Few things are as addictive as sight fishing. You become the gambler waiting for the next big pay-off. Drill a hole, start fishing, see what comes in. If nothing comes in, if the fish won’t bite, if the fish are too small, you do it all again—move the shanty, over and over. The next spot, the next set of holes, are sure to pay off.

Anglers sight fish for all the panfish species, but perch are a particularly compelling target because they can be so aggressive. As I said, mobility is part of the key. You keep moving to find the right fish—so you need a shanty that facilitates the process. I use the Fish Trap Pro, switching to a Nature Vision Pak Shack when I have to make long walks or when the snow’s deep. In any case, absolute darkness is necessary in the shanty.

Most anglers in my region of the country pursue perch by setting up camp over one area. Anglers tend to get action in spurts throughout the day, causing them to believe that various groups of perch are moving in and out of the area. Perhaps at times, but often they’re fishing the same groups of fish that occasionally meander by. For that reason, it’s important to move until you find big numbers. Then it becomes a game of capitalizing on what you’ve found.

First, you need a lure that consistently brings fish in. That lure should also trigger fish. You also need secondary lure options to fine-tune once fish are below, you’ve worked them over, and they become hesitant to bite.

The smallest Jigging Rapala (#2) is one of the best lures I’ve found to attract perch and get them going—and keep them going. I start with aggressive jigging strokes, getting the lure to make a full sweep around the hole, dancing up and down as it swims the big circle. Perch usually show up quickly if they’re in the area.

After swimming the lure for a moment, or if I see perch coming, I stop the lure and allow it to hold motionless a couple inches above the bottom. Often bigger fish rush in and inhale the lure. If nothing appears below, I continue jigging for another couple minutes, again, occasionally stopping the lure and letting it settle below the hole. I’m usually gone before the 5-minute mark if nothing shows up.

Often a group of small perch or perch of various sizes move in. One of the best ways to attract large perch is to activate smaller perch. Using the Rapala, I get the small perch attempting to eat the lure. I want them chasing, thrashing—and missing. If the small fish get discouraged, slow down the jigging strokes. Get them going again. It’s important to give other perch in the area—hopefully larger fish—the idea that these little guys are onto something good. Perch, like most school fish, are competitive. Often larger fish are triggered to bite out of what appears to be sheer jealousy. But you have to keep working on the little fish, not letting them catch the lure, while you try to get the bigger fish to move in and eat.

I tip the belly treble on the Jigging Rapala with a Berkley Power Egg, either in red or orange, both colors perch see well. Sometimes big fish eat the entire Rapala, but with an egg tipping the lure the egg usually is their focus. Perhaps the egg represents something they think the Rapala is feeding on—or something the Rapala spit up.

I often begin fishing with the Rapala and rely on it most of the day. But I don’t wait long to reel it up and drop something else if it looks like a big fish just isn’t going to bite it. When you’re working on individual fish, trying to scratch 20 big ones by the end of the day, many times you can get a tentative fish to bite by dropping another lure.

A tiny leadhead jig with a plastic trailer is a consistent producer in this situation. The perch on Lake St. Clair eat a lot of young-of-the-year panfish—bluegills, rock bass, and other perch—as well as bloodworms, mayfly larva, and other aquatic insects. The Little Atom Nuggie is a generalist plastic, representing just about everything perch feed on. The bulbous body is easy to get on the hook, and the thin wispy tail comes to life with the slightest rod movement.

At times, the best way to use this bait is to drop it to the bottom and shake it, stirring up a small dust cloud. Other times, perch want the bait swimming in the water column. Each day brings a new set of circumstances. In any case, if a perch rises up to the bait and commits, most of the time it’s as good as caught.

The same can be said when they go down to the bottom for a lure. They’re committed. In most of these situations you’re trying to read what it’s going to take to get each individual fish to react. Sometimes you see patterns to how most of the fish are reacting. Often you don’t. Often you put them in the pail one at a time by doing whatever it takes to get them to bite.

Some lures seem to consistently get reactions when you drop them on tentative fish. The Berkley 1-inch Power Nymph often catches a giant or two the instant I drop it down, but rarely does it work as a long-term answer for bringing fish in and getting them to bite. It picks off the lookers that have seen my tricks.

Jigging spoons also are a top-notch option, two of my favorites being the Swedish Pimple and Lindy Frostee. These spoons fall into a category that might be called “straight spoons,” because they rise and fall without a lot of kick off to the side. So they’re subtle options that just give a hint of being something worth biting. They rise and fall quickly back into place, leaving it to the Power Egg tipping a lure to trigger fish. On really tough days I might substitute a maggot or two for the Power Egg.

On the other side of the spoon fence, so to speak, are wobble spoons with high action. One regional favorite is the Ken’s Spoon, popular where I fish in Michigan. Like all the spoons in this category, on the lift it vibrates distinctly, and on the fall it kicks a bit off to the side, almost laying flat at times as it wobbles and flashes.

I’ve seen spoons in this category literally turn groups of perch into frenzied feeders; so I reduce the barbs on the treble hook and bend hook points out slightly in order to facilitate getting fish off the hook quickly, in order to drop down again. One shake usually does it to get perch off and flopping on the ice. Overall, I start with the Jigging Rapala or a straight spoon. I usually don’t drop a wobble spoon until I have trouble catching fish with my initial options.

Sight fishing is all about the hunt on ice. I often tell other anglers that it’s more like summertime bass fishing than traditional ice fishing. You’re always looking, always moving, always thinking and reacting to what the fish are telling you by how they act down below. First you find them and then it’s all about triggering them one by one.

Writer and promotional angler Joe Balog loves to fish Great Lakes waters, especially his home water Lake St. Clair, where safe ice usually sets in by Christmas and continues for another 90 days.