COLUMBUS, OH - Anglers and other vacationers planning a visit to Lake Erie this summer will not want to miss out on the fishing fun provided by Lake Erie's yellow perch, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Fishing for this popular species has all the ingredients for the perfect family activity.
"Perch jerking" is fun and affordable, and requires the simplest of fishing techniques. They are abundant, widespread, and easy to catch. A family can go to a shoreline pier or breakwall or out in a small boat and catch good-size yellow perch without expensive or sophisticated equipment. As an added bonus, catches of this tastiest-fish-in-the-lake can provide the evening meal. Catches range 8 to 12 inches, which are relatively large for yellow perch.
Each year, anglers fill their coolers with more than five million yellow perch. Despite the popularity of walleye, yellow perch takes center stage in late summer and fall. While some anglers fish for yellow perch spring through fall, the traditional perch fishing months are August through October when perch are concentrated in large schools near shore. The best action and highest catch rates occur in September and October, when limit catches of 30 fish per angler are often caught within two or three hours of fishing.
Yellow perch tend to move offshore in the summer months, moving closer to shore as waters cool in the fall (10 to 20 foot depths in the western basin, and 20 to 40 foot or more depths in the central basin.)
Yellow perch are well distributed, with traditional hot spots located across the entire lake. From shore or from a boat, anglers need not go far to find a school of perch. Once you get into a school, the action can be fast and furious. The fish's quick, light to medium tugs or "perch jerking'" on the rig makes perch fishing loads of fun. Doubles and triples more than one perch taking separate baits on the same rig at one time are common.
The traditional fishing method used for catching perch is fun and easy to master. The equipment is simple, no casting is involved, and for kids, catching lots of smaller fish such as perch is much more satisfying than catching fewer, bigger fish such as walleyes.
The simplest and most effective technique uses two or three hooks attached to a spreader or "perch rig" and weighted with a sinker of up to two ounces. This is baited with emerald shiners or minnows and dropped to the bottom. (Anglers also use dead, salted minnows, nightcrawlers, red worms or perch belly meat as a substitute for live minnows.) Anglers are most successful by varying the location of the bait on or near the bottom in a jigging fashion, moving the rig up and down in the water column.
Walk on charter boats (holding 20 to 50 people) are available at a reasonable cost at many major ports along Ohio's shoreline with most operating twice a day for morning and afternoon excursions. The cost is around $25 per person, compared to hiring a private charter for up to six people that goes for about $400 to $450.
Whether fishing from shore or charter boat, don't forget to take along a camera to capture the fun and memories on film. A photograph also gives the kids something to "show and tell" their friends about their Lake Erie perch jerking adventure.