Perch numbers

While fishing Pool 10 today I must have caught at least 15 ring perch. Years ago you would be lucky to catch 4 or 5 during the entire ice season. Has anyone else been seeing alot more numbers of perch this year too? Most of the ones I caught were little fellas but there were a few that would have been big enough to eat.

The bluegill bite today was tough for me with only six that I kept, with the biggest being a little over 8 inches. Almost all of them were caught on a purist. The crappies provided alot more action. The bite was sporadic thoughout the day until a couple hours before dark. During the day I had most of my luck fishing outside the weedbeds in 4 feet of water. Before dark the fish seemed to move shallow and we were able to catch them in as little as a foot of water. Most of our crappies were caught on Little Mics and Purists although I did manage to trick a few into inhaling a Number 2 Rembrandt just before dark. The crappies ranged from 9 to 12 inches.

The ice was still around 14″ thick in the areas we fished today.

Yeah,the perch seem to be coming back! When we have healthy weeds in the backwaters it seems the perch do alot better. I wish guys would toss them smaller ones back but what do ya do. Heard the bite was a little tough up there Birdman,glad you stuck a few. The bite was better for me south ,kept 15 good ones but you still had to work your butt off for them. Still,it was a hell of a nice day and always good to get out and let that march sun do its magic

Hi Birdman how’s it going.Have been also catching a few perch up my way and when I clean them they have a lot of very small Bluegills in their stomachs.The bite has been good over all this past month.Had a 4 wheeler go thru the Abroes ice on Sat. up by the north landing in front of the springs. They were all safe .Well have a safe spring ice out. Steve

birdman, i have also seen alot more perch over the years beening caught.jeff is right good weeds good fishing. i saw where you were that day and have you been there when they pull those nets up? perch the size of footballs.ive seen the smallie population go thru the roof also.heres my opinion i think zebra muscles have greatly improved the water quality and that directly affects perch and smallies.ive noticed how clear the river can be sometimes and i have never seen down five six feet and seen bottom before.even though the mussels grab on to every thing and are an invasive species they filter all that dirty water.i dont like them but i think that might be a part of it.p.s. thank you for recommending p-line. it works awesome,dan

I also believe Zebra Mussels may have been a blessing even though they were a big concern when they first arrived. With the weed growth I really believe the fishery is the best it’s been since the 80s.

Another tidbit about that day, early there were alot of people fishing that day, most in the shallower water. As the start of the Wisconsin game neared the crowd dispersed leaving me and my buddy and one other fisherman on the ice. I orignally was going to watch the game myself but the other fisherman happened to have a hand held radio on him. I proceeded to circle him for the next two hours while listening to the game. I thought about asking him to turn his radio up so I could fish some holes a little farther away but thought that might be a little rude.

Jeff, I was hoping your brothers might be back after the game. I heard Steve was the person who discovered the shallow bite.

Knowing Steve he was too depressed after watching that “THUMPIN”! Steve and his boy Jon are very good icemen who aren’t afraid to pop a few extra holes if the fish aren’t going in the usual spots. Didn’t get to fish with them a lot this year but the little bro.can be hard to keep up with during ice season