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!

Ice Is Not Safe on Presque Isle Bay

Ice fishing report February 16 2013-

Today, I thought I could go ice fishing and catch some big fat bluegill that I heard are biting in Misery Bay on Presque Isle.  Boy, was I wrong!  Apparently, the wind shifted and blew in warmer lake waters because today there is no good ice anywhere.  The normal fishing hotspots had open water today which is pretty unusual for this time of year. 

I thought Misery Bay was going to be fishable but there is about 10 feet of water by the shore and the ice does not look thick.  There was nobody fishing today on Misery Bay.  The only place that one could fish on Presque Isle today was on the Waterworks pond.  And, the ice was maybe 4 inch thick. 

The weather over the next few days is going to be favorable for the development of ice.  Sunday there is going to be a low of 16 but Monday it gets near 40 again with forecasted wind and possible rain.  Later next week looks optimistic for ice fishing.

On a bright note; the local streams are almost totally blown out as seen in the photo and there are fresh run steelies ready to be caught.  Tight lines!

Ice Fishing Conditions are Improving

Today there was quite a few fisherman in Misery Bay and a few on Horshoe Pond.  I heard that at least a couple people fell through the thin ice, so if you go out be extremely careful and have your hand spikes ready.  You can fall through the ice even if it is thick.  I personally would recommend waiting another couple days before going on the ice. 

The bluegills are biting really well in Misery with a few nice crappies being caught also.  As of this writing, the ice thickness is around 3 inches thick.  The rest of Presque Isle Bay is not fishable.

This weekend will be huge for Misery bay and there will probably be quite a few fisherman off of the foot of Chestnut and first and second parking lots on Presque Isle.

The weather may warm up again and ruin the ice on Monday of next week.  Hopefully, the temperatures will stay in the 30's so we don't lose too much ice.  The rest of the next week should be cold enough to form new ice.  Good luck fishing and be safe. 

Group Names Presque Isle Top Fishing and Boating Park.

Presque Isle State Park was named one of the top eight state parks for boating and fishing in America. The Nature's Waterpark Showdown national competition was sponsored by the Recreational and Fishing Foundation and asked its fans to vote for the top parks on Facebook. Voters had 24 parks to choose from in the eight week contest, said a news release. In addition to Presque Isle, the champions were Lake Murray State Park in Oklahoma, Itasca State Park in Minnesota, Blue Spring State Park in Florida, El Dorado State Park in Kansas, Cave Lake State Park in Nevada, Fall Creek State Park in Tennessee and Wellington State Park in New Hampshire. For more information, visit Take Me Fishing on Facebook.

In Search of Crappies

In case you have not seen one, Erie PA has some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world. Erie also is home to Presque Isle bay which is home to some very big crappies. Unfortunately, the crappies this year have been as elusive as a 12 point buck. A friend of mine did catch some in the spring but this summer the fish are being difficult to locate. Another problem exists also; the local bait shops are out of emerald shiners which crappie love to feed on. The bait shops are selling fathead minnows but they do not catch nearly as many fish. This week I am going to focus on catching some crappies. Normally, they are found this time of year suspended in the deeper waters of the bay. Therefore, I am going to fish a variety of colored jigs a couple feet under a bobber.

I am also going to fish according to the major and minor solunar periods. If these are right, tonight I should catch the majority of fish between 8:06 to 10:06 p.m. I will be out there fishing unless we get a big thunderstorm which might happen. Interestingly, my nephew went out yesterday with a couple buddies and they did catch some beautiful slabs during the major period. The fish averaged about 12 inches and were turned on for only about an hour. I have an arsenal of jigs that I am going to toss at the fish this week. Hopefully, I get into them and will post pictures of my success. Good luck fishing!