GREAT OUTDOORS: Perch fishing is great, but for how long?

In a pattern similar to the past several years, yellow perch fishing has been very good while peak lake water temperatures are occurring locally. And like last year, I am getting out as often as possible, not knowing when the bite will slow down. My primary fishing partner, Jerry Bambauer of New Bremen, met me Sunday at Fisherman's Wharf to go out on the M/V Waterfox, one of their fishing "head boats." For those not familiar with the term "head boats," it refers to vessels that charge a set fee to "walk-on" anglers for chartered fishing trips. I have frequently used this route to get out on Lake Erie and in Florida, where they are also popular. It is a good way to individually get out on short notice when unable to round up enough friends and/or family members to split the cost of an entire charter boat. There are three companies that run head boats from the Port Clinton area and another in Marblehead. The Port Clinton outfits include Fisherman's Wharf (419-734-9002) and Sassy Sal Charters (419-732-7755). They currently charge $75 per person, which includes bait and ice. Shore-Nuf Charters, located at Drawbridge Marina (419-734-9999) charges $65, with bait extra. Tibbels Charter Service (419-734-1143) in Marblehead also charges $75, including bait and ice. On Sunday, we fished near the Camp Perry firing zone. After an hour of fishing, I had not even gotten a bite and Jerry only landed one, but the angler next to me, Toledoan Derrick Urbanski, was able to catch seven keeper perch. With slow catch rates throughout most of the boat, Captain Jason White mercifully decided to try another spot. This location was a little better for us. By the time he decided to move again, we could no longer see the bottom of our bucket, with nine keepers on ice inside. After a move or two more, the clock ran out and we headed in, each a bit short of our 30-perch limit. It was good to finally get out once that our schedules and weather synchronized. The size of the perch were on the smallish side, running 4 to the pound. On Tuesday, eager to get out again and with me unavailable, Jerry towed his 93-year-old friend Ike's 17-foot Boston Whaler up for them to fish near the Toledo Water Intake, where perch reports have been good for weeks. He reported to me that they collected 60 perch by trying three spots just east of the easily recognized structure, about two miles offshore of Reno Beach. On Wednesday, I went with Captain John Tibbels aboard the Harbor Queen ll, fishing between Kelleys and the Bass Islands. Within view of us, his sons Justin and Will were enjoying a perch feeding frenzy with their clients and limited out within a couple of hours. With only the bow anglers, the guy sitting next to me, Ernie White of Bellevue and one other gentleman catching impressive numbers of perch, Captain John moved us closer to his son's hotspot. Despite all of the other boats in the Tibbels Charter fleet catching their perch limits with time to spare, when our scheduled quitting time arrived several angers on our vessel were still in need of some more. To avoid the certain teasing that Captain John would get if he was the only one to come back short, he stayed out long enough to allow us all to fill finish our limits with a nicer grade of perch than were caught further west on Sunday and Tuesday. I was invited to "fun fish" with Captain Mark Cahlik on Thursday, along with Vernie and David Weiss of Martinsville, Indiana. The perch were eagerly awaiting their return from the previous day's success, and we all had our limits before 10:30 a.m. Find a way to get out to catch some perch before they switch back to feeding on spiny water fleas, which will likely make them tougher to entice with shiners until these European zooplankton numbers crash again in the fall.