Late Ice Perch

On Saturday, I hit the ice with a few buddies well before daylight. We used navionics to make the short walk to the top of a reef in hopes that the perch were stacked up. The wind was going to blow hard so our best bet for easy fishing was an early morning bite. The perch were present but not in big numbers. It was a slow pick but most of what was coming top side were respectable size. The hot colors seemed to be red, white, and pink. I ran a pink/white Drop Kick XL jig from Clam Pro Tackle tipped with 5 or 6 maggots. It seemed like the more maggots the better all morning. As daylight increased, my buddy cut a string of holes shallow along a weedline. He began fishing them and quickly called us over. The perch were stacked up 4' thick in 8 feet of water. The bite was great but they were on the move. We were able to follow the fish for the most part until the bite slowed around 10. We ended up calling it a morning when the wind gusts blew us off the water at 11. I had enough perch to keep me busy skinning for a while.