Perch. West of Kellys 8/2/22

Fished twice this past week West of Kellys in 28 FOW. 3 persons both times. 150 total perch (64 lbs) fishing shiners on the bottom using in line rigs. Numerous 11 and 12 inch perch. Heard there is a better bite near Green island.

Baha299

nice job on the perch

Great. Glad your on them.
Thanks for the report.

What am I do wrong I fished west of Kelly's on Friday in with all the others out there did not catch a single perch

Impossible to say what your doing wrong without seeing it. Here's what you need to do. (1) Get good minnows for bait, preferably emeralds. (2) use your electronics so you know there are fish under you. (3) use sensitive graphite rods with braid so you can feel the bite. (4) if your not getting bites, move to another spot. (5) keep your weight on the bottom unless you are using spreaders. Drop spreader to the bottom and raise up a crank or two. I fish with 2 rods and hold them to feel the ticks of the bite. That also lets me cushion the wave action to keep my weights from lifting off the bottom.
The most important thing about perch fishing is pay attention to details. Watch your rod tips and feel what's going on. Hope this helps.

Good advice from Wheezer. Perch for us have been biting very lightly; sometimes only a vibration in the line or tip of rod. We were teasing strikes by letting the bait fall to bottom and leaving it there (slack line) for about 5 seconds. Then slowly tighten line and anticipate a bite. That said we fished the same area Saturday 8-6-22 and only caught 12 perch. Lots of white perch now in that area. We started south of the 1000 boats near Green island but only had 5 keepers (8 inch or better) and threw back 20 plus small perch in the short time we were there. Just did not wish to deal with all the boats, Jet Express or the poker run go fast boats. Moved east to the west side of Kellys but only got the 12. Fished 830-12p for 17 total perch.

Baha299

First post of hopefully many in the years to come. Purchased a 19 Whaler this spring with the intention to get reacquainted with the Western Basin after a 20 year hiatus. I am learning much from you all and taking notes on how to catch walleye (especially) and perch. My father raised me on drift fishing with Erie Dearies in the 70's (which I still prefer) but I am recognizing the benefits of trolling so need to get in the game.

Perched West of Kelly's on Saturday at 7:30am in 28 FOW in a bank of about 30 other boats. Did not notice anyone pulling in any perch. Landed only 3 with wife and daughter. Daughter decided to chum the waters for awhile after dealing with the 2' rollers which were fully felt due to the Whaler's 'flat' beam angle. Pulled up and moved to just East of the CP breakwall in 29 FOW. There were a couple of other boats doing the same but no perch (It's a bit early in the season to be off Cedar Point I believe).

I appreciate the advice from Old Wheezer in this blog string. Does anyone have a reasonably-priced graphite rod that they'd recommend for perch fishing? I have plenty of reels but want to refit them to good rods.

Happy and fruitful fishing to you all! I am super jacked to finally be able to have some time to enjoy the sport that I grew up on!

You can spend big bucks on rods. But first go to Walmart or Fish USA on line and look for Shakespeare ”micro graphic” Very moderately priced at $20 Light weight. Sensitive. You want the “light model”, not the “ultralight”. I have 6, 6.5, and 7. Depending on day and what the fish want sometimes one works better than other. I’m not a short rod guy but some folks like them and they did make them down to 5 footers too. You can spend more money for a rod but you can’t get more rod for the money than these. Good luck

Ditto on the braid. That’s the go to. But I have one spooled with mono and there are some days it out fished the braid. All about the bite and how they will take it on any given day.

Thanks for the feedback LEfriend! Will definitely look into the rods you suggested.

Regarding the line, I'll go with the braid. Can you recommend a line weight? My fear with going to a larger lb test (in case a walleye latches on) is that I'll lose some feel for the perch.

20 or 30lb braid. You don't need to worry about walleye breaking off. Occasionally a big sheephead will double your rod though.

I am new to this group and not sure how to post a question. I am trying to find out the best way to fish for perch and walleye from Kelly’s Island. I am going this weekend. I want to fish from the shore.
We have a charter scheduled, but I want to fish from the Island too. Any advice? Thanks

Do you mean live minnows? If so, are they available on Kelly’s somewhere?

I get by fine with 10 lb braid. Even on my walleye casting rods. If drag is set right have never had one break off.

I have 8lb braid on my perch rods. Landed a 20 inch walleye and numerous large sheeps head this year without breaking off. Drag setting important.

Shore fishing from Kellys. If it were me I would fish for smallmouth around the rocks. You can see the fish from most locations around the island especially in North Bay. Check with someone local about bait types.

8-10 lb braid is plenty for fishing the western basin of Erie

Thanks to all on the feedback on line types! Very much appreciate the feedback and support!

Regarding reels for perch fishing ...... Amazon is currently offering a $31.99 deal for KastKing Royale Legend II Baitcaster, 17.64LB Carbon Fiber Drag, Cross-Fire 8 Magnet Braking System, Available in 5.4:1 and 7.2:1. I believe that I'd go with the 7.2:1. Does anyone recommend a particular brand/model/type?

All the advice is very helpful. My goal, by end of this fall, is to have posted at least 5 perching reports in and around the Sandusky, Marblehead, island area....pay it forward!

Check out perchguy.com. He runs the perch tournament out of Wild Wings and sells custom rods and has a good price on spinning reels.

Stox - you don't want a baitcaster for Perch fishing. You'll want a spinning reel. Depending on your budget, I've found the Daiwa Revros to be the best bang for your buck with a good drag system (I use it for variety of species bass, walleye, perch). Should be about $50.

And as most others have said, braid is the way to go for sensitivity purposes. You can get away with a less expensive/less sensitive rod and still get a good feel on those light bite days.

I agree on the spinning reels. Especially makes it easier to fish two rods. And light rod. Having said that my buddy fishes with a broomstick of a rod and a bait casting reel and will out fish most people. Go figure.

Definitely agree on spinning reels. I have a Daiwa Revros LT 2500 that is perfect for perching. Hard to find a better spinning reel for $50 IMO

Thanks Lunker, LEfriend, Bbrack! The Daiwa Revros does get great reviews and not too pricy at under $50. Unfortunately I am not a candidate for the custom rod/reel that was recommended as it's a bit out of my budget (I need to purchase 4 rods/reels after testing 1).
Can anyone help me understand why a spinning reel is better than baitcaster? Bbrack, you seem to have a pretty strong opinion so I'd love to get your comments.

Heading back out perch fishing from Sandusky this weekend. Hoping to find hot spot. Crazy to have caught 3 perch in 2 hours in 28' of water west of Kelly's last Sat followed by catching 11 nice perch in 1 hour off a dock in the back of Sandusky bay (past Cedar Point bridge) in 4' of water..... shiners, spreader, #6 hook.

I just prefer spinning gear for straight-lining/jigging. I can use lighter gear (light line, less stiff rod) and get better sensitivity to feel those light bites.

As a bonus, it also makes catching junk fish a little more enjoyable fighting them on light line as they're ripping drag 😉.

Thank you, Bbrack....makes sense. And yes, sheephead throwbacks are still fun to catch!

I used to use spinning gear for perch fishing but switched to a bait caster a couple of years ago and will never use spinning gear again if I don’t have to. Bait caster is faster up and down, one handed operation and easier to drop back to the bottom if you crank up a foot or two off of the bottom. Check out Denali Pryme Crappie rods. They are super sensitive. I’m using a Lew’s 8.1:1 retrieve bait caster and it brings up perch as fast as any spinning reel. Look on Bass boat central for used and you can get a reel that will last a lifetime for a great price.

Thanks for all the advice, Bankangler!
I had already purchased a KastKing 7.2:1 reel before I got BBrack's comments. Tried the reel out this past weekend and really liked it, especially for the $31 price tag. I still plan to purchase the Diawa Revros that BBrack recommended as I need to upgrade 4 perch rods total... so why not try both reels out....
Partnering the reels with Shakespear Micro 5.6'. Loved the feel of this rod, trying it out this past weekend.
Another 3 perch off west side of Kelly's in 29 FOW between 7am and 9:30am Saturday. Very few boats pulling up perch around us. Fished Sunday in 4 FOW (yes four) in back Sandusky bay (behind Cedar Point) and caught about 30 perch but only 7 keepers, one 13". Will wait till September and then fish off Kelly's as well as off Cedar Point through end of October.