light through the ice

I've caught 'both ways....

Perch bite when they're hungry, not when they have enough/too much light. 

On a side note, I'd almost rather have my mother-in-law stay for a week than fish an east wind. 








...almost.

depending on the color/quality of the ice and amount of snow, sometimes the snow can reflect the light so it is even brighter then just the sun

Sounds good to me. Can they see me when I am having a beer? They always seem to bite best when I have one in my hand.

My minnow bucket has a plastic lid that I cut a slot in, for the air pump hose. I have a spare too. In shallow water, I put it over the hole to block light, and the line goes through the slot. The hole must be like a flood light, when seen from below. Does it matter? Maybe.
 
If I am not getting bites, I try it.

Nothing is written in stone, but the brightest conditions, ie. clear water and bright sun (mid day) are not generally considered as good as the times of lower light, dawn and dusk. Some fish see better than others in the dark. Perch=poor, walleye=good. In the end, the fish have not read the "rules". After doing this for 50 years I can tell you that the fish don't care what I think. They continue to surprise and they do whatever they want.

perch do bite at night. i have never caught them succesfully at night in open water but if you have a flasher you can kill them through the ice in PI bay. the fish tend to school up very tightly at night and while the are not swimming the current in the bay moves them. its easy to check the current with a white line dropped down the hole. get slightly ahead of the school and its a circus when they get their. make sure you have enough bait and be ready for some questions from the erie police when you come off the ice.

I never had that much success for perch after dark maybe a few but they tend to shut off for me, even when using a vex. Some people I would say do have luck at night.
the alaskan

try this,

get a pickle jar, put a bunch of small holes in the lid and a little larger hole (about the size of a dime) in the center.

get a piece of rope, thread it through the big center hole in the lid, and tie a knot in the rope on the "jar-side" underneath the lid.

fill pickle-jar with water and put about a dozen minnies in the jar. Screw on the lid and lower it down in your hole.

the "living" reflections of the minnies on the glass will make 12 minnows look like 30 minnows to the slabs...

slabs will come from from hundreds of feet away to see what all the commotion is under your hole..

this method works every time and has netted me buckets of fish..

so now its out.. don't say I never did anything for anyone..

hehe

 Wowzer! I like that idea.

Try a clear 2 liter bottle also....