Perch Trip 9/2

[Swartztastic]

Went out with my wife yesterday for a little fishing. We started just south of A can where we marked a lot of fish. Fished there for 20 minutes and caught nothing. We pulled anchor and moved a few hundred yards west with similar results. Pulled anchor again and moved a quarter mile west and tried again with similar results. Each time we stopped, we were marking quite a few fish close to the bottom but didn’t catch anything to keep. Did get a couple dinks.

Moved to about a half mile northwest of B can where I fished Saturday. There were not as many fish on the sonar but thought we would try. We stayed there for an hour and a half and caught 9 or 10 keepers and about the same amount of dinks.

[DeBaited]

Went out with my wife yesterday for a little fishing. We started just south of A can where we marked a lot of fish. Fished there for 20 minutes and caught nothing. We pulled anchor and moved a few hundred yards west with similar results. Pulled anchor again and moved a quarter mile west and tried again with similar results. Each time we stopped, we were marking quite a few fish close to the bottom but didn’t catch anything to keep. Did get a couple dinks.

Moved to about a half mile northwest of B can where I fished Saturday. There were not as many fish on the sonar but thought we would try. We stayed there for an hour and a half and caught 9 or 10 keepers and about the same amount of dinks.

I fished Monday. Same area. Same result. 11 perch after 3 hours for 2 of us

[gb1234]

Not what we're hoping for, but good to know what's going on. Thanks for the report.

[Ole fisherman]

Made it out perching today, really nice day except for the lack of wind. No wind makes the perch not hungry....except for the " dinkies" and this was their day. Over 3 dozen dinkies by just me...talked to a few others and they had the same results. Eaters were few and far between. Myself, I had 11 nice perch from 9-11". Rest all throw backs. My normal area about 23' of water about 3/4 way to A can from Metzger Marsh. Stop when I see good marks. Fun day, at least the dinkies kept me busy.

[Ole fisherman]

Made another perch trip sat morning, but with poor results...again ! I still believe having goodies as the only bait is a big part of poor fishing results. We get one bite on these, if your lucky you catch, but if not the perch don't keep trying. With emeralds, the perch keep attacking trying to get your bait. What little breeze we had quit shortly after we got out there. Moved about 6 times, always found good marks, but after a few bubbles they stopped biting and the few that you had were extremely light ! Season will be coming to a close here before we know it and the freezer us no where filled up to satisfy our perch cravings over the winter. Anyone found a solution to these lazy days of few or no perch ?

[West Basin]

Talked with a West Harbor charter boat captain on Saturday evening. He said the water in the Western Basin changed about two weeks ago. He said he observed "dirtier water" and thought anoxic water from the Central Basin had infiltrated into the eastern part of the Western Basin, having a big impact on the fish. Entirely possible something like this has happened. It could explain, at least partially, why the yellow perch fishing dropped off so quickly in mid to late August. I have also heard that the perch are feeding on YOY (young of year) Gizzard shad, which means perch may be present in decent to good numbers (you see good marks on your fish finder), but are not feeding along the bottom.

It's been an unordinary season thus far, in several ways. We may have to wait until October and the main water 'turnover' begins so water conditions (temperature and dissolved oxygen) become more stable throughpout the Western Basin. Until then, it's a search to find areas where yellow perch are present in good numbers but also feeding along the bottom. My guess is possibly in shallower, water, closer to shore, where the water temperature is a bit cooler and probably has more oxygen.

You can follow the current water conditions from various sources. Below is one. This kind of information is going to continure to be more readily available and from more locations, as more data gathering equipment is deployed and the data is processed quicker for release to the public.

Lake Erie Forecasted Bottom Water Temperature and Dissolved Oxygen - NCCOS - National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science