Ted Takasaki from Lindy Legendary Tackle scored a double on early-season perch by targeting major breaklines. Photo by Noel Vick.

Tiptoeing across early winter's frozen surface isn't usually associated with perch fishing. November and December aren't exactly the months serious perch anglers catch big yellowbellies, the ones with stripes so defined they look like they were grilled.

Instead, early ice is better associated with reckless walleyes and hungry crappies. However, the walleyes and crappies aren't a secret. They draw crowds. And perhaps it's for this reason I get excited about early-ice perch fishing, because the crowds are minimal, and you can do your own thing. Jumbos can be patterned soon after the last whitetail is field dressed, but only if you know what to look for.

The general rule of thumb for first ice is to find a small and shallow lake that freezes early, thus yielding "walkable" ice before the big lakes are ready. That plan is fine for crappies and walleyes, but few are the lakes small in size having big numbers of perch.

I go with the "lake within a lake" theory. It is said that perch, by and large, are fishes of large lakes and freshwater systems. But within these lakes are smaller "lakes," such as bays and or sizable protected shoreline areas that ice up before the "main lake." Locate one of these areas with the right structural elements and forage base, and the groundwork is set for action-packed perching.

In northern natural lakes, shorelines tumble downhill at varying pitches to basins of myriad depths. Early in the winter, jumbo perch set their sights on the first significant shoreline break, where things get deepest the fastest.

Brian "Bro" Brosdahl fishes spots like this all through the Ice Belt as an Ice Team "Power Stick." And he's quick to point out that first breaks occur at varying depths, depending on the type of lake in question.

"On shallow, eutrophic (older and shallower) lakes, that first break is usually somewhere between the 5- and 15-foot mark," Brosdahl said. "But don't get hung up on the actual depth of the break. Focus more on its steepness. Perch gravitate to bottoms that crash quickly. That's key."

On younger, deeper lakes (mesotropic), Brosdahl said major shoreline breaks typically set up in 25 to 40 feet of water. But again, don't get duped by depth. Pay more attention to the quality of the break than the actual depth. From a mapping perspective, find chunks of water where the "lines" are tightest. That's where it gets deepest the fastest. In some cases, on maps written with 5-foot increments, the lines literally run together on a quality cliff.

According to Brosdahl, perch use sheer breaks to "crash baitfish." Moreover, sheerer breaks allow fish to cover more depths and features within a smaller footprint. Time and energy are used economically. I'm not here to tell you perch are intellectual critters, but something in their "code" undoubtedly puts them in places where features are many and real estate is fixed.

To make a hard break even better, Brosdahl factors in a healthy hard-to-soft transition, like sand/gravel to rock to mud. Perch are addicted to these areas. The steep and hard-to-soft mixture offers efficient travel and striking lanes, as well as bedding for tasty larval insects.