Micro baits not always the answer, so upsize your game for jumbo perch!
Thinking back years ago, Jumbo Perch weren’t top on the minds of many local ice anglers in and around Thunder Bay. Fast forward to the past couple of years, where these two words are spoken often among ice fishing circles, with much excitement and along with any talk of Jumbo Perch, two more words generally follow, Black Bay.
This unique bay along the North shore of Lake Superior is an amazing part of the big lake, with its warmer, shallower waters making it a very different environment from much of the big lake. It hosts a variety of species, with excellent angling opportunities for them all, including excellent hard water angling for jumbo perch. There are other area lakes that definitely hold jumbo perch, but with the great opportunities in Black Bay, it has anglers flocking there to try their hand at icing these pigs, myself included.
When it comes to catching jumbo perch through the ice, many anglers automatically think small; fishing micro jigs and other small baits, because perch are small fish themselves. This is a theory I don’t whole heartedly agree with, and tend to explore other options each outing and chance I get. While micro jigs certainly have their place, and will definitely catch fish, they may not always be the best choice when targeting true jumbos. You will more than likely catch perch all day long fishing with miniscule jigs and baits, but they may likely be smaller perch, with the odd jumbo mixed in. When you find a good perch fishing area, there are often massive schools swimming around down below, with all sorts of small fish mixed in with the big ones, competing for your bait.
Having this picture in mind, I like to start with some bigger than your typical perch jigs, hoping to weed out the smaller fish, and target the true jumbos. Although you’ll often catch less fish this way, those you do lure and land are often bigger. By upsizing your baits, it often deters the smaller fish, or makes it harder to hook them, leaving your bait free when that 14″ jumbo cruises by. I do go down to micro baits at times, but generally my jumbo perch tackle box shares several baits with my winter walleye gear. One of my favourite winter perch jigs is the Northland Buckshot spoon. I find that the ¼ oz buckshot, tipped with a small minnow, can be a deadly combination when targeting jumbo perch. I’ll often hook a whole small minnow under the dorsal, perpendicular to the spoon, or use a half a minnow on the hook. Either way, it’s a formidable bait, one that seems to entice those real jumbos and often keep some of the smaller perch at bay. It’s important to keep in mind that these perch can be aggressive predators, and will often not hesitate to hit a larger bait you may not think fit for perch. Even baits like a simple ¼ or 3/8 oz jighead with a medium minnow will do the trick, or a modest sized jigfly, again big enough that those micro perch may not be interested or able to hook themselves with it. Another bait I like to offer is a Rapala or Nils jigging shad, with a minnow head for some flavor, another slightly larger bait, with great action jumbo’s seem to love.
There are certainly times when these baits aren’t working either, and you’ll need to downsize and sift through smaller fish, but I like to start out trialing bigger baits, watch the flasher and see what the fish do. Using my Humminbird Ice 55, I can usually get a good read on what’s going on down below, whether there are fish there, and what sort of bait they may or may not be hungry for.
Tackle aside, we’ve all had those trips where no matter what you drop below the ice, you come up empty handed, frustrated at the lack of interest of the fish you undoubtedly see below on the flasher. When these situations arise, I’ll admit I’m a rather impatient ice angler, and if there are uninterested fish, instead of trying to entice them with finesse baits, I’ll drill some new holes, and move in the hopes of locating actively feeding fish. Sometimes drilling a new set of holes beside where you’re fishing is all it takes to locate active fish, and other times moving to entirely new areas may be in order. This is another great example of where flashers aid anglers, letting you know if there are actually fish around, and what their interest level is; all of this adding to the productivity and excitement of your hunt for jumbo perch this season. n