CLEVELAND, Ohio — Autumn fish fries are a tradition all along the Ohio shoreline of Lake Erie, and a bone of contention for a legion of dedicated fishermen. There has been a decided lack of yellow perch being caught from Lake Erie in recent years, a fish that has long been the staple of Friday fish fries in the region.
Growing up in the Cleveland area, even at the tender age of 9 or 10, I was a hard-core young perch fisherman. A neighbor’s sons were too young to handle a fishing rod, but he was willing to take a youngster along with him to Gordon Park or the East 72nd Street breakwall to go rubber-band fishing for jumbo perch — the dandy 12- and 13-inch perch that were delicious for dinner.
There was a catch. The youngster had to use a flat stick with attached bottle caps to scale the perch while the old-timer filleted the catch.
It was a wonderful deal. All of the veterans hunkered on the rocks were willing to help a kid in need of experience, and those fishing trips would spawn a lifetime of perch fishing fun.
The perch fishing has been in slump in recent years, a fishery shared by sport anglers and commercial trap netters. While the waters off Cleveland, Lorain and Fairport Harbor could be tremendous a couple of decades ago, the slump in perch fishing in the Central Basin — from Huron to Fairport Harbor — has been profound.
The liberal daily bag limit there for anglers has been slashed from 30 perch per day to just 10. Conversely, the Western Basin daily bag limit remained at 30 perch per day.
The fishing around the Lake Erie Islands and Marblehead has been experiencing peaks and valleys of late, but in recent weeks the perch have been biting. And jumbos, the perch stretching more than 12 to 14 inches, have become more plentiful.
It was quite a sight last weekend, as thousands invaded Marblehead and Lakeside Chautauqua — the Marblehead Peninsula — for the annual Marblehead Lighthouse Festival. As people trudged to the observation platform of the lighthouse, they enjoyed an amazing view of the Lake Erie Islands on the cool, clear sunny day.
They also saw the flotilla of perch fishing boats, anchored as they dunked crappie rigs and perch spreaders with hooks baited with emerald shiner minnows, enjoying some of the best perch fishing of the season. The veteran anglers had set up north of Kelleys Island, where the big perch had gathered around the rocky limestone drop-offs, and some there were even reporting limits of perch.
Roller-coaster winds still thwarting anglers: When October rolls around, the big northeast winds are usually the biggest problem for walleye fishermen. This month, fishing guides are already pulling up stakes and sport anglers with smaller boats are packing it in in the face of gale force southwest and west winds.
This weekend, waves are expected to be brutal offshore and waves will be pretty bumpy inshore.
Maybe wade the rivers for steelhead?: The fly shop owners are reminding anglers that some recent rains are luring steelhead trout up the spawning rivers of Northeast Ohio.
Dan Pribanic and the Chagrin River Outfitters guides are reporting the smaller tributaries of Lake Erie have been offering good steelhead fishing right now, including Elk and Walnut creeks. The Grand River tributaries should also be clearing.
Expect the Rocky River to be a good trout spot on Friday and Saturday, with the Chagrin River in good shape on Saturday and Sunday. Conneaut Creek should be a good choice on Sunday and Monday.
Orvis presents Steelhead on a Fly: Orvis Westlake, the fly fishing store at 224 Main St. in Westlake, will present Steelhead on a Fly with John Brochue, manager of the Orvis shop and and expert fly fishing instructor, on Saturday, Oct. 15 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. The session will tackle the where, when and how of catching hard-fighting trophy fish.
Size counts in steelheading: Early-fall steelhead trout anglers have been surprised by the size of some of the steelhead trout being caught in the Rocky and Chagrin rivers right now, including 10- and -12-pounders caught and released.
Anglers are relying on nickel- and dime-sized spawn bags of trout and salmon eggs, tiny marabou jigs and hair jigs with a wax worm or some maggots. Casting spoons or in-line spinners to hook up with a big trout has been productive
Credit: Source link
