First Ice Fishing Perch Trip Of The Year

[Chris K]

My buddy and I went out to one of our favourite perch lakes today, and had a great day. We ended up each limiting out with fish between 11 to 13 inches. It felt so good to get back on the ice and whack some perch! There was from 8 to 10 inches of good solid ice, so it will definately be a year that we will be needing extensions for the auger. I would post some good pics, but my camera batteries died on me and I wasn't able to take any with it today. I got a couple I took with my phone I can post.

The only bad part of the day is now I have to clean fish for at least an hour and a half!

Chris K

[TrollGRG]

Haven't you seen the vid for cleaning a perch in 10 seconds. It is here somewhere.

Tell me where your lake is and I will send it to you :)

[hockey1099]

My buddy and I went out to one of our favourite perch lakes today, and had a great day. We ended up each limiting out with fish between 11 to 13 inches. It felt so good to get back on the ice and whack some perch! There was from 8 to 10 inches of good solid ice, so it will definately be a year that we will be needing extensions for the auger. I would post some good pics, but my camera batteries died on me and I wasn't able to take any with it today. I got a couple I took with my phone I can post.

The only bad part of the day is now I have to clean fish for at least an hour and a half!

Chris K

Nice catch. Im heading out to isle lake this weekend i hope it has 8-10 inches of solid as i want try and find a perch worth keeping. I havent seen a perch like the one you are holding in 16 years. My main goal this winter is catch a 13" + perch.

[Garry B]

That is so awesome! I'm glad to hear there are still perch like that around. Nice. I'm just surprised to learn you found ice that thick. There sure is a wide variation in lakes around Edmonton. I'm just going from what I read on the forum. Regards.

[bunnyhunter]

thanks for sharing!Nice fish

me and my boy are heading out to try to catch a few perch this weekend :)

going to be a great ice year...:sHa_shakeshout:

[nicemustang]

Dandy fish. Can't wait for perching.

[highwood]

Oh, I doubt if he was fishing around Edmonton with that amout of ice. Very nice Perch Chris.

[Chris K]

Haven't you seen the vid for cleaning a perch in 10 seconds. It is here somewhere.

Tell me where your lake is and I will send it to you :)

I have known about that for a long time, but only clean a few like that each year. I want fried boneless perch fillets, and to me there is no substitute!

Chris K

[nicemustang]

I have known about that for a long time, but only clean a few like that each year. I want fried boneless perch fillets, and to me there is no substitute!

Chris K

x2. Me as well. It's ok to do the skinning on a 8" perch, but bigger ones should be filletted.

[Garry B]

I have known about that for a long time, but only clean a few like that each year. I want fried boneless perch fillets, and to me there is no substitute!

Chris K

I too agree 100%. I am just getting back into fishing after a long break and haven't gotten into big perch yet so still waiting for a fillet. Skinning is OK but just isn't the same as filleting. Nothing better than a decent perch fillet. Personally I think it's even better than Walleye.

[Kim473]

I too agree 100%. I am just getting back into fishing after a long break and haven't gotten into big perch yet so still waiting for a fillet. Skinning is OK but just isn't the same as filleting. Nothing better than a decent perch fillet. Personally I think it's even better than Walleye.

MMMMMMM Can taste those great perch burgers already.

[nicemustang]

Perch and walleye are in the same family. So they taste pretty much equal to me. My favorite for sure.

[Kim473]

Perch definatly taste better! In comparason walleye is like lobster not much taste but Perch is like King crab.Try one but scale and leave the skin on. It tastes better than skinless but a lot of work if you do 10 or more.

[mclean]

Seeing those perch on the camera, kind of gets a guy ready for some time on the ice, that is the the reason i prefer a camera for ice fishing. Great to see some nice perch. and very tasty.

[Garry B]

Perch definatly taste better! In comparason walleye is like lobster not much taste but Perch is like King crab.Try one but scale and leave the skin on. It tastes better than skinless but a lot of work if you do 10 or more.

I will definitely try this. You mean to scale the perch and then cut the two fillets off and remove the rib bones? So you simply have two fillets with skin? Then fry as normal? Sounds good.

I'm going to use this tool to try scaling the perch:
http://groisinventors.com/peeler.html
There is a video of scaling three fish and the second is a perch. Seems pretty fast. The maker doesn't sell to the public but when I inquired with him about a maggot dispenser he was very kind and sent me some free samples.

Initially I was searching the web for a bait/maggot dispenser because I figured there had to be something better than the plastic bag they come in. The puck looks good but I wanted something to pour them out of. I found this after a lot of digging. It's a small plastic bottle with squeeze top that splits open across the center. You just tip and squeeze and spill out a few maggots:
http://groisinventors.com/maggot.html
I haven't tried it yet but will this ice season. It looks like a handy way to get at your maggots without digging into that little plastic bag.

[horsetrader]

I will definitely try this. You mean to scale the perch and then cut the two fillets off and remove the rib bones? So you simply have two fillets with skin? Then fry as normal? Sounds good.

I'm going to use this tool to try scaling the perch:
http://groisinventors.com/peeler.html
There is a video of scaling three fish and the second is a perch. Seems pretty fast. The maker doesn't sell to the public but when I inquired with him about a maggot dispenser he was very kind and sent me some free samples.

Initially I was searching the web for a bait/maggot dispenser because I figured there had to be something better than the plastic bag they come in. The puck looks good but I wanted something to pour them out of. I found this after a lot of digging. It's a small plastic bottle with squeeze top that splits open across the center. You just tip and squeeze and spill out a few maggots:
http://groisinventors.com/maggot.html
I haven't tried it yet but will this ice season. It looks like a handy way to get at your maggots without digging into that little plastic bag.

Garry

were you able to get both scaler and maggot dispenser they seem like they would work great. I scale and filet all my perch I think the skin of the perch has a lot of flavor. Would not mind getting a scaler my self do you know what stores he sells to. or where I could order one

[Garry B]

Garry

were you able to get both scaler and maggot dispenser they seem like they would work great. I scale and filet all my perch I think the skin of the perch has a lot of flavor. Would not mind getting a scaler my self do you know what stores he sells to. or where I could order one

I don't know where else to get them from him. I actually never asked him where he distributes them. I think WSS has a similar scaler but no bait dispenser.

Yes, he gave me both. Plus a few other things. He gave more more than I can use so please PM me and let me know how I can get them to you.

[nicemustang]

The bait puck is still the best. Because then everything doesn't freeze solid.

[Garry B]

The bait puck is still the best. Because then everything doesn't freeze solid.

Wondered about that. Think they would freeze if they were in a jacket pocket?

[Redfrog]

In Ontario years ago there was no limit on perch. I have no idea if it is still the same.
We would catch lots and then scale them when we cleaned.

A reamer in a power drill worked great to scale. The scales just collected around the reamer instead of flying about.

[Kim473]

Reminds of my father years ago. Tried scaling some pike in a chicken plucker. You can imagine what happened. He had no fish left and a really big mess. LOL.

[Chris K]

The bait puck is still the best. Because then everything doesn't freeze solid.


I use the Bait Pucks and they are the only way to go in my opinion. There is a brand new Bait Puck Plus, and it is tipped over, and the bait goes through the holes in the middle, seperating from the sawdust. It's not a big deal to me to sort through sawdust though, and they don't freeze or crush and I like the size of them. I have used them all day and have not had my bait freeze in them in a pocket.

Chris K

[Garry B]

I use the Bait Pucks and they are the only way to go in my opinion. There is a brand new Bait Puck Plus, and it is tipped over, and the bait goes through the holes in the middle, seperating from the sawdust. It's not a big deal to me to sort through sawdust though, and they don't freeze or crush and I like the size of them. I have used them all day and have not had my bait freeze in them in a pocket.

Chris K

The bait puck is still the best. Because then everything doesn't freeze solid.

Thanks. I'm going to try this if the dispenser proves to be a fail. Can they be bought at WSS or FH? Or get them online?
http://strikemaster.com/store/icefish_accessories/bait_pucks.html

[Perchfisher]

You should be happy to be cleaning those 11 to 13 inch perch. We spend the whole day and might be lucky to even see some that size. They just don't seem to get that big in the south. Might have to make a trip up north just to see what it's like to hammer big perch.

[nicemustang]

I have never seen the bait pucks north of the border yet. Got mine at cableas in MN.

[Garry B]

I have never seen the bait pucks north of the border yet. Got mine at cableas in MN.

Thanks, ordering looks like the ticket. First I saw them was a video online with Dave Genz. He was using the red one I believe. Thought it looked good then. Shops up here would do well to start carrying them as I'm sure they'd catch on quickly. Regards.

[fish-slaughter]

Nice catch. Im heading out to isle lake this weekend i hope it has 8-10 inches of solid as i want try and find a perch worth keeping. I havent seen a perch like the one you are holding in 16 years. My main goal this winter is catch a 13" + perch.

was out at isle lake last weekend solid 10"-12" of ice there. caught 2 small pike and had lots of bites!!!

[Garry B]

was out at isle lake last weekend solid 10"-12" of ice there. caught 2 small pike and had lots of bites!!!

Hi. I'm guessing there might not be much snow cover then? Do you think 3-4 weeks might mean ice good enough for driving? I'd like to fish there this winter but can't easily scout ice conditions. I'm wondering too if you were targeting pike or were they accidental? Thanks!

[fish-slaughter]

I wouldn't drive on it yet still to sketchy probly isn't a consistent thickness. I just went out for whatever i found never fished the lake before. Im goin out this weekend and gonna do some exploratory fishing try and find were the perch hangout or the walleye! Theres plenty of access points all around the lake for scouting random spots.

[Garry B]

I wouldn't drive on it yet still to sketchy probly isn't a consistent thickness. I just went out for whatever i found never fished the lake before. Im goin out this weekend and gonna do some exploratory fishing try and find were the perch hangout or the walleye! Theres plenty of access points all around the lake for scouting random spots.

Thanks. For sure not yet. I hope by Christmas it will be OK for a vehicle. The question will be how much snow it has by then. I'm also glad to hear there are lots of access points. Thanks again for the info!

[fish-slaughter]

Thanks. For sure not yet. I hope by Christmas it will be OK for a vehicle. The question will be how much snow it has by then. I'm also glad to hear there are lots of access points. Thanks again for the info!

http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/Projects/Alberta-Lakes/library/view_section.php?lake=79&section=2&type=Fig
this link will show you all the access points

[MasterBaitor]

Nice catch. Im heading out to isle lake this weekend i hope it has 8-10 inches of solid as i want try and find a perch worth keeping. I havent seen a perch like the one you are holding in 16 years. My main goal this winter is catch a 13" + perch.

If you go today, let me know if you can make it out to some of the perch areas on isle