Perch through the ice right now

Talkin' Fishin'

by Bob Jensen

Although this has been a pretty mild winter so far, there are still plenty of ice-fishing opportunities throughout the Midwest.

One really good fishing opportunity this time of year involves perch. Perch can be found in many bodies of water across the Midwest, they're excellent on the table, and, much of the time they're willing biters.

There are also times when they require a little coaxing if you want them to bite. Here are a few ideas for coaxing perch into biting.

When the perch are aggressive, it doesn't take a lot of finesse to get them to eat your bait. Pretty much anything, within reason, will be eaten.

This time of year though, the schools of perch have been worked over hard. The fish have seen all sorts of baits and can develop a wariness toward some baits and some techniques. If you want to catch them, you need to be willing to alter your presentation.

In some bodies of water, the perch move around an area quite a bit. You'll catch two, maybe three from one hole, then they'll move. If you want to catch them, you'll need to move also.

An auger that pops through the ice quickly is a big help in staying on the fish. Many anglers go with a Jiffy Stealth auger, as they get through the ice quickly and are very reliable.

In other situations, if you can attract the perch to your hole, they'll hang around awhile, but they become very finicky. When you move to a new hole, it works well to drop a Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon down there. Keep a close eye on your sonar to watch what happens.

The Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon does a great job catching the perch, but it also does a great job attracting them. Much of the time they'll come in and inhale the spoon without hesitation. That's good.

Sometimes they'll come in and look at the spoon a few seconds before hitting. That's good too.

Every now and then, they'll come in and just look at the spoon. That's when the fun starts.

If you can see them on the sonar just looking at the spoon, you need to give them a different look. Have another rod tied with a small jig: A Micro Minnow is about as good as it gets, as it rides horizontally in the water, and it seems horizontal jigs are best in this situation.