Anglers Chasing Perch Often Use An Array Of Rigs

You can see all kinds of terminal rigs and hear dozens of opinions when you fish for spiny-rayed species through ice at the region’s lakes.

Perhaps surprisingly, anglers who fish for perch, crappies and bluegills use more different rigs than those who go after trout. Sometimes, it seems every fisherman has his own theories on how to entice often reluctant fish. One thing is certain. The spiny-rayed clan can be more frustrating than the usually picky trout.

Perch fishing may be more popular than trout fishing during the winter. Ice fishing allows you to put eating fish in the freezer, and perch, as well as bluegills and crappies, are much tastier than trout.

Perch have the reputation of being the easiest fish to catch, but they sometimes develop lockjaw during the winter months, so even so-called experts can’t catch enough to feed three or four persons. I’ve fished several Eastern Washington and North Idaho lakes the last month and have rarely seen buckets containing more than 20 8- to 10-inch perch.

There are lakes where the perch bite only from dawn to 7 or 8 in the morning and from 4 p.m. to dark and a few where they bite all day. It makes no difference what kind of terminal rig an angler uses when the perch won’t bite.

One reason perch and other species are hard to catch early each ice fishing season is that heavy aquatic weed growth hides lures. In February, when most weeds have died and settled on the bottom, lures are more visible to the fish.

Most perch fishermen use three different types of terminal rigs. The most popular seems to be a couple of dropper hooks just above a sinker. Many anglers tie a small jig about 6 inches above the sinker and a No. 10 glow hook 6 or 7 inches above the lowest dropper hook.

The rig is easy to use. All an angler has to do is to open the bale on his spinning reel and allow the sinker to drop to the bottom. Then, he or she is ready for action.

Another rig consists of a small Swedish Pimple at the end of the rig and a dropper hook several inches above the lure. The shiny lure, raised and lowered, attracts fish.

A third rig is a variation of the Swedish Pimple and a dropper hook. The angler removes the hook from the Swedish Pimple and ties a 4- to 5-inch piece of monofilament line on one end of the lure, a tiny jig or glow hook at the end of the line and, usually, a small bait hook or a glow hook on a dropper about 10 inches above the Swedish Pimple.

Maggots and perch eyes are the most popular baits.

Most anglers periodically jig the rigs up and down slowly. There are times, though, when perch won’t touch a baited hook unless it is motionless.

Some anglers like to use bobbers; others rarely use them. All agree that bobbers, whether sliding or fixed, should be small and sensitive to the slightest nibbling of the fish. Perch and bluegills can nibble so delicately that they won’t move a Styrofoam or large plastic bobber.

I prefer the stick-type wooden bobbers. My Swedish Pimples weigh just enough to cause the bobber to hang vertically, with only a half inch of the thick part of the bobber protruding out of the water. If a perch or bluegill breathes on one of the baited hooks, the bobber moves.

Like other anglers, I use sliding bobbers only when the air temperature is above freezing. When the temperature drops below 32 degrees, ice accumulates on the line and won’t slide through the bobber. If the bottom is less then 8 feet deep, I might use a fixed bobber.

The reason why I use at least one glow hook is that I can “charge” it up with a flash unit when I fish deep water, where the light is dim. The hook will glow brightly for 10-15 minutes and attract fish that are several feet away.

Perch nearly always are on the bottom. Bluegills usually are near the bottom but sometimes are suspended just beneath the ice. Crappies rarely stay near the bottom; they’re often a few feet under the surface.

A sonar can be helpful. When Clay Findlay and I fished Eloika Lake a few days ago, he brought along his Buddy 11, a low-priced sonar unit. We spotted perch on the bottom and some fish, probably crappies, just under the ice.

Findlay, who ice fishes to stock up on good-eating fish, fished only in holes where his sonar showed fish. He caught a lot more fish than I did.

Ice fishing isn’t as exciting as catching a big trout or a powerful bass in open water, but it’s more satisfying than watching TV.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Fenton Roskelley by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 3814.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review