Ice fishing season is here for most of us! Winter is the best time to target cold-water fish like perch, and Josh of BendIt Fishing has a few tips and tricks you need to catch them. Check out the action of some of the best lures and jigs for the ice, and watch the perch bite on the underwater cam!

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Video transcript:

Josh:
Welcome back to the Monster Bass channel, guys. I'm Josh from BendIt Fishing. Today we're going to be doing a how-to catch more perch on the ice. So right now we're in about five feet of water, five to six feet of water on a super shallow weedy pond. It's got mill foil, it's got a bunch of other types of weeds in it. So what we're going to do is I'm going to show you some tricks. We're going to use the Monster Bass December box, even though there's only a few more days left in December. It's December 22nd or something right now. We're going to use the Monster Bass box to catch some more perch.

Josh:
First thing we're going to tie on is the bass reaper. This is the orange chartreuse single, five millimeter tungsten ice jig. And I'm going to tie that on with a polymer knot. I know that sounds crazy with four-pound test. So I'm rocking a 13 tickle stick, a PC fun reel, four pound mono line. And I got my shanty set up over here just to break some wind. So we're going to tie that little tungsten jig on, polymer knot. And I always wet my knots. And we do have a Aqua-vu over here, a sonar over there. I'm looking at the Aqua-vu, because that's the most live information that I can get. There's no delay in the camera, no delay in the camera.

Josh:
And I like using inline reels because they reduce the line twist. So one of my tips that I use is perch are super attracted to noise. So auger noise, walking on the ice noise, they don't spook very easy. So what I'm doing is I'm actually going to tie on the Lindy perch talker as an attracting jig. And we're going to tie on gold because the waters here in New Hampshire, tan stain and gold does a little bit better up here that I feel.

Josh:
So if you have a ultra clear water, I would go with more of either the glow in here or the silver. I actually have another hole right next to me that I'm going to jig that in with another hand, I'm going to be ripping up weeds, making as much noise as possible, getting those fish to come over to you because it's one problem with ice fishing is you got to move either around a lot, or you got to lure the fish to you. So I like the lure with the fish to me, because dragging a bunch of camera gear and stuff is a pain in the butt.

Josh:
So we want to keep ripping weeds down there as much as possible, keep them getting called into the area because like I said, you can either run and gun and chase these fish down. I vouch staying mobile. I only have a down facing transducer. I don't have any live stuff right now. So this is the best way that I've found to do it. And the five millimeter tungsten jig and up is just like one of the most versatile things you can have while ice fishing.

Speaker 2:
Know what, sir. I want to check ice, but at the same time I don't.

Josh:
Got him. Perch guys, perch. I was messing with the camera. Messing with the camera and he inhaled that little tungsten jig. Guys, look at that. Nice fatty for sure. So just switched over to our rattle trap to stir up some more noise down there. So a rattle trap makes a ton more noise, obviously. So by pounding this stuff on the bottom, one, makes a lot of noise. Two, it stirs up all sorts of bugs and stuff like that for perch and blue gill and crappy to eat. So they're even more attracted to the area by that. Just put a little bigger plastic on just to have a little bit more profile on the water. The water's a little bit cloudy, but we're in about five feet of water here. So the perch have to be literally looking straight at the jig in order to see it. And this is what I mean by like ripping up weeds, like actually weeding the bottom of the lake.

Josh:
One more thing I can do is I can take the auger and run it in reverse in one of these holes. So let me actually do that because I haven't seen any fish in a while. You guys, this is the kind of slop I'm talking about here. Lots of bugs and nutrients in there. Take that auger and run it right and reverse. That definitely makes some noise. Got it. I didn't even reel. I just lifted the rod out of the water. There's another one, guys. Another beauty. So here's another tip for catching perch, so I like to use a polymer knot just cause it's one of the knots I trust. I know how to tie quickly and efficiently and it's safe every time. Another thing you can do is tie a loop knot to your hook, so that'll make it stand up perfectly. What I'd like to do is tie a polymer knot, tighten it really tight and then point the line back towards the hook. Hopefully you guys can see that. And that'll keep that jig right in. Right and nice for those hook sets.

Josh:
All right. Few rips of that, pull it up, drop down the tungsten jig and wait. So I can either see it on the sonar or I can see it on the Aqua-vu. Obviously, the Aqua-vu is way cooler. So another thing I've learned about perch and pan fish in general is they'll have little highways in the weeds and they will keep circling and circling and circling and going in and out in and out. So if you see them come through real quick, you could go chase them or you could just stay there and wait for them to come back around again. They're pretty repetitive and predictable at the same time. And if you're ever having trouble and the fish seem finicky, downsize your bait. It's always worked for me. So I'm going to cut off a little piece of that. Put it back in my pocket. No littering. I just had seven perch come after this thing. Look at that, guys. Catch more perch using Monster Bass. There we go, guys. Got it. Another beauty, guys. Pan fish are the most fun to hit on early ice just because our lake are closed.

Josh:
Well, thank you very much for watching, guys. Hope you guys learn something about the how-to catch perch while ice fishing. Monster Bass box is a great box to have. I'm catching one right... come on. Right, right... now. Another one, guys. Another one by dust.

Josh:
All right, let's go over the tips again. So find one of these small marshy ponds here that your state has perch in. Put on that five millimeter tungsten jig with about four pound test. You can use three and stuff like that. I've been always staying four. I stay consistent. It's a little easier strength wise. I like to use a very soft tip rod. This is the tickle stick. It works really well. I do have a little white plastic on the back of that. You can, if they're... this pond is full of little minnows and stuff like that. So they're keying on that bigger profile. You can use those little pink ones that I showed earlier, or the little tadpole looking micro minnow. Use that rattle trap make as much noise as possible, bounce around if you need to, or you can just call the fish into you with that rattle trap or the little other spoon thing. And the other last tip is just be patient. They will come back around and around and around. I've been here for a couple hours and I've moved literally 30 feet to the right. And I'm now in one of those perched swim lanes. We'll come through every once in a while. Here comes a perch right now and crappy.

Josh:
All right. I know it's hard to see me with the sun, but thank you guys very much for watching the Monster Bass channel. Like I said, I'm Josh and BendIt Fishing. Hope you guys learn something on how to catch perch through the ice and some other panfish that I probably showed you guys on the camera here. Five millimeter tungsten jig is probably the most versatile thing you can have while ice fishing pretty much anywhere. Everything eats small stuff, not everything eats big stuff. So thanks for watching.