Pequod1

I will chime in Gambler.  Talk about a guy that brings the kitchen sink!

Excellent points Sk8. I would add to get off the ice as soon as you see the weather getting bad. Very easy to get dissoriented out there in a snow squall. Make sure you have a compass or gps handy.

And I go out in my 14' Grumman. No problem with wind less than 10.

Have to agree with Sean. Only 60 miles from Portageville which makes the ride doable. I drive 110 and believe me, it is worth it. We limited 5 out of 6 times we went this fall. The big problem is the wind. Got to look for an offshore wind otherwise forget it.

Another unbelievable day out there in front of the Cat. Slowed down and took a real hard look at that 62' range, but no bait and no fish. Moved to a nice location in 72 and found them. At times the scream was completely covered from bottom up to 20'. I switched to all artificial with a 3/4 oz buckshot lure as my "sinker" and a couple of plastics above. Most of the time, it never made it to the bottom.

The best part though, was we were all alone with the two small fleets over a mile away.

Thats good, I only have the small boat tomorrow and did not really want to head out to 72.  

I got a call from Cindy at the Hanover launch yesterday.  The scheduled dredging and closing of the launch will not happen this year. I guess they were delayed in Barcelona and also, they are not allowed to interfere with any steelhead run.

The perch have been good to excellent for the past two weeks generally out in about 64'.  I suspect that this hard blow will change that around but when the weather settles, they should be schooled in pretty solid again. Be advised that the Hanover launch and cleaning station will be closed for a few days soon while some dredging takes place. The state launch at the Cat will remain open.

The newer propanes by Jiffy are quite a bit lighter but but having Gambler or Gator drill holes for me is the way to go!

Braid is probably the most important thing as stated above. I tie up some drop shot style rigs of about 3-4' with 6-8 lb fluoro for my terminal tackle. On these I space two gama octopus hooks of size #6 or #4 about 6" apart with the first hook 6" off the bottom. I will also use a rig with 3,  #6 in line spin shot hooks. Each hook with a plastick and jig this fairly hard for a change of pace. I will use the lightest rod I can get away with just because it's fun! 

   Might head out there Friday weather permitting.

Great news. Thanks

Fished there Sat with Gator.  Maybe they show up there at some point in time during the summer/fall but they sure were not there sat. Nothing but gobies. Big reason why I drive 80 miles to Buffalo!

One heck of a shouting match at the sbh yesterday around noon.  One guy launching at retrieval and a half dozen guys trying to get out. 

Just did a little bass fishing for a change. Not bad, not great. Could not find them on any of the shoals. They were still along the breakwalls.

Your right about that. Erie basin is nice for the weekends. The trade off is no cleaning station but - they do have a nice ice cream stand!

Believe me gentlemen, once you hit 60+ the 9,000 taste buds you now have start to atrophy and fish taste likes chicken!  At the rate I am going, I won't even have to filet them any more. Just skewer the wlole fish on a stick and stick over an open fire. 

I agree. Chartered for salmon/trout for over 20 yrs and got totally burnt out. Walleye fishing has revived me. Much more challenging for me and you can eat them! 

We stayed out of the pack yesterday and hammered them again.  Very close to a three man limit.  55' of water . Temp was around 60 deg.  Looks like they will be around for a while.

How's the rehab going.  Hope you get back out there soon.

Ditto that report.  We could not get them in the pack in front of the harbor though. Moved a little west in the same depth and had about the same numbers of perch.  Great day out there.

I would like to transplant all of them   Yesterday, while getting bait at Sodus, I ran into a couple guys getting ready to go out. We started talking about Seneca and the one guy tells me he got a 3 lb perch! Yeah right, I thought he was full of it. So he showed me the pictures. Believe it. The beast was 16" and had a belly like a codfish. If it wasn't three, it was dam close. He also had a two pounder in another pict. next to it. You could easily see the difference. 

Do I or don't I? Lol

  LOL

Yes I did and they were good. Placed them side by side next to some walleye filets and my wife and son could not tell the difference.  Your best bet at catching them would be the western end of shackleton shoal and towards the islands.

If you don't have room in your vehicle for an additional conduit carrier, you can simply find some old skis and attach them to the bottom of the eskimo. I used 1" pvc pipe cut about 2" long to use as a spacer between the sled and the skis. Use some flat washers, and don't forget to countersink the screw holes in the skis.  Net result - only raises the sled 2" and does not require any more space in your vehicle. Works pretty good too.  If all else fails, do what I do, con someone like Gator to drag it out for you

Should be a real good day for everyone Friday. Weather looks toasty.

Try reading the posts on Ice shanty. A lot closer walk to deep water from East of Cleveland on the north shore and east ofChapman Park on the south side. Just bring jigging raps and tip with emerald heads and you should be good to go.

I am missing Erie allready. The reports did put me on the perch this year but I always managed more fish away from the fleets and used the fish finder to locate them. It is a real trick to see them when they are hugging the bottom, but if you know your machine's quirks, you can figure it out. I have caught them in the summer and the fall now but I have not made a spring trip yet. Hope I get some help with that when March arrives. Also, the last trip out, a few guys picked up some steelhead off the breakwall heading out of the Cat. One guy told me ,he caught a few on a glow/blue cleo as I passed by.

I stayed in close yesterday (out of Silver Creek) when the humminbird began to light up at 44' slowed down and got into some real nice jumbos in 52' Water temp was 65.