11 replies to this topic

[RedCat]

Made a trip out to the shoal lakes for a perch hunt with a few good friends ..
the access to the lake is difficult to say the least. You need snow machine or quad to make the adventure onto the lake.

Weather ended up to be super cold with gusting bone freezing winds, 40-60km
probably the coldest trip I've done this year.
Fished 12 fow and was forced to stay put. Way to cold to move around.
It was so cold it froze my buddy's sled but that's a whole different story..
 

 We actually only fished 2-3 hours. Small jig heads or small jigging spoons tipped with minnows was the ticket. Our flashers were showing tons and tons of perch. But they weren't willing to take the bait. Dead-sticking with the odd line pull up was triggering them to hit . We didn't get numbers but the ones we got were JUMBO'S
14.5" and 14" was the biggest with a few 13.5" and couple 13" , rest 12" and under.

 

I can't wait to get back and hit that same lake when the weather is more cooperative.

 

[Shmogley]

having trouble loading the pics but the thumbnails looks nice bro! good catch

[NADO]

holy crap that 13"er in there looks small next to the 14/14.5! lol

[RedCat]

Those were the ones I kept. Some went back of course. Some of the jigs were too small for the jumbos and they were sucking them right back.... heavier jigs with mid sized hooks next time.

 

The smaller fish have a hard time sucking in a 1/8oz jig. The #12 hooks gave the jumbos the issue. And I couldn't belive it..... a jumbo perch actually broke a hook and got off on his own, not sure of the size but it was a jumbo perch...... he was in my hole when it broke.

 

 

 

 

Next time I am bringing a camera and not going to rely on my galaxy S3. I am on a perch mission right now. Hoping to get one over 15", anything over 16" is the new MB record. 15" and or above goes on the wall.

 

Then perhaps my trout mission will start

[RedCat]

Hitting the lake again. Bitterly cold -28 right now. Hoping to hit the 15" mark. Taking a better cmera and a tape measure.

[RedCat]

I apologize for the technical difficulties. My digi is toast and I am stuck with my phone for now. Nado kindly gave me the idea to start using my phone smarter.

 

Anyways on feb 5th I went out. Like I said bitterly cold. We set out to fish the afternoon. On the lake by 11ish set up in 10.2 feet of water. Water was murky like always. The day didn`t start out with a bang but it was steady. Only 3 jumbos on the day. First was a 14, then a real sumo at 15 1/8". This thing was a sloth. Hit like a pike, just a quick dart and he was on. Took drag on several occasions. To round out the Jumbos was a 12.5" that had recently been grabbed by a pike..... had the battle scars to prove it. In total we landed 26 perch.... only 3 jumbos

 

We iced 23 pike, biggest being a 33" and smallest being 25. Made things interesting with 4lb Nano. In fact we lost more pike than we caught.

 

I can give an opinion on Nano.... for the ice I am not a fan. I have 4 and 12, the jury is still out on the 12. Because of performance issues with nano I switched to suffix 832 ice and see a big improvement already. 

 

Photos were after the fact.

 

 

[Brian]

Now that's a jumbo perch...Quality fish there.

[ChasinTails]

dang those are some BIG perch 

[classic drifter]

hoooolllyyyy!!!!!!! that's a huge perch!!! a real JUMBO!!!

[tuhlapsss]

That thing is huge!! i'd say that it is a bit bigger than 15 and an eighth... you didn't start from the tip of the tail so i am thinking it is closer to 15 and a half!! Congrats man!

[OCDComputing]

Wow!!

[RedCat]

That thing is huge!! i'd say that it is a bit bigger than 15 and an eighth... you didn't start from the tip of the tail so i am thinking it is closer to 15 and a half!! Congrats man!

The measuring tape and the fish are not on the same plane. The fish was frozen when measured but it was 15 1/8..... we figure when it was live it might have been 15 1/4.

 

I am going back in march when the weather is warmer. It will be easier to move around and find the fish. At -28..... then tack on windchill...... not my idea of run and gun weather. Its more of a gamble, brrrrr, set up here and turn on the heat kind of thing