Perch on Erie and some good Samaritan Story

[Billy Bob]

Set out today at 7:15am to fish perch out of the Catt because it takes me about 45 minutes to get there.......

 

So I arrive (myself) at Ricky Miller Bait shop in Irving, NY at about 8am...but for the first time EVER the bait shop is closed......just about to leave when I notice right in the middle of the door is a sign saying "Be Back at 8:15am"....OK...so I retreat to Burger King to use the mens room (1/2 mile away...what's that about 15 Km for you guys...LOL)....return to see guys walking out empty handed....it don't look good from my Tundra, I'm thinking.....but I walk in and ole' Ricky is behind the counter when I enter his old musty but good smelling bait shop and I ask "you got any minnows"......NOPE...nothing he remarks....OK...thanks and out the door I go, sadly.....I walk by two other guys that park their rig right in front of the door and break the news to them....I get back into my truck and call two other bait shops that are about 8-10 miles away.....same answer from both...."we only have salted minnows"....I wouldn't mind that but that's back tracking almost 20 miles and my mind says "don't do it".......so I retreat back into Rick's Bait shop and ask him if he has any salted minnows....."NOPE, no salted either, but tomorrow I should have some minnow"....(yea, OK...but how does that help me today I'm thinking)...so back to my truck to rethink this day....so I'm thinking...NICE DAY TODAY and since I'm here maybe I can FINALLY catch some of these Steelheads that EVERYONE else catches at the mouth of the Catt....

 

I back my boat down the ramp and I'm untying the beast when the two guys I came across at Ricky's Bait Shop pull up and approach me.....one guy says "You want some minnow"......of course I say YES.....he say's "we have the good stuff" (meaning Lake Erie Emerald) but you don't know where you got them....I say "I don't know ANYTHING that's why I'm here"...so the good Samaritan gives me what he say's is about 2 dozen minnows, but I find it's much more like 4-5 dozen minnies....Bobby is bright eyed and bushy tailed at this point....so I head out with Mr X following me......they anchor about 100 yards from me at the first spot I drop my anchor......my LMS 520c starts showing some perch on the bottom (that's why I anchored there)...I get a couple small ones but I'm sure there are bigger perch worth keeping here....Mr X and another boat pull anchor and head out to much deeper water while I stay by myself.....sure enough.....the big boys starting showing up on the end of my light line 10-15 minutes later...up to 13.5"......

 

I'm all by myself until another Grumman boat motors up to me.....I tell him, "there here, just anchor right near me"....he does but he's having trouble not feeling the light "hanger" bites like I am.....I explain it to him the best I can and he also starts catching the BIG perch.....before you know it there are about 10-12 boats circling us......some guys come and go because they are not FEELING the HANGER bites that Lake Erie perch are noted for.... then I hook into a VERY LARGE fish........since I am only using a VERY light 5' Fenwick rod I made just for Lake Erie perch fishing with 4# test I have to back reel and really take my time with this fish.....other guys are asking me if I have a walleye or sheaphead hooked....I respond "don't know but it feels like a 10-12 pound perch"...LOL.....finally it surfaces and it's a VERY LONG walleye.....I net it and one guy yells over "since your perch fishing you have to throw it back"......so after I unhook it I do just that, to "hey you don't want that" We'll take it"......the fish doesn't make it...I had to net it again, and after trying to revive it, it evident it's not going to make it.....so I throw it in the live well......it's VERY LONG but skinny and had several scars on it....must be dying of old age is what I'm thinking.......

 

So the bottom line is I came home with 34 VERY NICE Lake Erie perch and one walleye I didn't want.......I caught more than 50 but only kept 10" perch or larger unless they were gut hooked. Here's the only pic I took.

 

I left a note on the truck of they GREAT GUYS that gave me a wonderful day on Lake Erie THANKING them again for the minnows and stating I did VERY WELL right where they left me in case they can get out again and didn't do as well in the deeper water where they headed. But I'm sure they must of did well because they never head back towards me and I did pretty good out there last Saturday.

 

Bob

 

 

Edited to paragraph it for easier reading (I hope)...Bob

Edited September 20, 2010 by Billy Bob

[danbouck]

Awesome story!

[asdve23rveavwa]

LOL, very entertaining read...only way it would have been better is if I was munching on some of those perch fillets while reading

[Musky or Specks]

Set out today at 7:15am to fish perch out of the Catt because it takes me about 45 minutes to get there.......

 

So I arrive (myself) at Ricky Miller Bait shop in Irving, NY at about 8am...but for the first time EVER the bait shop is closed......just about to leave when I notice right in the middle of the door is a sign saying "Be Back at 8:15am"....OK...so I retreat to Burger King to use the mens room (1/2 mile away...what's that about 15 Km for you guys...LOL)....return to see guys walking out empty handed....it don't look good from my Tundra, I'm thinking.....but I walk in and ole' Ricky is behind the counter when I enter his old musty but good smelling bait shop and I ask "you got any minnows"......NOPE...nothing he remarks....OK...thanks and out the door I go, sadly.....I walk by two other guys that park their rig right in front of the door and break the news to them....I get back into my truck and call two other bait shops that are about 8-10 miles away.....same answer from both...."we only have salted minnows"....I wouldn't mind that but that's back tracking almost 20 miles and my mind says "don't do it".......so I retreat back into Rick's Bait shop and ask him if he has any salted minnows....."NOPE, no salted either, but tomorrow I should have some minnow"....(yea, OK...but how does that help me today I'm thinking)...so back to my truck to rethink this day....so I'm thinking...NICE DAY TODAY and since I'm here maybe I can FINALLY catch some of these Steelheads that EVERYONE else catches at the mouth of the Catt....

 

I back my boat down the ramp and I'm untying the beast when the two guys I came across at Ricky's Bait Shop pull up and approach me.....one guy says "You want some minnow"......of course I say YES.....he say's "we have the good stuff" (meaning Lake Erie Emerald) but you don't know where you got them....I say "I don't know ANYTHING that's why I'm here"...so the good Samaritan gives me what he say's is about 2 dozen minnows, but I find it's much more like 4-5 dozen minnies....Bobby is bright eyed and bushy tailed at this point....so I head out with Mr X following me......they anchor about 100 yards from me at the first spot I drop my anchor......my LMS 520c starts showing some perch on the bottom (that's why I anchored there)...I get a couple small ones but I'm sure there are bigger perch worth keeping here....Mr X and another boat pull anchor and head out to much deeper water while I stay by myself.....sure enough.....the big boys starting showing up on the end of my light line 10-15 minutes later...up to 13.5"......

 

I'm all by myself until another Grumman boat motors up to me.....I tell him, "there here, just anchor right near me"....he does but he's having trouble not feeling the light "hanger" bites like I am.....I explain it to him the best I can and he also starts catching the BIG perch.....before you know it there are about 10-12 boats circling us......some guys come and go because they are not FEELING the HANGER bites that Lake Erie perch are noted for.... then I hook into a VERY LARGE fish........since I am only using a VERY light 5' Fenwick rod I made just for Lake Erie perch fishing with 4# test I have to back reel and really take my time with this fish.....other guys are asking me if I have a walleye or sheaphead hooked....I respond "don't know but it feels like a 10-12 pound perch"...LOL.....finally it surfaces and it's a VERY LONG walleye.....I net it and one guy yells over "since your perch fishing you have to throw it back"......so after I unhook it I do just that, to "hey you don't want that" We'll take it"......the fish doesn't make it...I had to net it again, and after trying to revive it, it evident it's not going to make it.....so I throw it in the live well......it's VERY LONG but skinny and had several scars on it....must be dying of old age is what I'm thinking.......

 

So the bottom line is I came home with 34 VERY NICE Lake Erie perch and one walleye I didn't want.......I caught more than 50 but only kept 10" perch or larger unless they were gut hooked. Here's the only pic I took.

 

I left a note on the truck of they GREAT GUYS that gave me a wonderful day on Lake Erie THANKING them again for the minnows and stating I did VERY WELL right where they left me in case they can get out again and didn't do as well in the deeper water where they headed. But I'm sure they must of did well because they never head back towards me and I did pretty good out there last Saturday.

 

Bob

 

 

Edited to paragraph it for easier reading (I hope)...Bob

Exactly how VHS is spread Please for the sake of the fisheries in North America don't do this again.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Great report. You should have taken a better picture of the very long pickerel! Anyways, enjoy the feed.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Exactly how VHS is spread Please for the sake of the fisheries in North America don't do this again.

 

Huh? Don't do what?

[Musky or Specks]

Use Emerald shiners from an unknown source. There is a reason there's a shortage

 

http://www.farmanddairy.com/news/disease-prompts-ban-on-movement-of-28-fish-species/9313.html

[Billy Bob]

Exactly how VHS is spread Please for the sake of the fisheries in North America don't do this again.

 

I'm sorry, but I know EXACTLY where these LAKE ERIE Emerald Shiner where dipped...yes, you guessed it....just where they were USED....LAKE ERIE...as allowed by NYS law.

 

BTW...I have it on good grounds that the ban would of be lifted this fall if it wasn't that the NYS DEC made it a reg (changed from a emergency ban). NOT one VHS case has been documented from Lake Erie....AND every other state and Ontario allows transporting minnows along Lake Erie.

 

Bob

[toca]

Theres A Condom In The Water...... Or Its A Reflection Of A Camera Lens.

 

But Good JOb.

 

Had One Guy Letting Me Watch Him Fish The Rivers Today. Learned Quite A Bit From This Guy. He Even Let Me Fish In His His Honey Hole He Found.

 

Hope I Run Into That Guy Again To Get His Name.

 

Also To The Guys That Showed Up With Huge Williams Spoons..... COME ON!!

Edited September 21, 2010 by ReTodd

[Nipfisher]

Theres A Condom In The Water...... Or Its A Reflection Of A Camera Lens.

 

That is his livewell drain. Pull it and the water empties out.

[LeXXington]

Great going. Love the pic

[Billy Bob]

Nipfisher got it right....it's a drain pipe for my livewell.

 

It's the easiest livewell I have ever seen...don't understand why more are not designed this way.

 

I insulated the livewell and the cover with Styrofoam so I can use it as a fish cooler...just have to put a plug in it and it's good to go.

[smally21]

it is nice when there is plenty to go round. who says fishing cant be a team sport? you're in some good stuff if you're throwing back 10" perch. does that ever look like a condom!

[Guest Johnny Bass]

it is nice when there is plenty to go round. who says fishing cant be a team sport? you're in some good stuff if you're throwing back 10" perch. does that ever look like a condom!

|

 

Condom?? OK, fess up BOB! What are you doing with those fish! That is exactly how STD's are spread! Dont do that again!

[Billy Bob]

|

 

Condom?? OK, fess up BOB! What are you doing with those fish! That is exactly how STD's are spread! Dont do that again!

 

But the real question is then........who's spreading what to whom...LOL

 

Now get your mind out of the gutter and get it into fishing before the weather turns sour.... :<(

[bassjnkie]

Great story. Well done!!

[toca]

|

 

Condom?? OK, fess up BOB! What are you doing with those fish! That is exactly how STD's are spread! Dont do that again!

 

My Bad It Looks Like A Bubble...... I guess its too late

[ctranter]

Some nice perch there Bob, now back to watching the leafs continue to fail. I like what I see out of Jerry D'Amigo. Hes not bad (for an american), and played with my buddy at RPI!

[Billy Bob]

My Bad It Looks Like A Bubble...... I guess its too late

 

No problem......after you mentioned it I took another look at the pic and it indeed could be mistaken for one...