GREAT OUTDOORS: Spawning perch need extra coaxing to bite

After perch fishing last Wednesday in Chautauqua County New York's Sunset Bay near Irving, Thursday's forecast of another day of calm weather compelled Ohio Division of Wildlife District 1 Supervisor Gary Comer and I to stay for another day. It is a treat for me to be able to catch jumbo perch like I used to land in Ashtabula and Conneaut before the perch populations crashed there. Although most fish were seen on the sonar screen within a few inches of the bottom, those suspended a few feet up sometimes bit our emerald shiners and bent our rods markedly farther than while hooked up to a perch locally. However, the consensus at the end of the day was that while the perch were widely abundant near the 54-foot depth zone, they were so close to being ready to spawn that most were not feeding. We were not the only ones who landed fewer than 10 apiece. After seeing reports of people catching 50-fish daily limits of impressive yellow perch the previous week, we anticipated a heavier cooler. After Captain Daryl filleted the fish on the tailgate of Gary's truck for us and departed, I received a text from him informing me that his truck broke down while towing his 20-foot Smoker Craft boat. While waiting for a tow truck, he spoke to another pair of trusty guides who agreed to take us out the following day. Captain Corey Allen and Captain Brayden Kneer met us at the Sturgeon Point boat launch Thursday and we headed to a small flotilla of boats less than a mile offshore. Even though reasonable numbers of perch were seen on the fish finder, not a single one was hooked all morning as we hovered over them while fishing straight up and down, the customary practice for this species. However, just after noon, Captain Brayden cracked the code for us while using his forward facing sonar unit (FFS). He discovered that by casting into the direction of pods of active perch pinpointed by the FFS, they could be enticed to bite by slowing pulling the emerald shiner-baited hooks through them. The odd thing about our catch both Wednesday and Thursday was that virtually every one was a female. The smallest was 8½ inches and the first three perch that I finally landed were each plus or minus 13-inch "jumbos." If you ever had a notion of catching the next state record, pre-spawn spring females are at their heaviest at that time of the year. Eggs added a solid pound to the weight of the bigger ones. Some old-timers like eating perch eggs. My grandparents often mixed them in with scrambled eggs for breakfast during our spring perch fishing trips. Some will argue that females should not be kept this time of the year, but after coming up from over 50 feet of water, their air bladder involuntarily inflates due to diminished atmospheric pressure that causes them to float and become vulnerable to gull predation. In my two previous April trips there, we caught a more even mix of males and females. Some of the perch, confirmed to be males by the presence of proper internal organs seen while filleting them, measured over 11½ inches. Before reluctantly conceding that we should head to shore to begin our 4½-hour drive home, we had tallied 30 perch ranging from 8½ to 14 inches. If the perch get tight-lipped this summer again here, I hope to successfully use these tricks to help bring home better catches of "Erie Gold."