The Lake Erie yellow perch fishing has slowed a bit, but a few jumbo perch like this one are still keeping anglers happy.

BY MARK CAHLIK

The perch bite has still been slow as of late, but don’t despair. Fishermen who are showing some patience when they mark a decent school of perch on their sonar units are finding some success.

Even if it’s a slow pick of perch, persisting is a lot better than getting skunked. I do have a couple of decent perch reports coming in. The D Can area west of the Lake Erie Islands at the firing range off Camp Perry has been giving up some perch. Some catches are also popping up between Kelleys Island and Lakeside, and a few jumbo perch have been reported.

The Lake Erie walleye has still been a bit on the slower side, but the drift-and-casters have been working the various reefs with weight-forward spinners and small spinner rigs tipped with a piece of nightcrawler. Gull Island Shoal and Kelleys Island Shoal had given up some nice walleye.

Trollers have started to pick walleye at the weather buoy again on the Canadian border northeast of Kelleys Island, but the fishing hasn’t been great. We really need the Lake Erie water temperatures to drop so the walleye will move back in. Hopefully, with this week’s cooler days, that won’t be long.

The catfish bite seems to be picking back up after the sun goes down for the local legion of shore anglers. The catfish charters are still doing well.

We have had a lot of wind again this past week, which has slowed the fishing boat traffic. We are hoping to have better weather with calmer winds this week.

For anglers who are getting ready to compete in the Fall Brawl Walleye Derby on Lake Erie, registration is now open and we have announced that Bay’s Edge Bait & Tackle in Port Clinton will be an official weight station for the Fall Brawl this year.

The Fall Brawl will be held from Oct. 14 through Dec. 3. For all the details, to register for the Fall Brawl and to see who’s already signed up this year, visit: lakeeriefallbrawl.com.

We would also like to congratulate our own editor and friend, D’Arcy Egan, for being inducted into the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Hall of Fame. He has been a great asset over the years for wildlife and the work he has done to promote the outstanding Lake Erie fishing. The honor is well deserved.