How should I run an ice hunt with electronics?
Treat it as a search problem, not a waiting problem. Drill a line of holes across the structure gradient — weed edge, flat, deep basin lip, 6–12 m (20–40 ft) — before wetting a line, so the noisy work is done at once. Then run the holes with a flasher or sonar, giving each two or three minutes: no marks, move; marks that will not bite, note the depth and mood and move anyway. When a hole shows the stacked, shifting returns of a grazing school, sit down and work it — jigging rod calling, deadstick minnow converting — until the marks thin, then leapfrog holes in the direction the school was trending. The auger and your legs catch more perch than any lure choice.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about What this means for fishing
- What is the single best perch rig, and why does it work?
- Live minnows or plastics — when does each win?
- How do I catch jumbos instead of buckets of dinks?
- Perch keep stealing my bait while I fish for other species. What can I do?
- Are perch good eating, and how many can I keep?
- What does the perch year look like at my latitude?
- Why are perch the perfect species to start a kid on?
- Is a rainy day worth fishing for perch?
- How do I unhook and release perch without hurting them — or my hands?
- Do perch hit spinners, spoons and small hard baits — or only jigs and bait?
- Can you catch yellow perch on a fly rod?
Same topic, other species
- What is spider rigging? — Crappie
- How should my approach differ between clear and stained water? — Largemouth Bass
- What release gear do I need before targeting muskie? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- What is the ice-fishing playbook for pike? — Northern Pike
- When should I throw moving baits instead of finesse? — Smallmouth Bass
- Why do people say a thermometer is the most important trout tackle? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- How does a crawler harness work, and when should I pull one? — Walleye