Those are some good perch from EH. Impressive. Went yesterday too, but only caught a bunch of tiny fish.

Great job!

 

Don't be afraid to get out away from the crowd at EH!

Started out at sunrise on the outside edge of shanty town in about 3.5 FOW. Lots of dinks to sort through but had a couple gills and 1 perch in the bucket. Made a big move around noon or so. It was an easy drag with the bare ice, so I just kept walking.

Where I ended up had 5 FOW and no standing weeds at all. Put probably 15 holes in a line and planned to hole hop. Ended up using only 3 holes though.

1/16th oz short shank jig head with a minnow head did the trick. Caught some on bottom, but most followed the jig up. Some really aggressive bites.

Great job. Way to go out there and think for yourself.

 

Damn...an old Team OGF bucket...

Nice work Attica. The perch are very nice this year.

 

Dang Russ I didnt know you were out!!! We were out there as well! Woulda said hey if I knew u were there! Good work as always brother!

 

@BFG - I've been using that bucket quite a while now. I need to put more stickers on it to reinforce it so it doesn't crack.... it is getting brittle.

@ScumFrog - If I knew you were out there, I would have told you to come join the party. Think I stumbled on them with dumb luck. That ice is way to easy to drag my gear on to just go out and sit in one spot. A buddy i fished with on Saturday went back out to the same area on Sunday and only got 1 perch. He did get a nice pike and had another something break his line. If i head back up there next weekend, i know which GPS numbers i will be going to first.

 

We will be at east harbor Thur thru Sunday. Probably just going to stay in the harbor all three days with the wind forecast. We have never been there, any baits work better than others or about like any other lake?

 

@CHOPIQ - You might try the bay while you are around if you have that much time. Whites Landing has good reports on days..... guys keep quiet about it though. I have heard rumors about a trench running along the Old Bay Bridge and see shanties up there some years. There are marinas that you can get into as well that have decent perch and gills if the day is right. That said, East Harbor is a big place and lots of spots to move.

It is like any other lake. I've had mind blowing days (like Saturday) and complete skunk days when i hardly mark a fish and drag my sled through 8" of slush. East Harbor is mostly shallow water so you can use some tiny baits and they still get down deep enough to get bit. I prefer heavier baits that I can work more but some days have to force myself to slow down. When it gets pressured late in the season, i think the lighter/smaller baits work better. If i am rigging up 3 poles the night before heading to EH, it would be:

#1 - The SMALLEST jighead i have in my box that will get a maggot
#2 - 16th oz mini spoon with a meat tip
#3 - 16th oz jig head with meat
#4 - Smallest Rapala Rippin' Rap i own (i know i said 3)

 

@ScumFrog - If I knew you were out there, I would have told you to come join the party. Think I stumbled on them with dumb luck. That ice is way to easy to drag my gear on to just go out and sit in one spot. A buddy i fished with on Saturday went back out to the same area on Sunday and only got 1 perch. He did get a nice pike and had another something break his line. If i head back up there next weekend, i know which GPS numbers i will be going to first.
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Let me know if you get out im trying to get out friday and possibly sunday pending ice shituation!

 

The ice at E. Harbor should be fine as long as the guys using machines are careful getting on and off thru the weekend as the edges soften. I wish someone would take a sledgehammer to the huge lip of ice that is right at the bottom of the kayak ramp.

I don't understand why anyone needs a 4-wheeler/snowmobile at E. Harbor, unless they are unable to walk safely. The kid doing donuts for 25 minutes not 100' from my son and I a week ago was mildly irritating, to say the least. This has also been a very odd year for where everyone has set up...usually the pack is farther down towards the channel but not this year as there are 1,000,000 holes within 200 yards of the ramp. LOL

My kid got a few nice perch out there last Saturday with his buddies, one of which was 14". I still can't believe that guys leave their shanties set up day after day. Easy pickings for scum bags it would seem.

The tourney last weekend had a nice turnout with good weights for 10 best fish.

 

Thanks attica fish. Appreciate the information!

 

We fished east harbor today Put in at the kayak launch. 4 of us caught probably 60-70 keeper gills Only 3 keepers crappies and a few keeper perch. Back at it in the rain tomorrow

 

Hopefully the ice holds up one more day. Figure Sunday might be my last shot on the ice this season. There is some talk on the EH Facebook page of oversized chainsaw cut holes and sinking shanties..... so everyone be safe! I did hear the chainsaw running out there last week and thought it was someone with a super dull auger. If the shore ice holds, i will be out somewhere!

 

That was a chainsaw? Was wondering what the noise was. Who would use that? Also thought it was someone with a really dull auger and seemed like was using it a lot too. Should be illegal.

I would think the ice should be good for a while. Long term looks good and I think more sustained cold coming by next weekend, I hope!

I might be out tomorrow too.

Hope you get into the perch again if you try for them!

 

@DBV - it isnt illeagal to use a saw as long as the hole is no larger than 12" diameter. It sounds like there are a couple spots with quite large holes.

 

Still think it should be illegal, which is what I meant to say. There are so many families with little kids fishing EH this year and even at 12” in diameter someone’s foot can go in. Talk about ruining the experience for someone if they step in that hole. Not sure why anyone needs a whole that big at EH. I use a 6” Nils and never had problem getting any fish thru the hole at EH. 🙂

 

I have a 6" Nils also and it is perfect for EH. I've landed some pretty big cats and bass.

 

Tough bite today. I fished from 8:30 to 1:30 and managed 1 perch that maybe went 5". Haha

Main ice was good. Mostly 8" or more in the majority of the holes i cut. Walked way down towards the channel and the ice thinned to about 6" at the end of my walk. It was open at the corner. Notta damn bite down there. Weird open hole about dead center in the harbor too. Decent group of shanties in front of Cleats tho.

I actually cut so many holes, I killed my Dewalt main battery and had to switch to my backup battery I carry. Fished up to 6.5 FOW both in the weeds and outside the weeds. From others I know who were there, none of us did very well. Just one of those days you take one the chin.

I made up for it and grilled chicken tonight.

 

Two week forecast looks great for ice conditions around northern Ohio. Enjoy it boys and girls, we don't get it like this very often.

 

@BFG - It looks nice with those temps hoovering right around freezing for a while yet. I just hope the sun doesn't shine much. The sun is getting higher in the sky and will eat the edges quick on a bright bluebird day. I hate using boards to get on a floating ice cube...... but am not totally against it either! haha Stay safe all!