Page 4 - Fishing Report | 10-25-16

smallmouth bass but only caught
largemouths – none over 15 inch-
es. All bass came on Lunker City
Ribster shaky worms. I also land-
ed my largest bowfin ever – a 30
incher. The surface water over the
weedbeds was filled with blue-
gills. Casting Terminator Swim
Jigs, lipless rattle baits and Road Runner Classic Underspins did not
yield any bass or pike – but only the loss of three lures to clean bite
offs. Pike or bowfin – I have no idea.

Sugar Lake
Matt Watson (Franklin); filed 10-20: If looking for bowfin, look no further than Sugar Lake.
There are lots of them in this small lake. Last month I caught six on a musky bucktail spin-
ner.

ERIE COUNTY

Presque Isle Bay
Mike @ Lake Erie Bait and Tackle; filed 10-24: Customers are catching perch off the North
Pier and crappies in Marina Lake. Remember, the docks at the state park marina open to
fishing this Saturday. Plenty of flow in all the tributaries after several days of rain so steel-
heads are moving on up!

Lake Erie and tributaries
Rich Weber @ Erie Sports Store; filed 10-24: Perch fishing in Lake Erie has slowed to a
crawl due to the windy weather and most anglers putting their boats away (always a sad
time for me). What perch have been caught in the lake have been scattered with mixed
reports of catches in 35 to 76 FOW. In the latest issue of Pa. Outdoor News there was a
very good article on the state of perch fishing in Lake Erie….It appears to be at a 20 year
low. It seemed to start in 2015 and get worse this year. It looks like they are saying we
have fewer perch, poor hatches recently and less emerald shiners.

Walleye fishing this season was OK, certainly better than the perch fishing. The good news
for the walleyes is the large amount of small walleyes (8 to 12”) that anglers caught this
year. According to Ohio fish and game there were outstanding walleye hatches during the
last few years.