With spring come the usual suspects

Yes, the tulips have popped through the softened soil and announced their presence. Of course the grass has transformed itself in to an emerald-like hue again. And the leaves have taken shape on the trees as they're supposed to do every year at this time.

But for me the real harbingers of spring are those golden critters safely tucked into the large cooler and covered with ice.

The spring perch run is on - not quite in full force yet, mind you, but nevertheless it's happening.

Boats of all sizes are plumbing the middle depths of Lake Michigan, searching for the schools of jumbo perch. And even with the 15-fish limit per person, anglers seem to be satisfied that they can go home with enough filets to satisfy their family's hunger for a traditional perch fry.

Charter boat skipper Captain Bob Jenkins called to inform me that he had a party of five limit out on fish in a very short period of time.

Photographer Mike Seeling and I were supposed to get out and do our share, but I had a last-minute change in my daily schedule. Seeling hit the lake with his son Brett and subsequently scored big time.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources hasn't come out with any major news flashes about the perch fishery, but the "regulars" on Lake Michigan, the people who fish the lake all the time, apparently believe the overall angling for these tasty morsels is pretty good.

Morton Grove fisherman Chuck Wonnake told me he doubts if we'll ever see those "glory days" when anglers would go home with ice chests filled with 200-330 perch, but Chuck, like many others, are just happy enough to see a larger influx of both jumbos and young perch ranging across our shorelines of the big lake.

My usual lures of choice are jigging spoons on light line, but Seeling told me all of the action he and his son encountered came on minnows and two-hook rigs.

There have been periods when Seeling, the late Buck Squancho and I would make the trek to Calumet Harbor to launch the boat and then cash in on the massive schools of jumbos just outside the harbor. We even got into schools of smallmouth bass as well, occupying the same territory as the perch. For now, some very good action can be had on the far north end, especially out of Waukegan Harbor as well as Northpoint Marina.

It doesn't take any fancy equipment to accomplish the mission, but the search for the elusive schools can be exasperating.

My personal choice for a rod would be 7-foot, light spinning model, rigged with 4- to 6-pound mono. Actually, I like to have two or three rods ready to go, with each rig set up differently. I'll have one minnow rod, a plain jig rod and a stiffer jigging spoon rod when the bite finally turns more aggressive and the perch are going after the larger alewives.

There have been outings when we tracked fish well over three miles as they followed potential meals in the form of lake minnows and alewives.