Try some of Walt Matan’s suggestions, and you can use the perch you catch to entice the bigger fish, like walleyes and pike, too.

When I catch a 4-inch perch, I get excited! Not because a 4-inch perch is a new perch record for me, but because a 4-inch perch represents bait! In fact, in the lakes that I ice fish, it is legal to use a perch as bait so long as I don’t transport them alive to a different body of water. Believe me, the only place I’m going to transfer that perch is to my deadstick rod, tip-up or bait bucket! A 10-inch perch is a different story; I call that one dinner. But it also could mean that a larger predator is around like, say, a monster walleye or girthy pike.

Perch are schoolers; if you find one, chances are you will find several. They also tend to school by size, because there is safety in numbers. Perch like sandy areas, gravelly areas and rocky areas. Points, reefs and shallow, but not too weedy areas are where you will find them. The smallest perch tend to be shallower, maybe because there are more hiding places for them, or because it’s a better area to find food for their tiny mouths.

Perch are nosy. They like flashy things and have small mouths, but they have a big appetites. My top lures for perch are Custom Jigs & Spins (CJS) 1/16-ounce Slender Spoons, size 14 Diamond Jigs and 1/16-ounce Slip Droppers. I’ll add spikes for bait. You can “spike up” the trebles on the Slender Spoon, or even better, remove the treble and replace it with a size 14 Pro Finesse Drop Chain. The spoon attracts them in, and they will hit the dropper chain every time.

A size 14 gold Diamond Jig is a great perch bait. I’ll thread four or five spikes up the hook and drop it down. The reason to pile on the spikes is so after you catch one, you don’t have to re-bait; just drop it back down and grab another perch. The 1/16th ounce Slip Dropper is another option; it gets rigged so you can slide the treble closer or farther away from the spoon (an adjustable dropper). Also, if you’re catching perch and the action stops, it’s time for the big spoon to attract them back to the hole; we’re talking about a 4- to 8-inch, flashy pike spoon, folks.

Tip-ups are a great way to catch walleyes and pike. I like setting my tip-ups shallow, away from the crowd when I can. I use Frabill Thermal Pro Series Tip-Ups, not because I’m a pro, but because they are black, so they retain absorbed heat from the sun; and they are insulated, to prevent your holes from freezing. I’ve got lights on the flags so they shine at night when the flags go up. Black Dacron line, 20-pound-test fluorocarbon leader, a swivel and split shot, and a number 6 treble hook—that’s the set-up.

If I’m fishing in water of 5 feet or less, I set the tip-up halfway off bottom; when fishing deeper, two to three feet off bottom. A little trick is to clip half the tail off the perch so it swims attractively and seductively!

When you target the perch this winter, you can also target walleyes or pike. A few little fish may lead you to a bunch of whoppers!

You can learn new techniques and where to catch more fish through the ice in the winter issues of MidWest Outdoors, available the first full week of each month at the newsstand or by subscribing on our website.