Christmas Trees and High Pressure Cold Fronts- Makes For Contrasting Results
When we have a lot of snow on the ice, the Perch bite can be really dependent on the amount of light that is reaching the bottom. Sunny days are almost always the best and cloudy days usually produce docile, dormant Perch that are afraid of their own shadow.
With last weeks warm up, we lost 95% of the snow cover on the ice. This has produced two beneficial results.
- You can drive a pick up ALMOST everywhere (except for under or near the bridges)
- Even cloudy days produce Perch because more light is reaching the bottom.
This was the case Saturday, as though the sun wasn’t shining, the Perch were going nuts. The reports from all over the lake was the Perch bite was on. We were on 2 Christmas Trees of Perch and they were super active, leaving the ice at 11:30 with 40 Devils Lake Perch is a great feeling.
We started our search out East in 30-33 feet of water, and there were fish there, but our Christmas trees were found in 35-37 feet. Once we adjusted to that ledge is was ‘game on’.
The Perch schools we were on Saturday were erupting as the lure neared the bottom and I don’t think I ever did achieve touchdown. My Gold Varmint tipped with a minnow head was literally inhaled by many of the fish I caught.
They were so active, my buddies slip bobbers barely budged, they wanted that thing jigged and brought up and when they chased it, they hammered it!
The Difference of 24 Hours
Needless to say, Sunday morning couldn’t get here fast enough and we were super charged to get back after them. The forecast said clouds but we awoke to a starlit sky Sunday morning. However, the temperature had fallen out and the barometer was soaring. Not the combination a guy wants coming out of a hammer time day.
When we reached the previous days location, the Perch were reacting to the change exactly how one would expect them to. They went dormant and glued to the bottom. The search was on, and as I often do with high pressure, I slipped ledges and went deeper, into that 44-48 foot area.
We were able to find some active fish deeper Sunday, only problem was the most active ones weren’t Devils Lake Gold, but ole Mr. Whitey. Was still fun wrestling with a couple hefty Whitey’s but was after Perch and with the active White Bass mixed in we were only able to connect with 17 Perch. Not terrible, but after Saturday’s slug fest, it was a little discouraging.
Productive Saturday/Frustrating Sunday
After talking with a lot of guys that were on the ice both days, it was reassuring to hear that many had the same results as we did. Limits Saturday and frustration Sunday. The Sunday bite was tough all over evidently.
We recommend that you continue to be mobile and don’t fall in love with one hole. Work an area and whiffle ball it and find that active depth and that active school. TO give you an idea of what I mean, here is a pic of my GPS from Sunday as we were trying to track down those active Perch.
We Love Hearing From You!!
We set a goal of helping other fishermen CATCH MORE FISH and really enjoy the splendor of what Devils Lake has to offer. We gladly field questions and give out as much information as possible. Often times, we don’t get to hear how everything turned out.
That is why we love to hear back from you when you have purchased our Waypoints, talked to us in the bait shop or bar, or messaged us through Facebook or the Website. We have been able to help some friends and acquaintances though that we do talk to afterword.
We also have received some messages back lately and we would like to share some pictures.
Jeff sent these to us, Way to go bud, glad it went well out there. Popping’ Perch is a true thrill!!
Keep the pictures and the stories coming and we will gladly feature them on our weekly report.
Good Luck out there!
If I bought the three weekend spots does that show where to get on the ice as well?
If you were to purchase waypoints for a certain area and needed assistance accessing the lake we would gladly direct you where to go.
What chip do you like to use for your gps on devils lake. Thank you. Coming out march 7th. Can’t wait love reading your post.
We use the Lowrance chip that is compatible with the Elite-4, there are a lot of different ones out there. The Doc ones or Insight ones with the google earth overlay are probably the best.
We bought the weekend spots but where do you access the lake
I’m coming up from Sioux Falls on a weekend solo mission. Just wondering what you think the best package to buy would be. I’ve fished Devil’s lake before but don’t have the time to figure things out on my own this is a short trip and my last of the season.
Fish deep, key areas to target right now would be north and south six mile, the main bay basin, East Devils Lake, Black Tiger Bay, Find basin edges in 31-33 feet, 36-38 feet, and the deep drop 46+ feet.
Messaging us through Facebook or email at [email protected] both work.