First Ice Lands Several Lake Erie Perch

Went ice fishing for the first time of the year. Early ice this season. Was a bit sketchy, first hole 3 inches. Headed off the public dock. North east winds 15-20 made it very frigid. Perch were turned on though, landed about 40 fish. Kept 12. Lots of young fish. Great action for the opener.

Quail And Pheasants On Action Filled Day In PA

Treated myself to a nice hunt south of Erie on a Game Bird Farm. Released 20 quail and 4 pheasants. Ended up with 18 quail and 4 pheasants in about 3 hours. Some really fast furious shooting behind a well trained bird dog. Lots of meat for the freezer. Wish all days could be this wild.

Nice Ringneck Pheasants On State Game Lands

Beautiful day to be out in the woods. Started pushing thickets at 6:00 taday. Ran up and down rows until 4:00. Found two big ones today in the afternoon. Did not see a bird for 8 hours. Then two ringnecks went up. Two shots with my double barrel and now I have Thanksgiving dinner. Nice.

Pheasants And Grouse In Warren County PA

Went to Warren PA gamelands for some upland bird hunting. Pushed fields, thickets, and brush for nearly 9 hours. Managed three flushes, downing two hen pheasants and a grouse. More nice birds for the table.

Fine Pheasants For Pennsylvania Opener

Headed to Gamelands today on my favorite day of the season. Found some nice birds. Really had to work for them. Walked about 7 hours to locate birds. Very crowded, got pushed around by large groups of guys. Finally found some luck on the edges and large structure. Birds were nice, large size with good markings. Will be a tasty treat for the freezer. Looking forward to the rest of pheasant season.

Channel Catfish Large In lake Erie

Went down to the Bayfront this evening with the kids. Large front moving in and barometer plummeting. I knew fish would be turned on. Caught a large Channel Cat about 7lbs, 24 inches. Gave my kids a nice fight. Took both of them holding on to the rod to get this fat fish in. Caught about 10 Sheepshead, and multiple smaller perch. A fun and exciting evening.

Sheepshead Biting Hard At Border Patrol

Took the kids out for a night of fishing. Went to the Border Patrol in search of crappie on the wall. Fished last couple of hours of light. Caught several large sheepshead on minnows. Nothing else. Fun for the kids to reel in but nothing for the table.

Father's Day Luck In Ohio Amazing Finds

Had a little time off today for Father's Day. Decided to make a trip to Ohio. Just randomly went across the border and followed The Grand River. had luck with me as I tried one landowner and worked a single field. Field was a rise overlooking the creek. Found three artifacts. A very large beautiful white Cache Blade, A nicely worked fleshing tool, and long black knife. Found tons of flakes in the field but no points. Very interesting field. No heads, just larger pieces. This will be my last time out this year. A nice way to end the year.

A Few Nice Finds In New Field In Pennsylvania

Woke up this morning at 4:30 loaded and ready to go to sell at the Flea Market. Checked the radar and decided it would be a wet day. Unloaded and by 5:15 was out the door to check out a new field I discovered last week. Large area in South East Erie County/North East Warren County. Now way could I cover the whole field, so I concentrated on a few rises. Walked to about 12:30. Battled rain and wind. Found 4 points, about just shy of 6 hours looking. Well earned. Did not find a concentration of sign. Actually, very little flakes. Points were scattered, most came from one central rise. Found one beauty, a complete Decatur Fractured Base. Very well made, thin. Early Archaic. A Kanawha, Early Archaic. A Palmer Corner Notched, Early Archaic, missing the tip but deeply serrated. Last head looks to be a preform of a Steubenville Steam, Late Archaic. pretty cool stuff. Will continue looking for new spots, looking to head further South of Erie to gain more permission. Just about all of the fields I have already walked in my area. Hope to gain a few more spots before season runs out. May even take a venture to Ohio to see what I can find there.

Two Nice Arrowheads From Crawford County PA

Went out today early for walk after several nights of heavy rain in Crawford County. Went to a field known for arrowheads and is a popular spot. Hit it hard, covering a large area for 5 hours. Found two nice complete points. Much, much sign with flakes in the entire field. There were old footprints over the entire field, but with the persistent heavy rains this week it uncovered two gems. I did cover a lot of ground to find these and they were tough finds.

Found Some New Areas In Erie County For Points

Went on a scouting mission today after work. Drove throughout Erie County to gain permission on new spots. Jumped into a field with the kids for about 45 minutes, ended up with 4 points. 3 triangles and one nicely worked small point. Looks to be a great area, only worked a small portion of the field. Farmer states there are many points to be found, and no one has been looking there for some time. Another spot I hope to explore this weekend. This is a very large track of land with several humps. landowner says one guy visits the spot on occasion, but not looked very hard. Has not had many headers in the area and he speaks of legends of an Indian site on his property. Will have to find out soon.

Jumbo Perch Still Hitting Of Pier In Erie PA

Went out at 5:00am. Was amazed that Jumbo lakers were still hitting off the pier. Caught 12 nice perch. One laker was 15 inches with a wide girth. Weighed 2.1 lbs. this would have been a state contender if it still had eggs. This was post spawn, with no eggs. Water temp getting hot, won't be long to they head deep.

A Nice Mix Of Panfish For The Bucket

Headed to Presque Isle to target crappie. Only caught 3 crappie, but many pan fish were hitting. Bluegill, rock bass, perch, and a few large mouth. Used a variety of jigs and plastics. Nice fillets for the table.

Found A Couple Of Points In Erie County PA

Went to check out a field yesterday on my day off. Spent the morning fishing in the rain, and then headed out to a field in Erie County. Found two points, both pretty much complete. Have worked this field several times before. Usually good for a point or two, but not much sign. Did see a lot of footprints. Looking was good with wet ground. Walked about 5 hours to get these two. A lot of walking for a reward of two artifacts.

Nice Limit Of Trout In Erie County Stream

Had a day off work today, went in the county to fish Temple Creek. Rain steady in the morning, but the creek was flowing perfect. Caught a nice number of trout, all on live minnows. Kept the largest 5 for my son, who loves to eat them. 4 Brookies and 1 brown. Nice quality fish, largest Brook Trout was 15 inches. Except for the steady rain, a nice day to be off work. The fish were there.

Small Size Perch Dominates Morning

Went out before work today to the pier. Got to my spot before light. Non stop action, caught at least 40-50 perch. Kept 4 nice ones. Many, many dinks. A small class size must be moving through the channel at this time. Still waiting for the jumbos.

Perch Bite Intense At Daybreak At Pier

Went perch fishing before work today. Got to the pier before light. First one out today, ran for my spot. Frigid temps in the 30's with a howling Northwest wind. As soon as my line hit the water, perch were hitting. One rod was all I could control the first hour. Caught 9 keepers, including one jumbo laker. This is a good sign, lakers may be here for this week. Will chase the perch this week.

Arrowheads Found In Artifact Search Pennsylvania

Went for a walk today for about 5 hours. Found 8 worked pieces, only 2 complete heads. Walked an old corn field in Erie County. All triangle points. Did see a lot of sign. Hope this field gets turned over fresh for this year. Saw many footprints in the field before me, so I thought I was lucky to find this many artifacts. We have had 3 days of rain to uncover more points. All in all, a good day.

Short Bite For Perch Off South Pier

Went out early today fishing for perch. Caught 3 keepers and a few dinks from 6:00am to 6:45. Bite went to nothing as the sun came up. Perch have been only active the first hour in the mornings. Will keep trying and hopefully the fishing gets better.

Arrowheads Found In Erie County Pennsylvania

Took a walk today to start the new season of hunting for artifacts. Spent about 4 hours this afternoon in a field in Erie County. Field was left over from last year, old till. I saw the farmer a few days ago starting some of the fields close to this one when I was out scouting, so I knew I did not have much time. I wanted to take a look before he rough tilled it. Rocks were easy to see as they had abundant rain and snow from the fall and winter. Found a total of 13 worked pieces, only two complete heads. Mostly pieces and parts of triangles. This is what I commonly find in this area. I found one interesting stone, with a curved groove on the surface. Groove was polished and deeply enlayed. Never seen this before. I will have to try and research this stone. Was a good day finding many worked pieces and lots of sign. Looking forward to heading out again soon.

Nice Bucket Of Lake Erie Perch To Start The Year

Went out early this morning along the Bayfront to target perch. had a good day, filling a bucket of tasty perch. Most ranged from 8 to 10 inches. Caught over 100 perch, threw back many dinks. Had to sort through them. Bite was constant throughout the morning. Frigid temps in the low 30's, with North winds made it almost unbearable. Pier was lined up with guys, but by going early I claimed the end. Fun to haul in a load of fish this early in the season. We still have several weeks of good perch fishing as this is only the start of the run. Will head out again soon.

Perch Season Underway In Erie PA

Finally my favorite season of the year! The pier perch fishing season has just begun. Went out scouting all morning. Found catches of fish at the usual hotspots. Perch observed being caught were Libery Park, Condos, Dock, and Border Patrol. Just about everyone had a couple in the bucket. A few anglers were limiting in the right spots. I couldn't take it any more so I decided to head out in the afternoon. Fished for a couple of hours, landed 4 keepers. As a cardinal rule, perch shut off after the first couple hours of daylight. But it was rainy and dark out with good cloud cover and strong NE winds. Cold and wet. I knew I could have a chance with this forecast. Caught about 20, many dinks and a few good ones. Just fun to be out on the pier. This is the time to target those local Bay perch close to shore. Water temp still very cold with plenty of feed in the water. Perch haunt all along the Bayfront. Simple method, perch rig and Minnies. Especially nice was to see my old friends in the morning. As I scouted, I ran into many oldtimers. Great to see they all came back. Saw everyone of them out today. A dedicated group, even in the wind and rain. Carl, Roy, Dick, Stanley, Israel, Kelly, to name a few. Glad they all made it another year. These guys are not young. They are a dying breed but all will still be at it another year. With me, the kid, by their side. Will be out at first light in the morning. Will be my real first time out this year at dawn. Will update soon.

Late Season Ice Slow Off Presque Isle

Fished a variety of places today. Went to 1st and 2nd parking lots early. Then headed to the stink hole and off the 4th. Very slow. The only fish active were Largemouth Bass. Caught 5 bass, and a few Bluegill. No perch or crappie to be found. Ice still 11 inches thick. Getting soft though. Top 4 inches were slush. Hope the ice will last one more weekend.

Good Variety In The Stink Hole

Fished today at the Stink Hole off Presque Isle. Was out early, still dark. Bite was very good first hour. About 8:30, the bite really slowed down. Sun came up and fish bit slow and were not as aggressive. Caught several species. Landed 7 Largemouth Bass, all averaging 15 inches. Caught about 15 perch, keeping only about 1/2 dozen. many dinks. Caught quite a few bluegill, only a handfull were jumbos. Caught smelt and one small crappie. A nice mix. Steady West winds with 11 inches of ice. Still alot of snow cover on the ice. Still a pretty good year for ice fishing off Presque Isle.

Big Bluegill Off Presque Isle

Went out in the early morning today. Headed off the 4th parking lot. Very slow bite. Only thing biting were the bluegill. Bluegill were huge though. Landed 5 very nice heavy gills. Bites were light and few to be found. Was a very nice day to be out with very little wind and temps rising in the 30's.

Perch Hitting Off Chestnut Street Launch In Erie

Went out at first light today to chase the perch. Made several moves till I found them. Ended up with 17 keepers. Threw back several dinks. All fish were in the 8-10 inch range except one. Landed a monster Jumbo fresh from the Lake at just under 15 inches. A real fight, thought I had a walleye on. Ice was a good 12 inches. Steady West wind, with a overall steady bite. Fish were cooperative till about 1:00. Overall a good day, will try again soon.

Slab Crappies At Misery Bay

Ventured out on the ice today on a very frigid morning. Northeast winds blew strong throughout the morning. Ruff setting up the hut, and was very hard to move around. Decided to stay put and try to stay warm and make the best of it. Caught a mix of fish including crappie, bluegill, perch, and smelt. Ice was a good 10 inches of clear ice. Will be heading out next weekend.

Bluegill Hitting Hard At Horseshoe Pond

Went out ice fishing today for a couple of hours. Decided to try one of my favorite spots Horseshoe Pond. Moved around 3 times and then I found them. Pulled a few hundred gills through the ice and kept a nice pile of thick ones. Released 5 to every keeper. Bite was strong and furious. Front moving through and fish were aggressive. Used ultra light tackle with yellow teardrop ice jig tipped with maggots. Fish were in about 10ft of water. Ice was a little scary, about 4 1/2 inches. Soft layer on top, with about 3-4 good inches of good ice. Hope this holds for next weekend. Looks to be warm tomorrow with colder temps arriving in a few days.

Misery Bay Provides Bluegill Action

Went to Misery Bay today early. Lots of huts, at least 100. Ice was a good 4 inches of solid black ice. Fished the first few hours of light with steady action. Bluegill only thing hitting with a mixture of sizes. Will head out again soon before we loose the ice.

A Lone Bluebill Scaup For End Of Season

Went duck hunting today, last day for me. Shot one lone bluebill that buzzed by the blind. Knocked him down quickly, sent him skipping across the water and patiently waited for more. Not many birds left off Lake Erie. A few birds in the air, not many to be found. Only one came by in shooting range. Definitely the worst year I have had in 22 years of duck hunting. Low bird numbers with mild weather early on meant for very poor duck hunting. Dreading taking down the blind. Will try again next year.