Sad State of Perch Fishing on Lake Erie

Let me preface this,that i am not an avid perch fisherman and i only occasionally perch fish.These are observations and opinions regarding what has happened to the yellow perch fishing on lake erie, based mostly on what i have read here and on Ohio Game and Fish.I could be exaggerating the problems and be wrong on some of my opinions on this controversial topic.
I had planned to perch fish this past monday with 3 other friends on a head boat.I stopped at two places sunday when the boats came in to see how they did.I went to Tibbles at 2:30 as their two boats came in.While i was waiting,talked to John Tibbles who is a 4th generation owner of the business.He said his perch fishing head boats and charters are way down for the past 5yrs due to lack of perch.The two boats came in and i talked to a couple guys from each boat.They fished north of Kellies and the size was not that big and the average catch was around 10 perch per person.
I then drove over to the Sassy Sal at 3pm to see how they did.The investigator had a total of 60 fish and the Sal had 150 for 15 guys.Size was small.Went into the cleaners at the Sal and watched a guy cleaning a bucket of 6-7" perch.Told my buddies what i saw so decided on the Sassy Sal.
We left the dock at 8am monday and headed to G can.Was a beautifull calm day.Had a full boat of 15 people and i sat next to captain Andy and 1st mate Mark. Had an enjoyable conversation with them both.Great guys and they seemed to really know their fishing on our lake.Unfortunately the fishing was slow again.The boat total was 200 perch, and the size was not very good.Everyone was keeping even 6" fish.The 4 of us caught like 40 fish that weighed 13lbs.The other head boats did not catch any better either.
Now we were fishing the end of October.Traditionally a very good time for perch fishing in the western basin.The numbers and size of fish seem to be way down the last 5yrs.The ODNR took drastic measures and lowered the perch limit to 10 in the central zone. Essentially closing down the sportman quota for perch there.It seems the perch stocks are in serious trouble.I am not sure how much the quotas have been reduced for the commercial guys either.But i do know that they stopped all commercial netting in the western basin for 3yrs several years ago to help bring back more perch.
I have heard other opinions as to why the perch numbers are down.Too many walleye,invasive species like the spiney water flee,too many cormorants,poor hatches and commercial overfishing. I know the great lakes commission will survey our lake and determine the total allowable catch for yellow perch and will divide that up to all the states and Ontario that border Erie.Then our ODNR will take our quota and determine how much the sportsman and commercial netters will get.I do hope the numbers of perch do improve.Would be a shame if our agencies allow the perch population to crash.

Great story. I perch fished 3 days in a row. Started Sunday could not find fish from lakeside to Marblehead. Boated around both packs for an hour looking for marks and watching to see anyone was catching. It was a boring scene but a beautiful day. Didn't even fish saved my emeralds for Monday. Fished west of the green Buoy at Catawba ramp. Found some small and spotty marks in 23 fow got tired of looking so me and the misses baited our poles and caught 6 pounds of perch worth keeping and thru back at least 15 dinks biggest being 10". Tuesday went halfway to G can and caught 10 pounds and thru back a bunch 6" and smaller. Marblehead fish cleaning was busy Tuesday and a couple guys limited out NW of Kelly's. I'm still learning but I seem to always be a day late and a dollar short when it comes to getting a limit of anything but I will die trying.

Perch Fishing and size has been down the last couple of yrs especially in early July when you could get both limits in perch and walleye on the same trip out .. Perch did turn on in early August for a few weeks then died out the last part of that month through September.. Right now they are biting pretty good with real decent sizes 9s -13 inches and a few bigger.. from Catawba to west of the intake .. The bite at times is different from the past so try different ways ..Even if you feel a lil weight give it a pull.. FISH ON 🎣

I agree 100% the perch fishing has been down just check fisherman’s warf website in port Clinton totals for the last 5-10 years. I’m sure those spiny water fleas have something to do with it along with the abundance of walleye and the cormorants. Also the perch lately just don’t bite like before. It’s actually work to go out and catch a limit. Back in the day I could take out the kids and wife who don’t fish to much and they could feel a hit on there rig. It seems everyday is different they way they want the bait. Try a bunch of different presentations to try to feel the bite. Like I said it’s almost like work when trying to catch these yellow bellies the last few years. But I love the challenge. Goodluck

The perch do seem smaller on average than years ago. I will say I have been able to limit 4 times in October and 50% limit the other 2 times out. Probably thrown back another 70 or so below 7.5 inches. Been fishing between KellyÂ’s and Marblehead, northwest of Catawba can, and yesterday just west of KellyÂ’s. No secrets there! Always many boats nearby. One thing for sure is the bite has been light. Often the line just gets a whisker heavy while working the spreader up and down. I retired recently and have particularly enjoyed my time on our Great Lake the past few months. I sure appreciate all those who post here. You are helping me learn a bit about the western basin having grown up near Erie, PA. Thanks!

many reason. 1.lots of walleye 2. a holes and eye balls goes in the bucket 3. spiny water flees choking the perch fry. 4 cormorants. just add them up.

Another thing to consider is the farm animals eating the same food our walleye and perch eat. We fisherman spend big bucks, time and energy to chase our favorite gamefish, yet we constantly throw back all the tradh fish that eat the food that our game fish eat. One example is sheepshead, they forage the same shinner minnows our game fish eat, yet we return them back into the lake to reproduce !! Consider all the sheepshead, white bass, white perch, that are thrown back to keep repopulating and eat all the food our gamefish are after. When food is scarce the game fish leave or their growth is stunted. I have for years made sure the junk fish I return to the lake are not able to reproduce....now if all the fisherman did that, think about how much food for gamefish would be spared !!

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Originally Posted by airshot

Another thing to consider is the farm animals eating the same food our walleye and perch eat. We fisherman spend big bucks, time and energy to chase our favorite gamefish, yet we constantly throw back all the tradh fish that eat the food that our game fish eat. One example is sheepshead, they forage the same shinner minnows our game fish eat, yet we return them back into the lake to reproduce !! Consider all the sheepshead, white bass, white perch, that are thrown back to keep repopulating and eat all the food our gamefish are after. When food is scarce the game fish leave or their growth is stunted. I have for years made sure the junk fish I return to the lake are not able to reproduce....now if all the fisherman did that, think about how much food for gamefish would be spared !!

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The fish are all getting plenty to eat. Have you cleaned a walleye and seen all the fat within? Western Basin Perch have continued to have above the 30-year average hatches with good survival into the 1-year age and into the fishery, along with faster than historical growth rates, according to Ohio Div of Wildlife trawl surveys. Perch have billions of mayfly and midge larvae to feed upon, a robust spiny water flea and other zooplankton population, aquatic worms, snails, gobies, shiners and young of year spiny-rayed fish to eat. By the way, Commercial fishermen, who many people love to hate, keep tons of white bass, white perch and smaller sheepshead in addition to up to 35% of the annual Ohio available perch quota, as managed within 3 units in Lake Erie. High value perch allows them to stay in business. Are you suggesting that sportsmen just waste every fish that they do not want in the lake because you erroneously think they are causing our game fish to starve? Since when aren't White bass a game fish too?

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Originally Posted by hageman

The fish are all getting plenty to eat. Have you cleaned a walleye and seen all the fat within? Western Basin Perch have continued to have above the 30-year average hatches with good survival into the 1-year age and into the fishery, along with faster than historical growth rates, according to Ohio Div of Wildlife trawl surveys. Perch have billions of mayfly and midge larvae to feed upon, a robust spiny water flea and other zooplankton population, aquatic worms, snails, gobies, shiners and young of year spiny-rayed fish to eat. By the way, Commercial fishermen, who many people love to hate, keep tons of white bass, white perch and smaller sheepshead in addition to up to 35% of the annual Ohio available perch quota, as managed within 3 units in Lake Erie. High value perch allows them to stay in business. Are you suggesting that sportsmen just waste every fish that they do not want in the lake because you erroneously think they are causing our game fish to starve? Since when aren't White bass a game fish too?

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Been fishing lake erie forwell over 60 years and have never swa anyone go after sheepshead oor white bass. Ever wonder why their population just keeps growing and growing !! Dont forget about the multimillion dollar industry that will flush down the toilet when all there are left is sheepshead and white bass....I was around when we almost lost the walleye population and the lake was considered dead, if we dont watch ourselves it can easily and quickly happen again !!

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Originally Posted by airshot

Been fishing lake erie forwell over 60 years and have never swa anyone go after sheepshead oor white bass. Ever wonder why their population just keeps growing and growing !! Dont forget about the multimillion dollar industry that will flush down the toilet when all there are left is sheepshead and white bass....I was around when we almost lost the walleye population and the lake was considered dead, if we dont watch ourselves it can easily and quickly happen again !!

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Well, I have been fishing the lake for near 60 years too and have seen some of the same. The walleye population was pretty low, but not from starvation. It was from pollution and overharvest.

The lake is much improved, thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972. We can now have lots of walleyes, yellow perch, white bass, freshwater drum, white perch and many other species in great numbers as long as the western basin remains as productive as it is now. They are not mutually exclusive, although white perch have tried to take away more than their fair share of the available resources.

Zebra mussels are even more devastating, but that is a whole other story that doesn't affect the western basin as much as it does elsewhere.

There is no evidence to support the claim that walleyes eating too many yellow perch. No doubt that they get some, but dont seek them out.

They eat a lot more young-of-year white perch and some young-of-year white bass and "sheepshead", which are less abundant. I have even seen them with 6-8 young-of-year channel catfish in their stomachs.

This is not guesswork, but learned through opening adult walleyes and looking at their stomach contents in numbers sufficient to generate valid scientific data. Div. of Wildlife trawling figures show high densities of yearling yellow perch are surviving, so claims of walleyes eating "all the perch" by some fishermen are also not supported by science.

Regarding white bass fishing, people used to look for flocks of gulls diving into the lake- then race over and cast to the schools of white bass which have trapped emerald shiners up to the surface of the lake. Big fun if you never tried it. My best streak was catching 39 white bass on 13 casts (using 3- 1/8oz. leadhead jigs dressed with white curly-tails). Lower numbers of emerald shiners make this observation a rarity compared to before white perch invaded the lake and multiplied in the 80's.

Enjoy the lake now, with its record numbers of walleyes, good populations of perch in the western basin and enough white bass to catch as many as you can drag when they run up the rivers. Many people come from a long distance away to fill their freezers with white bass in May.

Thankfully the sheepshead, white bass and white perch haven't eaten all the prey yet and likely won't in the near future- as long as the farms keep fertilizing the watershed with animal waste so that we can have cheaper bacon. (actually it is so that they can have a higher profit margin....)

P.S.- In addition to being a 50+ year-long Lake Erie angler, I also have a Fisheries Management degree from Ohio State and was involved in fish research on the lake for over 40 years.

I usually don't get involved with these conversations, but I was bored enough to do it this time while I was searching for a good perch fishing report.

Thanks for your input. Love the lake and the fishing. It's got so much to offer. I started out large mouth bass fishing the harbors and traded in my bass boat for a multi species boat. I'm definitely hooked on big water now. Grew up fishing inland lakes and there is no comparison. I'm 59 and wish I would've got this bug years ago. I'm definitely grateful for what we got. My sister wants me to move to Tampa and fish but I don't think I would trade it in. Well maybe in the winter time I'm not an ice fisherman. Enjoyed reading your post.

I agree with the sad state of Lake Erie perch fishing. I have a question for the forum. I am docked at Huron Boat basin Huron Ohio. If I fish for perch at cranberry creek is my limit 10 or 30? I ask this question because I can go east or west to perch fish so ODNR has no idea where I was when I caught those 30 fish but what if Game and fish warden comes to my boat off cranberry creek and I have 30 perch, I assume I am in trouble? Has anyone ever been creel checked by a fish and game warden other than at the Dock?

Fished today 10/29/2022 off of northwest corner of Kellys in 37 fow, got a 60 limit of nice sized yellow perch, had a few throwbacks but most were 8 inches or better! Fished last week directly off of Marblehead lighthouse in very close 30 to 31 fow, only got 44 but they were all nice sized jumbos except for a half dozen 8 inchers. Went there a few days later and didn't get a single perch they just weren't there anymore, tried at the Catawba Island Green bouy the same day didn't pick up a single perch, there just not there except for a ton of throwbacks if you can even find those! Looks like Kelly's is now the hotspot for perch!

You mentioned Cormorants, about Mid October I was sitting at the green can off of Catawba State Park Launched and I watched what I swear had to be thousands of cormorants flying east in huge flocks about 2 to 3 feet above the water. They kept coming flock after flock all day all heading eastward. Where did all those cormorants come from, there were thousands, these guys can decimate fish species, maybe all those cormorants are part of the decline there sure were a lot of them, never saw that many in my 70 year lifetime on lake Erie!

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Originally Posted by northcoastbob

I agree with the sad state of Lake Erie perch fishing. I have a question for the forum. I am docked at Huron Boat basin Huron Ohio. If I fish for perch at cranberry creek is my limit 10 or 30? I ask this question because I can go east or west to perch fish so ODNR has no idea where I was when I caught those 30 fish but what if Game and fish warden comes to my boat off cranberry creek and I have 30 perch, I assume I am in trouble? Has anyone ever been creel checked by a fish and game warden other than at the Dock?

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If you are east of the 82.30 line and you get checked, you better only have a 10 per person limit. It won’t matter where you caught them as ODNR is not going to look at anything other than what you have in your possession and where you are at the time of being checked. I have fished Lake Erie from a boat for over 40 years and have been checked on the water twice. Been checked more at the ramp but it can happen in the water.

hageman, thank you for yur insight to the fishery. I believe the ODNR has done a great job managing the lake Erie fishery. It's one of the best in the country. I too remember fishing for white bass by watching for diving birds and casting white spinner baits and catching bass on every cast for awhile then moving on to the next area of diving birds, It was a blast!
So is the lack of emerald shiners due primarily to the white bass population?

Like a few on this thread I, too, have been fishing (and scuba diving and generally paying attention to the Lake ecology) the Lake for a long time. 45 years. I also have an education in Natural Resources and have been a ODW fisheries employee.

When we talk about the the Lake, we need to be able to separate hearsay and personal observation ("fish talk") evidence from scientific evidence. Sometimes personal observation over a long time is valid. Sometimes it isn't. Sometimes scientific studies and the conclusions of those studies are valid. Sometimes they aren't, or what the data appear to tell you is temporary as more study is needed.

Mother Nature has been around a long, long time. Every ecosystem has the ability to recover from changes, adapt. The Lake has gone through constant change ever since it's first version was formed from the Ice Age glaciers. It's a very dynamic system, with many variables, all interacting together. The Lake can recover / adapt from human caused changes, which are often much faster than natural changes. We should be careful about making dire predictions for the future or believing one factor is the cause for a change. Everything changes, nothing stays the same over time, and there are usually more than one reason for change.

Just because you aren't catching perch in the numbers or the way your grandfather or father did doesn't mean that's a permanent change. Do you know how the yellow perch fishing was in 1870? 1910? Even 1940? The current yellow perch situation could be a short decline, a lengthy decline, even a permanent decline in numbers. Or the population could rebound over the next few years back toward the higher numbers we've had in the recent past.

Human activities have had a major impact on the Lake. If you know the history of the fishery, you'd know walleye and yellow perch weren't even major targeted commercial species until the populations of other targeted fish declined so much that the commercial industry switched to them. If you could go back in time 200 years and fish like we do today, what you would and could catch would be quite different than today. Even some of those species, such as Sturgeon, whitefish, and cisco, are making population comebacks. At least one species is thought to be extinct, the Blue Pike, which was a popular recreational fishing species up to as recent as the 1950's.

We've come a long way in understanding the Lake and how our activities effect it. Fisheries management monitors the Lake fishery, they get better at it every year. The technology advancements are making that job so much more efficient and accurate. The ability to collect and analyze data is so much greater now, and that ability is improving at a rapid pace. If there is a serious problem, one that appears to be dire, in all likelihood we'll know about it and it probably won't take too long to at least get a good idea of why it's happening and be able to take measures to address it.

Also, we shouldn't make conclusions from data that are not provable. Do walleye "target" yellow perch? If you do a scientific stomach analysis of walleye, just because you don't find many yellow perch, and say a lot more white perch, doesn't mean the walleye don't target them. Yellow perch may be harder to catch, thus fewer of them are found in the stomach. Maybe white perch were more available to those walleye at the time. Maybe walleye feeding at the same time but 15 miles away would have had different stomach contents (more yellow perch). The only thing you really know is that walleye in that study fed on whatever their stomach contents showed. You don't know where in the water column they were eaten, or even were in the Lake (the fish may have been eaten miles away from where the walleye was captured). Over time one can build up enough evidence to reasonably conclude something, but without the proper data you really don't know for sure. It's not like following a pride of lions for a year where you can watch them pretty much 24-7 and actually see their hunts, see what they hunt and when, and how successful they are.

The same goes for cormorants, commercial fishing, etc., a lot of things some fisher folks think is the cause for the decline in yellow perch populations. Just because you observe something at the same time something else is changing doesn't mean what you observe is causing it, or is even a factor. It may be. It has to be studied to find out. Killing other species of fish you catch because you think they are a big part of the perch decline issue? What evidence is there sheepshead or white bass or white perch populations have increased? If they are such yellow perch predators then why didn't the yellow perch population decline decades ago? Did they all of a sudden change their thousand year old feeding habits? This isn't like the boa constrictors or iguanas that showed up in Florida recently and have now become major invasive predators having a big impact on native species.

We need to enjoy the current fishery, because it's overall better than it has been in years, and the walleye fishing looks to be good for years to come. The yellow perch fishing is not as good, but it's overall still fairly good. A buddy of mine caught a nice size limit last weekend. I've heard of and seen on here some real nice catches. It may not be like it was 10 years ago or even 5 years ago, but the fishery is still there and the fishing can be really good. Heck, I remember yellow perch fishing back in the 1980's where one weekend it was "up and down" and the next weekend we caught 15. That hasn't changed.

We'll have to wait and see what the future brings.

Very well stated West Basin. Thank you.

So from my logbook, in 2018 had 13 perch trips (from 2-7 people per trip) and 1397 perch kept. Then and prior, some folks from our campground near Port Clinton perched all year long and did well. 2019 was when the Perch fishing changed for me, 7 trips and 76 perch kept. This year 13 trips (2-4 people per trip) and 609 perch kept. Wish I would have brought home my logbook and could have shared other years.

Made it out Friday on a Neighbor's boat around G/H cans with the East wind, crew of 3 kept 40. We missed the nice weather and quick limits earlier in the week. There are now at least 6 sets of nets, 1 North of H, (yes, in the range), 1 North of Midway between H to G (in the range). 1 net is South of G, not sure how far, more towards G, flags everywhere so basically that area is heavily netted now. Are we basically making the netters jobs easier posting online our better fishing locations? The internet sure is great for sharing info!

So I heard from a very reliable source that the netters Perch quota was decreased from the Central basin and Increased in the Western basin.
Does anyone else know what these limits currently are and have been?

I hope everyone Winters well!

Took a drive from Bay shore rd to sr 163 and there were nets with red flags around lake point motel and other places off of sr163 not 200 yrds off shore .. Take a drive and you will see for yourselves. Perch must be up close!!