The Perch and Walleye Bite Shut Down—Then This Underrated Fish Saved the Day

An ice fishing trip on the brink gets rescued by a fish most anglers ignore

Few anglers target this fish in the winter, but they are aggressive feeders, provide great sport and are delicious when filleted properly. | Joe Shead

Aaron Opsteen's ultralight ice rod bent double as a solid fish walloped his spoon. "Opie" reeled with keen anticipation. Was it a walleye? A jumbo perch? Seconds later he got his answer as a chunky yellow form slid up his ice hole. But before he could grab it, the perch came unhooked, spun a 180 and disappeared back to the bottom of Wisconsin's sprawling Lake Winnebago, leaving the angler heartbroken.

"He was at least 13, but no bigger than 16," Opie texted me minutes later. "Either way, he was a true jumbo!"

Our Perch and Walleye Plan

Big perch have made lots of ice fishing days great. | Joe Shead

Less than a week later, I joined Opie on the ice for a shot at jumbo perch redemption.

The day started slow. First of all, it was raining. In January. In Wisconsin. We had waited in the truck an hour for the rain to stop. An hour I could have spent at home in my cozy bed!

Once we hit the ice, we had no trouble marking fish; it was just convincing them to bite. Opie finally iced a small perch. Then a stout 11-incher. But as quickly as it had begun, the bite stalled.

We picked up and moved. We made five major moves that day of at least a quarter-mile; that's what you have to do when you're fishing a lake that spans more than 137,000 acres.

White Bass Save the Day

White bass travel in schools, so if you find them, you can often catch several fish. | Joe Shead

Opie's 11-incher was the last perch we would ice that day. And nary a walleye hit the ice either. But an unsung hero kept the trip from being a bust.

Suddenly, schools of fish showed up on our electronics. Some followed our small spoons aggressively, while others shied away. After a few minutes of jigging, Opie connected with a nice white bass.

I am constantly amazed at the fight from a fish that usually measures only 11 to 14 inches. White bass have broad tails, and whether you're pulling them through the ice or from a boat, they will battle you for all you're worth.

In most areas, there are generous limits on white bass, so if you get into them, you can take a bunch home. And fish add up fast. More than once, Opie and I hooked up with a double inside his portable ice shack.

Aaron Opsteen holds a white bass and a jumbo perch. Both were caught over deep mud flats. | Joe Shead

Where to Find White Bass Under the Ice

You won't find white bass just anywhere. They are found in large lakes, almost always connected to rivers. They often form large schools. When these schools concentrate in rivers during spring spawning runs. they can provide epic fishing that draw anglers to Lake Winnebago's connecting rivers from all across the Midwest.

Across the Ice Belt, you can find white bass along major rivers like the Mississippi and Ohio. Lake Erie and North Dakota's Devils Lake are white bass strongholds, although most anglers visit them for walleyes. And most of Wisconsin's major river systems hold white bass.

In winter, white bass are often found in deep holes. On that trip, we found them roaming mud flats in about 18 feet of water, where they no doubt preyed upon small fish that found insect life in the mud. In flowages, fishing the old river channel is a solid bet for winter whites, especially if you can find a bend in the river or a deep hole.

How to Catch White Bass in Winter

Small spoons tipped with a minnow head are perfect for catching winter white bass. | Joe Shead

White bass aren't usually hard to catch. Because they live in schools, there's competition between fish, so if one fish seems interested in your lure, another may rush in to grab it first. Small spoons tipped with a minnow head work fine, as do jigging Rapalas. You want something flashy to draw in distant fish. And although you don't want to overdo it, you can use a fairly large lure because white bass have somewhat big mouths and are quite aggressive. The larger lure size helps you get back down faster when there's a school under your feet.

Yes, White Bass Can Have a Strong Flavor—Here’s How to Fix That

White bass have a mud line—that darker meat near the skin that gives them a strong flavor. But if you raise your knife slightly as you separate the fillet from the skin, you can leave the red mud line on the skin, making for a better-tasting fillet. | Joe Shead

Depending on the angler, you either love white bass or hate 'em. Some walleye anglers hate them because, well, they're not walleyes. Others say they taste muddy. Indeed, white bass do have a strong flavor. They have a dark red mudline between the skin and the fillet. But if you raise your knife just a whisker as you separate the fillet from the skin, you can leave the red -- and the strong flavor -- on the skin. Filleted properly, white bass taste like any other panfish.

Not the Fish We Came For—But the Ones That Made the Day

No, we didn't land Opie's jumbo perch, which had magically grown to at least 16 inches by the end of the day. But we weren't disappointed. We ended up with a pile of white bass which were a real hoot every time they smashed our spoons and fought like fish twice their size. It wasn’t the plan, but it was more than enough to turn a tough day on the ice into a good one.