GREAT OUTDOORS: Head east for best Erie perch fishing options

Some of my earliest and fondest fishing memories involve catching perch with my family and closest friends. So, it is little wonder that I keep on the lookout for a good perch bite within striking distance of home. The once-fabulous jumbo perch fishery that existed in the Central Basin from Ashtabula to Conneaut in the early 2000s has collapsed due to poor annual recruitment for the past several years in that section of the lake. The once-reliable post-Labor Day perch fishing bonanza that existed in the west end of Lake Erie for generations has become hit & miss due to a shift in their feeding habits that sees more emphasis on invertebrates and zooplankton and less consumption of minnows. It is hard to thread a water flea onto a perch hook. Instead of a predictable kick-start of our perch fishing season beginning on Labor Day weekend, we now have sporadic windows of good perch fishing in the Western Basin when the water flea densities drop in response to high and low water temperatures. I have pointed out for years that the spring is another window of time when perch fishing can be productive, especially for trophy specimens. Ohio's state record perch marks have often been set in April, when large females are at their peak annual weight with the help of a belly full of mature eggs. The current state record yellow perch of 2.9 pounds was caught on April 18, 2016, topping the 2.75-pound previous record set on April 17, 1984. Spawning in April and May leads to the species congregating nearer to the shorelines, where they deposit their unique, long egg cases, also called egg ribbons or skeins, that resemble outstretched "Slinkys" over bottom structure. At the present time, the best jumbo perch fishing action is happening off the New York shoreline of Lake Erie in Sunset Bay between Barcelona and Buffalo. After watching this fishery for several years, I accepted an offer from the Chautauqua County Visitor Bureau to sample this season's spring perch fishery. After waiting for the high winds that were present over the weekend of April 13-14 to die down, I joined fellow outdoor writer Jeffrey Frischkorn for a day of perch fishing near Dunkirk, New York,on April 16. By then, the winds had calmed down to a velocity barely able to put ripples on the 42-to-44 degree lake surface. Fishing between Cattaraugus Creek and Sturgeon Point, in an area that they call Sunset Bay, we fished in water deeper than 50 feet using simple perch rigs, also called crappie rigs, baited with fathead minnows. Jeff's first fish was an 11-inch beauty, a nice way to start the morning. The sonar showed that the big schools that produced 50-fish limits of perch up to 16 inches long prior to the windy weather had been broken into smaller pods. We had better success than many of the other fishermen in the area by frequently moving from pod to pod and harvesting 2-6 fish per spot before moving on. By using the GPS-assisted Spot-Lock feature on his Minn Kota trolling motor instead of an anchor, our guide, Captain Daryl Glasner, of nearby Arcade, N.Y., effortlessly moved us more than two dozen times during our six hours of fishing. This strategy resulted in a live well crowded with more than 60 perch that weighed close to 30 pounds, including many over 11 inches, with the largest one nearly reaching 15 inches on an accurate fish measuring board. Capt. Daryl said that the spring perch fishery there usually lasts until early- to mid-May, before resuming again in mid-September through October. In between peak perch bites, he guides anglers to muskies on Lake Chautauqua, walleyes and smallmouth bass on Lake Erie and salmon on Lake Ontario. Hence the name: CEO Guide Service (ceoguideservice@gmail.com). If he is booked, Dave Barus, Chautauqua County's Outdoor Media Promotions associate recommends anglers contact captains Tom Yetzer (585) 764-2005, Jim Klein (716) 597-9421, Hans Mann (716) 982-4935, Frank Shoenacker (585) 406-5764 or go to: https://comefishlakeerie.com/