Decided to give the perch at Echo one more try today, rain or not. Got on the water covered ice at first light and drilled right on top of a school of perch in 34 feet, bingo I thought. But NO, couldn't get them to bite anything again as my last trip was the same way. I moved several times looking for active perch, fished 29 to 40 feet of water and the same thing everywhere, no biters. Now if you wanted to catch trout I could say that they were a nuisance today. What gives, I do, Echo wins this year.
Ice thickness was about 16" thick and the edges were open about 2 feet out. If it doesn't refreeze you'll have to have a plank or some tall rubber boots.
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I share your pain!! I don't understand why they are so tight liped this year. We trough everything at them, large, small, real, fake, jiggin, dead stickin, and moved from north to south, even east and west. NOTHING!!!
I could see some toads on my camera, so I knew we were over them. They'd give it a sniff and leave.
Maybe some others will chime in with their theories and help solve this dilemma.
Someone suggested stump remover to me the other day....I was thinking electro shock to wake-em up.[
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LT
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at least it sounds like you got into some trout.. Did you catch a lot? Any size or anything different than a bow? Are there some foot plus perch in there? Havent fished there in quiet a few years. What did you guys use for a lure? I have been using a clam drop lure and a maggot drop lure and been killing the perch everywhere else.
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ya there some 12 in + in there and there smart SOB [
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I have done well on perch at other lakes as well, but disappointed with the size I'm catching. I used multiple types of lures and baits that all produced in the past and even thought outside the box in a last ditch effort. Those perch in echo have a mind of their own this year, probably feeding on something so plentiful they aren't interested in anything else. Another thing I noticed was when the trout came by it scared the perch away. However, it didn't seem to matter where I fished, there was always perch on the bottom when I'd move to another spot.
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I want to go try it out mostly for the trout and maybe a perch but i wonder if the ice and edges will hold up for another while. Its supposed to rain and be up in the 40s again. Might bring the ice season to an end sooner than i hoped for.
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