“X” the Contours to ‘Zero’ in on Devils Lake Super Mega Jumbo Perch
90% of the fish are caught in 10% of the water, this means a person must eliminate approximately 225,000 acres of dead water to find fish on Devils Lake.
When you look at a google map or start driving around the lake it can become very intimidating for the first time visitor. There is A LOT of water out there and a good portion of it is just that, water. Dead water to be exact. However, by following a few of our tips and strategies for Hardwater fishing, anyone can eliminate ‘dead water’ quickly and get on fish without wasting too much valuable time of your trip.
This was a ‘parallel to the contours’ day where we found the active fish by first investigating different depths first, found the depth of the active fish, put our hole sets on that depth ledge and cashed in.
Prime fishing hours on Devils Lake are from about an hour before sunrise to about half an hour after sunset. This means that in early December, a person only has about 9 hours and 50 minutes of daylight. Using the ‘Ides’ of each month for reference, January is 10 hours and 15 minutes, February is about 11 hours and 30 minutes, March tips the scales at about 13 hours and 20 minutes, and if we are fortunate enough to have good ice into April and May, April gives us 15 hours and 10 minutes and May a whopping 16 hours and 45 minutes.
November and December Ice fishing can seem like a mad dash to first; find fish, second; figure out their moods, and third; get them to bite. We maximize our time spent in fish inhabited waters by implementing a couple of strategies that when combined USUALLY, and I emphasize, USUALLY put us on fish.
First and foremost, we have our records of previous year’s patterns and transitions. I would be lost without this. We use our records of previous years almost religiously to predict and formulate our plan of attack. Devils Lake can be very predictable when it comes to where and when Perch bites are going to pop up.
The second is how we attack the ice from a hole set standpoint. I like to call it “X’ing” the contours. Once we have talked about where we want to target for the weekend or week, we usually do quite a bit of desk work before we hit the ice, but once on the ice we are very methodical and it has paid off time and time again. We are looking for fresh fish, the untouched Gold Mine. We are not driving into clusters and popping holes. Most of the time we are getting on virgin ice.
Virgin ice: No one had drilled this spot because of the difficulty in getting there, we got stuck numerous times but the effort was more than worth it!
The final Tally on that Virgin Ice day looked like this!
We start by drilling 3-4 of our 10-hole set lines. These lines initially are going to be going across the contours, meaning as the depth lines run North and South on our GPS for instance, then our set lines would run East and West. By doing this we are trying to establish a depth range. “Where are we marking the majority of the fish?” and “What depth has the active feeders on it?” Something else that may or may not be answered as we are doing this is “Are they on the ledges or on the cut?”
Across the Contours
When I talk about the ‘cut’, I mean those areas where the contour lines are really close together, drastic changes in the depth and the bottom. Usually, if we find Perch or Crappies on the cut they are super aggressive, but more often than not we are finding our bigger schools on a certain depth ledge.
So many factors go into Ice Fishing and so many of those factors are variable throughout the year: Where is the forage base? What are the light conditions due to snow cover? What is the water temperature, water pressure, oxygen level? Is the vegetation dying? Have the Pike moved in? Is there a storm system on the move with rising and dropping Barometer? Other factors can even be: Can we get to where we want to due to snow level? Has our target area been overly pressured?
After we have pinpointed a depth level where we are definitely marking more fish or marking definite active fish, we are going to make an “X” on our set lines with our new hole sets and go parallel to the contours. If there are active and hungry Perch in one depth level, there is a reason: water temp, pressure, and forage usually cover it.
Parallel to the contours
There are times, as the days get longer, that our depth target area changes very quickly, sometimes its every few weeks, every few days, and as the late ice bite kicks into high gear it can be every few hours. Staying on top of the depth at which you are hitting the active Perch and Crappie in one area will make you successful in other areas on the lake as well.
Vital Equipment
A VERY good GPS unit and a lake specific chip are almost mandatory if you are going to search Devils Lake for Perch and Crappies. Without my Lowrance and Lake Chip I would essentially be throwing darts at a dartboard, and I suck at darts.
Stay tuned for Part 6 where we will go through the rest of the VITAL equipment that we “Don’t leave home without!”
My NFL Distraction: I Hate Bye Week
I love Sundays in the fall and early Winter, hunt or fish in the morning and hang it up around 11, make Nachos, watch the Vikings! How about them Vikings this year? 5-0 Baby, but its Bye week, I hate bye week, especially when they are on a roll. Here is hoping they get some boys healthy and continue their clandestine rise to the top of the NFC and NFL.
