Steelhead Showing up on East Side.

On Thursday I went out steelhead scouting and ventured out to 12 mile Creek on the city's east side.  The water was running low and clear but I did see a few fish in the creek.  While I was walking up and down the creek, I did not run into any fisherman and the 8 or 10 steelies that I saw in the creek did not appear to be spooked.  In the picture below you can see a few steelhead at the tail end of a pool.  Today is Sunday and we got quite a bit of rain.  The steelhead fishing should improve by Monday afternoon when the stream levels go down.  Good luck fishin'

Fall Perch Season Showing Promise.

On Friday, I decided to head out to the North Pier to try my hand at fall perch fishing.  The weather was partly cloudy with temperatures around 60 degrees.  I cast my line in the water and less than a minute later reeled in a small perch.  The small perch were abundant and I ended up catching 2 dozen that I threw back in to grow larger.  They were all running around 6 to 7 inches. 

I did manage to catch 1 jumbo 12 incher and a very large bluegill that I kept.  The big perch should be showing up again very soon.  Good luck fishin'

Perch Fishing Improving in Lake Erie.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to head out into the lake and fish for yellow perch.  My uncle called and said he was heading out and was wondering if my younger brother and I wanted to go.  I quickly gathered my fishing gear and then my brother and I headed down to Lampe Marina for the boat trip.  We got down to Lampe just after 8:30 am and were heading out by 9:00 am. 

The water was beautiful with waves less than a foot.  We started fishing in around 40 feet of water and although there were plenty of fish on the fish finder, we only managed to catch 2 fish.  I caught a decent sized silver bass and my uncle landed a freshwater drum.  We decided to go searching for a school of perch.  We tried again in about 50 feet of water and didn't even catch a fish.  We then headed to 60 feet of water and the entire bottom of the fish finder showed fish.  We fished for a while and couldn't catch any.  I was seriously wondering if we were going to catch any perch on the fathead minnows that we had.

It was around 12:00 pm now and all we caught were 1 silver bass and a sheepshead.  Not a very good catch yet.  My uncle wasn't ready to quit yet, though, and the "Can't Wait To"  was fired back up and we headed to 47 feet of water.  There wasn't a ton of fish on the finder but we decided to fish and give it a try. 

Within a few minutes my brother and uncle each caught a nice perch.  Then I caught a 14 inch hog.  We fished for about 50 minutes and put a total of 18 fish in the bucket.  It was a nice mix of sizes but most were nice fish.  By 1:00 pm we were all thirsty for a beer so we called it quits for the day.

It is always a good time to head out on a boat into Lake Erie and I am very thankful for family members and friends that take me out.  My uncle's "Can't Wait To" is a very nice boat.  Hopefully, on my next trip I can take pictures of both the boat and a bucket of fish.  Happy Hookin and thanks Uncle Bro!!!

Perch and Rocky- Tons of Gobies!

My cousin and I headed out this evening and fished off of the South Pier.  The round gobies were hitting the bait about as fast as it hit the bottom, making it difficult to catch perch.  I managed to catch a jumbo perch along with about 25 gobies or so.  My cousin caught a few gobies and one jumbo at 13 inches even.  It was his largest perch ever.  He also caught a large rock bass right at dark.  Going to try to get out again on Monday.  Good luck all!!!

Perch Still Off of Piers.

Went fishing this morning with Rob Cocina (RobFishErie Blog).  It started out pretty good and we each caught a few nice perch.  The fish were done biting by 8:00 am so Rob went to Presque Isle to do some crappie fishing and I stayed at the pier for a little while longer hoping the perch would start biting again.  I ended the morning with 5 decent perch. 

Went out again for the evening.  Pretty much the same as the morning except I caught a few gobies and small perch that I tossed back.  I ended up with 3 nice perch and two jumbos.  Going to try it again tomorrow if the rain holds off.  Good luck fishing'

Perch Fishing off Pier Pretty Slow.

This weekend i did quite a bit of fishing.  I fished Saturday morning and Saturday evening and then I also fished Sunday evening.  The gobies are hitting fast and furious and at times it is hard to keep the bait in the water long enough in hopes of catching a perch.  Saturday morning I caught two nice perch and then in the evening I caught three more nice fish.  Sunday was very slow and for the first time this year I left with no fish in the bucket.  The schools of perch are staged along the pier.  Some fisherman are enjoying a great deal of success while others are having little luck.  It all depends where you set up so if you aren't catching any, it's a good idea to move around.  Good luck fishing this week!

Beautiful Night at South Pier.

I decided to fish for an hour or so before dark and went to the south pier where the perch have recently been biting.  The water was very calm and it was a beautiful evening to spend fishing.  The air temperature was in the 70's so I just sat there without needing a coat.   I fished for about  half hour or so without a bite and then I caught a huge goby.  Five minutes later I caught my first rock bass of the season and it was very large.  A couple minutes after catching the rock bass I caught a nice sized perch and then it was too dark to see my poles.  Most fisherman tonight had a couple fish but a couple had quite a few.  Also, it appears that the fisherman on the North Pier are doing better than the fisherman on the south side.  I watched them catch quite a few fish.  Good luck this weekend!

Slow Perch Day.

This morning was cold with a strong breeze from the north.  You know what they say?  If the wind is from the north do not venture forth.  That phrase was very correct this morning.  The south pier was lined up with fisherman hoping to catch some tasty Lake Erie Yellow Perch. 

Most guys left with nothing but a chill from off the lake.  I caught 1 fish and it was a good one (11 inches).  The guy next to me caught 4 fish, all keepers, and thanks to him I left with 5 fish in my bucket.  Everybody else that showed up early did pretty poorly and most early risers took off before I left at 8:30 am. 

Well, everyday can't be a great fishing day so maybe next time I go I will catch more.  Happy Hookin'

Cold Morning with Little Success.

It was a brisk morning and one in which I should have dressed warmer.  Nevertheless, the bite was short today.  The first fish I caught right after sunup was a very nice perch around 10 1/2 inches.  Then I caught 3 dinks and then another nice fish that was a little bigger than the first one.  I caught one more dink by 8:00 am and decided to quit around 9.  Two keepers are better than none.  Maybe I will catch more Wednesday.  Happy Hooking!

Perch Still Hanging Around in Bay.

This morning was clear and not too cold (about 48 degrees).  The bite was very short and fast.  By 6:45 am it was mostly over.  I kept two nice perch which were 9 and 11 inches.  I threw back a half dozen or so ranging from 5 to 8 inches.  I caught another small steelhead today but no big ones. 

Today I saw the first smallmouth bass of the season.  A gentleman beside me caught the 17 1/2 incher on a jig and boy was she full of eggs.  Yesterday right after I left, a fisherman supposedly hooked into a very large northern pike and had it up to the surface before it shook his hook. 

When you are fishing in the bay this time of year you never know what you are going to hook into.  I think with the weather changing tomorrow it may be a good day to fish.  Perhaps I will get up early again and head out.  Happy Hookin'

An OK Morning of Perch Fishing

This morning was calm and cold.  A slight breeze from the east had little effect on the bay and waves were nonexistent.  Right after light, the fish were biting again.  I quickly caught two fish about 8 1/2 inches and then I caught 5 small ones that I threw back and a 9 inch steelhead that I tossed back to get bigger.  I caught two more perch about the same size as the first keepers and that was it for the day.  After 6:45 am I had very few bites and did not catch any more fish.  The bite was early this morning and did not last long.  Four keepers though will have me thinking about heading out again tomorrow.  Happy Hooking!

Perch Hitting Well in Presque Isle Bay.

The weather was cold and rainy this morning but the Bay was like glass.  There was a small breeze out of the south to start the morning.  I set up in the dark and it did not get light too quickly.  After fishing for about 15 minutes without a bite, I thought that today was going to turn out to be a skunking.  But then, my pole started bouncing and I heaved in a nice perch.  The next half hour I could only fish with 1 pole as the fish were biting almost as soon as the bait hit bottom.  I caught about 15 fish today and threw back 6.  The keepers were all  nice fish from 8 to 11 inches.  Once again, I saw a few jumbos caught and all the fisherman today had decent catches. 

The bite today was totally over by 9 am.  I am starting to think that there are so many minnows in the bay that the feeding fish quickly get stuffed and then they are done eating for the day.  It pays to roll out of bed when it is dark and get out there before the fish shut their mouths.  Happy Hooking!

Perch Fishing Improving in Bay.

I set up in the dark this morning and right after light the bite was on.  I quickly caught 10 fish within the first 45 minutes, and the nice thing was that 7 of them were keepers.  Then it was like someone flicked the off switch.  The wind shifted from the south to the west and waves kicked up to about 1 footers.  Still not bad fishing conditions but for some reason the fish did not like it as well. 

I didn't have another bite within the next hour but a couple nice fish were being caught and the weather was not too bad so I decided to fish a little longer (plus the price of minnows is outrageous now so I gotta get my money's worth:).   Then I caught my two biggest fish of the day on a double to the applause of the other fisherman on the pier.  A few minutes later I caught a steelhead fry (about 6 inches) and then a few minutes after that I caught my last perch of the morning. 

The perch I caught today were nice sized fish ranging from 8 1/2 inches to 11 1/2 inches.   I kept 10 and had the most out of about 10 fisherman.   I did not catch the biggest fish, though.   A fisherman right next to me caught a big bullhead (15 or 16 inches), and a bigger drum which was the first one I've seen this season.

Here is how the other fisherman around me did.  One had 4 nice perch, One had 5 nice perch, and all the other guys had 2 or 3 when I left.   A few of the perch I saw were jumbo class (12 to 14 inches). 

I appeared to be the luckiest guy today but I have had my days of catching zip while others reeled them in.  Just the luck of the draw.  Happy Hooking!

Slow Day of Perch Fishing

Today I headed out to the bay in pursuit of jumbo perch.  There was a stiff southern wind so the water was calm.  The first half hour of light I caught 5 small perch and then the next few hours I caught 3 more small perch.  Did not bring home any jumbos today.  I talked to a couple friends, as well as, another fisherman who were going from place to place trying to locate fish.  Today, no one was doing well perch fishing.  Some days they just don't bite.  Will be heading out next week.  Good luck fishin' 

Perch Starting to Bite in Bay

Went Perch fishing today in the bay with friend Rob Cocina (FishRoberie blog).  We caught a bunch of dinks and I managed to catch only 1 keeper.  Saw a few nice perch caught but the size is primarily small.  Still waiting for the Lake Erie Jumbo Perch to come into the bay.  Going out again tomorrow, hopefully, will have better luck.  If you are heading out perch fishing stay in the bay as the piers are striking out so far.  Good luck fishin'

Steelhead Fishing Under Way

Today, I took a ride and checked out some of the local streams and they are ready to be fished.  They are still flowing high and cloudy but the conditions are ideal.  I looked at 4 and 7 mile and I would say that probably the larger streams are still running a little faster. 

By this weekend, all the area streams will be fishable and they will have an abundance of steelhead in them.  These fish have not seen a lot of bait thrown at them so I bet they will be biting on most anything.  The only thing that will ruin this coming weekend's fishing will be heavy rain but it is not forecast until Sunday.

This weekend will probably be one of the best weekends to catch Lake Erie steelhead.  Grab your poles and get out there! 

Forget Fishing this Weekend.

The very warm temperatures of late have made the ice in the lake break up and most areas will be unfishable this weekend.  In the local streams, ice has blown out and the streams are now raging rivers.  If you fish this weekend for steelhead, make sure you bring a lot of weight, like 3 pounds of lead, and a ball and shackles to hold you in the streams:) 
Just kidding...but my assessment is this.  Wait until next week, when there should be many new steelhead in the streams.  Hopefully, they will be fishable by then. 

Ice Fishing Coming to a Close.

The past few days have been sunny with temperatures in the low to upper 40's.  Be very careful if you are planning an ice fishing trip within the next couple days.  The ice is very slushy and although there are still a few brave fisherman, I am going to now wait until ice out to go.  If you do feel brave, avoid the dock (Dobbins Landing) and do not venture out of the fourth parking lot on Presque Isle.  Stay in the shallows and fish off of the first parking lot or in Misery Bay where the ice is still hanging on.  By this weekend, there may not be any safe ice and I will try to bring you a full report Friday evening.

On the goodside, the streams have begun to thaw and soon thousands of fresh steelhead trout will be venturing up the streams.  I would estimate that in another week or so, the local streams will be fishable.  Good luck fishin' and don't go out if it doesn't look safe.

Try Fishing with a Bottle Cap Fish Lure.

(Free-Press-Release.com) March 4, 2010 -- Inventor Norm Price created the first Bottle Cap Fishing Lure


on a $50 bet. Since then, this lure has gone on to win 2 Canadian National Angling Championships and continues by shattering records all the way to Mexico, all while promoting a cleaner environment.

Made from ordinary bottle caps, the patent-pending lures are custom-shaped and weighted to catch several species of fish. The reflective nature of the cap attracts schools of fish, and inserted ball bearings add noise and weight. "My first cast I landed a 32" brown trout," says inventor Norm Price. "My forth cast landed me a 28" rainbow trout. I won a $50 bet, and proved that the Bottle Cap Lure really does work."

There can't be many fish that haven't been exposed to Master
Bottle Cap Fishing Lures Go On To Help Canadian Win 4 National Angling Championships.

More from the author

Custom Printed Fishing Lure Promotion

Beer Cap Fishing Lures Making A Huge Splash

Redneck Fishing Trend Explodes With Beer Cap Fishing LuresAngler Andy Vander Ploeg's magic. Andy qualified with a whopping 1,749.75 points to become Ford Angler of the Year for the second year in a row. In the process, he also captured an incredible 60% of all Canadian Master Angler awards. Andy states, "The Bottle Cap Lures have played a big role in my success as a Master Angler, and are responsible for my 4 National Championships".



If you think that's a fluke, think again.



Norm Price the inventor of this ingenious lure. Formerly owned a Outdoor Adventure company called Call Of The Wild Adventure Tours Canada. Once again after closing this successful business almost 4 years ago he is reopening and will be using the Bottle Cap Lure to promotes the services once offered. This will include fishing tours,

The ingenious lure also helps recycle a small portion of over 100,000 of North American bottle cap refuse per month that would otherwise end up in a landfills, lakes, streams or worse. "I collect over 100,000 bottle caps each week and that's just in Montreal," says Mr. Price. "We are already planning bottle cap recycling centers all over the US and Canada." This will create new work for students, single moms, and anyone else wanting to work from home at their own pace. This will also give brewing companies a chance to put all the discarded caps to good use.

Mr. Price says a judge has also assured him that since he's using discarded caps beer companies can't go after him for using their product. "You would think that beer companies would jump at the chance to participate with us in helping the environment and receiving free marketing too, but some beer companies don­t like it, and are completely unsupportive," says Price. Matter of fact the former company Norm Price did promotions with in Alberta, Molson Breweries sent Mr. Price a letter from their legal department stating he can not use these discarded caps stating they have to go into the garbage. Mr. Price can supply a copy of this letter. Here is a CTV new video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-kOYS6LaIU "We will work hard to promote beer companies who appreciate our initiative to create a cleaner world, while responsibly exposing millions to their respective brands."



The Bottle Cap Fishing Lure will be launched into the United States this
month through nationwide fishing stores, marinas, convenience store,
and hardware stores. Giving back to the community, Mr. Price has a stable of about 150 workers, including many senior citizens, students and stay-at-home moms who assemble the lures for him in their spare time.

The Bottle Cap Lure Company helps promote a clean environment while creating championship fishing lures and custom fishing lure products for corporate promotions.

For more information, please go to their website http://www.therednecklure.com/

Fish Quit Biting.

The past week fish have appeared to disappear from the bay and areas around Presque Isle.  In fact, the only positive report that I received was from a fisherman who went straight out from Dobbins Landing last Saturday.  He caught 14 nice jumbo perch and threw back a lot of small ones. 

Since Saturday, I have not talked to anyone that has done well.  Usually around this time, the crappie fishing improves so if I get out this weekend I will most likely target them.  If it is sunny, though, chances are they will not be cooperating too well.  Better days are ahead, Good luck fishin'.

Asian Carp; An Interesting Environmental Science Experiment.

DNA from the invasive Asian Carp has recently been found in nearby Lake Michigan.  Biologists fear that this large invasive fish can cause ecosystem collapse, as these fish are voracious feeders.  So far, DNA from these fish have not been found in Lake Erie or Presque Isle Bay, however, based on past events it may be just a matter of time.

When I was a child, my grandfather used to tell me about the blue pike fishery.  He told me that boats would go out in the early morning and return with literally hundreds of blue pike.  No one ever thought that blue pike could be fished to extinction.  Now the blue pike are gone.  Yellow perch numbers are strong and sportfisherman now catch many more perch due to the cessation of commercial gill-netting which was a great move for all but commercial fisherman.  Walleye numbers are pretty good.  Steelhead numbers are excellent. 

But what happens when this big fat carp gets into our lake?  Well, all I can say is this; I did not know what zebra mussels were before they invaded and I did not know what the heck a round goby was until I actually caught one.  Now, both of these invasive species can be found almost everywhere you look in both the bay and the lake.

Many fish are using both of them as food sources.  I certainly don't want them in the lake but one must admit that the lake is a lot clearer than it was 30 years ago.  Fisherman are also catching Lake Trout off of the piers so it is possible that the zebra mussel has benefitted the Lake Trout. 

For the shore fisherman, the round goby is a royal pain in the neck.  They attack the bait very quickly and usually strip the hook before a nice perch can find it.  I don't know about you but the government should do everything in their power to stop this Asian carp before it gets here unlike they did about the zebra mussel or round goby.  If the Asian carp feed as aggressively as the experts say they do, it is possible they can cause the depletion or total extinction of other native fish species.

So far, agencies have failed in stopping the spread of invasive species into the great lakes.  Let's hope that for this one they can finally do the right thing and use every means possible to prevent this alien fish from entering our waterways.  Should have kept it in Asia.

One group that is watching this issue closely is Save Our Native Species.  Please consider donating to them or another organization that is working for the benefit of the great lakes ecosystem. 

New York State Fishing

This past Saturday while I was up in New York, I ventured out onto Chautaqua Lake near Jamestown NY to see how the ice fisherman were doing.  It was sunny and about 30 degrees and it seemed like everybody was catching a lot of bluegills.  I stopped and talked to a fisherman who had about 30 big bluegills on the ice and one whopper crappie.  While I stood there for a few minutes I saw quite a few fish being pulled out of the holes.  It must have been a great day to be out fishing or Chautaqua Lake is an excellent place to ice fish. 

Next year I am going to buy a New York license and fish Chautaqua for a few days.  A couple words of advice, though.  The ice on Chautaqua does not look like good ice.  It is very thick (14 inches or so) but the top 8-10  inches are snowpack ice.  Snowpack ice melts quickly so I would be very careful venturing out after a warm front comes in.  Good Luck fishing!

My Biggest Bay Perch Ever!

This afternoon was a good day to go out ice fishing. The winds were from the west and it was not too windy on Presque Isle Bay. I was going to fish off of Chestnut Street but the parking lot was full so I decided to try off of the fourth parking lot on Presque Isle. There were about 30 other huts all clustered around 400 yards off of the parking lot. I asked my brother if he wanted to hike out that far and he said "sure" so we parked and started unloading our gear.

A couple fisherman were just coming in around 12:30 pm so we asked them how they did. They showed us their bucket and there looked to be around 30 perch between the sizes of 8 and 10 inches in one of their buckets. We asked them where they were at and they said they were in 16 feet of water about 100 yards before the rest of the pack. After thanking them for the info, we headed out to what we thought was about where they were. The water depth was about 16 feet give or take so I thought we would catch a lot of fish.

I was in the water for only about 5 minutes when I got a big hit. I set the hook and my drag started zipping out. I thought for sure it was a steelhead and after a few minutes I saw a pretty big largemouth bass coming up my hole. My brother grabbed him as the jig popped out of his mouth. This was my largest bass caught through the ice ever and it measured about 18.5 inches.

About 10 minutes later, on the same rod, I hooked into another heavy fish. This fish turned out to be my biggest bay perch ever! It measured 14 and an eighth inches and I later weighed it at my house on a very accurate digital scale. It's weight equaled 1 pound 9 ounces. Now that's a jumbo perch!

All of a sudden the wind shifted direction and it began snowing. The magical fish turned off like they do and my brother and I sat there for a hour without a bite. I did catch 2 more perch; one that I threw back (7.25 inches) and one more that I kept (8.75 inches). I also had a very large bluegill up to the hole but my jig popped out and he dove back into the depths.

My brother unfortunately got skunked for the day. It was very interesting. I caught all of my fish on the same rod out of the same hole. It must have been jig color. The hot jig today was a glowing red with a white eye.

Well, once again I went out at the wrong time. The guys before us caught a lot more fish in the morning, although I was pretty happy with only a few. I am going to go back out Monday or Tuesday morning and try it again. Good Luck!

Ice Fishing Season is Here

Just a quick little post to inform you that the ice is a safe 6 inches in the bay and Misery Bay on Presque Isle. Thirty huts were out on the ice Thursday (Misery) and this weekend there will most likely be more as the fishing reports are coming in. According to one fisherman I talked to, the bluegills are biting well with a good number of crappies being caught also. The crappies are not huge yet, but the biggies should be showing up soon. The crappies are also in tight schools with some huts doing well and others striking out.

I have not ventured out yet but hopefully soon I will be bringing you my own success stories. Happy Fishin'