Bro’s Proven Plan To Ice Portly Perch With Northland Fishing Tackle’s New Mosquito Larva
The ice fishing world is abuzz over Northland Fishing Tackle’s new IMPULSE® Mosquito Larvae. The lifelike artificial softbait creates an undulating action panfish can’t resist, and no one knows how to fish it better than its creator—hard water icon and Team Northland Pro Staffer Brian “Bro” Brosdahl.
“The Mosquito Larvae’s hair-like legs and other wispy appendages wiggle with the slightest of jig strokes, driving bluegills, crappies, perch, and trout crazy,” says Brosdahl, who routinely relies on the 1-inch bait to put fish on the ice—especially when finicky winter panfish play hard to catch.
For example, the Mosquito Larvae is a go-to when jumbo yellow perch are on the menu. “It’s a great winter perch bait,” Brosdahl says. “Whether the fish are relating to weedbeds or muddy basins, the tantalizing mosquito action really puts the bite on ’em.”
The Mosquito Larvae works wonders threaded onto a variety of small panfish jigs. Bro favors Northland Fishing Tackle’s Mud Bug and Gill-Getter.
When hungry jumbo perch school in the weeds and along weed edges, Bro ties on a Gill Getter, which engenders a subtle gliding presentation.
“Drop the jig down and execute a series of subtle, 6-inch ‘buggy whips’ to get the jig flying around,” he begins. “This gets the fish’s attention. After the jig and Mosquito Larvae swim back down, let them pause for a couple of seconds. Most fish hit on the pause. Perch see a tasty creature armed with all those legs and they know it can swim fast, so they kick in the afterburners to catch it before it gets away.”
For low-riding perch cruising muddy bottoms, Bro pins the Mosquito Larvae on a Mud Bug or Mitee Mouse. “Let the jig fall, then pound bottom to kick up silt,” he says. “The resulting mushroom cloud gets the perches’ attention and fish quickly gather around the sediments. Slowly lift the Mosquito Larvae out of the cloud while slightly shaking it, so the bait twitches and pulses.”
Such theatrics, he promises, is the underwater equivalent of an extra-crispy, thin-crust pizza loaded with extra cheese, mushrooms, and sausage. “When the gaggle of perch eyeballing the sediment cloud see the Mosquito Larvae rise out of the silt, the resulting melee resembles the ruckus when a human family with four teenage boys is gathered around the dinner table, and all of a sudden everybody realizes there’s only one slice left,” he laughs.