Soon after ice goes off on Lake Erie and temperatures rise a few crucial degrees, perch begin to move close to shore from their winter deep water retreats.  The females are swollen with eggs now, and the males burdened with twin sacs of milt.  Both are there to gather in large schools and drop their spawn to ensure the next generation, and while some may be only six or seven inches long, a surprising number will be chunky ten to fourteen inchers.  It’s the years best chance to catch big perch and plenty of them, either off a boat or along a handy fishing pier or breakwall.

It takes a lot of energy to maintain those eggs and milt, so fish feed avidly before spawning, during the process, and even more so afterwards to rebuilt energy lost in egg producton.  A magic combination, if you can handle the weather, and warm clothing, a heavy hat and gloves, and plenty of hot coffee can make comfortable even rugged days.

To catch perch requires an ordinary spinning rod or two, a bucket of shiners, and a two or three hook rig.  Some anglers use spreaders, which is basically a wire arm with hooks dangling below each end, and a sinker in the middle.  They’ll drop the spreader to bottom, reel up a few turns, and wait for a bite when boat fishing, and routinely try the same rig even when shore fishing.

It works just fine when perch are plentiful and hungry, biting hard, but boat anglers will find those free swinging arms less sensitive to gentle taps, and shore anglers will find their offerings lying in the mud where fish often can’t see them.  A better choice is two No. 6 snelled hooks on their short side lines above a sinker.  The lines hang almost straight down making even a gentle bite register nicely, and the sinker on lines end keeps anglers in proper contact with bottom even on a wildly swinging boat.  Such “crappie rigs” can often double your catch.

The right rig is important, but there are other factors that can improve a catch.  These early spring perch will bite all day, but as a rule of thumb the best action usually comes just after dawn and in late evening.  Many a time I’ve reached a pier or breakwall or dropped an anchor when it was just cracking dawn, caught fish hand over fist until 9-10 a.m., then had action slack off just as late rising anglers were arriving.

Always use two rods too, especially if you’re shore fishing, and cast one out while keeping the other near shore.  Perch travel in loose schools, roaming along the bottom and seeking food from minnows to bottom insects and little crayfish, and they might be close or 50 yards out.  By fishing two different distances, you can cover the area, and when bites on one rod become frequent, move the other to the same spot.

Use a little patience too, because those schools mean feast or famine.  When a school comes by, they’ll hit hot and heavy, and when it passes, action can slack off to nothing for minutes or even an hour or so.  So, boat anglers have a choice.  If they’re catching fish, just stay put and haul them in.  But if fishing thins, you’d best lift anchor and move until the fish locator finds another school.  Staying put is a bad business for boat anglers when nothing is going on.

Good places to fish?  April perch are found from Toledo to Conneaut, and any breakwall or pier is likely to yield a catch, but one usually top spot is the Huron Pier in downtown Huron, especially for those who walk clear out to the end.  Boat anglers will find good action off Marblehead, near Starve Island, around Kelleys Island, just off the Lorain pier, and parts east.

It’s a simple business.  Dress warm, carry the right gear, have patience, and move as necessary.  An easy formula for a skillet of prime eating.

But it’s settling down now, and the cool water fishing season is upon us. A good time to catch some prime opal eyes, but those who stick to spring tactics are going to find filling a ticket difficult. Is there a productive way to catch autumn walleyes? Casting Erie Dearies? Using live bait? Bumping the bottom with weighted crankbaits?

These will all work to some extent, but the classic way to catch fish now is by trolling. It’s a simple fact that casters have their offerings in the fish zone for only a few turns of the reel if they let the lure down for a certain count, then start reeling. Trollers have their offerings in the fish zone ALL the time, and since they’re moving steadily, chances of running into a pod of feeding fish are high.

You’ll need some basic gear: downriggers, planer boards, and lots of spoons in various colors and crankbaits that can be used either flatline or on the riggers. Cruise a chosen area until blips on the fish finder show they’re at 15 feet or 20 or maybe right above the bottom, then set lines at various distances behind the boat and at depths that will cover the fish zone. Then you troll. It doesn’t matter too much if winds are out of the east, or there’s a dead flat calm, or storms are moving in. Sooner or later, if you keep changing baits, varying speeds and depths you’ll hit a pod of hungry walleyes, and take some keepers.

Trolling is as close to a sure thing as you’re likely to find on Lake Erie. But some people don’t like this sport, considering it comparable to watching grass grow and paint dry even when they’re hitting, and demand to cast for their catch. That’s okay, too, if you follow another set of simple rules. One rule is that fishing will be best off the bow of the boat or the stern, with less action along the sides. And the tactic of choice is to “fish the swing.” That means you set up for a drift over fish you’ve seen on the locator, drift downwind, assuming winds are good, and cast at an angle to the drift, letting your lure settle to bottom. When you pick up and start reeling, the boat’s steady movement will cause your lure to come in at an arc, instead of straight. I don’t know why, but walleye seem to love a lure that curves instead of swimming straight, a phenomenon that’s well known to charter boat captains and veteran anglers.

Here’s another thought. Walleye are naturally night feeders, as witness their opal colored eyes that let them see well in moon and starlight, and while they might be deep and well offshore during the day, they’ll often move in to within a few hundred yards of shore (even less) at night, and forage for emerald shiners, crayfish, and insects.

Last fall, I went out with two friends, and we trolled until about midnight with spoons and crankbaits. All three of us filled our limit with good fish, culling to sort out the best. Night fishing is something to remember. Finally, if you get truly desperate, throw the rule book away and go to Plan B. Remember that the walleye population probably sees dozens of weight forward spinners every day, and at least as many spoons and crankbaits. If they’ve truly got lockjaw, turn to vertical jigging of leadhead jigs and twistertails holding an emerald shiner. Try bumping the bottom with nightcrawlers. Or spoon jigging. Or working slowly with an old Flatfish, or using live minnows that are lip hooked and dropped slowly into the fish zone. Sometimes something weird will work just because it looks like an easy meal and is something they haven’t seen lately. Like the old man said “Whatever it takes to catch the coon.”

Every year it happens.  Like the inexorable ticking of a clock, the days grow longer, two minutes by two minutes.  And as they do, Lake Erie walleye eggs and milt begin to mature and hormones trigger off behavior patterns that have changed little over thousands of years. 

The fish begin staging south of Green Island, north of such reefs as Clinton and Cone, between North Bass and Niagara, and off the tip of Catawba Island, all deep water spots.  Then the huge, loose schools and smaller pods begin a slow, measured movement toward the western end of the lake. 

Some of those schools head toward reefs like Toussaint and Niagara, others favor flats, beach areas, and rockpiles, and more seek out the Sandusky and Maumee rivers, but they all move and as they do, offer opportunities for the first serious walleye catches of the year.  And some of the fish caught will be BIG ones.

It’s tough fishing.  Some years the ice lingers long, and anglers will often perform the dangerous trick of walking their boat over thin ice to open water.  Other years the ice leaves early, and launch ramps in western Lake Erie are free and ready for use.  Whatever the weather, once boats can be launched, it’s going to be cold.  Lake water won’t be much above 33 degrees, snow and high winds are always possible, and ice chunks will be floating here and there.  Which means anglers had best dress warmly and carry plenty of hot coffee.  But the fish have no choice and will move, whatever the weather.  All that’s necessary is to find and then catch them.

The finding most days isn’t difficult.  At the beginning of the migration, look for them in the deep water spots listed above.  As it progresses, they’ll move into shallower water and schools will swim west, many of them passing the tip of Catawba Island.  They might be a half mile offshore, or a mile or several, and depending on when you’re able to go, most could be north of the island, or west and south.

So, one good tactic is to launch at Catawba Island State Park and head a mile or two due west.  Then anchor if necessary, or drift if winds are gentle and drifting is possible.  With a fish locator, pinpointing schools and pods is easy, but lacking this basic gear most anglers anchor and fish one spot for 15 minutes then move and move again.  Drifters just keep going, maybe working deeper or more shallow on each drift.

Anglers will basically be using ice fishing techniques at this time of year, and that means jigging just off bottom with spoons and jigs.  Good choices are Swedish Pimples, jigging Rapalas, Snakey Spoons, Hopkins Spoons, and Crocodiles.  Those who prefer straight jigs should try those with twister tails, soft flaring maribou, or tinsel tails.  Either way, it’s best to bait all three hooks of spoons or the single hook of jigs with emerald shiners.  The minnows bouncing up and down add both eye appeal and flavor to any lure.

Keep in mind that early fish are very cold and therefore very sluggish.  A fast moving jig won’t attract them, so keep it slow and make jigs easy up and down, rather than fast and jerky.  Strikes might be serious hits, but much more often they’ll be gentle tugs or maybe just a touch of extra weight on the line as a fish clamps down.  So, use a sensitive rod, 6-10 pound test line, and take action at any difference in the lure.

Once actual spawning begins, many fishermen head for various flats and work off the beach areas, rock piles, and near such reefs as Niagara, Toussaint, Crib and Locust Point Reef.  Jigging spoons and Rapalas might still work, but better choices are bottom bumpers and very small spinners like the May fly types with nightcrawlers.  Whatever your choice, remember to keep offerings near bottom, move shallow and deep until you find some willing to feed, and keep it slow.  Tough fishing, but a 10 pounder is worth some effort.