Bob Jensen
01-22-2001, 06:55 AM
Just returned from a perch/walleye trip to the northeast corner of South Dakota. Got in about a day and a half of ice-fishing. We caught some of the biggest perch I've ever caught or seen. A couple were right at the 2 pound mark, several others were a pound and a half. It's hard to visualize a 2 pounder until you actually see one: They appear to almost be a sup-species of perch.
We fished mostly the smaller lakes and sloughs, don't even know if they have names. Some of these bodies of waters are getting hammered relentlessly and fishing in some of them is deteriorating. Not all, just some. We will talk about over-harvest in a post later this week.
Also took walleyes to about three and a half pounds. Most of the perch and walleyes came on Buck-Shot Rattle Spoons. Some of the locals we fished with weren't believers in these spoons, but they are now. In the stained water of some of these lakes, the rattles help noticeably.
The perch wanted the bait slow. I used Power Wigglers on my spoon and did much better than my shelter partner who was using live bait that was moving quite a bit.
10/4 FireLine was very popular with our group. In the deeper water we were fishing, the FireLine provided much better hooksets.
The northeast corner of South Dakota can be a tremendous area for ice-fishing and open-water action. Les Rowland is the guide that we worked with on this trip. He does a great job: Doesn't create any false expectations, but worked very hard to put us on the best bite. Contact Les at sodakguide.com
We fished mostly the smaller lakes and sloughs, don't even know if they have names. Some of these bodies of waters are getting hammered relentlessly and fishing in some of them is deteriorating. Not all, just some. We will talk about over-harvest in a post later this week.
Also took walleyes to about three and a half pounds. Most of the perch and walleyes came on Buck-Shot Rattle Spoons. Some of the locals we fished with weren't believers in these spoons, but they are now. In the stained water of some of these lakes, the rattles help noticeably.
The perch wanted the bait slow. I used Power Wigglers on my spoon and did much better than my shelter partner who was using live bait that was moving quite a bit.
10/4 FireLine was very popular with our group. In the deeper water we were fishing, the FireLine provided much better hooksets.
The northeast corner of South Dakota can be a tremendous area for ice-fishing and open-water action. Les Rowland is the guide that we worked with on this trip. He does a great job: Doesn't create any false expectations, but worked very hard to put us on the best bite. Contact Les at sodakguide.com