A quick report of what we have seen on the lake this past week....
First for walleyes....the window of aggressive fish has definetly gotten smaller over these past couple weeks. Weeks ago we were finding aggressive fish in the mornings up on top and top edge of the mud and gravel/rock flats. This past week we haven't seen these fish spend much time on the tops. There is alot of baitfish that is out in the deeper water and that is where the walleyes have been. Focusing your efforts on the deep side of the break..bottom edge and even off 20-30 yards has been the best for walleyes. Some days the fish that show up on your Marcum are very aggressive and others you have to slow down your jigging...and have the fish come up/down/up/down several times before finally biting. We have also found some aggressive walleyes along the deep transition breaks. The bite is not out of the normal for this time of year. Finding fish is part of it this time of year...getting those Mid-January walleyes to bite is the other part. Jigging small spoons has still been the best bet right now...we have had some luck with turning a few fish on shiners/set lines.
Another advantage of working the deep water around the structure are the Perch. I mentioned a couple weeks ago that we were seeing more and more perch show up each trip. We are starting to see bigger and bigger schools of jumbos out there. Eurolarva or crappie heads on a small forage minnow spoon (gold) has been the best. We have found perch this past week down south on the gravel bars...along the east side deep rock piles and transition breaks and off the deep edge of the mud flats. Drilling alot of holes and moving will help you find these schools, but even some have been having very good luck flipping over the Frabill or sitting in there Hard house. If you are going to sit still...a really good idea right now for perch is to get out the underwater camera. We had some days that the perch would race up and smack your jig...and we had some days that the fish would slowly approach and just nip at your bait. I cannot tell you how many fish are on your jig without you ever feeling it...a camera will definetly help put some Perch on the ice. Another advantage of the camera is seeing exactly what is down there if you are going to sit. It sure helps in deciding to hit another break or gravel bar if you are not seeing anything on the camera. Give it about an hour...nothing seen...it's time to move.
We are in for a little cold weather for the end of this week....but there are fish to be caught. What could be better for a Vikings fan than to come up ice fishing versus listen/watch the Bears/Packers play to go to the SuperBowl!
Try deep water along sharp breaks...try some transition breaks...25-30ft deep....I hope this helps!
You are right...by far best luck has been using gold forage minnow spoon and super small live bait. Been working like a charm for me for both perch and walleyes. Some luck with perch on small swedish pimple with waxies, but went back to the "for sure"
WOW, those are some nice fish...especially during a cold week! Great looking walleyes and very large perch! Cool. Thanks for the tips on structure. Malmo Mike was here.
