Plenty of action but catch comes up short

[Spiel]

Plenty of action but catch comes up short

 

 

Ice fishing /By Will Elliott

buffalonews.com

February 3, 2008

 

 

The January meltdown-thaw washed anglers ashore at most area ice sites, but Lake Simcoe saw just a lull in fishing effort through those periods of rain and high winds.

 

The Simcoe fishery has experienced abundant year-classes of perch propagation for the past few years, and anglers have seen a radical run of what local anglers call “runners.” For the past three or four years, runners — perch too small to keep — have been going back to the bottom after being caught.

 

Simcoe has also seen a return of the once-popular lake herring, a fish that often outnumbered perch at the end of a day spent on Simcoe ice. These freshwater herring, also called cisco or tullibee, have made a comeback in deeper waters of the upper Great Lakes.

 

Their presence in Simcoe is a promising sign, but Ontario officials believe this cold-water staple of the early 20th century will need a few more growth years before it becomes a legal fishing target on Lake Simcoe.

 

No problem with targeting perch, however. Anyone with an injured ego following a series of early-season shutouts can revel in ringbacks just about anywhere on Simcoe.

 

That’s what I did Monday, making the run to Port Bolster to spend a day on the ice in a hut Randy Carleton had set up over a 27-foot depth on the drop-off side of a sand shoal.

 

Ehren Kean and Dave “Davie” Wilson, Randy’s office and ice-field staffers, met me after a quick stop at Casey’s to renew the non-resident license. Leona Creber at Casey’s maintains 20 huts on Port Bolster ice.

 

“Fishing has been great up until this past weekend,” she said, “when it started to drop off a bit.”

 

I took that to mean: “Enjoy, but don’t expect too much out there.”

 

Wilson got the hut warmed and fished inside it for about a half hour while Kean rode me out in one of Carleton’s newer Subaru mini-trucks.

 

Along the way we stopped and chatted with Joe Fuchs of Amherst, one of Randy’s regulars. Fuchs had a good pail started, with a dozen or so fair-sized perch.

 

“Haven’t seen a whitefish and the bigger perch bite is slow,” he said as he reeled in another so-so keeper. Kean put his day’s take at about 25 nice ones when Fuchs quit at midday.

 

By the time we arrived at our hut, Wilson had three nice perch on the ice and the same take of runners as Fuchs.

 

Before the meltdown, the ratio of runners to keepers had been about four or five to one. Now, the numbers average 10 fish for each nice perch in the pail. Taken as either good or bad news, this kind of action continued nonstop for three hours before a line could be dropped to the bottom without a tap or take from perch.

 

The sonar unit showed fish activity continually throughout the day, often with fish stacked 4-5 feet off the bottom.

 

Earlier, minnows had been a must for good perch numbers. Now, preferences went in all directions. A minnow rig on one line would go non-stop as soon as the copper Swedish Pimple dropped close to bottom. Then, the silver Pimple — with grubs and perch eyes — would be all the rage.

 

Still, reeling in and releasing runners became frustrating. Maintaining two lines fringed on the impossible most of the time. With a hook and ice fly on the line above the Pimple, a doubleheader made it seem like this one would be a nice keeper.

 

At times, a keeper would double up with a runt/runner, which made it worthwhile. But getting into the good guys became a day-long challenge.

 

An old bluegill trick accounted for a few of the nice perch that headed to shore that afternoon. In the shallows, bluegill will often suspend and watch for bait items to slowly drop down to them. With the sonar set at their feeding depths, the bait can be slowly dropped and twitched to attract the ’gills upward to the bait. On the screen it looks something like a Pac Man program.

 

On perch, the program is even easier. Just slow the drop about 5 feet off bottom and ease the bait down. Bigger fish tend to move out of the school — bluegill, perch and sometimes crappie — to grab the bait before the others.

 

It helped. But the count ended up right about at the 10-1 ratio: eight big perch for about 80 caught, one just over 13 inches and four others just over 10 inches.

 

Would I go back for another round of perch picking and culling? Indeed. Ice has hardened around Thorah Island and the perch, whitefish and lake trout runs should be better once anglers can get to deeper waters. Enjoy, and move safely out there.