There’s nothing like chasing Jumbo Perch on first ice to kick off the hardwater season! These fat, hard fighting fish are a ton of fun and the action at this time of year can be fast and furious! After hearing that one of my favourite spots to target these aggressive eaters had iced over, I could not wait to wet a line!!

Joining me on my perchin’ adventures were The Perfect Jig ProStaff Mike Tuz, my girlfriend and NPS Amateur Pro Crystal Rielly, NPS Amateur Pro Dan Krotki and my very good friends Elton Goemans and Scott Kelly. Knowing that first ice can be dangerous and very inconsistent at best, we took every precaution necessary to have a safe and successful outing. With our spuds, floatation suits, ice picks, rope (in case of emergency) and fishing gear ready we ventured out on to Lake Couchiching. We checked the ice very often by chipping out holes to measure the ice thickness, and were relieved to see that there was 3”-5” of solid black ice covered with 1” of white ice all the way out to our honey hole.

We arrived at our spot, dropped our baits down our holes and the perch were ready and willing to bite. The fishing was on FIRE! It was as if these fish had never seen a lure before and we had an absolute blast! Over the course of next 5 hours we all managed to ice double digit numbers of perch ranging anywhere from 8”-13”. We released the majority of our catch, keeping a few of these delicious fish for the table.

Great friends, lots of laughs and amazing fishing………..that’s what perch fishing is all about!!!!

Pete