BY MARK CAHLIK

While the big waters of Lake Erie aren’t as friendly when it is windy, the catfish are usually biting around Sandusky Bay.

The northeast winds arrived over the weekend, and when those winds move in the Lake Erie fishing always gets much more difficult. Unfortunately, it looks like a northeaster and the slow fishing will be around most of the week.

Yellow perch fishing is still hit or miss around Lake Erie right now, although a couple of decent reports of success have been coming in. A couple of nice boxes of perch came in from off Lakeside and Marblehead and from the G Can at the firing range. Right now, you need to use your fish finders and look for active fish.

The biggest issue right now is that the schools of perch have changed their diet. They are gorging on spiny water fleas. If you are not sure what these are, you can Google it.

The walleye bite has moved a bit for drift-and-cast fishermen. They are doing well between Gull Island Shoal and the Canadian line. I have heard from a couple of people that they are picking up walleye in the Sandusky Bay on the Sandusky side of the bay. Trollers are having better luck this week with Dipsy Diver diving planers using

the Dead-eye Eye Baby’s. They still have been going east of Kelleys Island Shoal.

Catfish are still being caught in the Sandusky Bay Area for charters and private boaters, with many catching nice sized fish. The shore bite is still a bit slow, though. With this cooler weather hanging around, the water temps are going to start dropping quickly. This will help the walleye to move back into our area.