Fishing for Perch Under the Ice

It’s a hell of a lot more work drilling holes through the ice, even with a power auger, than it is to drift along in a boat. For this reason, an ice angler fishing for perch should know how to pick his target area more carefully.

Yellow perch thrive in lakes with rocky bottoms and weedbeds. Clean, cool water is preferred by the fish, which belongs to the same family as the prized walleye. While both species may go into deeper water, the perch is found most often in depths less than 15 feet.

In spring and summer, perch hold along the edges of weedbeds or on rocky shoals next to deep water. Schools of perch move around, yet they usually manage to stick to these preferred areas. They will move shallower to feed when the light is low.

The movement of perch in winter is not much different than in the summer. Even with a foot or more of ice overhead, perch still prefer to hold over bottoms with small rocks or debris in and around loosely packed weed beds.

When ice-fishing for perch, try to head to the lake with a group of friends. The main advantage to group perch angling is it allows you to cover as much territory at one time as possible. When a school of perch is found, all should move into that area.

When setting up for perch, it’s important to locate the preferred habitat. At the right depths, certain weeds stay green and thick enough to hold fish all winter long. The weeds may be thinner and not as tall as they were in summer, but they still are there, and the perch still hold in them.

If weeds thrive in a given lake, it’s almost a certainty that’s where you’ll find the perch. Since the patch is thinner in winter, look for perch to work through out the field, not to hold at the edges.
Rocky points are another excellent spot for winter perch, and most ice anglers know it. But steep shoreline shelves can be excellent for perch, too, particularly in the late season. A school of perch may work back and forth along a ledge formation. Look for ledges above the water line and chances are the rocky outcrops extend well beneath the surface.

Rocky ledges are ideal places to set up a buddy system for finding perch under the ice. Because the fish’s metabolism is considerably slower in cold water, they may hold in one spot for a longer time before moving on.

Preferred tackle for perch under the ice is a compact jigging rod. If alone or with only one partner, set out a field of tip-ups in hopes of finding fish, but tip-ups are not the most effective, piece of equipment when after cold water perch. A hooked perch can sit beneath a tip-up without ever raising the flag.

Just because the water is cold, don’t presume you must work a bait slowly to catch perch. Vary your jigging speeds and styles while fishing in the winter, just as you would do during the summer months.
Most strikes occur as the bait falls or just as your raising the line again. When the fish are feeding, you will do much better with this action than with the short jigging action .

Frozen lakes are not something us fishermen dream or fantasize about, but we can all still enjoy excellent fishing, during the cold long winter months.