# Possible perch CLE



## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

7.5 miles dead north of 72nd in 61 fow while trolling yesterday evening we found the elusive perch carpet or at least what looked like it. They were 10' off the bottom and it was a big area of fish. Hope someone wants to give it a shot and prove me right i am pretty damn sure it was perch. If i had shinners i would have tried


----------



## durpdurp41 (Dec 14, 2004)

They were perch. I sent down a dipsey with a smaller spoon last week. I saw the same marks. It's been a long time since I've seen marks like that in the central basin.









Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk


----------



## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Oh nice! Going to have to convince my captain to take us out there Saturday morning


----------



## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Funny you mention not seeing marks like that in a long time that was instantly what i thought when i saw them i knew right away what i was seeing just couldn't believe it cuz haven't seen it in like 10 years!


----------



## durpdurp41 (Dec 14, 2004)

set-the-drag said:


> Funny you mention not seeing marks like that in a long time that was instantly what i thought when i saw them i knew right away what i was seeing just couldn't believe it cuz haven't seen it in like 10 years!


I was seeing those marks from 57 out to 60 fow. Same general area as you though I think. 

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk


----------



## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Yeah we were on the East troll when we started marking them and we kind of just ended up turning North after about a quarter mile and we were still marking them going north for probably another quarter mile then we were seeing pockets of them as we turn back West but yeah luckily we had a spot marked out there from last year


----------



## Kenlow1 (Jul 14, 2012)

That is a nice perchie!


----------



## mmtchell (Jul 9, 2014)

Boy now you're going to see the netters,, running them for miles ...darn it


----------



## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

I think they aren't letting them since the numbers took a sh!+ i haven't seen any. Does anybody know if shines has emeralds


----------



## Northern (May 6, 2008)

I’m not sure it helps at this point, but I got some emeralds from them last Wednesday..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## durpdurp41 (Dec 14, 2004)

mmtchell said:


> Boy now you're going to see the netters,, running them for miles ...darn it


If there are netters that go out there I promise this will be my last perch post on here. In my opinion they single handedly ruined perch fishing in Lake Erie. 

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk


----------



## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

No shiners?
Don't forget to try the 3 hook Sabikis with 1"-2" worm,,, or a thin strip of belly meat on plain hook or Sabiki.. 
3/4-1oz banging the bottom, then up.
The belly meat deal saved our,,,,,,, many times, & we could catch 5 maybe 7 Perch before a replacement.
These pics were taken 'AFTER THE BUGS'.

The good 'ol days;










The 'chunks' out of a 4-man.










Makes ya drool, huh? ;>)


----------



## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Yeah i was going to bring some sabikis and worms in case they don't want shinners. Was going to have 2 rods set one classic perch one sabiki


----------



## EB1221 (May 24, 2012)

Have you all noticed that all the perch that are being caught (not many) are big ? Would like to see some small ones.
Let me qualify that to the central basin.
EB


----------



## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Anything we've got trolling was big! But then again i never seen smalls trolling they are always 12+ ao hard to say. Hopefully see this weekend if we can find them again


----------



## HappySnag (Dec 20, 2007)

set-the-drag said:


> Anything we've got trolling was big! But then again i never seen smalls trolling they are always 12+ ao hard to say. Hopefully see this weekend if we can find them again


when you troll for eyes and like to catch perch troling.
modyfi coat hanger with 6 oz weight,tie line to end 6" to 12" and one 6" in mitell with small spoon and sabiki hooks,trol that close to botom,you can use 9 oz or 12 oz weight. to controll the dept while you troling for eyes.


----------



## Softshellcrab (Aug 31, 2016)

EB1221 said:


> Have you all noticed that all the perch that are being caught (not many) are big ? Would like to see some small ones.
> Let me qualify that to the central basin.
> EB


That is a concern, or it would be if having a good perch population were even a realistic issue. At this point it seems we are light years from having decent perch numbers in the Central Basiy, anyway.... But I heard some interesting comments a year or two back from the lady at Jeanetts Bait & Tackle up at the North tip of Catawba Island. They have trawlers and they catch shiners not only for themselves but to supply other bait shops, and the lady there said the ODNR uses their help in the Spring for its young-of-year trawl surveys. She said in the Spring they usually got lots of small fry-size perch and walleye in the past, but not that Spring. She said hardly any fry of either perch nor walleye. She also noted that many fishermen in the islands area were catching mostly big perch with not many small ones. She thinks they are not getting good perch hatches and it may be poised to collapse. So far they still have good perching by the islands when they are willing to hit minnows and not filling up on mayfly larvae and water fleas. But maybe that will collapse. I hope not. She blamed the problem on there being so many walleye.

If you watch the ODNR annual state of Lake Erie fishery video conference they do every year (you can find it on Youtube, I think) The ODNR says they experienced a very good perch hatch the previous Spring (2021) in the Western Basin. So I hope what the lady told me was wrong. I should mention, as a rabbit hunter, ODNR also keeps telling us there are plenty of rabbits, and the coyotes have not cut them way down, yet I keep seeing about 15% as many rabbits as I did 20 years ago.

Well, I'm soft (fat) and a crab, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. Just an old man crabbing.


----------



## Softshellcrab (Aug 31, 2016)

durpdurp41 said:


> If there are netters that go out there I promise this will be my last perch post on here. In my opinion they single handedly ruined perch fishing in Lake Erie.
> 
> Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk


I am not sure that's the cause. I say this only because there has always been netting and, I don't think there was any more netting of perch 5-10 years ago, than there was 20 years ago. Yet the perch are gone in the Central Basin and there used to be lot of then, even with the netting. I have to go with those who feel the huge Walleye population is eating everything in sight. Kind of like walleye-locusts. Some new invasive species could also be a factor, but not sure what new invasive species that would be. Gobies have been here for 30 years now, and zebra mussels for 40, and if anything I see less evidence of these species than I used to. Also, 20 years ago, with lots of gobies and zebra mussels, we still had good perch populations. 

ODNR says I am wrong, it's not the walleye. But see my post above where I am positive they are very wrong about denying that coyotes are cutting the rabbit population way down. I don't question their motivation or their good-faith, but I think they are getting some of their species management information very wrong. Just my humble opinion.


----------



## kdn (Apr 27, 2015)

I see lots of rabbits but they are all in the city where homes offer them protection ...just like deer are protected in urban areas. coyotes take an awful lot of deer and I'm sure many other animals including rabbit. Fox can take them too. But I doo believe that the walleye are eating everything they can find. All you have to do is look on your sonar. Off of Cleveland you would see balls of bait up and down the water column. You don't see that many bait balls like I used to see. Walleye....200+ million of them can clean up bait fish pretty fast. I wouldn't doubt the they are eating themselves too!


----------



## tubby2 (May 10, 2015)

Buy minnows, spend money for fuel to get there just so you can catch only 7 limit perch.They took the fun ot of it.

Sent from my SM-A136U using Ohio Game Fishing mobile app


----------



## RStock521 (Jul 17, 2008)

I had my nephew's down at my dock and they wanted to drop a line in the water. Tied on a #6 hook with a couple splitshot and a piece of worm, and they hooked 30+ perch in 45 minutes. They were all anywhere from 3-7", but it was nice seeing these smaller perch in the central basin.


----------



## BuckeyeCommodore (Mar 30, 2015)

Softshellcrab said:


> I am not sure that's the cause. I say this only because there has always been netting and, I don't think there was any more netting of perch 5-10 years ago, than there was 20 years ago. Yet the perch are gone in the Central Basin and there used to be lot of then, even with the netting. I have to go with those who feel the huge Walleye population is eating everything in sight. Kind of like walleye-locusts. Some new invasive species could also be a factor, but not sure what new invasive species that would be. Gobies have been here for 30 years now, and zebra mussels for 40, and if anything I see less evidence of these species than I used to. Also, 20 years ago, with lots of gobies and zebra mussels, we still had good perch populations.
> 
> ODNR says I am wrong, it's not the walleye. But see my post above where I am positive they are very wrong about denying that coyotes are cutting the rabbit population way down. I don't question their motivation or their good-faith, but I think they are getting some of their species management information very wrong. Just my humble opinion.


I agree with Softshell. The walleye population makes most sense to me as I have seen the perch population go down as the walleye population has drastically gone up [ I'm not complaining]. The netters have been there this entire time. 

I also agree with the coyote and rabbit. The shoreline where I keep my boat is loaded with rabbit. I see them everywhere at night after fishing. The farms I hunt with my beagles... not so much. The difference is I see coyote sign [pics of them on hunting camera and scat/ prints] everywhere I rabbit hunt and no where along the lake. Not to mention the redtail hawk I see all over where I rabbit hunt. 

For the last 5/6 years I have read countless articles by ODNR about how there was nothing wrong with the central basin perch population. These were articles in Wild Ohio magazine, if anyone gets it? Then the state drops central basin limit to 10....? Is this ODNR admitting that the area perch population has been declining.... maybe they should apologize.


----------



## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

mmtchell said:


> Boy now you're going to see the netters,, running them for miles ...darn it


My first reaction Exactly!😩


----------



## Mickey (Oct 22, 2011)

For you that clean your own walleye...What are you finding in their stomachs? That might answer a few questions.


----------



## Searay (Feb 12, 2007)

Big fish eat smaller fish!!! Hhmmm!


----------



## Buzzy (Jul 2, 2011)

RStock521 said:


> I had my nephew's down at my dock and they wanted to drop a line in the water. Tied on a #6 hook with a couple splitshot and a piece of worm, and they hooked 30+ perch in 45 minutes. They were all anywhere from 3-7", but it was nice seeing these smaller perch in the central basin.





BuckeyeCommodore said:


> I agree with Softshell. The walleye population makes most sense to me as I have seen the perch population go down as the walleye population has drastically gone up [ I'm not complaining]. The netters have been there this entire time.
> 
> I also agree with the coyote and rabbit. The shoreline where I keep my boat is loaded with rabbit. I see them everywhere at night after fishing. The farms I hunt with my beagles... not so much. The difference is I see coyote sign [pics of them on hunting camera and scat/ prints] everywhere I rabbit hunt and no where along the lake. Not to mention the redtail hawk I see all over where I rabbit hunt.
> 
> For the last 5/6 years I have read countless articles by ODNR about how there was nothing wrong with the central basin perch population. These were articles in Wild Ohio magazine, if anyone gets it? Then the state drops central basin limit to 10....? Is this ODNR admitting that the area perch population has been declining.... maybe they should apologize.


Im with you guys we should have a coyote-rabbit thread if there isn’t on already


----------



## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

So to stop the spread of false information Softshell and BuckeyeComm, no the nets were allowed in the WB Ohio waters for yellow perch from 2012-2017. Then magically the yellow perch and walleye populations blossomed. Now we have the best walleye fishing in the world again. These are all facts, though I found it harder to find the information in Ohio DOW now. I wonder why.

This has been brought up many times in OGF. Please don't make us go through the notes again. You can read them for yourself. 

Rickerd


----------



## HappySnag (Dec 20, 2007)

the comercial fishing kill 8 perch to harvest one pound perch for sale to public.
can sombody put the data harveste for last 5 years.
multiply that nomber by 8 and you will find shoking nomber in milions.


----------



## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

The fact is there is multiple factors all happening at the same time leading to the numbers dropping. Breeding problems, invasive species, algae die offs, netting and loss off viable food has led to them going way down. The issue with the netting is and was as numbers dropped their take didn't and like happy said they kill 10s of thousands of perch to get there take so it didn't help when they are still going status quo as the population was crashing. Again it's not the main factor but a good part of a few factors. And no high walleye populations have nothing to do with it. Dnr has stated and are right that inthe past 70s and 80s when the walleye numbers blew up the perch #s were never affected. Actually there never was a perch population problem till like 10 years ago and it was ignored for the most part cuz nobody ever seen the # crash like they did. They ebb and flow but this is the first real crash and it started when walleye #s were bad so no its nothing to do with the walleye


----------



## miked913 (Feb 29, 2008)

It's weird that perch colored lures are very popular and effective? Hmmm

Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk


----------



## mmtchell (Jul 9, 2014)

All I know is when the fish ain't biting g or the weater isn't good to get the boat out, the nutters are still cleaning house,, walleye have a big migration...perch have a general area..say the islands, say Lorain and vermilion, Cleve,,then Fairport Ashtabula, cony ...when you put the nets in an area for a while ...them numbers are going down ...period....


----------



## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

So look at the numbers of yearly perch caught from one of the best headboats in WB.










See how the commercial nets affected catch rates in WB? They came back in 2018 and its been downhill ever since. Now Ohio gives them more quota in the WB. This is beyond stupid of them.

Rickerd


----------



## penalty box (Nov 2, 2011)

I got a mess of perch around the islands last weekend, they were anywhere from 6 to 11 inches, most of them were 8 to 9's, most of them must have been small groups swimming around, in the good old days you would get schools all the same size.


----------



## boss302 (Jun 24, 2005)

Correlation is not causation - IMO higher water levels are the main factor in the current walleye population strength. 

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk


----------



## miked913 (Feb 29, 2008)

boss302 said:


> Correlation is not causation - IMO higher water levels are the main factor in the current walleye population strength.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk


It's changed by a couple feet(down) in the past couple years so higher or lower is/was better?

Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk


----------



## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

boss302 said:


> Correlation is not causation - IMO higher water levels are the main factor in the current walleye population strength.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk


That is an ignorant statement. Take your ball and go home.

So you are one of those 2 plus 2 equals FISH persons. Or maybe true data doesn't support your opinions which is the way our World is acting now. 

"If you ignore obvious correlations, you are ignoring truth in science."

Rickerd


----------



## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Ok ok lets just get back on track here and forget the other bs. Call out them perch marks and any catches!


----------



## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

Near the islands I'm hearing the South side of SBI in 26-28 fow is what I'm hearing for perch.
They should start to gather West of the islands soon though too.

A FB post I read had a limit being caught near toledo light in 7fow. Take that for what it is.
Rickerd


----------



## hageman.2 (Jan 8, 2008)

Perch caught Wed. west of Kelleys Island, South of Perry's Monument and between Mouse and Starve Islands


----------



## boss302 (Jun 24, 2005)

rickerd said:


> That is an ignorant statement. Take your ball and go home.
> 
> So you are one of those 2 plus 2 equals FISH persons. Or maybe true data doesn't support your opinions which is the way our World is acting now.
> 
> ...


Prety rude..... But perhaps you know it all? Correlation can be a clue, but doesn't automatically link facts/events that simply happen at the same time.

For what it's worth, I am a scientist and don't filter by my desires/wishes. IMO, the perch population & catching issue has no one finger of blame. Dead zone/HABs blooms, forage supply (availability and shift), walleye population, harvest (commercial and sport), and probably a dozen other factors are likely at play and intertwined.


Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk


----------



## HappySnag (Dec 20, 2007)

boss302 said:


> Prety rude..... But perhaps you know it all? Correlation can be a clue, but doesn't automatically link facts/events that simply happen at the same time.
> 
> For what it's worth, I am a scientist. IMO, the perch population/catching issue has no one finger of blame. Dead zone, forage supply (availability and shift), walleye population, harvest (commercial and sport), and probably a dozen other factors are likely at play and intertwined.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk


it is wery simle explanation,you need only high school to explan that.
1980 perch population was low and there was no limit on sport fisherman.
1985 perch poulation was very good,then comercial fisherman overharvest perch and population vent down and ohio give sport fisherman 50 perch limit.
if you are scientist then put the harvest nombers in milions pounds here,1983,1984,1985,1986 and multiply the pounds by 10 and you will see where the perch went.
if comercial fishing kill 30 milion to 40 milion perch a year,then the fish are mising for spawning,then you have problem with spawning cozed by comercial fisherman.
how much comercial fisherman spend a year fishing?
how much sport fishemans spend on fishing one year in ohio in all leke erie region ?
comercial fishing is making only profit and ohio govermant is not doing the right think,sombody is geting money in envelop from goverment to protect the comercial fishing.

when you set net in water every net work like giil net and kill fish.the fish stick head in mesh and is stuck cen not get out and die.
then comercial fisherman pull the net out,take harvest and relese rest fish unharmed beeting the net with baysboll bat till they fly off net.
i am sere when he relese them ,they spawn saxesfuly dead.


----------



## boss302 (Jun 24, 2005)

Fished Cleveland today, drifting. Nice perch marks in 52-55 fow. Caught a few nice keepers and a couple smalls - mixed with our walleye. 


As per above discussion - I get it, people hate commercial fishing in Ohio. But, you can't blame them squarely for everything while ignoring all the other pieces of the web. It isn't a simple problem with a simple solution. 

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk


----------



## miked913 (Feb 29, 2008)

I caught a perch today. Jealous?









Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk


----------



## Whitley (Sep 10, 2010)

miked913 said:


> I caught a perch today. Jealous?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


So that's what they look like.


----------



## Frickster (Jan 1, 2015)

I remember folks arguing the same points about netters when Walleye population was really low. Folks forget that the netters take white bass, white perch, sheaphead and carp out of the Lake and sell too. So when you talk about the Lake can only handle so much biomass this helps the cause. It's very difficult to try to relate how the 70's and 80's were when there was no invasive species like we have today. We also have a warmer lake now, blue green algae and micro plastics. So there is a lot of new factors to the total equation that we never had before. The folks that work for ODNR and Ohio Sea Grant are fishermen too and have a lot of passion for making the Lake better. So to be keyboard warriors and claim they have the answers over these professionals is a joke. Until you walk in their shoes and do what they do, nobody can say anything about their work and decisions they make. That's like me telling you how you work and saying you don't know what you're doing even though you've been doing it for the past 20 years. lol I'll be the first to say I don't know what the answer is, do I have opinions, sure. I'm not going to bash the people in charge of the situation cause I know they're working hard to solve the problem. Trying to change a fish population in a 1 acre pond is very hard to do naturaly let alone a huge body of water like Lake Erie. This will take years to change, like what happen to walleye population.

Good Luck,
Frickster


----------



## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

hageman.2 said:


> Perch caught Wed. west of Kelleys Island, South of Perry's Monument and between Mouse and Starve Islands
> View attachment 492223


That really does look like Gold there. Thanks,
Rickerd


----------



## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

Frickster, These statements of yours is wrong, sorry to tell you. 

The folks that work for ODNR and Ohio Sea Grant are fishermen too and have a lot of passion for making the Lake better... "nobody can say anything about their work and decisions they make."

Yes we have every right and encouragement to question and even manage the government persons who work for US! This is the problem in our country. We do not need representatives any longer to place a vote for us when they get kickbacks on every decision they make. (You fill in the blank on current news corruption, I am calling out both parties.) The persons in charge ignored the strongest correlation this century, to allow the nets back into the WB. Period! Fact! 

"... This will take years to change, like what happen to walleye population."

It didn't take that long last time. They removed the nets from WB and perch and walleye hatches responded the next year and every year after that. The decision makers were wise then, they are ignoring science now to give a 4 Million market more fish. 

If I ever won the lottery, I would buy out the perch companies license and shut it down forever. I promise. The Great Lakes are too small and vulnerable to allow commercial fishing. Heck the Oceans can barely handle all of it. 

Rickerd


----------



## Frickster (Jan 1, 2015)

You do realize the folks at ODNR and Ohio Sea Grant are not an elected officials by US. Unlike some of the crazies that are getting elected by US these folks went to school for this specific field. I never said we can’t have an opinion or question what they do but my problem is the keyboard warriors bashing them and saying they don’t know what they’re doing is what my point was. Throughout the years I’ve met some of the guys at Ohio Sea Grant at certain events and can say they have a lot of passion and knowledge for the lake. Maybe if we have questions we should send them an email to help explain it. They’re very good at responding to questions sent to them. Lastly to say these folks are getting kickbacks is flat out wrong and insulting to them. Don’t lump these guys in with our elected politicians. 

You can make a better correlation with the weather patterns before and after spawning with great hatches then with and without netters. The walleye population rebounding is perfect example of this. We don’t have netters on our side and we know Canada has a ton. The walleye population went down and back without stopping the netters.

Lake Erie is a international waterway so every year all states and Canada have to agree to the amount they will get. This is a fine balancing act every year. If Canada wanted to they could say, screw you we‘re taking as much as we want but due to the fine work our folks do it’s an mutual agreement.

This is not an easy problem that can be solved with one data point. 

Frickster


----------



## joekacz (Sep 11, 2013)

Their ”backyard “is pretty big to take care of…none of the fixes are done overnight…just something to remember


----------



## HappySnag (Dec 20, 2007)

Frickster said:


> You do realize the folks at ODNR and Ohio Sea Grant are not an elected officials by US. Unlike some of the crazies that are getting elected by US these folks went to school for this specific field. I never said we can’t have an opinion or question what they do but my problem is the keyboard warriors bashing them and saying they don’t know what they’re doing is what my point was. Throughout the years I’ve met some of the guys at Ohio Sea Grant at certain events and can say they have a lot of passion and knowledge for the lake. Maybe if we have questions we should send them an email to help explain it. They’re very good at responding to questions sent to them. Lastly to say these folks are getting kickbacks is flat out wrong and insulting to them. Don’t lump these guys in with our elected politicians.
> 
> You can make a better correlation with the weather patterns before and after spawning with great hatches then with and without netters. The walleye population rebounding is perfect example of this. We don’t have netters on our side and we know Canada has a ton. The walleye population went down and back without stopping the netters.
> 
> ...


if you operate like scientist,the comercial perch fishing would be band 10 years a go on leke erie.
but you do the oposite way off scientist you increase the comercial harvest nombers to kill more perch.
you can have school of sciaentist but you heve to do what they tell you or you loose your job.

pure dictatorship totaly run same like mafia,how much money we can get.

by the sciaentist you put quota out by.
how much sport fishermen spend and charters in bilions.
how much comercial fisherman spend in milions.

what is labist money that is all kik back money.
all goverment is crooked,city,state and federal.
cleveland city employ make $16000 a month,con you show me what they produce ?
where they geting the money from?
last year increase the tax on house 100%,this year increase the tax on the house 50%.

retiered people can not efort tax on their house and they have to sell their hose.they work for that all life and cleveland city tax dictatorship is kiling them one by one.
that is exacly how the scientists work for the goverment.


----------

