Click here to order with free shipping.Team Iceshanty Patches! Most iceshanty boards are represented
I'd have to say that's true about the perch cycling and if you could graph the size on a body of water, I bet it would resemble a bell curve over a 9 year period. Not all lakes though......there are some lakes that constantly churn out big ones but the quantity fluctuates. I guess spawning habitat and conditions as well as angling pressure dictate that just like other species. Afterall, once word gets out about a monster perch bite, anglers hit it hard and if that is combined with a couple unsuccessful spawning years, I'm sure bad things happen.About the finicky perch, I find that the suspended fish are the eaters. I reccommend that when you pick one up on the flasher while hole hopping and its high, you slow your decent a good ways above the fish! Everyone I fish with has experienced suspended slobbo perch moving on a bait way before the bait gets in front of them. I've seen them move up 10 to 12 feet from say 45 ft of water as the spoon is dropping!That's not to say that the ones on the bottom won't feed, they do but the suspended ones are the ones that I have the most confidence will bite. That and pairs....when they are paired up or more....one of them is gonna bite. The competition must be too much for them.
I think it's very important to note, there are jumbos, and there are hog jumbos... If you're a sit and wait guy, I would recommend targeting other species. If you're an angler looking for consistent catches day-in, day out, Indiana jumbo perch may not be your thing. If you don't research your target fish extensively, hog jumbos will only be caught on your luckiest day. If you don't read creel surveys, and topo maps before each trip, go to church before you head out on Sundays, because you're gonna need him! If you're not catching my drift, Jigmup spends more time and money than anybody I know not chasing perch, but chasing hog jumbos, and a good day for him is 10 in this state. If he lived in South Dakota, he'd be averaging 50+ every trip! In short, Indiana jumbos will humble the most avid anglers, and you better do your homework and have patiences, and leave your pride at the bluegill channel. That is the best advance I can give on perch.
This is very true I have a lot of days looking and miles walked across the ice to come back blank or with only one or two .
Me too! More than I'd care to admit!
I've also seen you walk off the lake with a great big smile on your face too, Doug
yep I was there that day to thousand holes drilled that day and run the wheels of the atv
HELLGRAMITE's
they start humpin' when I'm 10ft away from them, I stop and let them come!
Wow....that just sounds wrong in so many ways!!!!!!