Walleye and Perch Help, please

[shuclan]

I will be attending my family reunion near Ft. Wayne, Indiana on 7 Aug., and I plan on fishing the western basin on 8 and 9 Aug., and would greatly appreciate any help I can get with respect to general areas to fish for Walleyes and Perch. I joined the Air Force in 1980, and between my Air Force time and civilian time working for the Defense Intelligence Agency, I was able to retire in 2007, although I have continued working for Defense contractors since then, and I've spent a lot of time in some not so fun places over the last few years, so I am finally getting a chance to attend my family reunion, after missing it the last 5 years. WaliDave had helped me in the past, and I have sent him several messages, but he has not responded, and I have not seen any blogs from him, so I hope everything is OK, as he was very helpful to me in the past. I am bringing my son and boat along and would like to fish on the Western basin for walleye and perch. I would appreciate any info on general areas to fish for casting and areas for trolling. Also, general areas to find perch. I've been watching recent posts, and have a few ideas on where to look for both walleyes and perch, but would appreciate info on best lures for casting and trolling. A spreader with minnows seems to be the choice for perch, so I will probably pick some up at a bait shop. I would also appreciate thoughts on best boat ramp(s) to use for western basin. I used to fish the western basin as a teenager in the late 1970's, but things have changed a lot since then. Sorry for the long post, and appreciate any help I can get.
Phil

[troy1976]

ive been having success inside of kelleys for perch and out between islands for walleyes. perch are average size but plentiful, walleyes are about ten throwbacks to 1 keeper but lots of fun

[shuclan]

Thanks for your help, Troy. Do you use Mazuriks for access? Appreciate any advice on minnow size/type for perch and bait shops to find them. Thanks again for your help.
Phil

[Mark]

Thanks for your help, Troy. Do you use Mazuriks for access? Appreciate any advice on minnow size/type for perch and bait shops to find them. Thanks again for your help.
Phil

Emerald shiners are popular and usually most desirable. Call any of the bait shops to see if they have them, ask for a price too. Keep them alive using an Aerator. Some are used whole or cut in half to release a scent. I like to use Mustad "Central Draught" hooks, size 28 on a spreader or on a vertical Crappie rig.
(If on this site, you might want to go back a few weeks and read about conversations we had using white perch belly meat and frozen minnows). Also, go on line and look up how to make a Crappie rig, very simple to do. Some Spreaders are sold plain and simple others have beads, bling and more bling.
As for launching, you can look up the Marinas and public launch areas. One marina, Meinkies, is a half hour east of Toledo that will take you right out to the Water Intake, a popular area for Perch a few miles offshore. Drive further east on Route 2 and you'll find more Marinas, baits shops, cleaning, etc. (Best fish cleaning is at Cutchers, just off 2, east of Davis-Besse). Keep an eye out for packs of boats anchored, they might be on a school. Hope for a nice westerly wind with 2 or 3 footers.
Keep in mind that if the conditions are just a little too rough for your boat you can always try to get on a "Head Boat" out of Sandusky, The Cleavelander, (usually for perching), or in Port Clinton, Sassy Sal, Shore 'Nuf and a few more. Ask about rates and what they're targeting that day. I hope you'll post your results.
Good luck.

[shuclan]

Thanks for the help, Mark. I have some crappie rigs we used at Kentucky lake that have an egg shaped sinker with a couple of hooks above the sinker. I will probably get some spreaders, as it sounds like those are a pretty popular option. I will do my homework to find emerald shiners if possible. Does anyone do any good on the regular shiners that most people use for crappies? Those shiners are usually about 2 inches long but don't have the silvery sides like the emerald shiners. You can usually find those in bait shops around the area I am staying in Angola, Indiana. Thanks again for your help.
Phil

[shuclan]

To everyone who offered help for our trip to Erie last week, I would like to say a big thank you to all of you. My son and I managed to get out on Sunday for a little over an hour before having to return for our reunion, and we caught some perch by Kelley's, where a long line of boats had formed. We took my Brother and his son out on Tuesday, and after picking up some shiners at Jeannette's, and getting some advice about fishing around Green Island and Rattlesnake, we made our way out to Green Island, and fished just west of the island a couple of hundred yards away, along with a bunch of other boats. We motored around a bit, found a big school of perch, anchored, and did not have to move. We stopped just short of a 4 man limit, just to be on the safe side, and we tried some walleye trolling for a bit, with no luck. Our fish weighed 31 pounds at the cleaners. I am grateful to all of you for offering help/advice, and it's nice to see that the community at Walleye.com has not changed one bit over the years. Thanks again to all, and I hope to see some of you in the springtime for the jig bite.
Phil

[Bggeary]

If you find big shiners always cut them in half. 1/2s have always out fished whole at least for me.

[shuclan]

Thanks for the recommendation, my fellow veteran. I suspect that if I can find some emerald shiners, they will be larger than what I consider a crappie minnow, which is about 2 inches long, so if I get the large shiners, I will cut them in half. Do the perch eat both sections of the minnow, or do they prefer the head and front part of the body? I perch fish in South Dakota, through the ice, and the perch there usually will not eat the tail section. Thanks again for your help.
Phil

[Bggeary]

I have not noticed a difference.

[M.A.D. Eyes]

I would suggest catawba state Park or Mazuriks access located off of state Rte. 163 east towards lakeside Marblehead area . Catawba would give you pretty quick run towards green and rattlesnake islands or G and H cans of camp perry firing range area. All those areas have been holding perch and eyes. Mazuriks access would allow for a quick run to Kelley's island area. Usually decent numbers of perch and eyes in that area as well. As far as casting I always make my own weapon rigs but they can be bought at the baits hops. Although I do know of several people who do throw weight forwards and do well also. If trolling there's a ton of different tactics to learn however plan on jet divers, dipsys, and inline weights if using crawler harnesses. Most importantly.......I believe it's in your best interest to always use fluorocarbon at least on your casting rigs or trolling leaders. Hope this helped some.