Hit the deck about 8:45 and headed out to find Kastmaster, who was already there. He and his son were getting a couple, so I tried nearby and it was game on. The perch bite was sporadic but good. By the time it slowed down around noon, I had all the perch I cared to fillet. Size was similar to other reports. I also was getting a fair number of bows, some small, some to 14 inches. About 1 PM, I went exploring to find a few bigger trout. No monsters, but the trout bite remained consistent. All bows as usual. The small bows were taking larger offerings as readily as the smaller ones. I tried a few more holes before I left and found some more perch and trout. Great day. If you are looking for perch, the best spots were near/in submerged trees in 38-50 ft of water. The trout were all over the water column today, including the bottom.
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Sounds like you did alright. Sjgabby and I also fished there today. The start of the day was very slow for me. I did catch a few small rainbows. James had a few rainbows and some perch. Sometime in the afternoon, we both started catching perch fairly regular. We ended up with 42 perch and 8 rainbows all together. The perch were better sized than we have caught at Rockport. Once we found some submerged brush and were able to get down below, we caught a lot of fish. We also lost a lot of tackle in the brush.
We were wishing we had brought the 4-wheelers. We would have liked to have fished closer to the open water.
The ride home was very slippery to say the least, but we made it all in one piece.
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[cool]"[size 1]The perch were better sized than we have caught at Rockport." WOW! I was thinking of going to Rock Cliffs anyway next Saturday, but if that statement is true, then now I am totally conviced to head out there and give it a shot! I only limited out on perch twice this winter at the rock (which, I hear is better than a lot of folks did there) out of four trips, so I'd like to really slay some perchies again. The chance of hooking into a big brown is cool as well![/size]
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[size 1]Nice report, guys. Gonna have to make it out there soon...[/size]
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My son, Ben, and I made the long trek from the RC parking lot to the perch hangout close to 8 am or so. This was my first time using an ice shelter, so getting setup took a little longer than usual (thanks, muskyhunter). The shelter kept us a little warmer than the folks outside, the breeze was pretty constant today. The first two holes that I drilled looked pretty dry, so I moved closer to the bank and fished in 44 ft. of water. The first two holes that I drilled turned out to be a good spot for doggonefishin when he got on deck. He hollered a big thanks to me after nailing 4 perch on his first 4 drops. Left around 1 pm, and ended up taking home 29 perch and released several rainbows to get a little bigger.
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In general the perch were bigger, but we did catch a few that were so small, you couldn't tell you had a fish on while reeling them in. It was so cold there on the lake and on the way home, I had to filet frozen fish. It actually made them easier to filet. Good luck.
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