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Posted: 1/27/2021 7:22:02 PM EDT
I have questions.

Ice fishing for perch getting hammered by dinks. 15-20 feet of water.  Last saturday I iced over 100 perch, kept 15, biggest maybe 11-12", rest were 8" or 9". 14 females, 1 male in what I kept. Threw back a bucket load of 5" perch. Don't know why so many females, maybe the fatter perch look bigger to me -keep fatties, throw back skinnies maybe.

Do the bigger perch mingle with the little fish, or are they elsewhere?

When I was jigging, maybe 6-12" off of the bottom I could see the little guys come up on the flasher.  It wasn't hard to work them up to about 4' off of the bottom before they took it.  I was thinking maybe the bigger fish might be more aggresive and willing to leave the safety of the bottom (there are northern pike, bull trout, and northern pikeminnow in the lake) but the little ones were coming up off the bottom quite a ways.

Used a few different setups, litle rocker jig, hali-jig, lead head jig with green lizard bait.  All tipped with a spike.
Link Posted: 1/27/2021 7:51:48 PM EDT
[#1]
We have a measure of success bouncing our baits off the bottom periodically.  It stirs things up and presents the appearance of other feeding fish.  We also switch things up and bait with minnow heads and halves.  Also think you’re on track fishing right on bottom.  Having said that, it’s a normal day when you have to sort thru dinks.
Link Posted: 1/27/2021 8:38:55 PM EDT
[#2]
I know the internet biologists are sure the lake is stunted.  I suspect though it takes a lot of little perch to survive predation and other losses to make a few big perch.  It's one reason there are northern pike in the lake, a bucket biologist decided nature needed a hand and voil'a we got pike.  Crashed the trout and salmon fishery the lake was known for and it is now chock full of dinky perch.
Link Posted: 1/27/2021 10:43:05 PM EDT
[#3]
They still sell the Bass-O-Matic
Link Posted: 1/27/2021 10:55:06 PM EDT
[#4]
I have a blend-tec.  It'll be fine.
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