Big Perch Bites

I fished with my buddy Frank & Gilles today on two different lakes. The first lake saw water temps as high as 50 degrees and a boatful of enormous perch. Most of these fish were in the pound class and some were closer to a pound and a half. There weren’t too many bass landed, but a few were caught in the same areas as the perch. We tried several places looking for more of the bass only to come up empty or with 1 fish. The water temps were mostly in the low 40’s with the exception of the 50 degree area that the perch were being taken. Winds have been from the north causing the water to cool instead of warm for this time of year. On the second lake we were looking for lake trout and came up short once again. Out of a possible 7 or 8 followers, only one was actually hooked into. Unfortunately, the fish came off before it could be netted and we left the lake empty handed. Here the water temps were mostly 37 or 38 degrees and one small area actually saw 40 degrees. With the ice only coming off a few days earlier, the fish are still in the winter mode and the best is yet to come.