Fortunately we’ve learned a few things over the years that help keep schools of perch below us.
Perch are decoyable. I first learned this while dangling a chub on a nearby tip-up in hopes of catching a big pike. Other perch anglers were around, but I was the only one dangling a giant chub. I was the only one who could consistently keep the school of perch under me most of the time; the surrounding anglers were picking only a few perch whenever a school cruised past them.
My beliefs about decoyable perch were further solidified by a trio of perch chasers from my hometown in South Dakota. To this day, the father and two sons remain ice fishing perch fanatics. In North and South Dakota, two states that host some of the best perch fishing in the world, each ice angler is allowed four lines. The father-sons trio almost always fish together and generally use the maximum number of lines, which creates a small school of baitfish and seems to keep a school of perch below them longer.
Eventually, I decided to doctor and weight a few perch-colored Rapala ShadRaps. I added a tailfin much like the tailfin on a Rapala Jigging Rap in hopes of creating the ultimate perch decoy. I drilled two holes fairly close, one for the perch decoy and one for jigging a search lure. It worked. After giving the decoy a few jerks, I attracted a school of perch and started catching them on my search lure.
Since then, Nils Master and Salmo have introduced larger-profile baits—swimming lures designed to catch larger predator fish—that work great for decoying perch.
The key is to use one of your lines exclusively as a decoy line. Simply lower the bait about 3 feet from bottom and deadstick it. I use the largest Chubby Darter or Jigging Shad as decoys, and I tip the belly treble with either a minnow head or a maggot. Or I remove the belly treble and add a dropper line. The larger dangling bait helps keep the school of fish below me, and I’m always surprised by how many bonus perch I catch on the decoy bait.
Discovering that magical bait of the season is the challenge. I don’t know of any other fish that responds more positively to a variety of presentations yet tends to favor one particular presentation. Nor do I know of a fish that can respond negatively to the same presentation that produced hundreds of the same species the previous season. Keep an open mind and a tackle box full of options and possibilities. You may even want to consider decoying perch to keep the school below. Do whatever it takes to teach schools of perch their daily lesson.
