.5" rattling rap type bait (what you would think to be too large for perch) and had some jumbos come in and crush it - you could hardly see them on the camera they smashed it so fast.

Usually I start with a jig or maybe a rattlin' flyer tipped with a minnow head and go from there. Watch the reactions .... if they are skitish I downsize if they are taking it you can stick to it or upsize to get the area buzzing with some bigger perch. Often times if you play around with medium and small ones the big ones come in and bully the small ones off the bait.

I always have a small baited presentation set up, whatever I'm using like the rattlin' flyer, and always have a rattlin' rap there too. Whatever the situation calls for, I can drop the next presentation down the hole and it's on a rod ready to go.

Good luck ...
Thanks EZM!

I really appreciate the advice.

In the past I had defaulted to shallower water near the reeds, but a couple of years ago a friend that has far more experience than I, thought it was strange that I would want to try shallow. He always goes to the deepest areas. Glad to know that I am not completely crazy!

I will see if I can try both this weekend and see what happens. Although I am not much of a "run and gun" type of fisherman. Harder to do because I am in a wheelchair. I usually just get cozy and stay in one area. A slow day fishing with good friends, still works out to be a good day!

[stein]

Caught a bunch out deep last weekend in 31 ft water, all of them had barotrauma, eyes bulging out, etc and were kept.

[3blade]

Anything caught in over 20 fow is gonna die, so you’d better be ok filleting a bunch of 6 inchers if you are targeting them in deep water (I do it, fish sticks are worth the effort)

Blood worms are in deep water mud, minnows can be anywhere, shrimp eat vegetation on the bottom or algae growing on the ice. Each lake is different and the perch will usually be focused on one particular food source, so it takes a lot of time and effort to figure them out.

[Wheels]

Good to know, thanks 3blade!

[EZM]

Agreed on the effects of Barotrauma - That's why typically I'm setting up off drop offs or weed edges usually. Typical is 8-16 feet kind of thing - but there are lakes, even here in Alberta where you can fish over a spot 50+ feet deep but can be marking and fishing down only 10 feet below the ice when the schools are feeding on scuds.

These perch are cruising just under the ice and there is no barotrauma issue.

I do not jig past 25 feet or so ... (except when targeting trout)

Out East, on Simcoe or LOTW, people are jigging bottom for perch in 50+ feet of water. It's pretty common.