I Planned the Perfect Lake Gogebic Perch Trip—Caught Two Fish and Left Early

A broken snowmobile, stubborn perch, and a looming blizzard turned a bucket-list trip into a long walk and two fish.

When the perch won’t cooperate, you make your own fun. | Joe Shead

I planned this bucket list Lake Gogebic perch trip for months—late ice, giant “teeter pigs”, and stable weather.

By the time we drilled our first hole, the snowmobile wouldn’t start, the fish wouldn’t bite, and a monster blizzard was on the radar.

The Plan (and Why It Should Have Worked)

Lake Gogebic is one of the top places in the country for giant yellow perch, which are known locally as "teeter pigs." | Joe Shead

Upper Michigan's Lake Gogebic is one of the best spots in the country for huge yellow perch, known locally as "teeter pigs" because when you set a fat fish on its belly, it's so wide, it won't teeter over. The fish grow large on an abundance of mayfly nymphs, or wigglers. And late ice, right before perch spawn, is when the females are at their largest. So my girlfriend Tashina and I planned a mid-March rendezvous with Gogebic's perch.

Problem #1 -No Snowmobile

A snowmobile is practically a necessity on Lake Gogebic. Ours didn't work. | 68285599 | Mikhail Anikaev | Dreamstime.com

A snowmobile is practically a necessity in the deep, lake effect snows of Upper Michigan. Plus, Gogebic is a pretty big lake.

Last winter, my snowmobile died and a mechanic advised me the machine wasn't worth fixing. I opted not to buy a new sled because a new truck and a new boat are more pressing matters. Besides, my dad said we could borrow his.

When we went to pick up my dad's snowmobile, it wouldn't start. After charging the battery (it doesn't have a pull start), we got it running and headed for the lake. But that night at the cabin, it wouldn't start. It became clear the battery was failing. We jump-started it, but it wouldn't start again on its own.

Sure, we could get the sled running by jump-starting it again, but what if we couldn't get it started on the lake? We made the decision to walk out, pulling our flip-over shack and minimal gear.

Problem #2 -The Fish Didn’t Cooperate

Mayfly larvae, known as "wigglers," are the preferred bait for Lake Gogebic's trophy perch. | Joe Shead

Gogebic's perch can be fickle. Aggressive jigging usually sends them scurrying. Automatic hook-setters rigged with tungsten jigs and wigglers are the preferred setup. Anglers are allowed three lines apiece, so we employed four automatic hook-setters, a tip-down and one jigging rod.

The weather was mild, as we assumed our late-season trip would be: 30 degrees, sunny and no wind. We soon learned the fish weren't digging the high pressure, comfortable weather nearly as much as we were.

Due to the balmy conditions, we didn't need to go inside a shack, and neither did other anglers. As such, we knew exactly when other fishermen ran to their automatic hook-setters for a bite. It wasn't very often! We weren't the only ones experiencing slow fishing.

Problem #3 -The Storm We Never Saw (Until We Left)

With crazy amounts of lake-effect snow, a snowmobile is almost mandatory on Lake Gogebic. More than 30 inches of snow fell in areas during our planned weekend of fishing. | Joe Shead

A quick weather check revealed a giant winter storm was bearing down on us. While that had the potential to complicate our trip, I hoped the bite might turn on before snowmageddon started. It didn’t.

My friends know me for being adventurous and, admittedly, stupid. I don't know when to quit. But at 2 p.m., only four hours into our two-day trip, we decided to leave.

The next day, the snowstorm lived up to the hype. About 2 feet of snow fell near Lake Gogebic, with gusts topping 40 miles an hour. Even if we HAD stayed, how would we have run set lines? They would have been constantly snowed in. North-central Wisconsin, through which we drove, got pummeled even worse, with some areas receiving more than 30 inches of snow!

We definitely made the right call in leaving early. But it was super frustrating to leave.

Not Exactly What We Came For

Our total catch in four hours of fishing on Lake Gogebic was two perch, shown here next to a tub of wigglers. | Joe Shead

Our bucket list trip ended with a grand total of exactly two bites. Both were legit keepers, but they weren't the teeter pigs we had come for. I was hoping to make a video of our experience, but most of the footage involves Tashina making snow angels with the perch and talking about how much she was craving a greasy burger.

I like to think any fishing trip is a good trip. Lake Gogebic had other ideas. Sometimes the best you can do is drag your gear onto the ice, take your two fish, and head out for a burger.