No Matter How Much You Want It To Be…
I Wouldn’t, Not Yet!
1-3-22 SOLD OUT
There is ‘driving ATV’ ice and there is ‘driving truck’ ice. It is 100% my opinion that we are still in the area of ATV/SnoBear ice and not truck driving ice. I know a lot of you coming here truly WANT it to be truck driving ice but it is just TOO variable right now. In the last week, we have drilled into multiple areas where a hole here and there was only 10 inches.
There is ample snow on top of that ice and the snow is doing much more insulating than anyone would like. I have never before been asked, as many times as I have in the last 2-weeks, about ice conditions and I CANNOT express to you enough how careful you need to be right now. That layer of snow is hiding cracks and ridges and the ice isn’t over 14-16 inches.
December!!
Get ‘Em All!!
The whole month of December in one package, and we are close enough to the end of the month that you don’t have to wait until next year to put them to good use.
It was a pretty epic month once we were able to get out to where we wanted to be. The onset of ‘drivable ice’ and the aggression of the Perch we witnessed points towards a banner Perch year.
Still Staying Aggressive!
Most of the time, the early ice, shallower water Perch stay pretty aggressive. When we are in that under 30-foot range, we usually see a lot fewer yo-yo’s and Bigger Perch that wanna feed. The start of this year has not been any different. We saw a lot of fired up Perch and shallow and intermediate fish that wanted to feed and did not yo-yo on us.
As we start to get deeper and drift out into the basin and the abyss, we will start to see more and more of those mega schools, unfortunately; we will also see more and more yo-yo’s as well
Target Depths!
Those 15-25 foot timber areas and depressions are going to remain prime target areas to start your search, but with the advent of the new year, we are dabbling in the deeper basins. On Devils Lake, when we say deep, we mean 30+ feet of water. Devils lake’s deep basins are where we spend the majority of the Perch season once we have thoroughly determined that the more aggressive Perch have drifted deeper.
I have really been impressed so far with the numbers and the size of fish we have been catching. Ideally this continues throughout the winter, only time will tell.
Lures For This Aggression!
It’s My Story And I Sticking To It!
Usually, I am talking relentlessly about Gold and Gold Varmints. Gold Varmint, gold varmint, gold varmint. Don’t get me wrong, we have still caught a few Perch on that DLFR Favorite, however, with these aggressive Perch that we have been finding; something a little more aggressive in a lure. That is where a Buck Shot is just what the doctor ordered. Fired up fish want a fired up lure and these fish are loaded with shrimp, not blood worms. I mean, they are engorged with shrimp, showing that they are feeding aggressively.
Drop something that makes some noise and something that gets them fired up.
Walleye Bite…
…Or Lack Thereof!
As you can see from a lot of our pics, we don’t focus on Walleyes as much as we do in the summer. Some days we do chase them, especially when the Perch bite gets really tough, but so far that has not been the case. When we have set aside some time to chase some Walleyes, we have seen very measured success. The best Walleye bites we have had have been in the intermediate Perch bite areas. Go Figure!!
Good Luck out there!
