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How do you catch more perch in ice fishing?
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Finding a good perch hotspot early, and even all the way throughout the ice season means finding transition areas. Areas where schools of perch will constantly be filtering in and out of, looking to spawn and looking to eat. Look for areas just outside of the deep-water basin.
Ice anglers typically target perch on flats in 20 to 35 feet of water during most of the winter season. Although, early season perch can be caught in 12 to 15 feet before the aquatic plants start to die off.
What line do you use for ice fishing perch?
Some time this winter when you’re ice fishing for yellow perch, bluegills or black crappies, attach your lure to 1-, 2- or 3-pound test line and then drop it into your hole and watch how you can manipulate it. Now, do the same thing with the lure tied to 4-, 5- or 6-pound test line.
Most of the best perch jigs are 1 to 2 inches in length. Soft plastic jigs are effective, versatile and inexpensive, with some of the more popular styles being tube jigs, curly-tail jigs and split-tail jigs. Small hair jigs and marabou jigs (i.e. “crappie jigs”) are also excellent choices.
How do you catch more perch in ice fishing? – Related Questions
What is the best bait for perch ice fishing?
Perch feed on insects, freshwater shrimp, and smaller baitfish. Start with an ice jig and soft plastic tipped with a waxie to mimic insects and shrimp. This smaller presentation generates the largest catch count of average sized Perch.
What depth do perch like in winter?
The typical depths are 19 to 36 feet. Shallower mudflats in 8 to 12 feet are used primarily when the vegetation is still green. If plants are dead, perch move to deeper flats.
What Colour lure is best for perch?
Their color is their biggest advantage, but white maggots also attract nighttime perch with their constant movement on the bottom. By far, I have found these to be the best live bait for perch fishing at night. I usually fish them on the paternoster rig with a 1oz lead and a size 8-10 wide gape hook.
What color lures do perch like?
As far as color goes for lure selection its really going to depend on the body of water you are fishing, but generally I like starting out with UV green, UV pink or orange and then a natural perch color.
Big perch tend to hang back from the main shoal – if they’re big enough, the smaller perch often can become their prey too – so running a lure around the sides of the smaller fish can often produce a decent fish or two.
What time of day is best for perch?
Perch fishing is usually best in the early morning or evening hours during late spring and early summer and late afternoon or evening in late summer. In autumn, both morning and late afternoon-evening provide excellent fishing. In the natural lakes, the best fishing is usually from late summer until late fall.
What size hook is best for perch?
Best for Live Minnows and Leeches, the short shank with a wide gap on an Octopus hook is great for hooking large fish. Use a smaller #6 or #4 for 1-2″ minnows and small leeches to target Perch and Crappie. Use the medium size #4 & #2 on larger 3-4″ minnows and jumbo leeches for Walleye.
What is the best time for catching perch?
Early and late are great times for catching perch on natural waters, when low light levels make it easy for a fish to stalk its prey.
What time of day do perch bite in winter?
When fishing for perch in winter, the best time of day is the period between morning and noon. What is this? The water temperature is now at its absolute lowest, and the perch have slowed down their metabolism and feeding activity considerably.
Use lures of two inches or less. White perch are accustomed to taking small bites, and small offerings are in order.
Give the lures a pause between jigs. During the cold months of the year the fish will be attracted by motion, which catches their eye.
Fish right on or near bottom.
Where do you find perch under ice?
Where do perch go in the winter time?
In lakes such as these, where submerged points, rock reefs and boulder-strewn humps are as scarce as Siberian supermarkets, the perch are drawn to the deeper basins in the winter, especially if there’s sand grass growing on the bottom, or remnant green vegetation.
At what water temperature do perch bite best?
Perch prefer water temperatures of 66°F to 70°F, although they are found in a variety of water temperatures. They are most numerous in the open waters of lakes which have some weeds, clear water and bottoms of muck, sand or gravel.