04. 14. 16

Walleye and Perch fishing should be very good in 2016

Posted in: Fishing Reports, Lake Erie, Perch, Walleye

Time to book a walleye and perch fishing trip

 The daily bag limit will be six walleye from May 1 through Feb. 28, 2017.

A 15-inch minimum size limit is in effect during the entire season for walleye. The yellow perch daily bag limit will be 30 from May 1 through April 30, 2017, with no minimum size limit. Lake Erie anglers can find walleye and yellow perch bag limit information at ODNR offices, in special publications at bait and tackle shops and at wildohio.gov.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources points out that walleye and yellow perch fisheries in Lake Erie are managed by a quota system that involves Ontario, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York, as well as Ohio. Ohio’s catch limits are set after the state gets allocations from the Lake Erie Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.

Walleye


Lake Erie charter fishing Stray Cat Fishing Charter Lake Erie, Michigan

Lake Erie walleye fishing charter

Ohio walleye anglers will catch fish mostly from the 2014 and 2013 hatches, with some fish from the 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009 year classes. Additional fish from 2007 and 2003 will also be harvested by anglers. Walleye from the average 2014 hatch will range from 15-18 inches, while walleye from the 2013 hatch will be between 16-20 inches. Fish from the 2003 and 2007 hatches are likely to carry most of the Central Basin fisheries, and a good number of these walleye will be over the 26-inch range. Large walleye from strong hatch in 2003 will continue to provide “Fish Ohio” opportunities (greater than 28 inches), with this year class nearing the size that may give Ohio a new state record walleye. Additionally, in 2016, anglers should see a number of smaller (less than 15 inches) fish from the excellent 2015 hatch.

Yellow Perch


Derek with a Lake Erie double perch

Lake Erie double perch

Expect good perch fishing in 2016, with improving numbers of fish in the Western Basin. Perch anglers should encounter fish ranging from 7 to 13 inches from the 2014 through 2008 hatches this year, with major contributions from the 2014, 2011 and 2008 year classes. Fish from the average-to-better hatches in 2007 will contribute fish in the 10-plus inch range.

“In 2015, yellow perch fisheries flourished in the eastern portions of Ohio’s Lake Erie, and we expect this trend to continue into 2016,” said Jeff Tyson, Lake Erie fishing program administrator.

08. 27. 15

Fishing Report Lake Erie, Monroe Michigan 8/27/2015

Posted in: Fishing Reports, Lake Erie, Perch, Walleye

Walleye fishing has been very slow this past week. A captain friend has been fishing the North end of the Michigan dump. Tuesday he took 18 walleye, Wednesday 4, and Thursday 16 all on wiggle warts 80 back (Superman, Green Spec, orange Spec and Gold w/black back and red bill) – low divers set at 1 1/2 with any gold colored Jr. Streaks.

Lake Erie Perch fishing charter trip

Ben’s first double Lake Erie perch

Perch fishing has been very good all week. I’ve been fishing between the Michigan and Ohio dump earlier in the week and had limit catches each day with 5 to 6 people on board. Wednesday I fished between “S” buoy and the Toledo lighthouse and took 180 perch in about 4 hours, we had to weed through lots of small 5 to 6 inch perch. I burned up a lot of bait, so make sure your purchase about a third more than you would normally purchase. Today (Thursday 8/27) I had 3 guests and took the largest catch of the week size wise  near Mineikes Marina and the lighthouse. I moved around a few times and ended up near the marina in 14 feet of water. The light North East wind didn’t seem to bother the perch bite. I did get checked by the Ohio DNR, make sure you have your Ohio fishing license with you- it’s 30 per person and 2 rods per person. One of the guests on a charter boat out of our marina forgot his license and was ticketed today. Another captain fished on the line between “E” buoy and the second set of cans North of the lighthouse they caught 150 perch between 7 and 10 inches, he also burned lots of bait up on small perch. North of Stoney Point in 24 to 26 feet of water has produced a mixed bag of perch yellow perch and white perch.
08. 21. 15

Fishing Report Lake Erie, Monroe Michigan 08/21/2015

Posted in: Fishing Reports, Lake Erie, Perch, Walleye

There is still some walleye to be caught over the Michigan and Ohio dumping grounds. Wiggle Warts 70 to 90 feet back and low divers set at 1 1/2 – 22 feet out seemed to be the ticket earlier in the week. A captain buddy docked near me has walleye fished eariler in the week and managed to take 15 to 20 fish on each trip.

Lake Erie perch fishing charter trip aboard the charter boat Stray Cat near Monroe, Michigan

Lake Erie perch fishing charter trip aboard the charter boat Stray Cat near Monroe, Michigan

Perch fishing has been good all week. I have fished in the Turtle Island area and caught lots of Yellow Perch but really had to pick through them for keepers. There are a ton of fish in the area from Turtle Island to the 3 stacks in any where from 12 to 14 feet of water (Luna Pier). Take a little extra bait. Stoney Point has been on again and off again. West of Sputnik was good in 24 feet of water on Sunday and Monday with an average of 7 to 9 inchers. It started of with small ones but the size increased the longer we fished. I’ve been having to purchase extra bait to weed through smaller perch and small White Perch. I have caught some jumbo White Perch, kept them and ate em. Mixed in with the Yellow Perch no one could tell the difference.

08. 10. 15

Fishing Report Lake Erie, Monroe MI 8/10/2015

Posted in: Fishing Reports, Lake Erie, Perch, Walleye

This past week the walleye bite really slowed down! There are some fish in and around the dump but the large school seemed to move out to deeper water.  A captain friend found some out between McDonalds and West Sister Island but they have been hugging the bottom. We believe this has do to the weather we have experienced since Thursday. Blasted north east winds for 3 days!   He’s been running 40 jets deep and dipsey divers, turned to 3, out 70 feet.

Walleye fishing charter trip aboard the Stray Cat Monroe, Michigan

Start them off right with a Lake Erie walleye fishing trip!!

I started my perch fishing trips Tuesday and have had great success with limit catches of perch between 8 and 9 inches with a few over 10 inches between the dump and McDonalds, on both sides of the line. Thursday it started blowing out of the North East and by noon the water was so muddy the fish just quit. Friday and Saturday the lake was still torn up and fishing sucked. Sunday the water started to clean up but the perch were not really in the mood. A couple of us captains jumped in the boat on a scouting mission. We left out of the Raisin River went north and east till we hit clean water past Sputnik. All we caught were white perch and silver bass. We worked our way back to McDonalds stopping 8 or 9 times to check for perch. We caught perch at every stop but never hit the mother load. Our best spot was around the #1 buoy off the Raisin River. We still caught lots of junk fish along with some keeper yellow perch. Purchase extra bait to make sure you don’t run short. W- buoy is a sure bet for perch and close to home. I’ve had some reliable reports from out in front of  Luna Pier but have not fished the area yet, but I will this week.

Don’t forget the Bolles Harbor public DNR launch will be closed until September 4th. They are repairing the road. Woot Woot!!!

07. 30. 15

Fishing Report Lake Erie, Monroe MI 07/30/2015

Posted in: Fishing Reports, Lake Erie, Perch, Walleye

Lake Erie walleye fishing charter trip near Monroe MichiganDespite the hotter temperatures a fair amount of walleye are sticking around North of “E” buoy to the Raisin River and along the Michigan / Ohio boarder. I’ve been fishing with wiggle warts 70 and 80 feet back. Seems like everyone I’ve talked to has a favorite wart color. Green and orange speck seem to produce on my boat. Some of the guy’s are still running spoons and divers with great success but they are catching more white perch and small walleye. I’ve run small salmon spoons on my high and low divers and that helped keep off some of the smaller fish and it’s also taken my larger walleye. Silver Streak mini spoons in Malibu Barbie, Mixed Veggies. You’ll have to keep checking the divers frequently for small fish your your wasting your time running them.

Perch fishing has also been good around “W” buoy and “C” buoy inside the Michigan dump. Off the #1 buoy of the Raisin River and out in front of Bolles Harbor in 20 plus feet of water. Remember if you don’t start getting bites within a 10 minutes or so move a little. Sometimes you only have to move 100 yards. If you see someone catching perch resist the urge to anchor up by them. Experience has shown you will never pull the fish from the other boat, Better off to find your own school of perch.

07. 24. 15

Fishing Report Lake Erie, walleye – perch, Monroe Michigan 07-23-2015

Posted in: Fishing Reports, Just for Fun, Lake Erie, News, Perch, Walleye

Walleye fishing has really picked up this past week, thanks to a steady weather pattern. Many limit catches have been taken  all week from “E” buoy to the Raisin River in 22 feet of water. Wiggle warts have been good off the planner boards keeping small walleye (spikes) from biting 70 to 80 feet back in 22 feet of water. Spoons and divers seem to be taking the bigger walleye and more walleye spikes. I like running wiggle warts they are a lot more forgiving on speed and like to be run from 2.2 to 2.7 mph. If your not catching speed up a little at a time till you hit that sweet spot. I was catching some nice eye’s hear and there earlier in the week and starting tapping the throttle a little bit at a time next thing I knew all heck broke lose with a triple then a double. Also cock the angle of your troll a few degrees and that can trigger a bite on both sides of your boat. Caught a few very large walleye near the Michigan, Ohio boarder. Some of the guy’s I talked to this week were casting and dragging crawler harness’s did good on the day’s we enough breeze for a good drift.

Be careful about crossing over into Ohio, the Ohio DNR CO”s have been patrolling the boarder often. Make sure you have a valid Ohio fishing license, and your only allowed 2 rods per person.

Lake Erie walleye fishing charter trip

Trevor with a Lake Erie walleye and Muskie

Perch fishing has been crazy good off the edges of the Raisin River channel, Bolles Harbor and out in front of Brest Bay in 20 to 24 feet of water. With many limit catches one can afford to do a little sorting while fishing. The only problem the guy’s were having was finding a good steady supply of the right size minnows. All in all it really didn’t matter because the perch have been so aggressive. If you have an Ohio license McDonald’s area has been a sure bet for a limit catch but remember the limit is 30 per person.

07. 17. 15

Fishing Report Lake Erie Monroe, Michigan 07/17/2015

Posted in: Fishing Reports, Lake Erie, News, Perch, Walleye

Walleye fishing has been good but we are still dealing with North East and East winds. Trolling between the Raisin River and Stoney Point with wiggle warts 90 back has produced some nice catchs in 22 to 24 feet of water. Trolling 40 jets around 65 feet produced walleye catchs faster than the wiggle warts but you will catch lots of spikes. I’ve been using the warts and have not caught a spike but the bite is a little slower. The walleye seem to like a trolling speed a little hot using the warts, some where around 2.5 to 2.7 mph. Color didn’t seem to matter.

Perch fishing has been awesome! “W” buoy is the place if you don’t want to travel far. the water looks muddy but the perch seem to still bite in it. The Raisin River outer buoys is producing good catchs with some bigger perch. The perch seem to be everywhere we stopped and tried most in the size range from 7 to 8 inchs. Right now is the time to try a combo walleye and perch trip since both fish species seem to be in the same area.

Lake Erie walleye fishing charter aboard the Stray Cat Luna Pier Michigan

Jan with her biggest Lake Erie walleye

07. 10. 15

Fishing Report Lake Erie Monroe, Michigan 07/09/2015

Posted in: Fishing Reports, Lake Erie, News, Perch, Walleye

Once again the weather is playing a big roll in the fishing on Lake Erie in the Western Basin near Monroe, Michigan. The wind seems to switch everyday and sometimes during my trips, shutting the walleye down.  Walleye fishing has been very good in the morning from 6am till about 10am. The afternoon bite has been spotty. I caught all 20 inch plus fish between Sputnik and West Sister Island in 26 to 30 feet of water Wednesday morning. I went back out on my afternoon trip and it looked like a desert, fishing was painfully slow. The walleye were deep, I fished mini disc’s from 100 to 110 feet back. I also tried 30 jet divers 90 back, both seemed to produce. The fish seemed to prefer Silver Streak spoons with copper backs.  Shrimp, puff’s, UV mango, Blueberry Muffin on the high divers 55 to 62 back and mixed Veggies on the low divers 38 to 42 back.  The North water from The Raisin River up to Stoney Point and the Fermi plant have been producing very good catchs of walleye if your drifting. Trolling has been out of the question due to massaive amouts of weeds! 

The good news is, the perch have been on the bite! limit catchs around “C” and “W” can using emerald shiners in 12 to 17 feet of water. the water looks a little muddy but the perch are there. 

A word of caution – there are still lots of floating timber in the water, so keep a sharp look out for logs.

10. 28. 14

2015 Lake Erie Perch Fishing Forecast

Posted in: Fishing Reports, Lake Erie, Perch

Jeff Tyson, head of Lake Erie fisheries management for the Ohio Division of Wildlife stated –

“This year’s Western Basin perch hatch is the fourth best since we began keeping records in 1987.”  With two back-to-back good perch hatches, the perch fishing should keep getting better over the  next couple of years.”

Lake Erie perch fishing charter trip

Lake Erie perch fishing

There were lots of yellow perch being caught during the 2014 season, but most were on the small size. With another year of growth on them, the 2015 season should be a successful one for anglers in the Western Basin of Lake Erie.

10. 16. 14

Lake Erie Perch Fishing Report 10-16-2014 Monroe Michigan

Posted in: Fishing Reports, Perch

Perch fishing has been good around Stoney Point in 25 ft of water with some really nice fish. The trick is finding them! One day you catch them, then go back to the same area and they are gone only to be found again a 1/2 mile away. Up off the Raisin River has been holding it’s own as far as catch rates. Turtle Island in about 13 ft of water has been a sure bet to fill the cooler but your going to deal with lots and I mean lots of 6 and 7 inch perch. I’ve caught some true Jumbo Perch in the dumping grounds, the problem is you will only catch from 12 to 20 – then it’s back to the 6 in fish or they just quit biting.

Lake Erie Perch Stray Cat Charter Fishing Monroe Michigan

Trevor with a Lake Erie perch caught aboard the Stray Cat, Monroe Michigan

 

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