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Tried fishing the war buoy for perch last sat morning, which was futile. Anyway, I would follow the anchor line down into the water with my eyes. As I did this in 30 ft of water, I kept getting the strangest sensation that I was seeing the bottom clearly. In 43 years I don't think this has ever happened. Could have been an illusion I guess? Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Somewhere around 1969 still foggy on that:confused:, but I did notice Most water east of Kellys to Lorain was clear like Iv'e not seen in years! It almost looked Lk Mi.
You are probably not seeing the bottom out that far in probably 30+ depth water. I’ve been scuba diving Lake Erie for 25+ years so I am very versed in the Lake’s water clarity. I know the illusion you mention. It could be bottom if you were in less than 20 feet or so of extremely clear for Lake Erie water, but barely visible. Even in the best clarity I’ve ever seen diving the Lake, which was almost clear due to few particulates in the water and in 15 foot of depth (crib reef area), the visibility maximum was about 25-30 feet to see an object, but without detail. It’s possible but extremely unlikely.
It’s also not uncommon for the bottom area to be more turbid than the rest of the water column, especially in a mud/silt/sand bottom location. So surface visibility may be almost clear but farther down it could be less.
If anyone reading this would like to know more about this, help me deploy some underwater cameras in the Lake this season while fishing (takes 15 minutes), please send me a private message. I’d be very appreciative.
West
West basin, sounds right up my alley, txt or call if you'd like. 419 516 7325, thanks, Teddy
There has been several times over the past 3 summers where I could watch my anchor hit bottom in 30ft of water North of West Sister. Know for sure as I saw the dirt cloud when it hit bottom.
ive seen the water so clean you could see a long way down but that was late in the year middle nov and we could not catch perch in the clean water we moved half a dozen times and finally found some lightly stained water at b can where we picked up 100 perch we we were very picky at this time a year had fun running all over the lake burnt a lot of gas 8 of us half charter captains this is how they get fish for there freezer when trips are done and fun fishing starts
Out there yes. That area doesn't get the wind stir cloudy water from the shores as quickly, plus it also often gets clearer Detroit River water. But it is still pretty rare to see bottom in 30 foot depth water in the Western Basin of LE. Curious - why drop anchor north of West Sister in summer? Perch way out there? Maybe just killed your secret? :-)
No secret at all. Tons of boats perch North of the Island during the Summer.
I don't ever remember a year where the water was consistently very clear around the islands like it has been this year! Wonder why?
In the 50's the water was every bit as clear as it is today. We had no trouble catching perch or walleyes during those years between 1955 and the early 60's. Sure water clarity is a factor and requires a little bit more stealth. How many of you have sat in a boat on a sunny day perch fishing when one side constantly and consistently out produces the other? Did you ever wonder why? I have found that the side that has the shadow of the boat on their side most often catches the most perch. That holds true more so when the bite is slower, but there are days when that is reversed. But when the bite is hot it does not seem to matter. Next time watch for yourselves and form your own opinion about my statement you may be surprised.
Heading up to the boat now will post when I get back.
Lack of rain for the rivers to get pumping and no big NE winds since Spring to beat up the shoreline.Quote:
Originally Posted by PatSea
Fishhead315 is correct. The two main factors influencing water clarity, rain and wind, have been pretty slight so far this season. Cooler weather might curb the algae also.
As for the perch fishing, I did a scuba dive a few years back when we were anchored perch fishing. I was going to try and get some underwater video. What I discovered is the typical perch rigs, weighted spreaders, stir up the silt and clay off the bottom from hitting it so often. There is a cloud of low visibility water that forms. You can't see your hand in front of your face in the middle of it. This cloud moves with the bottom current. On one side of the boat the cloud was only about 10 feet out from the side (remember the boat will move back and forth using one anchor), after that the vis was the normal for that day. On the other side of the boat the cloud was much thicker. That was the bottom current direction. After you fish for a while you form a long bottom cloud of low vis water that moves with the current, like the wind does with a smokestack. My guess is the perch see this cloud and swim into it, searching for what is causing it which often means the bottom is being disturbed, stirring up food sources. They come in from that direction and find the spreaders on that side of the boat first. Or maybe it's the opposite. Just my theory after seeing it firsthand.
Well that makes sense also. It also seems they like the shaded side of the boat and the bite will move with the boat shadow as the sun moves changing the boats shadow profile as the day progresses.
WestBasin, very interesting observation about the cloud from stirring up the bottom! Makes sense. Maybe the perch are reluctant to enter the cloud for fear of larger predators being inside, so they hang on the outside or up current side?
Hi... text me .. im on the lake alot... mostly Black River/Lorain...
Quote:
Originally Posted by West Basin
I couldn't get over how clean the water was around Kelley's this weekend. I really wished that I had snorkeling equipment to check out Kelleys Shoal, Gull Island Shoal, and even just the east side of Kelleys. Pretty awesome feeling to be going 30mph and look down and clearly see the bottom in 15+ FOW.