Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Rough seas won't stop the PerchFest's fishing derby

The show must go on and that includes the Lake County PerchFest, set for Friday through Sunday with the two-day fishing derby on tap for Saturday and Sunday.

Regardless of this past weekend’s sever blow and the likely threat of more high winds and rough seas forecasted for the middle of this week, Lake Erie perch anglers will still be out in force.

Whether the perch cooperate is a different matter, though at least one Lake Erie charter captain believes not all is lost.

“It won’t be a problem in finding them but in getting them to bite. The fish get really beat up in these kinds of storms. The perch won’t go anywhere, though. Hopefully the lake will settle down to where we can get them going,” said charter captain Ron Johnson of Painesville Township.

Johnson said that right now the water is stained inside with rough conditions existing over the “hump,” the area’s premier perch-fishing grounds.

And it is even possible that rough conditions today through Thursday may actually help, rather than hurt, most PerchFest derby participants, says Bob Ulas, executive director of the Lake County Visitors Bureau.

“It will give more people an equal advantage. Fishing is always unpredictable. You can see them on the screen and they’re not biting or go the next day and strike gold,” Ulas said.

The Visitors Bureau produces the PerchFest in all of its forms, being held again this year at Lake Metroparks’ Fairport Harbor Lakefront Park.

“The PerchFest is probably the best opportunity to catch a dinner and maybe win $500 or some of the other prizes,” Ulas said also.

For details about Lake Erie’s largest yellow perch-fishing contest as well as the related beach-side activities, including the popular fish dinners, visit the festival/derby web site at www.perchfest.com.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com

1 comment:

  1. The Web site is wrong - it is www.perchfest.net
    Or you can always call 440-975-1234

    ReplyDelete