Fish Lake 2/9

[stan55]

Goal was to catch more trout than perch. Set up on the weed edge at Joe's Bush in 15ft depths. Been having great success with orange ratfinkees and orange tungsten jigs. Started with the ratfinkee tipped with waxies and never changed. Goal was accomplished. Caught 21 perch 26 bows 3 splake and 1 tiger in 4 hours of fishing. Most fish were caught just off the bottom as I concentrated on catching a tagged perch. Two bows were 16 inches rest were in the planter size. Splake were small as well. Tiger taped at 15 inches. Biggest perch was 8 inches rest were 6 to 7. Wind was an issue most of the day but was able to watch my line well enough to catch the light bites. No tagged perch were caught.

Minimal snow cover. Ice was over a foot thick. Bite really dropped off around noon so I headed home.

[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like non stop action with that many fish being caught in 4 hrs. Any idea how many perch were tagged?

[stan55]

Same number of perch were tagged as prior year according to DNR. I've probably caught 500 perch over the last three years and have yet to see a tagged one.

[wiperhunter2]

Same number of perch were tagged as prior year according to DNR. I've probably caught 500 perch over the last three years and have yet to see a tagged one.

If that is the case then for three years that would be 1.500 tagged perch, minus those that are caught or eaten by predators. Makes me wonder how many people have actually caught any tagged perch there.

[MrShane]

I’ve caught four, and had to go through LOTS of perch for those four tags.
The older the tag, the harder it is to see so don’t just shake off or release them without looking close.
After a few years in the water they get a green ‘moss’ growing on the tag and it blends in to the fish pretty well.
The scuba guys kill lots of tags.

[wiperhunter2]

I’ve caught four, and had to go through LOTS of perch for those four tags.
The older the tag, the harder it is to see so don’t just shake off or release them without looking close.
After a few years in the water they get a green ‘moss’ growing on the tag and it blends in to the fish pretty well.
The scuba guys kill lots of tags.

Hopefully the scuba guys can't claim more than one prize per person, per year, it seems to me that would not be fair because they could see the exact fish to shoot.

[Robster10]

The kids and I ventured up to Fish Lake this past week/weekend. We fished Thursday, Friday and Saturday at that little road past Joe's Bush and past the gate - don't know what it's called. Quite a few people fishing the narrows. Ice was 16-18" with about 4" of snow. Thursday was real nice weather and it gradually deteriorated as that storm came through until Saturday was mostly whited out and pretty windy. I have to admit I had a raised eyebrow when Stan mentioned orange ratfinkees but we gave them a shot and they were the ticket with perch meat for us. Thanks! Also got some hits on gold kastmasters and paddle or cut'rbugs in white and orange. Tried 40', then 30, and finally moved in to 15-16 FOW.
My oldest caught the bow below for the Saturday highlight. 18.5" and a pinch under 3 lbs. Jaw was even starting to hook. I know he'll remember that fish the rest of his life. Caught about 25 fish total and threw back quite a few small ones. Kept several that were around 12". 
Great trip!
Rob

[stan55]

My fly fishing leaked a bit into ice fishing. Orange is a common hotspot color for a lot of fly patterns and on a whim I though I try orange jigs for Fish Lake. Last year an orange tungsten jig was the hot jig but this year the fish seem to prefer a more horizontal presentation hence the ratfinkee. Was up there Monday and the orange ratfinkee was the jig of choice. 25 trout and another 8 perch. Couldn't match your sons fish but I got several around 15 inches. One splake did hit the tape at 16.