Spirit Lake Perch

[BojiHawk]

Anecdotally....I can say the bite is good.  A friend of a friend sorted to a 3-man limit.  Nothing smaller than 9" kept and they had their fish in less than 2 hours. No idea where other than big spirit.

[esox_magnum]

Fished Spirit Saturday and theres no shortage of perch. Minnows or waxies on a spoon worked for us as well as a hook and splitshot. I set up a little shallower than my buddies did, they got into more and bigger ones but we had the bonus of a few eyes.

[jmvsmv]

any where in general out in the basin?   Or set up in a partricular spot?  thanks

[esox_magnum]

Yep in the basin.

[jmvsmv]

The last two times out we have tried out around templars, buffalo run, anglers, and the footbridge, by the crowds, away from the crowds, in shallower, out in the basin, and have had terrible results,  cant even hardly see any on the camera.  What should i be looking for?  I don't have to work tomorrow, so we are gonna head back out there as much a pride thing as anything else, I am gonna find them if i have to drill holes all over the lake    Any pointers to narrow that searching down???  Thanks

[SHANTYTOWN]

Thanks for the info! What time of the day is the best bite? i am am guessing sunrise and sunset is the best? Are the eyes any good size? hopefully we can get into the perch

[magnusthebigbrownlab]

Was up there in early december, and we got into a few.  Thinking about heading back up that way soon.  What kind of ice depth do ya'll have up there?  I'm sure it's plenty safe for walking or quads, but I've never had the truck out on the ice before, and I can't help but start to stain my shorts thinking about driving it on less than 15 or 16 inches.

[jmvsmv]

Last week there had to be close to 24 inches of ice out in the middle of the lake.  I have a 3/4 ton pickup with a Cummins in it that i have been driving out for a few weeks now and have no worries about it, and i was/am a worry wort about driving out there.

[esox_magnum]

Try out in the middle between Stoney and Marble for perch, they move around alot but they were in that area Saturday. For eyes go on the points with rock/gravel and use jigging baits.

[Icedog5001]

Judging by what I saw last Saturday, the only way you could have had more trucks on Spirit was to have a sign offering "Free Beer".  Tons of ice up there.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Are the perch still being caught? I heard the last few weeks were awsome but couldn't make it up  Thinking about this Sat., but knowing my luck the bite will be dead.

[jmvsmv]

We found them this morning in the middle between the points and buffalo run.  We drilled a few holes and got on top of them, by the time we set up, and got fishing we caught a few fast and furious.  After that we spent most of the day with them coming and going, but when they did come in they hit about anything that we had down there.  It was to cold to spend much more than a half hour at a time wandering around trying to stay on top of them, so we didnt wander to far from the first set up.  Lots of sorting, and the numbers were way down for us compared to what we found earlier in the season out between the points.  Hoping this weekend is warmer and we can wander around more and stay on top of them.

[esox_magnum]

I measured 25" of ice Saturday, still was alot of snow on the ice so 4x4 is a must. They keep saying 40's by the weekend we'll see. It's -3 right now.

[nick858]

Just remember if you are driving on the ice, roll down your window.  It may be cold outside, but theres a better chance of "getting out" if you have your window down!

[jacobh73]

when its -20 ill take my chances

Just remember if you are driving on the ice, roll down your window.  It may be cold outside, but theres a better chance of "getting out" if you have your window down!

[IA_Eskimo]

Heading out this morning to spend the day looking for perch. Thanks for the tips on where to go and I will ladvise how we do.

[IA_Eskimo]

Went out between the points in the basin and got on perch right away. Lots of little fish but I kept 10 between 9"-12". No problem getting around if you have a 4x4. Also it looks like I may need to put my extension on my auger, There is plenty of ice!

[esox_magnum]

My auger comes stock at 48"     Congrats on the catch.

[J_Edwards]

I caught at least 150 today, bucketed 25... My cousin got 75 or so and 15 in the bucket, we only kept them over 8 inches but managed 7 or 8 on or over 10.  Came in on Marble Beach and drove north east, mostly east clear out in the middle in 21 FOW.  Got mostly on pilkis and halis with maggots but a few on minnows.  We started at noon and fished till dark, can't wait to do it again tomorrow.