NAIFC

Jacek Gawlinksi and Zbigniew Wojcik

Perch had been the Achilles heel for Jacek Gawlinksi and Zbigniew Wojcik in the past when fishing competitively in organized ice tournaments on New York’s Silver Lake. The team had little difficulty finding the sunfish that were needed to do well but the “here today gone tomorrow” perch population that the system is known for had frustrated the anglers in the past. For these anglers to be successful in the NAIFC Tournament, they knew that they had to find and catch perch on game day.

Just like in the past, these two anglers had quickly dialed into a sunfish pattern in some dense weed growth. From past experience, these anglers also knew that these fish would not leave this location in the weeds unless they left in another angler’s bucket. From a distance, the anglers watched over their sunfish location while the rest of the time spent pre-fishing was focused on the lake’s nomadic perch. The anglers used this time wisely, not only to find fish but to develop the rhythm necessary to stay on these fish during the tournament.

The perch bite took the anglers to a basin environment where the perch where “right in the mud,” according to Wojcik. Flashers with zoom features were crucial. In this case, the team of Gawlinski and Wojcik used Marcum LX-5’s to pick out fish and their presentation right next to the bottom. Before the tournament, many teams had success using aggressive presentations like small spoons or spoons rigged with a dropper. The perch were noticeably more negative come game day however. Both Gawlinski and Wojcik used small horizontal jigs made of Tungsten loaded with spikes.

As the two anglers made the adjustments and figured out the perch that had been so frustrating in past years, they watched their sunfish spot from a distance. From a distance, it appeared as if other anglers were actually fishing the spot or were awfully close. For both Gawlinski and Wojcik, watching other anglers fish the spot in the weeds that they knew held the sunfish they needed to win was a nail biter. After Gawlinski Wojcik had the weight of perch they felt they needed, the duo quickly set off to finish their bag with sunfish as this tournament requires both sunfish and perch to do well. As the pair ventured closer to the spot in the weeds that they now banked so much on, they discovered that the other competitors weren’t as close as what appeared from a distance. Gawlinski and Wojcik quickly drilled the spot out and pulled the sunfish they needed to win.

While the perch and sunfish came from different parts of the lake and lived in completely different environments, the team attributed much of their success to the spring bobber systems developed by St. Croix. On both locations, spring bobbers and tungsten jigs like Fiskas were used to get a small presentation down to the fish fast and the spring bobber excelled for letting anglers know when fish were barely holding onto this delicate presentation.

Competitive Tournaments like the NAIFC takes anglers to many different lake environments where competitors face great fishing and difficult fishing, heavy weights and also light. Many of the competitors on Silver Lake agreed that the health of the panfish population was phenomenal with a surprisingly heavy weight needed to win. “We just had a great time on this lake because we caught a lot of big fish; lots of jumbo perch close to the pound mark were seen during pre-fishing and also during the tournament, added Wojcik. Anglers saw a lot of quality panfish so that adds a level of excitement to the tournament.”

After Silver Lake, the NAIFC heads to Chisago Lake in Minnesota for the final tournament of the season. Both anglers and the ice fishing industry are taking notice as this circuit continues to build momentum. Participation has been growing and interest has been strong. “We have many great sponsors getting involved as there is a place for competitive ice angling in the overall growth of this great activity, explains NAIFC competitor Mike McNett. We want to keep this circuit positive, we believe we are an asset for ice fishing and either participating or observing can make anybody a better ice angler. Why is this important? Because when people learn enough to get really good at ice fishing, they want to go more often and get more involved.” There is no doubt that anybody who gets involved with the NAIFC catches some of this passion for winter fishing. If you would like to learn more about the NAIFC, go to www.naifc.org.