James Lindner and Jeremy Smith share some tips, tactics, and secrets on the Leech Lake perch fishing.
Leech Lake Perch Fishing
Leech lake is a world famous fishery known for musky, walleye, smallmouth bass, jumbo perch and panfish. Covering over 100,000 acres Leech Lake is one of the best multispecies fisheries in Minnesota.
For those anglers searching for big jumbo perch Leech Lake is the place for you.
You can find large schools of jumbo perch throughout the winter months on the many expansive shallow flats. Focus your efforts on flats that have some sand grass mixed in, because perch tend to use that over flats that are bare.
One key to finding big perch on Leech Lake is to stay on the move. Keep hole hopping around mixing up the depths as you go. Once you find one jumbo more a usually close by.
There are a number of different presentations you can use on Leech Lake perch fishing, but a few of the most consistent producers include the Rapala Jigging Rap in a size 3, the Northland Bro bug spoon in a 1/8 ounce and a VMC Rattle Spoon in a 1/8 ounce.
When targeting jumbo perch on Leech Lake it pays to use bigger sized baits. This will allow you to specifically target the largest perch in the school. The bigger baits are also nice for when a roaming walleye or pike comes cruising through.
Typically we will be tip our baits with a minnow head or a few wax worms. This just helps to sweeten the deal, although there are plenty of times bait isn’t necessary.
If you put in sometime searching the flats and utilize relatively larger baits you’ll be able to run into lots of Leech lake jumbo perch.