Ready for a road trip? The steelhead trout are just starting to surge up the Northeast Ohio rivers and streams, with the silver bullets providing angling thrills throughout the winter and into the spring. The top rivers to wade are the Rocky and Chagrin rivers and Conneaut Creek.

BY MARK CAHLIK

It has been a ball this summer and fall, giving readers of The Beacon the fishing report each week. This will be the final Lake Erie report of the year. As we wrap up 2019, there is only one word for the fishing we have had this year, and that word is amazing.

The walleye fishing has been the greatest it has ever been and the 2020 season may be the best we have ever had in our lifetime. With the walleye, we don’t have to hope and pray we will catch them. Despite all the rough weather we have had this year, the walleye fishing has prevailed.

Now for a quick report on the yellow perch. They have finally shown up, coming in at all different sizes, and limits of the tasty panfish are being taken daily now. I went out this week and experienced some of the best perch fishing we have had in quite a while. Perch are being taken anywhere from between the Perry Monument and Kelleys Island to the southeast corner of Kelleys Island, and all the way to the Huron River area and Cranberry Creek.

Those choosing to troll for walleye have been going from the Lake Erie Islands to Huron and they have been doing great. Capt. Ray Leach and a group went out the other morning and were back with limits of walleye by 11 a.m. They were fishing between the northwest and northeast corners of Kelleys Island.

As had been the norm for quite a while now, Tru-Trip diving planers with spoons and crankbaits have been the top tactic. Anglers casting from the piers and breakwalls after dark have been doing well.

Walleye is an important part of our economy around Port Clinton and our businesses thrive because of all the tourists making a visit to enjoy fishing on Lake Erie. Many of the businesses in and around Port Clinton depend on the fact that people flock to our area year after year in hopes of getting some Lake Erie gold to take home with them. We should be set for record walleye fishing for the next few years, or more, since our past hatches have been so great.

So until next year, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from all of us at Mark 1 Sportfishing and Bays Edge! And remember, always keep a tight line!