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Article published Friday, August 10, 2007 toledo blade
FOLLOW THE FISH
Summer perch caught on Frisch’s ice-fishing gear
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By STEVE POLLICK
BLADE OUTDOORS EDITOR
Skipper Dan Tucker’s favorite Lake Erie
perch tackle includes an in-line sinker with
a snelled hook dressed up in beads.
( STEVE POLLICK )

Photo Reprints
Yellow perch fishing this week on western Lake
Erie wasn’t quite Christmas in July in terms of gifts,
but only because it was neither July nor Christmas.

It was, however, a case of using ice-fishing gear in
summer to catch perch, at least for veteran angler
Tommy Frisch, of North Toledo. “See those marks
there?” Frisch said, pointing to the colored hash-
marks flickering at the “bottom” of the circular
flashing ring of his Vexilar fish-finder. “Those are
fish. Lots of ’em.” Mostly yellow perch, too.
Frisch proceeded to hoist aboard a 9 or 10-inch perch on his teeny ice-fishing spinning
outfit. He even uses a flashy little spoon on a dropper beneath a hand-tied mayfly
imitation.

It is not quite the main perching season yet. The bigger jumbos, 10 to 13-inchers, haven’t
schooled and swarmed. To do that it may take some cooling off of lake water, which still is
running in the low to mid 70s.


But a boatload of veterans found a mighty fine mess of 8 to 10-inchers Tuesday between
Niagara Reef and Green Island in 27 to 28 feet of water.

We “got them going,” as they say in perching parlance, and were hauling in fish after fish
on golden shiners when squirrelly weather — rain showers and highly variable but light
wind — turned suddenly nasty. Too much lightning and then a strong southeast wind
started to whip up the water and the light rain turned to heavy sheets. It was a quick
unanimous vote that it was time to go in — now.

But by the time the boat was within a mile or so of Turtle Creek, the sun was out, the brief
storm distant history. But the wind was strong offshore — the plume off the Davis-Besse
stack was streaming below the rim, conjuring up the old western basin saw about the
nuclear power plant’s cooling tower plume: “If it’s below the lip, cancel the trip.” Good
advice for living to fish another day.

The crew included skipper Dan Tucker, piloting his 27-foot Erie Sport; Frisch, better
known as the Turtle Man for his turtle trapping and rearing exploits; Bill Byersmith, a
master tacklesmith and his son, John, and me

“If we had had another hour and a half of flat water [as we had earlier], we would have
filled our limit,” Tucker said. No one was complaining, though, other than a certain
outdoors editor grumbling a bit about his leaky rainsuit and how he’s been vowing to
replace it for 18 months, every time he gets soaked.

In any case, get ready for a good perching season. Once it gets going you can catch
perch into the fall until you don’t want to be out on a boat any more. Use whatever gear
you are most comfortable with.

Tucker, for example, prefers a baitcasting rig with an in-line sinker, to which he attaches a
snelled hook, sometimes one with beads and a small spinner blade for some flash. On the
other hand, the classic side-by-side two-hook wire spreaders also work well, as do the
stacked tandem “crappie” rigs, one hook above the other. The main thing is to have a live
shiner, emerald or golden, attached on the business end.

Remember the daily creel limit is 30 fish. If you don’t find fish within 15 minutes of
dropping anchor, move a little. Keep moving until you find fish — perch somehow tell their
buddies, and pretty soon you can have constant action.

If the fish are running too small to keep, move. If the action drops off, move a little by
letting out a little more anchor line. It’s a seek-and-find mission.

Along with your gear and a bucket of minnows, bring some stories. Perching is not the
rocket science of angling. It is straight-forward minnow-dunking, about one crank off the
bottom. It is about having a relaxed easy time. So be prepared to share tall tales, teasing,
and reminiscing en route to icing down the butterfly-fillet fixings for the world’s finest fish
fry.

Elsewhere on western Lake Erie, walleye fishing has slowed but is still worth the effort for
those boats getting out.

The Ohio Division of Wildlife recommends trying off the Toledo Harbor Light in 18 to 22
feet of water, near B-Can of the Camp Perry Firing Zone, and from Rattlesnake Island to
F-Can on the Canadian line. Hybrid mayfly rigs, or Weapons, with gold blades are the
choice of casters and trollers doing well with Jet Divers or Dipsy Divers and spoons,
usually copper-backed.

A good grade of walleye can be caught by casting in the western basin this time of year,
as evidenced by the results of last Sunday’s West Sister Charter Boat Association annual
tournament.

The top team among 20, Not Too Unreal, turned in 10 fish weighing 31.82 pounds.
Anglers included Dave Szostek, Tony Majewski, Bob Rutter, Jim Groth, and Bill Healy.

Second place went to the Aquaholic team skippered by Chuck Stange, at 29.64 pounds,
and third went to Watch Witch, skippered by Jerry Meyers Sr., at 29.38 pounds.

The teams generally fished Weapons with gold blades in this casting-only event, said
Rick Ferguson at Al Szuch Live Bait, the tournament headquarters.

On Lake Michigan’s salmon waters, skipper Lee Boyer reports that “fishing in Ludington is
about as good as it gets.”

Boyer, the Fishing Farmer who plows for walleyes on Lake Erie’s Michigan side out of
Luna Pier most of the summer, usually takes a break to run some salmon trips. Boats at
Ludington have been taking limits of king salmon with a mix of steelhead trout and coho
salmon, Boyer said, fishing in 60 to 100 feet north and south of Ludington.

Best baits have been Dreamweaver Spin Doctors with Strong Flies and Silver Horde plugs
off lead-core line. On Tuesday Boyer took 25 fish by 10:30 a.m. The kings are running 12
to 18 pounds.


On area farm ponds, largemouth bass have been active, even in the hot spell. Ed Romp,
of Monclova, and his 11-year-old grandson, Hunter Johnson, have been working over
some Monclova area ponds and Hunter has logged bass of 19 and 20 inches.

Besides the ponds, Romp and company fish Delta and Swanton reservoirs and the
Maumee River as well — “wherever we can find fish,” adds Romp.

Prospective farm pond anglers are reminded that private ponds are off limits unless you
fish receive permission from the pond’s owner.

For the record, Joseph Bartlett, III, of Bowling Green, has posted another line-class
record fish in the book of the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wis.

This time it was a 4-pound, 3-ounce hybrid saugeye of 26¾ inches length taken from
Fostoria Reservoir No. 6 on July 26. It sets the record for the 16-pound-test line-class.
For years Bartlett has been posting records in the Hall of Fame’s book by seeking out
species and line-classes that he can reach from home — from the Maumee River to area
impoundments.

For more information on the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and its record program, call
715-634-4440, or visit on-line at www.freshwater-fishing.org.

Contact Steve Pollick at: spollick@theblade.com or 419-724-6068.
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