Fantastic Spring Perch Season Still Going Strong.

I have been fishing quite a bit lately and sorry have not had time to update my blog.  The Yellow Perch fishing in Presque Isle Bay has been fantastic this year with many fish and quite a few jumbos.  As of today, the perch are present in heavy numbers in the channel.  Many people are catching limits of nice fish. 

My last outing was with my good friend Rob and his son.  He also blogs about his outdoor experiences at:  Robfisherie.  We caught a lot of perch.  Most of them were not jumbos but good eating size of 8 to 10 inches.  We also threw back a number of smaller fish that we might catch next year. 

I kept 21 fish and Rob and his son kept 22.   After filleting them, I have quite a pile of nice fillets that I will be tossing in the fryer soon.  I estimate another week or two of perch fishing before they head out of the channel into the open Lake Erie. 

Good luck fishing! 

Perch Now in Bay in Good Numbers

Fishing is picking up in Presque Isle Bay.  Crappies are hitting in the Stinkhole area and perch are being caught throughout the bay.  The usual spots are hot.  The second and third parking lots on Presque Isle are yielding a lot of jumbo perch if you have a boat and can get out into 8 feet or so of water.  If you are a shore fisherman, all areas of the bay are good. 

Yesterday, my brother and I went out and caught some nice perch.  He caught a monster 14 incher on a live shiner and then followed it up with a nice 10 inch fish.  I tried jigging; and I used a red glow jig.  I caught three nice perch on the jig and then caught a good one on a live shiner. 

We ended up with 6 good fish that are going to make a great meal.  The perch should be spawning within the next week and then will start moving towards the channel.  Both the south pier and north pier will be getting hot within the next couple weeks.  Good luck fishing!

Cold Day of Fishing for a Few Fish.

Today I headed down to Presque Isle Bay to try for jumbo yellow perch. The bay was calm and the skies cloudy. The temperature was pretty chilly. I would guess that it was in the upper 40's.

The fish were biting but I don't think the numbers are there yet. My brother and I caught 10 fish or so and kept three. One fish was nice but I would not call it a jumbo. It was around 9 and a half inches. The perch in the bay right now are running pretty small. The jumbos are still in 50 feet of water in the lake. The weather forecast is calling for real chilly nights so the lake water temperature will start dropping fast. By November, the jumbos should be showing up off of the piers.

Usually by now, steelhead are caught off of the piers throughout the bay. I have not seen any caught yet but did hear about a big steely caught off of the North Pier. Steelhead are entering the creeks now in good numbers but fishing pressure is pretty heavy. Nice fish are being caught in the usual spots like Elk and Walnut Creeks. Good luck fishing and I am going back out Wednesday!

Cold Presque Isle Bay Temperatures are Keeping Perch from Leaving.

Yesterday was blustery, windy and cold and I still got up to go fishing with my friend Rob (RobFishErie blog).  The wind was pretty strong out of the east and the rain must have been just above freezing.  We decided to try off of the Border Patrol one last time to see if the fish were still holding there.  The fishing was slow but the fish we caught were large.  Rob caught a 14 incher, and a couple just under that.  My five fish were also nice sized (a fisherman gave me two). We must have fished about five hours to catch this many fish so we think that the fish are moving out towards the piers.  Also, they appear to be done spawning so this week should be hot as the spawned out fish gorge themselves to regain the energy they spent spawning.  Gotta go for now, this afternoon is nice and the fish are gonna bite!  Come on back and see how I've done!  Good Luck!

Perch Fishing In Presque Isle Bay

Today I saw a break in the weather and decided to do a little afternoon fishing for perch.  Fishing pressure was light as storms just passed and the weather was improving.  It did not take me long to start catching fish.  I caught three nice perch within a half hour or so and then the weather took a turn for the worst.  It must have dropped about 10 degrees and the wind started blowing hard out of the east. 

I did not catch any fish for about an hour and then the weather started improving again.  The wind subsided and the waves calmed down.  The fish started biting again and I fished for a couple more hours.  I was pleased to have my brother John with me and he caught two nice perch.  I ended up keeping eight fish for a total of 10 in the bucket.  I only threw back three fish today so most of them were nice fish.  My friend Rob showed up too.  And soon he caught a few nice fish.  All in all it was a good afternoon of fishing.  The perch seem to be cooperating from Liberty Pier to the channel.  I heard a report that the fish have moved into the channel and are being caught off of the south pier now.  I have not fished the south pier yet so I cannot verify this.  I like to invite all of my friends and family to go fishing.  So far, my friend Mike has not gone and Randy won't go until it hits 60 degrees.  Now is the time to catch jumbo perch from shore so get those poles ready and give it a shot!  Good luck fishin"

Perch Fishing Improves Off of Local Piers.

This past week I have been scouting the piers and looking to see what the fisherman are catching. Quite a few perch are now being caught, many are small but there are jumbos mixed in. Steelhead are now in all of the local streams in large numbers. Out at Walnut Creek this past week there were an estimated 1200 fish from near the mouth up to the hole just above the first bridge. Fisherman are catching quite a few steelhead with those using lighter lines faring the best in clear water conditions. Steelhead fishing around Erie will continue to be very good to excellent from now until the end of April unless the streams become frozen later on. Happy Fishin'

Perch Fishing Slow in Channel.

It's name is Perca flavescens, common name yellow perch, and this is the fish that is most sought from the fishing piers surrounding Erie, PA. Today, I went fishing for this tasty fish and the weather really was not cooperating. The wind was blowing hard out of the northwest and there was a bad current in the channel which kept moving my bait towards the lake reminding me of river fishing. Then it started raining and right before I was about to forget fishing and go home and watch football, it suddenly quit raining and I was able to fish until dark. I managed to catch a whopping two fish: one nice sized 10 inch perch and a round goby.

I talked to several other fisherman who did not do any better. It appears that there are a few nice perch moving into the pier waters but the vast majority of them are still out in the lake. Crappies seem to have disappeared from alongside the piers. Steelhead appear to be moving closer to shore in decent numbers as I saw quite a few splashing the surface before dark. The weather has not been that cooperative for fishing the past few days. I plan on getting back out this week scouting for both returning perch and steelhead. Happy fishin'

Returning Perch Starting to Show Up in Buckets

Yesterday I ventured out to the South Pier to check on the perch fishing. Only a couple fisherman. I talked to two of them that were fishing for about an hour and caught 3 perch. One was nice around 10 inches; the other two they released. The lake erie water temperature is falling fast, thanks to the colder than normal weather. Perch fishing should be improving and I am going to give it a go this weekend. Hopefully, I will be showing off my catch in my next update. Happy fishin'