By MARK CAHLIK

Even though there is plenty of great fishing left to be done this year, this will be my last fishing report of the year. On Friday, a lot of limits of yellow perch were brought in, most caught off the southwest corner of Kelleys Island. The perch limits have included lots of chunky fish, with 30-fish limits generally weighing 10 pounds.

I was out yesterday to the west of Kelleys Island in 26 feet of water and we caught 120 fish weighing 40 pounds. Given the weather, we can only hope it means we will have better perch fishing, since they should be moving closer to shore.

Walleye fishing has remained fantastic. Trollers have been having luck at the Huron dump and west of Gull Reef. Bandit lures set back 50 to 80 feet with no weights have been best. Smithwick P10 lures set back 30 feet with 2-ounce weights in front have also been working well.

When the weather has been nice, and last week it was outstanding, both the perch and walleye fishing have been excellent. We caught a couple of walleye while out perch fishing yesterday. That should improve as the walleye start to move in around the islands.

I promised we would talk about spoon fishing this week. This starts as soon as the weather begins to cool and is really just a way to use ice fishing tactics while out in a boat. We have had a lot of success with Swedish Pimples and an assortment of spoons tipped with minnows in November. So while out perch fishing, don’t be afraid to jig a little with minnows to try and catch a few walleye.

In closing, I want to thank a few people. First and foremost, I want to think all the Port Clinton businesses, charter operations and everyone else who weathered a tough year with COVID-19. It is good to see that even though things were shut down, we all still prospered.

I also want to thank Dava Neff for writing this report every week for me. I give her the information and she turns it into the article you read every week.

Last but not least, I want to thank D’Arcy Egan for giving me the opportunity provide you a with weekly fishing report. I know first hand all the hard work he puts in to make sure that every week we have The Beacon to read. I also want to give a shout out to Publisher John Schaffner of The Beacon.

Until next year, keep fishing, be safe and, as always, keep a tight line!