Sad State of Perch Fishing on Lake Erie

[badboards]

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.

[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?

[northcoastbob]

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!

[northcoastbob]

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!

[boater82]

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?

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.

[PatSea]

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?

[West Basin]

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.

[Lucky Duck]

Very well stated West Basin. Thank you.

[Hudsons20]

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!

[J Hook]

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!!