CLEVELAND, Ohio – It was almost fishing deja vu all over again when legendary Litchfield fishing guide Andy Emrisko took his friend, Mike Rosby of Brooklyn Heights, fishing Lake Erie Wednesday off the coast of Bratenahl, in the east of downtown Cleveland.
Rosby brought in a jumbo yellow perch, a fish they thought might be the Ohio state record. For Emrisko, it wouldn’t be the first time.
He had taken his bunny hunting friend Tom (Blackie) Haberman out of Brunswick for yellow perch on November 23, 1999. While working a perch and fish rig on the bottom of Lake Erie, Haberman hooked and landed a 16.3-pound pike.
It was and still is the Ohio State record more than two decades later.
“It was too late to officially weigh the perch Wednesday night,” Emrisko said. “When Mike finally weighed the 15 3/4-inch perch on an official scale Thursday morning, it registered 2.6 pounds.”
It was just a bit shorter and a couple of ounces lighter than the record 15.75-inch, 2.86-pound perch caught by Dave Berg of Mentor on April 18, 2016. He was fishing from boat docks in Fairport harbor
“That would have been something, guiding different friends to two different state registries,” Emrisko said, laughing. “It would have helped set the perch mark while we were actually fishing for yellow perch, and it would have set the perch mark while we were going after the perch.”
Tournament scandal shuts down Rossford spring event: The walleye cheating scandal at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail Championship held in Cleveland in late September doesn’t appear to have made much of a difference in entries for the walleye fishing derbies Fall Brawl and Walleye Slam. on Lake Erie. However, it has made all the difference for the sponsors of the popular 2023 Rossford Walleye Roundup.
Bass Pro Shops, the main sponsor of the event, has declined to sponsor the upcoming spring event. This has resulted in an agreement between Rossford Mayor Neil Mackinnon III, Bass Pro Shops and the Rossford Convention and Visitors Bureau to cancel the tournament.
Walleye Slam, Fall Brawl fishing derbies are underway: The popular Fall Brawl and Walleye Slam fishing derbies are in full swing through November 27, and both have attracted good fields of anglers. The veteran Fall Brawl has a field of 10,408 entries and the second-year Walleye Slam has 8,221 entries. Nick Eckenrode of Sheffield, a local fence installer, had entered both derbies, and his 10.37-pound walleye now leads both.
Erie Outfitters, the only check station for the Walleye Slam, reported that crowds came to see about 50 walleye weighed in one day this week from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Good fishing weather boosts Lake Erie fishing: Although it won’t last, according to weather reports, great Lake Erie fishing in recent days has drawn crowds of yellow perch and Lake Ohio anglers from nearby states.
The lure is a very good night bite around Lorain and Cleveland, although daytime fishing has been a little slow. Out west, however, anglers from Vermilion to Cedar Point have been enjoying outstanding walleye fishing during the day. An angler reported Thursday that although there were only six boat trailers parked at the Avon Lake outlet, the parking lot was full in Lorain.
Night anglers launching boats this weekend should be wary of increased winds. Some rain is in the forecast, and it’s much needed to get steelhead trout running in the rivers and streams of Northeast Ohio.