Around 11 AM, I got onto the 6"-thick ice at Silver Lake. There was one icefisherman (in a collapsible shelter) straight out from the Public Fishing dock on the northwest corner of the lake. I drilled a hole about 75 yards from him, and quickly got a 4-1/2" Yellow Perch on my perch-colored "Jigging Rap" (Rapala). After an hour at my first hole, I caught three identially-sized fish and decided to move southwestward to a spot halfway between the Public Fishing dock and the first point along the northeastern shoreline. There were numerous auger holes over about 35 feet of water.

Around 1 PM, several families came out to enjoy the sunny day. I caught 6 more small Yellow Perch (ranging in size from 3" to 6"), for a total of nine. All were retained and not released. When the shelter icefisherman left at around 2 PM, I heard he had caught 90 PERCH using Perch Eyes. I guess these fish don't have problems with cannibalization! When I left at 3 PM, there were 17 people on the ice (all about 200 yards east of the Public Launch), and they caught some.

In the parking lot, a WDFW agent was checking catches and Fishing Licenses. The kids out on the ice seemed to be having a good time. Two guys about a mile southeast were even using Quad Bikes out on the ice to do spinouts and power slides.

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