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.

This long pier has been a fall hotspot since I was a pup, and it should continue this month, if not right now, then soon.  Many an angler just walks out a short distance and drops a line, but the rule of thumb is that the further out you walk on this smooth topped concrete structure, the better fishing generally is.  The very best action is clear out at the end around the lighthouse, and that’s a long hike for anglers laden with rods, minnow buckets, maybe a cooler, and food.  But it’s usually worth it.  Try at least to reach territory around the blockhouse.  That’s often a pretty good spot.

Gear for the Huron Pier or any other is a spreader for most, but spreaders don’t work well here unless you’re fishing straight down.  Cast them out and the minnows are buried or half buried in Huron River mud, hard for perch to find.  A better rig is the standard two snelled No. 6 hooks above a one ounce sinker.  Fished fairly close to the pier they’ll be above the bottom and easily seen.  If possible, always take a long handled net on Huron Pier trips, and I mean LONG because it’s a fair distance down to the water.  Steelhead come upstream here each fall and winter, and last October I hooked two in one day on shiner minnows, but without a net had no chance to land them.

There are other piers that often produce perch, and one is the Catawba State Park pier on the northwest corner of Catawba Island.  It’s a short pier, but has the advantage of plenty of parking, restrooms, and a play area for kids.  You might also give thought to Mazurik and Dempsey Access, both of which lie near Marblehead and have lots of parking, restrooms, and are handicap accessible.

Pier fishing is always an on again-off again proposition, but boat fishing is close to sure fire if you follow the rules.  Right now, perch are hitting around the northern cans of the Camp Perry firing range, between Green and Rattlesnake islands, between Gull and Kelleys Island shoals, and off Cedar Point with some taken near the Marblehead lighthouse.  All you’ll need is a boat large enough to handle big water, and some good friend is likely to have one.

There are two ways to go when you’re fishing with friends on a boat, and one is to simply motor out and head for a pack of anchored craft.  They’ll be perch fishing and if they’re catching fish, probably you will, too.  A better way is to cruise a likely area with or without anchored boats, and use a fish locator to find a school below.  Anchor and work it until the fish move on, then up anchor and search out another school.  Sitting in one spot all day taking only an occasional perch is not a smart move..  I was up to the lake a few weeks ago, fishing just south of Kelleys Island.  We found a nice school, and filled our 150 fish limit in just over an hour, catching many doubles and even triples.  It can happen if you hunt them.

Yet another way to catch Erie perch is on a headboat, and many headboats are turning to perch since walleye fishing is so slow.  There are head boats scattered all over western Lake Erie, though they’re heavily concentrated near Port Clinton, and these boats offer plenty of elbow room most days and comfortable fishing usually under an overhead awning.  They might or might not provide bait for your $25 – 35 ticket, but they’ll usually provide fish since their captains are out daily and know where the schools are holding.  For a list of headboats, call the Ottawa County Visitors Bureau at 1-800-441-1271.  Then head north to search out some good eating.

There’s very little question that yellow perch are Lake Erie’s favorite fish on the table.  Crisp, brown fillets touched with tartar sauce disappear from plates like magic when they appear, leaving smiles of appreciation, and one of the prime times to take some is in early April.  Action should improve throughout April, remain steady well into September, and peak again come October and into November.  With the Big Lake’s perch population very good to excellent, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t head forth and catch a limit of these pretty and good eating fish.  It’s definitely not a difficult business.

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.