When ice fishing for perch, moving from spot to spot can certainly pay-off sometimes. If I don’t get a perch bite within an hour or so, I’ll move - usually to deeper water. For me, transportation from spot to spot is on foot since I enjoy the walk. Many folks drive their cars, snowmobiles or 4-wheelers around on the ice which certainly saves a lot of time when re-locating. Some folks also use underwater cameras when re-locating to see what’s going on below the hole.

Besides minnows, perch will also bite on other baits such as an ice-fishing jig (resembling a small minnow), salted minnows, or small round jig heads tipped with live or artificial grubs or minnows.

Perch eyeballs, as well as small pieces of skinless perch flesh also produce to some degree when fishing for perch, as well as crickets or mealworms that the pet stores carry. I must say though that crickets are an excellent bait.

Perch will also take the right type of small artificial fly such as nymphs. Twitch and jig the fly close to the bottom. For some reason, perch won’t take earth worms very well, which I find quite surprising.

Ice Fishing Jig

You should change you natural baits if they become waterlogged or semi frozen because these conditions will deter the perch from biting them. On very cold days, and if you’re not in a hut, your bait can quickly freeze when it’s reeled in and out of the water.Always try to keep your natural baits fresh and in good condition.

If you’re not ice fishing from inside a hut, on cold windy days your hole can freeze up very quickly. You must keep the hole clean at all times. Try not to allow ice to form around the hole’s edge either, as this would restrict the hole size and may cause you to lose fish as well. Also, keep your fishing line and rod eyes free of ice build-up.

I don’t keep my perch laid out on the ice as they’re caught because they risk becoming frozen and in-turn would ruin the quality and firmness of the flesh. I usually keep them covered in a bucket with no water.

Generally speaking, it seems that “first” ice of the year and “last” ice of the year produce more catches of perch. Also, many female perch are usually full of eggs at this time of year, and some folks even enjoy eating the perch eggs as well. For me… I’ll just stick to the fillets.

Good fishing!
Claudio

PS: you can catch ice fishing for perch part 1 right here.