Sunshine State Fishing

The Edward John is a 52' vessel built right here in Erie, Pa. The boat is equipped with all the state of the art equipment needed to operate a boat on the Great Lakes. The Edward John can take up to 40 fishermen out on the lake at a time. If you are over 16, you will need a PA. fishing license. The license is available onboard the Edward John.

On the day we were onboard, the Captain was Gary and the First Mate was Todd. We had a great crew for our trip out onto Lake Erie for Perch.

We left the dock in Erie, Pa., near Dobbin's Landing a little after 7 AM and ran east toward North East, Pa.. We ran for about 1 hour and 20 minutes to an area where the perch have been hanging out. We were looking forward to loading up the buckets with two limits of Jumbo Perch. We are having a fish fry at the campground in September and everyone will be donating fish.

I think the perch have an aversion to the frying pan and were all over the lake. I believe this was due to an approaching storm. We did start catching some perch. Others were also catching fish, just not the numbers we were all hoping for. This was my first time out fishing for perch and I had a GREAT time. I even caught a double of two jumbo-sized perch.

The BEST part of the trip was my son Danny catching the largest yellow perch of the day. He won a really nice Edward John t-shirt. Thanks Gary and Todd for a super day fishing Lake Erie. We will be going again before the end of the perch season. Lake Erie is famous for the Walleye and Perch fishing.

If you are coming up to Erie, or for that matter a resident of the area like my son and I, you can't go wrong going out with the Edward John Head Boat. It's super fun and the crew is top-notch. They even have fishing rods you can rent, or you are welcome to bring your own lucky rods and reels. Minnows are FREE and they are the bait that perch enjoy.

Our trip ended somewhat earlier than expected, due to a fast approaching thunderstorm. We did get a little bit wet on the way in, but due to the diligence of the crew, we were off the lake before the lightning and thunder hit. NOW that's what I'm talking about!

Be sure to bring the appropriate clothing for the day along with the cooler for your catch and a camera to remember the day!

You can reach Poor Richard's for info at 814-881-7611 .

Dave Martin is the owner of Pine Lane Campground and also the publisher of OnlineErie.com. He has a SUPER Erie Fishing Page located at =>http://OnlineErie.com/pages/fishing_page There is a lot of Lake Erie fishing info and also many photos of successful fishermen and women.

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