jimski2

The blue pike, ciscoes, whitefish and lake trout were exterminated at once. The smelt took over the lake and took over the cold water species in the mid fifties. They consumed all the other fry that lived there. Around 1964 the Canadians started trawling the smelt and exporting them from the Detroit airport to Japan. Once a use for the smelt was determined and a control on their existence happened did the walleye and perch return to Lake Erie. Salmon stocking in the 1970's helped control the smelt also. The Commercial Fishing Operations were not supported then as sportfishing license sales dominated revenues for the state. The walleye and bass fishing dominate the fishery especially with their money prize contests so things have not changed, it is money that drives the decision making. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United

New York's Commercial gill net fishermen took on the average 200,000 pounds of perch annually. At three to a pound average that amounted to 600,000 perch. For the next five years the unharvested perch accumulated to three million perch that fed on anything they could find including other perch, walleyes, bass and emerald shiners to name a few. By the year 2000 taking a limit of walleye was very difficult an no one had answers. A balanced harvest of all species is the answer. Unfortunately the public anointed walleye as the God for fishing and the perch were ignored. Our problem today is we have lost the ability to clean and handle our perch catch and the limit should be what we can clean comfortably. Remember you can buy perch from Canadian fishermen at twenty dollars a pound. Personally I am happy to take twenty perch a day and we do not need any more laws from New York State with foolish limits if any more are needed. New York State has enough laws now if they are piled up they will reach the moon. Especially laws concocted by unprofessional people who are overwhelmed by their success at taking fish that they feel a guilt deal that does not exist.

Just think about it, you easily took 1,000 perch. You should realize it that there are too many perch out there. The Canadians take their quota and export 80 per cent of them to USA and Europe. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United

Failure to harvest enough perch from 1986 to 2003 caused a collapse of our walleye fishing here on Lake Erie. The unharvessted perch preyed on the small walleyes and even their own fry and fingerlings and we went from coolers of walleye to difficulty with taken our limit. We must maintain a balanced population of various species for success. The biologist give New York a quota and we never reach it. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United

We launched hundreds of boats daily at Woodlawn Beach. All you needed was a fellow with hip boots and better yet a four wheel drive vehicle.

You can shore fish for perch in the river. A good spot is off Squaw Island below the International Bridge from the Black Rock Lock on the approach wall in the slack water flow area. Be careful for falling in is a bad spot to get out. Bring a folding chair, minnows, cart and a couple lines.

The lake can support only so many fish and a failure to keep the populations under control and in healthy numbers is necessary to be beneficial to all species in the lake. If the walleye were endangered the fishery managers would be the first to shut the harvest of walleye down. The perch that are unharvested are a main predator of walleye fry and fingerlings, not the sport fishing group that fails to keep the perch, white perch and white bass under control. Walleye are not Gods that are to be worshipped but part of a huge picture that needs to be balanced.

The perch at this time are usually inside 24 foot of water. When they are done spawning , after the water temperature reaches 48 degrees F. , they move out to the mud bottom at 55 foot to feed on the critters in the mud. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United

It should be noted that the largest walleye taken in the Buffalo NY area was a 22.25 pound fish. The length was 36.5 inches and its girth measured 21 inches. It happened on 5/29/1943 in the Niagara River off Fort Erie, ON. Sorry, not the USA but close to the out let of Lake Erie. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United

It would be more effective if boat ramps were installed at the tip of the east wall. The deeper water does not shoal up with sand there. The Town of Hamburg ramp also should be moved to the end the pier where deeper water exists and the sand trap area that now is used. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United

A 16.25, 35 inch walleye was taken for the SENECA Nation hatchery on the Allegany river. The top three record New York walleyes have been taken there in the spring. A photo is on the Seneca Nation Conservation website. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United Mobile App

Recent years of successful walleye reproduction may result in stress on the biomass and the forage base. You can not put too many cows in a pasture or too many fish in the lake without a collapse of our fishery. In the 1950s we had an explosion of smelt that resulted in the extermination of blue pike, lake trout, ciscoes, whitefish and other cold water seeking species. The lake was not dead, just over whelmed with the wrong specy, smelt.

When New York shut off our commercial fishermen, the perch population exploded and the walleye catches dropped every year till 2003. I have seen many lakes such as Chautauqua that stunted down their perch and the walleyes dropped off also. The scientists report we should take more but the do no gooders think we are taking too many. Let us listen to professionals and not the stop the world complainers. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United

We need boat ramps for the majority of boaters. With our economy a boat dock is out of the question for most boat owners. The Dunkirk experience with a taxpayer built marina is a failure and it put a private marina out of business. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United

The taxpayers spent a lot of dollars to improve the Marina. If it is sold, where will the money go? Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United

There are around 80,000 fishing license holders in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The greatest water area is Southwest of the City of Buffalo limits. A weekend trip from the Fuhrman Boulevard area is a gridlock frustration both launching and retrieving your boat. The long distance travel time to the good fishing grounds is even worse in windy conditions. We have been fed these weak excuses for years now. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United

The walleye club guys want you to go through the Board of Directors, a bunch of old guys who are set for themselves and really not motivated except to take care of the club house. We need more new blood for this deal to happen, just not fishermen.

These people pay the state for registration fees, sales taxes, gasoline taxes and whatever else and are getting little in return . Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United

This is not just for fishing guys, there are family weekend boaters, jet ski operators and sail boarders who need access. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Erie United