Hole Hop after Hole Hop Brings Perch Bonanza!
We can count on probably one hand the number of times we have gone out, drilled one hole, and found Perch success on Devils Lake in the winter.
It just usually doesn’t happen that way.
Even though there are seasonal spots that routinely hold fish, unless there is some type of structure like rocks or trees, a person is going to have to use that seasonal spot as a start point and drill until you have found the bullseye.
This weekend was no different, 140+ holes on Saturday and 150+ holes on Sunday and we were able to ice 47 Perch and 3 Walleyes. One of the Walleyes tipped the scales at 6.5 pounds and 24.5 inches.
Sadly, she was pulled from the depths of deep water while trying to wrangle Perch and the bulging eyes and expanded air bladder told the story.
We were able to pull a few Nice Perch out of the same waters this Walleye came from but the foggy conditions and then overcast had the Perch really finicky and scared of their own shadow and were tough to move off of the bottom.
The Gold Varmint was our lure of choice tipped with a minnow head and all of the fish came out of 28-31 feet of water on the edge of the ‘cut’, out on the deep basin flat.
We had to come in off of the ice before the sun made its appearance on Saturday, and I am left wondering what our day would have looked like had we been able to stay out and grind on this school with the sun.
Small Moves Sometimes Produce Huge Rewards
Sunday had us anxiously anticipating a bright sun and an active Perch Search out on a deeper water flat adjacent to a sharp cut.
This flat is big and structureless and we knew going in, more than likely, numerous holes would have to be drilled to stay on the roving schools of Perch. Thanks to our Strikemaster, fitted with a 6 inch flighting, we are able to drill very efficiently.
Our initial hole sets were broad in an attempt to zero in and as the day got longer we were able to shrink the distance and zero in on a couple of tennis court size areas where, 6 Christmas Trees of Perch later, we were able to put a fantastic day in the books.
The deep water flat is 33-35 feet, devoid of any structure, and the perch were schooled up in groups of 10-15 fish. If we marked singles they wouldn’t bite and just yo-yo us.
However, if we found a Christmas Tree on the bottom we were able to pick off 3-5 before the school moved on and we were forced to continue the hole hopping.
Normally I drill my sets of holes and check each hole with the Vexilar FL28. If I don’t mark fish, I don’t even drop my lure. Sunday, however, 2 of our Christmas Trees showed zero sign of fish present until the lure was dropped and jigged to draw attention. Had we not checked each hole with the lure, 2 of our feeding frenzies would have been missed.
These roving bands were a mixed bag of sizes and we were able to release a number of little ones that were brought up slowly, we had to keep a few that had air bladder issues. There were a number of Devils Lake Super Mega Jumbos mixed in and they made excitement on the ice.
A Chartreuse spoon with minnow heads and wax worms and our JB Lures Gold Varmint tipped with a minnow head were our 2 lures of choice.
Once a school was located, they were frantic and the whole screen was lit up with 4-6 feet of fish. Once they were gone though it was no use to try to jig them back and on to the next hole.
Deep Basin Edges and Deep Flats Seem To Be The Key
Most of the Perch bites we know of and have experienced have come in two distinct areas.
- The deep water basins off of the edge of sharp cuts
- Deeper water flats.
28-31 feet of water, 32-35 feet of water, and then the really deep 42-46+ feet of water areas are producing fish. If you have sunlight, a lot of them.
We drilled close to 300 holes this weekend but the end result was worth every tank of gas. If you are willing to whiffle ball the ice, you will find active Perch out there and there are some Super Tankers coming through the ice right now.
Good Luck Out There
HOLD ON TO YOUR ROD…
and…
CATCH MORE FISH!
How are you guys traversing the lake currently? 4×4, atv, snowmobile? Just curious as we are coming up at the end of February.
We are going by snowmobile and Ranger with tracks. We are getting close to being able to get back to the regular truck with conventional tires but there are still too many slush areas and if you get bogged down in a slush pocket, it is wasted hours. 40 degrees by Friday might change things though.
Great info. Thanks. We will be buying your maps when we get a little closer to fishin time…
hey Travis…..ive been following your site ever since you started it…….i must say its great and i love checking in on your reports…….i also must say ive learned a lot just by reading your articles. i got a question for you and i know this is probably gonna be a tough one. last year me and the little lady came up (from the twin cities) to woodlands and fished creel bay the first week of march……the next weekend it was toast (we were out fishing with 4in+ of water on the ice) in a month or so (2nd weekend of march) my dad and i are planning on coming up. with the way ice/snow/slush conditions are do you think its gonna be possible? i know conditions can change by the day especially with warm weather/wind/rain etc…..we plan on bringing his atv up (w/o chains or tracks) what do you think?
thanks –
-b-
I would never want to go out on a limb this far in advance but looking at the forecast we have a big warm up this week but the temperatures dip back down the end of next week and we have a significantly more stable ice sheet this year than last year. If I had to make the call right now I would say you should be ok. Will know a lot more by the end of next week.
WILL BE COMING TO DEVILS LAKE MARCH 10 TH -17 TH FOR FIRST TIME, WHEN WILL BE BEST TIME TO PURCHASE MAP INFO
I would look at the previous weeks report and the current weeks report, every Monday is our major report day so the 2 closest Mondays to your trip date. If you see.a Perch or Walleye alert that means those are golden and we recommend you buy those instantly!