Perch Catt Perch Slow Today

[mostlymuskies]

Launched from Hidden Harbor at 7 am.Dropped anchor first at 53 ft straight out from the Catt.Marked a carpet of perch on bottom,not one hit!Tried four other normal productive spots,more of the same marking perch but no hits.Out of a dozen boats I seen (1)One Perch reeled in.We quit at 11 am and went to Milleys for lunch.

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[Windburn]

Post spawn??

[Pequod1]

Hello, Been watching the site and since I am a nutcase perch fisherman I thought I might contribute. I was one of the 12 boats out there Tuesday also. Never seen it like that before. We marked good schools of perch right out front probably around mostlmuskies, moved a half dozen times scanning and never caught one. That's a first for us. I have caught plenty of perch before in this lake and others right through the post spawn, just can't figure.

[mostlymuskies]

Pequod1,I have never gone out for Perch and caught nothing as well,maybe the rain the day before snd Northeast winds for a few days.But then again they could be spawning and not feeding.I will try again on Tuesday.

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[Pequod1]

Looks like good weather Tuesday. I should be out. Just got to decide, Cat or Sturgeon.

[yellowpike]

well we started fishing around 8 ;00 am  fished a few areas off hamburg towards Wanaka lots of bass boats all over the place no eyes we made a run to Meyers to check out the sand flats and boy we found the perch my first  triple header  we quit at 75  and we were still pulling doubles a good save for the day I think the water still a tad chilly   a few more weeks for the daytime bite to kick in   yellowpike

[BlueEye]

Nice catch John - way to save the day.

[Pequod1]

Nice going You always get them. Definitely got Erie down.

[Smeltz]

Good going, Yellowpike,!!  I think perch fishing the last couple of years is slowly changing.  A few years ago you could drop anchor & just about limit out.  Now you gotta be mobile but once on them, they'll get hammered.  A big CONGRATS to you!

[J. Sparrow]

That's interesting Smeltz....... you think it's related to water clarity? or forage? One thing that we've seen is that with increased clarity the perch fishing on the fingerlakes has changed...... spookier fish. I think that the Erie perch fishermen believe that 45 - 60 fow insulates them from the fish, but maybe that's not the case anymore. Maybe a guy roaring to within 40 yards of the pack scatters / spooks fish and there's a need for more stealth fishing.

[Pequod1]

Tried again out of the Cat today. I scanned and fished 4 miles from the Cat east. Looked anywhere from 50-60' Just some scattered small bait schools on the bottom, a few bass marks and zero perch.  I have another theory about the perch schools.  It involves 7 kilometers of gill nets at Port Abino. 

[wojo]

Found a massive school, from bottom to 20 ft. up. 50 was our goal but changed it to 60. The school flattened out and disappeared. Ended up with 55. Could not locate the fish again. Where they went it is a mystery.

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[Pequod1]

Made a decision to try one more time yesterday. The lake was as flat as it could ever be so I ran down to Meyers. Scanned and fished for an hour with a couple other boats. Nothing. Scanned and fished around Seneca with the same results. So now I have looked hard from Buffalo to the Cat. Did these fish forget that it was May and they should be in large schools everywhere?

[Fitz67]

We were at Meyers yesterday morning as well found a small school they did not show any interest

in biting. Went inside along the break walls and had a ball with the smallmouth . 

[Pequod1]

Let me guess, red boat.  We went in along the break walls too.  They are just starting in there. Water temp was 49.

[yellowpike]

I was out yesterday to didn't get to Meyers till after nine check all my # counldnt find them worked my way all around pinehurst too old icefishing spots nothing      yellowpike

[lineman49]

On ‎5‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 2:45 PM, Pequod1 said:

Tried again out of the Cat today. I scanned and fished 4 miles from the Cat east. Looked anywhere from 50-60' Just some scattered small bait schools on the bottom, a few bass marks and zero perch.  I have another theory about the perch schools.  It involves 7 kilometers of gill nets at Port Abino. 

  Gill nets, go to u-tube & check out "Lake Erie yellow perch gill nets out of Port Stanley"  video.  And that's only 1 net off 1 boat! 

[lineman49]

  Also on u tube check out "worlds biggest perch"   6-8 #'s.  Maybe we need fin restrictions!  lol

[Pequod1]

Last year they disappeared the end of May, now the beginning of May.  Time for me to target bass and the finger lakes 

[jimski2]

Water temperature determines where the perch are. Sometimes they are near the surface and your boat spooks them away as your sonar does not pick them up. When the water temperature hits the mid fifties, they will be back down on the bottom. The gill nets harvest size specific perch and are regulated to limit over fishing yet keeping the perch population under safe limits. Too many times perch will be stunted down as in inland lakes as the forage base will be limited.The large perch we catch today are the result of proper harvest management. When New York state outlawed the gill nets the walleyes and perch were in good shape but by the year 2000 we could not catch a daily limit of walleyes. The failure to harvest enough perch at that time caused a collapse in the system. Today we have a lot of angler pressure on the perch populations and have a good population of larger sized perch and plenty of walleyes. My biggest fear is some do gooders will try to set lower catch limits thinking we will be better off. Lake Erie is a huge lake accessible for a limited time frame to small boat anglers. Then we will be back to the 1990's when our fishery collapsed.

[wojo]

I hope you catch as many perch as your writings

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[wojo]

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[Headshaker]

I watched that video and it jus infuriates me to no end...I love perch fishing and that just drives me insane seeing that.

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