Perch bonanza on Starvation
Herald Correspondent
Ice anglers are flocking to Starvation as of late to take advantage of a staggering perch population that seems very willing to bite. Over the past three weeks, no less and a dozen local anglers have reported 100-plus perch days on Starvation, with a good rainbow or two thrown into the mix just for fun.
Even the most stubborn ice anglers should be excited to target some tasty perch, though they may have to weed through quite a few in order to find some large enough to fry.
"I caught close to 50 on Friday," said Brent Daybell of West Jordan. "It took catching a lot to get some really good pan-sized perch."
Starvation holds a lot of small perch that are much more aggressive than the larger ones. Smallmouth bass fisheries are very similar; tiny bass are very aggressive and will fight off larger fish to hit baits or lures.
How do you target larger fish when smaller fish are much more aggressive? This is something I must do in bass tournaments held in waters dominated by smallmouth bass. Tournament rules dictate that a 12-inch bass is the smallest that can be weighed. In reservoirs with thousands of 8- to 10-inch fish, catching a limit of 12-inchers is no easy task.
When faced with this dilemma, I choose to fish with larger lures. But it's not just the size of the lures that makes the difference, it's also important to "feel" the size of the fish when they bite. Perch hit with a series of small taps. I try to ignore the first several hits until a large fish comes by and decides to eat the entire lure and runs with it. Although not a perfect science, this technique has worked for me many, many times on waters not only in Utah, but as far away as the Columbia River in Washington.
So, patience is a virtue when trying to catch large perch -- don't always react to the first strike.
Anglers will encounter two types of ice on Starvation right now. In some areas, the ice is crystal clear, which means if they are fishing in 15-to-25 feet of water, they can see the bottom That creates problems catching the perch, because if the anglers can see the fish through the ice, then the perch can see the anglers, too, so they become skittish
One solution is to look for cloudy ice, which can be found all over Starvation. The only concern with cloudy ice is to make sure it is thick enough to hold your weight. A general rule is that six inches of cloudy ice will hold a person unless other issues are at hand: excessive wind, rising water or heavy current running under the ice. Always weigh these conditions carefully before venturing out on the ice.
Baits being used on Starvation range from jigs tipped with night crawlers, meal or wax worms to simple ice jigs that look like small perch. Some anglers use two jigs at a time, but remember that if you are trying for larger perch, you may want to stick with jigs in the 1/8 to 1/4-ounce size, and you may want to only fish with one jig. As for colors, try to use perch colors whenever it's possible, or the default color is always white.
Most anglers are able to catch plenty of perch in three to four hours on the ice. Take advantage of the perch bonanza, because who knows how long it will last. And as always, I'd love to hear your success stories.
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