Yellow perch for newbie

[sebastien]

Morning everyone. I am from Canada, live near the border in Venise-en-quebec, qc. I bought my fishing liscence in Vermont for 2023. I want to go and fish for yellow perch on ice. Im crossing at Alburg springs Vermont. Im on foot with my gear on a sled. I will go get my baits at Hog island market. Now which bay would you recommend me guys to go to and park. My fist time this saturday.

[jbritch]

Most of the time when I fish on Hog Island there are a few Quebecers upwind.  Hint: if you see someone jigging like crazy, pick a spot not so near that you kill his bite; the lake has 200,000 acres and plenty of fish so you can have your own without bothering anyone.  And, if you plan on smoking a nasty cigar, set up waaaay down wind, please.

That said, proceed from the Hog Island Market south and east and you will come to the Tabor Point boat access.  You can go anywhere you want but I have fished the same holes for over 25 years so that should tell you something.  I set up for pike along the east shore where you see the red rocks rise up to the shore, usually in only a couple of feet of water; I put big minnows and little perch right on the rocks.  You'll have to react quickly and stop the line before too much is reeled off or you'll end up getting snagged on all the tree debris that gathers there.  My biggest pike there was 10 lbs.

For perch, walk south from the access about 75 yards off those rocks until you are almost even with the end of the peninsula but not quite.  Should be 14-16 feet of water.  If you search around with a depth finder (mine is just a big sinker, no electronics needed) you find a "wall", where the depth changes rapidly, comes up to about 6 feet.  I use a steel leader even when I'm just jigging because you never know when you'll hook a big fish on your jig stick.  My girlfriend got a big laker there at the exact moment my son landed a huge black crappie which he said was the best fish he ever ate.  I got a big salmon on the same day, so you never know what you'll find.  No need for big bait either.  The big fish like little perch and you'll probably catch a few of those, too.



Have fun.

[lowaccord66]

Wild that live bait isnt allowed in quebec.

[jbritch]

Iowa,
Yeah, but it may be a good rule for them.  Lessens the chances for an invasive species to invade.  30 years ago I went way up 250 miles past Chibougamau with 2 science teachers who thought they were the world's best bass fishermen.  They expressed displeasure at my duct-taped rod and 10-cent lure.  Guess who was the only one to catch a fish the entire 10 days, a huge pike on a strip of bacon just off the shore bank in 2 ft of water, called it my pig 'n a jig.  The water is crystal clear and the fish are huge!  40 lb walleyes under the boat were common.  Pike nests in the big cobblestones at the shoreline were big enough for a person to lie down in.

They have (or did have) the same rule in Idaho.  We drove 5 hrs from Boise up into the Cascades (?), rode another hour on a snowmobile, set up on a secluded lake and each caught the 5-trout (Steel heads and Cut Throats) limit in 15 minutes.  The bait?  Those tiny colored marshmallows.  My buddy's name?  Rod was an Army cook there and prepared my trout for supper while everybody else had meatloaf.  My commander said I was AWOL.  I just shrugged; so court martial me for insanity.  I'm just crazy about ice fishing.

Given the recent breakdown in the quality control of the bait we get from down south (remember they found invasive species in it a couple of years ago), we might think about such a rule here.  Not sure if we could ever make Lake Champlain pristine again free of trash species.  Haven't heard much about the alewives lately.  Had a hard time at the Sand Bar 'cause all the perch were stuffed to the gills with them.

My Xmas list includes someone getting rid of the cormorants in Highgate Springs, too many parasites in the perch for my liking.

Talked to a guy yesterday who wanted to target white perch.  We know they are eating our walleye roe/fry, so in my book they'd be an invasive species, too.  Which would you prefer to clean and eat?  I haven't gotten a walleye in LC for a long time.

[lowaccord66]

Nice post, enjoyed reading it.  Not a scientist but I know the folks that lobby for bait limits also want no recreational fishing.  We need to be exceedingly careful of what we wish for.  The anti fishermen want a pristine lake too, with 0 people fishing.