BY MARK CAHLIK

Special Fall Brawl lures will win prizes this year, including — on the left — the smaller Dead Eye Baby and the larger regular Dead Eye lure. For shoreline anglers, casting one of the four Dead Eye Junior lures on the right have been getting rave reviews from night walleye fishermen.

There’s no doubt the Lake Erie yellow perch are biting here and there, and walleye just to the east are starting to fire up now that the big waters of Lake Erie are cooling down. The big party — this year’s Fall Brawl walleye derby on Oct. 19 through Dec. 8 — will be starting soon, as well.

The shoreline fall fishing for walleye after dark from Lake Erie’s piers, breakwalls and sections of rocky shoreline is ready to begin. Fall Brawl anglers from Catawba Island to Sandusky, as well as from most every port from Lorain to Fairport Harbor, proved that last October by weighing a lot of early trophy walleye and ranking high in the early standings.

Anglers can enter the Fall Brawl right now online at: lakeeriefallbrawl.com. Or in Port Clinton at Bay’s Edge Bait & Tackle, including the special Dead Eye Lures with prize winning paint jobs.

To make sure all of your buddies are also signed up and have paid the $35 entry is important, so take them all along to a Fall Brawl Party, so everyone gets into the mood.

Fishermen who are going to book a charter fishing trip during the Fall Brawl, or plan to take a group of buddies out on a private boat, will need to follow one of the main rules. If you catch a walleye that could be a winner, all anglers on that boat must also be entered in the Fall Brawl, including the skipper.

Fall Brawl Sign-Up Parties

The popular Fall Brawl walleye derby may be a month away, but many tackle shops are celebrating with Fall Brawl Sign-Up Parties.

Coming right up are:

• Oct. 3, 4-7 p.m. — East End Angler, 4702 E. Lake Rd., Erie, Pa.
• Oct. 5, noon-4 p.m. — Central Basin Bait & Tackle, 910 Main St., Huron
• Oct. 8, 5-8 p.m. — Jann’s Net Craft, 3350 Briarfield Blvd., Maumee
• Oct. 11, 2-5 p.m. — Sandusky Bait Company, 101 Shelby St., Sandusky
• Oct. 12, noon-4 p.m. — Bay’s Edge Bait & Tackle, 5359 E. Bayshore Dr., Port Clinton

Big walleye will be the name of the game in the Lake Erie Walleye Trail’s Bays Edge Championship on Oct. 11-12. The Lake Erie Walleye Trail teams, with the Team of the Year Trophy up for grabs, will launch each day at the Shelby Street Launch in downtown Sandusky.

Each day, the competing anglers will head to Bay’s Edge Bait and Tackle for the weigh-ins, which begin at 4 p.m. The fishing crowd waiting for them to arrive can celebrate from noon-4 p.m. at the Fall Brawl Party, and food and drinks will be served at the weigh-in.

So, where’s the perch?

The yellow perch fishing around western Lake Erie has been fair to good, if you can find the small pods that are gathering here and there to feed. The waters northwest of the Catawba State Park Launch Ramps and the various “cans” marking the Lake Erie Firing Zone off of Camp Perry and Port Clinton are all good places to start. Check out the deepest water in those areas.

Getting a lot of attention are the new Perch Fly Rigs, whether using shiner minnows or goldies, which always a are a second choice but still productive.

Perch have been hanging around Green and Rattlesnake islands, but the pods are small and boat traffic will scatter them. If those areas are crowded, explore deeper waters in the area. Toledo fishermen are reporting that the gravel pit area is giving up some perch.