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Ontario Fishing Network
Newsletter
www.ontariofishing.net
Volume 1, Issue 1 - Feb. 2001 - Page 2 |
Travel North
West Nipissing Subury East
Travel Guide - travelnorth.ca |
Ice fishing for
perch con't .. than
happy to give you the information, and this has often saved the day for myself. Another
key is to look for the huts and crowds of anglers. Hut operators are in the business to
make money, so you know their huts, and paying customers, will be in the vicinity of the
fish. Finding these areas can definitely pay off big.
Tactics
 The first thing to do, once you arrive on the ice, is to start
drilling holes. Drill a half dozen holes in a zigzag pattern over an area that covers
approximately 30 yards, and start fishing hole number one. Begin the day with a small
spoon, ( tipped with a small shiner or maggot ), or a small tube jig. Try to work all
areas of the water column, from a foot below the bottom of the ice, to inches off the
bottom of the lake. What you are searching for with these faster-moving presentations are
the active fish, which will show you the location of a school. If after five or ten
minutes you still haven't connected, then move to the next hole to see what's down below.
Once you've caught a few fish from a hole, it's time to slow down your presentation, and
also set up a secondary line, which will be your tip-up.
The best placement for your tip-up is approximately five to 15 yards from your primary
jigging hole. This will be set up close enough to get to quickly, and will also be in the
vicinity of the school you located. If the action starts to die down in the area that
you're fishing, it's simply a matter of moving outwards until you connect with the
"migrating" school. Three winters ago this scenario took place, and became one
of my fondest fishing memories ever. I was fishing the famed Lake Simcoe in early
February, with my two good friends, Scott Fleming and Jason Jones. The weather was
glorious, and, in fact, enabled us to fish in just our t-shirts! After the first few holes
were cut, we hit pay dirt. Jumbo after jumbo perch were flopping on the ice, and we really
had our hands full. At times, all three of us had fish on at the same moment, not to
mention our tip-ups being pulled down. However, as soon as the action started it would die
down, and we would work our way outward to locate them once again. It didn't take more
than a few holes, and we were knee-deep in fish again. At day's end our smiles told the
tale; a bucket of tasty perch, sun-tanned faces and a whopper of a fish that evened the
scales out at one-and-a-half-pounds! Who says ice fishing isn't fun?
Equipment
For jigging purposes, any good quality, light action rod will do the trick. These
will usually be between 18 and 24 inches long and must have a sensitive tip. (This will be
necessary in order to work the light-weight lures to their up most effectiveness.) A
quality ice rod of this style can usually be found for less than $30. Match this with an
ultra-light reel with a smooth drag, and spool it up with two to six-pound-test
monofiliment. Use two-pound-test if you are using extremely small baits or if the fish are
really finicky. If there is a healthy population of walleye in the lake, it may be best to
use six-pound, just in case you hook one of these larger predators. I've found that
four-pound-test has worked best for me, and is strong enough, yet also supple enough, for
perch.
Any of the standard tip-ups will do for perch fishing, as
long as they are smooth and sensitive. Many people even use a simple willow-branch, with
line attached to one end, out on the ice. Tip-ups are very inexpensive and can be made
quite easily from a few pieces of wood. The most effective presentation to use with a
tip-up is a spreader rig, which, quite simply put, is a heavy weight attached to your main
line, and two or three single hooks spread out from your main line, one to three feet from
the bottom. Attach a lively one to one-and-a-half-inch shiner or pinhead minnow through
the back, just below the dorsal fin, and you're on your way.
There is a myriad of lures for perch fishing out on the
market, but my best advice is to purchase a half dozen or so, and see which ones work best
out on the water. Some of my favourite lures that have produced for me in the past, are
any of the spoons in the 1/32 oz. to 1/8th oz., such as the rocker minnow, walleye hawger
or rat finkee. Tube jigs in bright or natural colours, in the above mentioned sizes, can
also be dynamite, as can the swimming rapala jigs. Experiment with size, colour and
tipping options, (shiners, maggots, meal or wax worms), and sooner or later you will ring
the dinner bell. Sometimes the simplest presentation can be the key, and often times I've
produced dozens of fish with a small hook and shiner, slowly jigged up and down. Let the
fish dictate what they want, and do not be afraid to try new and different things, in
order to limit out. - continued on page 3 |
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