Last year I wrote my first column for the Suburban News on spring perch fishing. It was published in April, just a bit too late to get in on the best fishing. This year I was determined to get the word out early so that everyone can get in on the action.
March is the best time of the year to catch perch here in Western New York as these tasty fish are now beginning to spawn in the ponds and bays off Lake Ontario.
To find out where to go and what techniques to use to catch these delicious fish I once again turned to the Perch Punisher who is still in hiding after giving up the best ice fishing spot this winter. The man is so worried about his safety that I had to call him at a number assigned to a telephone booth (for those under twenty-five, please Google). I have no idea where the phone booth is but I think he might be living in it now. Luckily for us, the PP can’t resist the limelight. He would be one of those people who are happy to go on the Doctor Phil Show and reveal all his deepest secrets just to be on TV.
Once again, he made me promise to keep his identity a secret, but in the same breath wanted me to mention that his collision shop is now for sale. Once it’s sold he will finally be retiring.
When I asked him why he is looking to retire, he said that he couldn’t take the fact that his freezer is empty of perch fillets and the business was going so strong he hardly had time to fish anymore. That and the fact that he is soon to be 65 years old and his knees are bothering him after forty years of working on pavement.
I next asked him the million-dollar question: “How are the perch biting and, more importantly, where?” This is what he revealed:
“All the bays off of Lake Ontario are loaded with spawning perch right now. The ice fishermen hammered them most of the winter and the open water anglers now have their chance. The best spots close to home are Braddock Bay, Irondequoit Bay, Long and Cranberry Ponds. On Irondequoit Bay you need a boat to get at the perch, but the other spots are very accessible from shore.
“Braddock Bay has a whole new dynamic going on there now due to the construction of a 1,675-foot long rubble mound barrier reef on the east side of the bay. The state spent eight million dollars on the project, so I hope they have allowed for some parking for fishermen in their plans. I see no sign of that yet, but I know they have more work to do there. No one seems to know how this will impact the fishing in that bay, but the perch fishing under and around the Lake Ontario Parkway bridge is still producing some nice catches so far this spring.
“Cranberry and Long Ponds have the hottest bite right now. Again, the big problem is lack of parking on Cranberry Pond. Fishermen can park on Edgemere Drive to fish Long Pond but cannot park on Edgemere Drive to fish Cranberry. Why the two ponds only a half mile apart have different rules, I have no clue. There is a small parking lot on the west end of Cranberry Pond which holds only about a dozen cars and, unfortunately, is the only easy-access point for that pond. It would be a great use of our fishing license funds for the state to build some larger parking lots around these popular fisheries.
“It is important to remember that these spring perch are not like the perch you catch in the summer. Spring cold-water perch bite much lighter than the summer perch that swallow the hook half the time. Many of the serious perch fishermen I know use a weighted bobber 4 ft. above a 1/16 oz. pink or chartreuse jig tipped with spikes or minnows. I rig my poles with two gold #6 hooks about a foot apart, tied directly to the #6 lb. test line with a ¼ oz. sinker on the bottom. This way I will, on occasion, catch two fish at a time and if these finicky fish steal one of my baits, the other is still working. I like spikes or small chunks of nightcrawlers. I will switch to the bobber set-up if I’m getting too many snags on the bottom. Avoid heavy pound test line and snelled hooks with heavy line; the thicker line will put off these spooky fish.
“I buy my bait at Stew’s Grocery & Deli on East Manitou Road because it is close to where I fish and they open at 6 a.m., seven days a week. Sal, the owner, can tell you where the best bite is taking place and he has a great selection of bait including four types of minnows along with spikes, wax worms and mousies.
“Don’t wait too long to give spring perch a try, there is a roughly three-week window in the spring when you can catch these spawning fish before they migrate back to Lake Ontario to spend the summer.
“Also remember there is a 50-perch limit so if you are really catching a ton you must keep a count or you could get ticketed. This law was applied by the D.E.C. because some fishermen were catching hundreds of these fish and selling them. The rule seems to have made a difference and perch numbers appear to be coming back.”
Many thanks to the Punisher for his most current recon. The fact that he risks his well-being to pass on this perch info is great for us. I hope the sale of his business and upcoming retirement gives him even more hours to chase these tasty fish and relay his knowledge to us in the future.
I will repeat this for the third time in this column because it bears repeating. The shoreline of these ponds is outrageously loaded with garbage left by fishermen; most of it plastic, styrofoam and, even worse, discarded fishing line. This trash will eventually blow into the ponds and live forever on the bottom of these great fisheries. There is no excuse … do the right thing and pick up all your garbage. You brought it in, take it out!
