Ice fishing tip – Catching perch from reeds and dense vegetation
Out on the sea, winter perch fishing can surprise with its difficulty when fish are nowhere to be found. Perch schools roam freely, and often you only find them by chance. Small perch might bite here and there, and occasionally a slab-sized keeper slams into your jigging lure.
It's worth searching for perch schools in unusual places, like the shallow ends of bays, especially the very shallow spots. Sometimes, finding the right patch of reeds or vegetation can lead to big catches. Perch love sheltered vegetated areas where they can ambush small baitfish from cover.
You can search for such vegetated zones using Google Maps satellite images – look for dark patches on the bottom.
Keep these tips in mind when ice fishing inside reeds or vegetation
There’s a rustle in the reeds – the surprise is hiding within the aquatic plants. I watched from afar as anglers fished in the middle of a reedbed. They were consistently adding fish to their catch bags. After they left, I decided to try it myself. I worked through the holes they had made and checked if I could pick up a few keepers – I wanted to top off my catch bag.
A mormyshka tipped with a bundle of maggots was the hot combo of the day. By working through old holes and drilling new ones right in the middle of the reeds, I managed to gather several kilos of perch to bring home.
The perch were extremely picky about the color of the mormyshka, and it took a while to find the right one. As a general rule, the smallest and lightest jigs in your box tend to work best.
The water depth under the ice ranged from about a meter at the deepest to less than half a meter at the shallowest. Fish eventually came from all depth levels – even surprisingly from the tightest, thickest parts of the reedbed where I drilled new holes.
When fishing inside reeds, it’s wise to use slightly thicker lines on your ice fishing rods. This helps you safely pull free any hooks that get snagged and reduces line break risk when fighting a fish.
Bring along a stick or rod you can slide down the line to help dislodge your jig from the reeds.
In reedbeds, fish are on the move constantly, so it’s smart to change holes frequently. In the end, the most effective method was to fish each hole with the mormyshka for less than a minute.
A hunting school of perch rustled in the reeds. Tight lines and unforgettable ice fishing moments await in the heart of the reedbeds!
Text: Juha Salonen, fishing blogger
Photos: Otto Cichoracki / Kalastajan maailma, Juha Salonen
