All the stars lined up for one last perch fishing trip - The Daily Record

CLEVELAND -- Never has it been more evident to "strike, while the iron is hot," than this past Thursday.

With a week's worth of rain and gale-force winds coming in, and autumn quickly slipping away, Thursday was the picture-perfect day for the last trip of the year to Lake Erie.

I wasn't the only one with the same idea, as half of northeast Ohio made it up to the big waters on a gorgeous October day. From Toledo to Conneaut, fishermen were out for a day of perching. All the conditions pointed to a great day, unseasonably warm 80-degree temperatures, willing fish, and little to no waves.

My brother Don and I were the first to pull into Wildwood Marina, just east of downtown Cleveland, at 6 a.m. We wanted to get there early to avoid the Cleveland traffic, get the boat in the water, buy our shiners, and get to fishing.

But, we were so early that the bait shop wasn't open yet, so we floated around the bay and did some bass fishing. Soon, boats started rolling in and the shop opened.

Still dark out, I bought four dozen minnows (in the case of minnows, I always under-buy than over-buy, as almost always you get more than you ask for) and questioned those running the bait shop at Wildwood where to go.

"You can go anywhere you like," was the smart-aleck reply.

Then I was pointed to a pair of possible locations, "off the grass" in 32 feet of water where the fish were fewer, but bigger, or straight out in 35 feet of water, where the fish were more plentiful, but smaller.

It was still fairly dark when we motored past the break wall, and out to the fishing grounds, so finding the grassy spot on the shoreline for a location was a bit iffy. And even though my fish finder wasn't showing any marks, I picked a spot in 35 feet of water and anchored.

It wasn't long before the sun finally rose over the horizon, and the first fish was in the cooler. Then another, and another, and another.

The fishing was good, so much so that we started getting picky about what perch we kept -- just 10s, 11s and 12s.

I was fishing a single line with a flasher 8 inches above the hook, and Don was using the classic perch spreader.

Doubles weren't a problem, and neither was catching. The fish were tight to the bottom. Drop your line to the bottom, and then have fun.

And, waves weren't a problem either, which for my brother and I, was the best part of the day. We were fishing, and not chumming the water (if you know what I mean). Shirt sleeves on Lake Erie catching perch in late October -- it was a great day.

We were doing so well catching fish, that we hadn't paid attention to what was going on around us. At one point, we looked up and noted a fleet of boats surrounding us. For once in my Lake Erie perch fishing life, I picked the spot that all the boats ended up at. Even Wildwood Marina's Linda Mae head boat pulled up and anchored within 200 feet of us.

The bite did slow at 10 a.m., so we called it a day and started in. We had plenty of perch, no need to get greedy, but we did try some smallmouth fishing before calling it a day. We didn't catch any smallies, but did find some good structure that is now in my memory banks for future trips.

It was back to the marina, where the action was crazy as boats were lined up to get both off the lake and on the lake. The weather had fishermen fired up for a final day on Erie. A traffic cop was needed as launch ramp etiquette was not being used, but I kept my cool and finally got the boat out of the water by noon.

After getting our licenses and fish checked by a wildlife officer, we started for home, feeling good about "striking, while the iron was hot."

I realize even more now how important it was to go when all the stars lined up, as this week the weather forecast is not only rain every day, but the waves forecast on Lake Erie is possible 10-18-footers. The lake will be unfishable for some time after this week's storm.

But this past Thursday, it was as good as it gets.

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THE DAILY CATCH http://fishingnews.posterous.com/all-the-stars-lined-up-for-one-last-perch-fis CLEVELAND -- Never has it been more evident to "strike, while the iron is hot," than this past Thursday. With a week's worth of rain and gale-force winds coming in, and autumn quickly slipping away, Thursday was the picture-perfect day for the last trip of the year to Lake Erie. I wasn't the only on ...