Never been to Bomo

[sgtdemps]

Heading up to Rutland area for work and plan on trying out Lake Bomoseen this weekend. Anyone been out on it yet this year? Is the ice any good?

[AugustWest]

Don't know the conditions, but I love to fish that lake
AW

[icejumper]

Went by today guys jigging and seen some shacks out no snow on it .

[jimbo3828]

The ice is safe in spots but it is not in others, be especially careful with this warm up only a few inches in some spots if that.

[thebigwiggle]

I fished last weekend and hammered the big perch. The Ice is safe in most of the lake, be very careful in the middle of the lake and some bays had some soft spots when i was there . When i was there the was between 4-6 inches but we also a couple of very cold nights recently and i know that helped. i will be out there Sunday jigging up the big slammer perch. i fish this lake allot both summer and allot in the winter, so if you needs some good advise , let  me know.. good Luck .

[sgtdemps]

Thanks for the info guys, I appreciate it. Hopefully I'll see you out there this weekend bigwiggle.

[bigcat61]

hey big wiggle looking for some tips on those slammer perch you talk about?
fished out there today and only ended up with 7 fish and they  were not slammers.  when i cleaned them there was orange spots in the fillets are the ok to eat???             

[thebigwiggle]

hey big wiggle looking for some tips on those slammer perch you talk about?
fished out there today and only ended up with 7 fish and they  were not slammers.  when i cleaned them there was orange spots in the fillets are the ok to eat???           

Its funny because there was another post on here, where the guy was asking the same Question about the Orange spots . i have never seen them in any of the fish i caught but from reading the other post on here , they seem to be harmless . The spots i look for are the black spots inside the perch.
last year i opened up a whole can of worms when i put a post on here about my secrets of fishing the jumbo perch, so i will tell you what works for me. Deep water perch is where you find the big slammers that roam . these guys will be in small packs but when you do find them they will more than likely the  big ones and the big ones like to school up together. I use very heavy  but small tungsten jigs , this is what you want when you are fishing these deep perch because the jig will sink very fast and you don't need any other extra weight to get your jig down. i hardly never use live bait, instead i use makiplastics and Atomic Nuggies, mostly the atomic nuggies, with the color red, glow, or red/yellow or white . Pound the bottom with your bait, because that calls in the fish and stir ups the bloodworms down there . You want to mimic your jig like a bloodworm, because that is what 85 % of the perch i catch are feeding on down there. ....Good luck and have fun

[coldfish55]

bigwiggle
What kind and size small tunsten jigs do you use with the atomic nuggies
Thanks

[thebigwiggle]

bigwiggle
What kind and size small tunsten jigs do you use with the atomic nuggies
Thanks

I usually get the 6mm or 7mm that Robbie has at  toms bait shop. If you are getting marmooska , chicka tungsten jigs , get size 10, these are allot bigger and heavier , but once again very small in overall size. the nuggies i use are the jumbo nuggies or the regular nuggies. some people like the 5mm , but i believe its a little too small for me. The perch have no problem sucking in a 6 or 7 mm jig . i even caught the big and small blue gils on the 6 and 7 mm jigs. Good luck

[Lavman]

I usually get the 6mm or 7mm that Robbie has at  toms bait shop. If you are getting marmooska , chicka tungsten jigs , get size 10, these are allot bigger and heavier , but once again very small in overall size. the nuggies i use are the jumbo nuggies or the regular nuggies. some people like the 5mm , but i believe its a little too small for me. The perch have no problem sucking in a 6 or 7 mm jig . i even caught the big and small blue gils on the 6 and 7 mm jigs. Good luck

What type and size line are you running to jig these bruisers?

[thebigwiggle]

What type and size line are you running to jig these bruisers?

lavman; i just switched over Berkly nanofil, which is a little pricey but if you read my other post on here on the subject, you will see i love it.
 Anyways i use 4 pound test with Berkly nanofil or firline crystal line . the reason why i go with a braid over mono is because i am fishing so deep for these bad boys. so the no stretch line is perfect because i want to feel every little tick when i am fishing 45 feet down.
the Berkly nanofil line usually runs about 20.00 a spool of 150 yards.
Good luck

[Lavman]

Thanks for the 411 BW. I have an open face reel I like to use for jigging but resetting to correct depth after each time I bring a fish up can be tricky, in deep water where you are getting these slammers, how do you keep track of depth? Do you use a line marker of some sort?

[thebigwiggle]

Thanks for the 411 BW. I have an open face reel I like to use for jigging but resetting to correct depth after each time I bring a fish up can be tricky, in deep water where you are getting these slammers, how do you keep track of depth? Do you use a line marker of some sort?

Well it helps allot when you have a vexiliar flasher.. I have very nice unit too where i can zoom in on the last 6 or 12 feet of bottom..
i usually find the jumbo's in water of 35 to 45 feet. if you did not have a Flasher . you could use the method i use for smelt fishing when i fish the old time way with jig sticks , when you hit botton , wind up one crank and that should work. or your option that might be even better would be to use a slip bobber method . when you find the fish off bottom set you bobber marker to the depth and then you will be fishing that depth every single time when you put lure back down the hole.

[Lavman]

No flasher here, strictly old school. You trigger more questions from me:

1) What color line are you running to get those slammers to bite?

[thebigwiggle]

No flasher here, strictly old school. You trigger more questions from me:

1) What color line are you running to get those slammers to bite?

Well the color of line for the i use with Berkly nano fil and crystal line is white and the fish do not seem spooked by the line at all. i could use a light fluorocarbon leader but i don't like the barrel swivel showing up on my flasher. if you don't go with the Barkley line, then i believe very light test Fluorocarbon line could do the trick for you. Like i said before that i don't believe the line color will make a difference because you are fishing so deep and those perch wont be spooked by that line anyways.

[Lavman]

Have you ever tried live bait at these depths or artificials only? Do you tip your jigs with anything special?

[thebigwiggle]

I might throw a minnow on a dead stick pole next to me as i am jigging , but usually 90 % of the time I am just jigging with a tungsten jig and a nuggie

[Lavman]

What rod are you using to pull these slammers?

[thebigwiggle]

medium light or light and maybe a ultra light when i fish a little shallower. the length of the rods are 24-28 inches .I use the 28 inch rods when i am hole hoping trying to find fish and the 24 inch rods when i am jigging in my shanty.. Blue gils i use ultra lights rod from 18-24 inches and sometimes i use a noodle rod. the perch rods i use are st croix and Jason Mitchell "meat sticks" and few fennwicks rods.

i like to ice fish like i bass fish in the summer.. I have about 6 to 8 rods set up ready to go with different lures on them so i can switch quickly if i need to without re-tieing jigs in the cold