When ice fishing for perch I prefer ice fishing rods rather than hand lines for starters. I spool-up with 6 pound clear monofilament or fluorocarbon line. My set-up consists of a bell sinker and two snelled hooks.

I use a 1 ounce bell sinker, no. 8 Aberdeen hooks with 6 inches of snell per hook.

The hooks are spaced twelve inches apart. The bottom hook is spaced four inches above the sinker.

I usually use emerald shiners as bait since they’re readily available in my area and they‘re also a major food source of the perch. Two and a half to three inch emerald shiners are the norm but I’ll use four inch emerald shiners as well to target jumbo perch.

Here are my reasons why I choose to use these items for my set-up:

I stay away from colored monofilament or braided lines as perch get suspicious of these.

The six pound line used as the main line and the snell is of thin diameter and transparent so the perch are not spooked by it. I’ve tried four pound test line but I find it too thin and impractical. It tends to break quite easily under ice fishing conditions.

The one ounce bell sinker is fairly heavy and I like it because it gets my bait down fast and keeps the main line more vertical so there is less chance of tangle with other lines if the holes are close together. Another reason is that it enables me to detect a bite easier. I do this by keeping the sinker just off bottom, supporting the rod and watching the rod tip. The extra weight allows the rod tip to bend easier with even the slightest bite. The rod should be supported near the reel to allow for more rod movement to distinguish a bite.

Another method to detect a bite when ice fishing for perch which I have used is that I would allow the sinker to touch bottom; set the rod on a support; tighten the line then let out about one inch of extra line. I can detect a bite by watching the slack line straighten.

I’m confident that the sinker doesn’t scare the fish away. I’ve had perch actually follow my sinker while slowly reeling in my line so I’ll take that as an indication that they aren’t afraid of it.

I like the thin no.8 Aberdeen hooks when ice fishing for perch because they’re small, light (thin diameter wire) and the shank is long enough for me to easily remove it from the fish. The hooks’ small size doesn’t spook the fish. The hooks’ lightness allows the live shiner bait to move more freely and its’ thinness allows the bait to live longer because the impaling hole is small.

More on ice fishing for perch on part 3, coming up next.

Claudio