# Inland ice perch?



## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Looking for a good lake to pull some nice size perch through the ice. Besides skito any recommendations would be appreciated I'm planning on spending Saturday on the ice


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## icebucketjohn (Dec 22, 2005)

YEAH....Aren't We All???


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## Kyle cattarin (Jun 2, 2017)

I know nimisila is full of them. if you fish the right areas you can do really good numbers wise.


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Its been like 10 years since ive caught a perch bigger than 5" on any inland lake and never tried through the hard stuff seeing how crap the Erie perch has been I just want a taste of yellow belly.


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

Nimi does have some decent size perch but you'll have to sort through a lot of smaller ones. 4 or 5 years ago I was sorting thru some pretty small perch on Wellington Upground and struck gold on one fatty...


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## guppygill (May 8, 2004)

Mogadore, if you can find them.


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Starting to sound like I should just hunt for some crappie


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## icebucketjohn (Dec 22, 2005)

Most Ohio inland lakes have perch populations in them.

Those perch populations tend to be smaller in quantity & size in comparison to Lake Erie Perch., but can ocassionally yield nice catches.

Those perch populations also tend to be more elusive. Being such, many guys are more secretive of giving up those special spots.

Ya got find'em and then try like h*ll to keep it quiet.


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

I used to catch nice ones at pymi but that was years ago now it seems over fished and pillaged. Few years back I caught a bunch at ladue but ive seen shad bigger than every one I caught. Hell i think ive had smelt bigger than them


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## kit carson (Jan 24, 2016)

Same with westbranch alot.of them but dinks


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

Lake Milton toward the dam is suppose to have nice size perch. I never tried for them. Not sure how the ice is right now.


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Thanks guys I guess I'll just do some searching with the camera and locator until I find something


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## TDD11 (Aug 5, 2015)

If you find the jumbo inland perch bite please share via PM. Haha


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Lol I'm realistic I know there is no such thing I would just like to find something big enough to take home


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## guppygill (May 8, 2004)

Portage lakes has nice ones too, but like Icebucket said.......if you put the time in searching for them such as Moggie, or east res, you can find nice ones. Small ones stay with their little buddies, nice ones stay with their big brothers. Hint: find some shallow still alive weeds, fish outside of them, mid season deeper, late season shallow due to they are ready to spawn.


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## wolfenstein (Jan 6, 2014)

Couple of us took about 80 white and yellow out of ladue a few years ago...all taste the same! Lol. We had enough for at least 5 sammiches!!


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## Bassin' Fool (Jul 29, 2010)

Caught these out of East Res. 4-5 years ago. Was nonstop action of nothing but perch for about a week. Couldn’t keep two rods in the water. Most went back, but got a nice meal from this batch. Gravel bottom in about 15 fow. Jigging spoon with minnow head. Have tried that same spot every year since and all I get are dinks. The fish are there, but where the big ones moved to I have no clue


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## STRONGPERSUADER (Nov 5, 2006)

Willard Rez has some pigs.


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## backfar (Sep 24, 2014)

Moggy has some good quality perch, and yes they are hard to find. I fish lake erie alot for perch and the largest perch I've ever seen came from mogadore about 15 years or so ago..


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## B Ron 11 (Jul 14, 2012)

I got into some nice perch at pymatuming this spring. Haven’t tried ice fishing for them.


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## allwayzfishin (Apr 30, 2008)

Pymatuming is my favorite inland perch/crappie lake. I was just telling the story of my best day ever on a lake for panfish. Yup, pymie 2015...mcarthur rd area. I dropped a camera down on the old road bed with the tree stumps on both sides of it. I saw a super mega school of perch and crappies. For 3hrs it was every drop, i iced a fish. Two 16 1/4' crappies, smallest crappie was around 13''...Giant perch that were 15'' and smallest around 10''. It was the best day i ever had to date. I just trusted my electronics, and read a map and understood what i was looking at. It took a couple hrs to drag and drill holes to finally find that magical spot that day. hard work and persistence makes things happen. sometimes its hard and you fail, but learn from it, then try again till you succeed. take notes and repeat....good luck

oh, and keep moving if your not seeing what you are searching for....dont just sit there thinking about it...wasting time


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## icebucketjohn (Dec 22, 2005)




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## swone (Jan 24, 2007)

allwayzfishin said:


> Pymatuming is my favorite inland perch/crappie lake. I was just telling the story of my best day ever on a lake for panfish. Yup, pymie 2015...mcarthur rd area. I dropped a camera down on the old road bed with the tree stumps on both sides of it. I saw a super mega school of perch and crappies. For 3hrs it was every drop, i iced a fish. Two 16 1/4' crappies, smallest crappie was around 13''...Giant perch that were 15'' and smallest around 10''. It was the best day i ever had to date. I just trusted my electronics, and read a map and understood what i was looking at. It took a couple hrs to drag and drill holes to finally find that magical spot that day. hard work and persistence makes things happen. sometimes its hard and you fail, but learn from it, then try again till you succeed. take notes and repeat....good luck
> 
> oh, and keep moving if your not seeing what you are searching for....dont just sit there thinking about it...wasting time


That’s a great post. I will say that I have had limited success at Mogadore and Nimisila in the last few years. For me it’s about figuring out what they are related to and then realizing that they are going to come and go because they seem to constantly move.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

My take, Mogadore, Mosquito, Milton for "keeper" perch(maybe Wingfoot) in that order! On the ice, if you can move a lot to find some, better get a quart jar of minnows, or a can of fishy cat food?(I never did this but always wanted to!) down on the bottom to keep them under you! OR THEY WILL MOVE ON! They are constantly-"MUST"-keep moving to find food! And get them fast. Our lakes don't have the food available like Erie, or say Minnesota lakes as examples, to keep them stationary! The schools are like little, roving Wolf packs! A group/pack of fishermen will sometimes hold them also.


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

> Hint: find some shallow still alive weeds, fish outside of them, mid season deeper, late season shallow due to they are ready to spawn.


This hint from guppygill is spot on for me in finding some nice yellow perch in West Branch in 2018. We found this one spot with a sandy bottom and right outside the weedbed at the drop off is where the perch were. We would sit there at the drop off waiting for dusk so we could go and set up at our spot for nighttime crappie fishing. We would catch them on a jig and piece of crawler with a little stinger hook we tied to the jig hook.


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

My other question is what do you guys prefer bait wise for inland perch now I have seemed to get a lot of mine on a small jig with a waxie or little minnows on little hooks. Maybe that's why I only get dinks?


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## icebucketjohn (Dec 22, 2005)

more Perch Porn:
View attachment 290681


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

> My other question is what do you guys prefer bait wise for inland perch


On inland perch, I've always done best on a piece of nightcrawler. Pymatuning, Mosquito, West Branch. I always tie a small stinger to the hook of whatever I'm fishing. Most of em come on the stinger.
At Pymy we use a small spinnerbait with a stinger tied on and drop it over the side like a perch rig on Erie. Lift and bang it on the bottom seems to attract them. On WB and Mosquito, we catch them fishing for walleyes on a jig and crawler (w/a stinger of course).


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## swone (Jan 24, 2007)

set-the-drag said:


> My other question is what do you guys prefer bait wise for inland perch now I have seemed to get a lot of mine on a small jig with a waxie or little minnows on little hooks. Maybe that's why I only get dinks?


I like Swedish pimples tipped with minnow heads or maggots. They really come after it.


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## threeten (Feb 5, 2014)

Ice bucket John
You’ve got me all pumped up with those perch pics. Some real dandies there!!


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## icebucketjohn (Dec 22, 2005)

Wish I was the guy who caught them.


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

Man, I wish I wasn't sworn to secrecy! Haha. Best bait for large perch is a minnow on a #8 gold hook with a split shot under a float. There are people on here that may remember me in my past life and seeing 2 14 and 7/8in perch and plenty of 10-13in fish. maybe I will dig the pictures out.


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## westbranchbob (Jan 1, 2011)

Private pay lake...lol
















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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

Hope to nail some of those perch and gills today, that wind will be brutal out there.


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## gobieX (May 20, 2017)

Yeah, Willard Rez was kickin' for jumbos years back but the 40 fish limit busted it. Its been a while they could be back.


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## gobieX (May 20, 2017)

I've caught a few nice perch at times at Whites Landing Sandusky bay. Plus crappies. Always very spotty and just a few keepers but enough for a meal or two & if the bullheads are in its fish on !


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