Outdoors: Rule change designed to bolster perch population in central lake

Apr. 10—SANDUSKY — Warm up the GPS and make sure it is finely calibrated since that device soon will become an essential companion for anglers fishing east of here who are in pursuit of yellow perch, the ultimate delicacy from the waters of Lake Erie.

The daily limit for yellow perch catches in the lake sector that stretches from Huron to Fairport Harbor has been drastically reduced — cut nearly 70 percent — due to the combination of perch numbers that are low in abundance and meager hatches. The limit, which is 30 yellow perch per day for the rest of the Ohio waters of Lake Erie, will drop to just 10 per day on May 1 for the Huron-to-Fairport Harbor area of the lake, so fishermen will need to know precisely where they are on the lake.

"That unit in the lake has a declining population of yellow perch combined with poor hatches," said Travis Hartman, the Lake Erie Fisheries Program Administrator for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, who is based here. "It hasn't mattered where you are fishing in that part of Lake Erie — yellow perch have been hard to catch. Finding them is hard enough, but once fish are located, the schools are smaller. This move is designed to maintain a population to reproduce."

Hartman explained that many fishermen err by assuming that yellow perch and walleye follow similar movement patterns in Lake Erie. While walleye that spawn in the Maumee River or on the Western Basin reef complex might migrate hundreds of miles — as far as Saginaw Bay or near Buffalo — the lake's yellow perch are much more home-bound.

"Walleye utilize the whole lake system, and they go where the water and the food sources are right, but yellow perch are so different from walleye in that regard. They don't move much — most of the ones we've tracked stay within 25 miles of where they were originally tagged," Hartman said. "So while the walleye population is moving throughout the lake, yellow perch often have very different population trajectories in the different parts of the lake."

While the Western Basin, an area that roughly stretches from Huron west to Toledo, recently has experienced strong yellow perch hatches — especially in 2014 and 2018 — Hartman said the central portion of the Ohio waters of the lake has suffered through the flip side of the hatch formula.

"We rarely have similar hatch results in those different regions. When we get good hatches in the west, we hardly ever get them in the central zone in the same year," he said. "Whichever basin has the best conditions, with the right water temperature, good plankton blooms (to feed the hatch), and good egg survival — whichever basin has things right, the other ones likely don't experience similar circumstances."

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Hartman explained that while walleye will adjust their spawning cycle to the regional conditions they encounter, yellow perch don't have the same flexibility. In the western end of the lake, yellow perch spawn in the spring, in late April or early May, regardless of water temperature or conditions.

Hartman said the central zone of the lake will need to experience strong year classes in order to rebuild the population to prior abundance. He said the action to reduce the daily limit in order to reverse the low population trend is essential, and that the work of the consortium of states and the province of Ontario managing the lake's fishery has been extremely helpful.

"In the big picture view, honestly this is exciting, since the Lake Erie partners have worked so well together to look at the data and the models, and address any issues in the best manner possible," Hartman said. "I really take comfort in the lake-wide process, with each jurisdiction cooperating and doing its part."

Division of Wildlife chief Kendra Wecker said the move to lower the daily yellow perch limit in the Huron-to-Fairport Harbor area of the lake is the best remedy for the issue.

"Science-based management shows us that we have to act quickly to ensure that the yellow perch population has time to improve in select areas of the central basin," Wecker said.

Hartman said it was important for anglers to take note of the boundaries for the reduced yellow perch limit zone, and how the rules will be interpreted by Division of Wildlife law enforcement. The reduced limit is in place from just east of Huron (82 degrees, 30 minutes longitude) to a line west of Fairport Harbor (81 degrees, 20 minutes).

"The real advantage now is that nearly every smartphone has a GPS on it, and most boats have it, too, so everyone should know where they are in relation to those lines," Hartman said.

"Wherever you are on the lake, or whatever ramp or marina you are at, determines the limit at all times, not just where you return to," he said. "If you're in a 10-fish zone you can only have 10, if you're in a 30-fish zone you can have 30. You can't catch 30 in a 30 zone, but then return to a 10 zone. At that point, you'd be over the limit."

Hartman added that a yellow perch population trend similar to what biologists have observed in the central zone is taking place further to the east, from Fairport Harbor to Conneaut.

"While the yellow perch population in the west is stable and increasing, the central is decreasing and the east is also declining," he said. "The east unit is a few years behind where the central is now, but if we don't get a good hatch soon, it won't be surprising to see the quota drop there, too."

First Published April 10, 2021, 10:00am