If you are a fisherman, you could not have asked for a better winter's day than what mother nature provided today. Bluebird skies, wind non-existent and the mountains in the distance covered in a heavy blanket of snow. My first stop was between Coleman Point and South Point, looking for perch in about 90' of water. I'm familiar with the area and knew to look for the slight 2' to 4' depression that typically holds most of the fish this time of year. I found it and the bite was pretty consistent and consisted of fish between 10” and 12”. I kept a baker's dozen for the dinner table, plus one for bait. There were a few other boats in the area, a few targeting bass and a few pulling perch. The lake could do with a few more folks pulling perch, especially during the fall and winter months.

Next, my plan was to see if I could find some norther pike minnows and see if the smelt have moved into the area to stage for their spawning run. I was not very successful with either task as all I could muster was a couple of long distance releases and zero signs of smelt in the area. The grebes have started to move in, but the flock sizes are still relatively small. They are waiting for the smelt as well and then hang around for the salmon smolts to make their way into the lake.

One thing to remember if you are out targeting perch this time of year. They aren't typically going to show up on your sonar as a large mass of fish. Instead they will more or less look like small objects on the bottom and one would mistake them for rocks or other debris. These fish are now searching the bottom of the lake looking for food and most of it will be in sculpin or mysis shrimp form. Also note that the larger perch pulled up from these depths will not make it back down to the bottom on their own if released.

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