Perch haul on Lake Erie is cat’s meow

[Spiel]

Perch haul on Lake Erie is cat’s meow

 

05/11/08

Will Elliott / buffalonews.com

 

 

Perch measuring 12 inches can be caught on Lake Erie as a rule.

Lake Erie may not be the perch factory it was 25 to 50 years ago, but some days on Erie can still be bountiful and beautiful.

 

Native Americans named Erie “The Cat,” which aptly describes what often goes on while anglers strive to bring in buckets of larger-sized ringbacks. Like a cat, this fishery can be sneaky, disappearing and then showing up when and where least expected. Erie’s erratic perch production would make T. S. Eliot proud.

 

That’s what fishing partner Ken “Mach” Maciejewski and I faced one afternoon in late April when we headed out from Cattaraugus Creek in search of perch schools that Rick Miller at Miller’s Bait & Tackle told us were hitting out in deep waters off Evangola State Park.

 

Years ago, say some time in the 1950s to ’80s, we would have been cruising the shoreline as pre-spawn perch gathered in 5-to 10-foot shallows as they cruised around to feed and find good spawning beds.

 

Today, in waters much more clear, the perch school in deeper waters, making the search more widespread, and much more challenging.

 

Our search continued for more than two hours before we happened upon a white-knight good guy in a camo-colored boat. Perch anglers tend to be a bit reluctant to share on-the- water hot spots, especially when they are over the fish and steadily hauling in hefty numbers.

 

But Eden angler Bruce Curvin not only told us he was into them, he suggested that we anchor closer to the center of the school to get more and better hits.

 

Curvin, a Southtowns Walleye Association member and regular on the Erie perch circuit, had logged seven boat trips before this Friday afternoon outing. He was approaching his 50-fish limit and stayed in the area for about another hour to finish the count.

 

Biting and catching action such as this was the norm some 30 to 50 years ago, and this afternoon outing brought back memories of some of those fruitful days of fishing — with a few techno alterations.

 

Perch, as with all other desirable game fish species, move to various depths throughout the year. Predominantly a bottom-relating fish, the chase is mainly to get over the right depths at the right time of the year to maximize the catch count.

 

Typically, boaters got out to a desired depth, one where schools were gathered, anchored their boat and soon, if not immediately, perch schools would move under their boat and the fun would begin.

 

While that approach still works today, a highly successful perch pursuer moves more like a fly rodder or a bass boater in finding and hooking into good sizes and numbers of ringbacks.

 

Mach and I had a bucket of fathead minnows and a pack of emerald shiners Ricky Miller suggested as best baits. Live emeralds were not available from bait dealers, because a bait restriction requires certification before these shiners can be sold. Anglers can net their own emeralds and use them on site without transporting them via motor vehicle. That means the bait has to be there and available for netting just before each outing.

 

As is the plight of most other anglers, we didn’t have time to find or access to these “native” Lake Erie baits. Ricky mentioned that the salted emeralds often work as well or better than the hearty fatheads. He was right.

 

But the presentation out there became even more crucial than the bait offerings. Curvin was running, basically back trolling on this dead-calm afternoon, with a rear-mounted electric trolling motor. My rear-mount, safely stored in the pole barn, could have been useful, because it became clear that Curvin was not only continually placing his transom directly over the fish school that would scatter with the sound of a powerful outboard motor, he also was offering a slightly moving target for these perch.

 

Other boaters saw us reeling in fat perch and began anchoring nearby, dropping their rigs to the bottom. Few had steady hits; fishing was just so-so. The trick? Movement. Every time I would cast as far as possible and let the sinker and two hooks hit bottom and then begin a slow lift-and- drop, a perch or two would hit, immediately upon hitting bottom or on one of the lifts or drops.

 

It took less than two hours for Mach and me to boat close to 50 perch and keep about 35 in the 10-to 13-inch range.

 

It’s not the 200-300 daily perch pile that we often cleaned decades ago. Baits, boats, gas, tackle, and all other angling essentials cost so much more than we spent a year ago, but the pure fun of both catching and eating these feisty food fish make fishing for yellow perch golden.