jimski2

The Lake Simcoe drainage Canal enters Lake Ontario and could be the source of the whitefish. Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes could be the source of them. Back in the late 1800's, Dunkirk, NY had several hundred steam fish tugs taking whitefish from Lake Erie and shipping them to New York City as fresh caught fish over the Erie Railroad. Ice was stored after harvesting all winter and used during the warm months to keep the fish fresh. Lake Erie's Whitefish population crashed along with the Herring, Lake Trout and Blue Pike as the smelt populations exploded due to a lack of harvest. It was the mid 1960's when the Canadians started trawling the smelt and shipping them to Asia that the "Dead Lake Erie" started blooming back to life. The salmon stocking on other Great Lakes put some contols on the smelt and alewife populations. So now the whitefish are making a comeback. The Federal Fish People are interested in getting the herring/ ciscoe restored as a forage fish for Lake Trout since it does not interfere with the reproductive systems like alewifes. I can remember catching ciscoes as bait for Blue Pike in the light of our Coleman White Gas lanterns while night fishing off Crystal Beach in Lake Erie.

The only legal way to catch them now is to go out in the boat early beore daylight, set out lanterns and use a long handled dip net to catch them. Perch can easily be caught using Governor Patterson's high priced foreign invader golden shiners but the key is to have a good fishfinder and setting up on top of the schools of perch with an anchor or just slow drifting around the boats which are catching perch using minnows hooked through the head.

I had a full knee replacement Tuesday so the fish are going to get bigger now. Well the neighbors went out today from Point Breeze and came in with 70 good perch. There you go.

Lake Erie perch have been the "best of my lifetime". 12 to 14 inchers for half of them. You can not use more than one rod. Best place to go out is the "Catt", get minnows there and head out to 55 to 70 foot water, look on the graph for fish within three foot of the bottom, not the ten foot schools of smelt. Worms in pieces work also. A couple weeks ago we came in with 400 perch for the week. Use 8# braid with #6 snelled hooks, palomar knot, tied direct to the braid, no snaps or swivels, on a light action spinning rod and you are good to go. A 1/2 ounce sinker will get it down on the mud. The perch have been better than the jumboes we caught on Coneseus Lake years ago. Carry lots of ice as you will be to tired to clean them when you get home, clean them tomorrow. Anchor rope is at least 200 foot to hold bottom in 70 foot of water.

FCC requires you to monitor channel 16, the emergency and calling channel. I suppose if something happened to a neighboring boat and you did nothing, you could be held negligent and liable. The Marine Band Radio is a safety item, not an entertainment device and the Government will come down heavy if something happens.

Yes, I am there for 41 years. Worms brought 50 perch in the boat for a friend when he went out of the Catt. The weather has been bad for too long, let us hope the fish are still there, usually by mid September they are back in 55 foot, but spread out all over the lake then.

A hint here is the new gimbal bearing recently installed, why?

"Old" may mean your engine stringers and transom could be rotten and your engine mounts are loose?

Yesterday was the best morning of fishing in my lifetime. From 7:30AM to 9:30AM, with my 80 year old retired mailman using a handline and spreader, we landed 100 perch, half of them 12 to 14 inches long. In 70 foot of water off Evangola State Park, we ran out of bait in two hours. The fish were on as soon as your line hit the bottom, you could only use one line. Expensive minnows, worms and salted minnows were the ticket. This action has been going on for over a week now so if you need some, go get them.

Bait is a problem here, the minnow dealers are out till Thursday, as they say, thanks to the DEC. This is a shame as the perch are really turned on and Sunday morning, no minnows were to be had. When anchoring in 73 feet of water, make sure you have at least 250 feet of anchor line to hold bottom when the wind blows.

At dawn Saturday, five of us went out to 67 foot off Lotus Point and saw fish on our graph. We dropped the hook and took about 60 perch, many around 14 inches. Catching stopped, later after searching around for a good graph screen, the graph showed fish at 74 foot towards Canada and the hook was dropped again. Total catch for the day was 180 perch filling the 100 quart cooler to the top. The "Boys from Belfast, NY" will have enough storebought meat till last them till goose and squirrel season starts. High priced minnows and worms were the ticket.

On Lake Erie there is absolutely no reason to have a size or number limit as the perch there are underharvested in New York waters. From 1983 to 2003, witht the end of gill net fishing, the walleye failed to have one good reproduction year, 2003, was the first. The underharvested perch decimate all the walleye fry and fingerlings.

Use the Silver Creek exit of the I90, go west on 5/20 to the first red light, turn right. There is a bait store, then over the tracks to the state boat launch. As the lake cools down, the perch should move in closer. Also good for walleyes, steelhead, bass and catfish early in the summer. Near the mouth, the Seneca reservation has the east bank, further up, both sides and a reservation license is needed. Cheaper gasoline there.

We picked up 79 perch today in 65 foot of water just east of the Catt. Three guys fishing from 8:30AM to 11:30AM using the high priced minnows.

Good catches of perch have been coming in lately at the Catt. 50 to 55 foot of water is where they are. Saturday, a good guy, came in with 69.

Saturday's offshore wind brought nine walleyes for my buddy in close bottom bouncing with worm harnesses off the Catt.

Offshore winds the past week have created upwellings of colder water and the walleyes have moved in shore and higher up in the water column. That is my take on this week's walleye catch fall off.

Our other boat picked up three more in the afternoon. With an off shore wind, they went in closer to the beach and found some fish. I guess you have to think "what is going on?", not just go where they were at yesterday.