ERIE 7/25/15

Maiden voyage of the 19' sea nymph today! And it was quite the saga. For those who like to read the end first: we caught some nice perch, but didn't break any records. Oh, and we didn't sink. For the rest of you, the day started like this:
 
Woke up at 4am, a bit before the alarm. First night I've slept more than 3 hours in a row in the last month (stupid stupid kidney) and I woke up ready to go. Buddy supposed to be in my driveway "a bit before 5am" which mean "a bit after 5am." Loaded up the boat, double checked the important stuff, headed out. Couple miles up 79 I see something fly out of the boat. Pull over, buddy runs back the mile it took me to stop for one of our PFDs. Yeah, need those. Rest of the drive is uneventful.
 
Find the East Launch easily and WOW the trailers! Guessing there were 100 in the lot. Nice big lot though and 5 or 6 launches so no wait at all. And no clowns screwing the launches up with their shenanigans! Pretty nice. Went in the bait store/trailer and they said "normal 2 guy trip for perch buys 3 dozen" shiners. Three dozen? We buy twice that in fatheads for Arthur. But their "3 doz" is more like 10 dozen. Not sure how guys keep those BS shiners alive in bait buckets. We have a bait well that's circulating and filters scales, but most people don't. Kept our bait alive all day, though I'm not certain that's necessary. We did better on cut shiners than whole. I think if you cut them right away and kept them in a tupperware on ice they'd work all day without the hassle.
 
Anyway, launched and tried to start the engine... not so much. Tried and tried. Finally decided we'd try the 6gal "aux tank" the guy gave me and it started. Turns out the **** main tank is EMPTY! Now that makes me a 'tard, but I swear he told me it was full. I SWEAR! Anyway, that 80hp drives that boat scary fast, way too fast for even modest waves in my opinion. Which didn't matter, because the perch waters are right offshore of that inlet. Not even a mile. I swear someone said 4 miles... but not so much. The guys we talked to said 50 fow for perch and 65-75 for walleye. We caught all our perch in 47 fow. And not a single one in 50. For what that's worth. OH! Here's a tip on that whole "perch pack" nonsense. You can't just get in or around the pack and catch perch. You need to SEE guys CATCHING PERCH, and park near them. We didn't catch on until around noon. We caught tons of sheepshead, but no perch until we saw 3 boats nose to tail catching actual perch. We parked reasonably near them and immediately caught perch.
 
Nice fat Erie perch too. Buddy caught one you could barely get two hands around. It was a moose. Only boxed 16, threw back 2 or 3 dinks. Plus a white bass and a handful of white perch. Not a great run for guys who know what they are doing, but a pretty enjoyable day for a couple rookies. Some guys I talked to at the ramp said they limited perch but had to work hard, and they were a few miles West at the lighthouse? or maybe just the light? Waves were "less than 2" all day, but started pretty flat and by the time we headed in around 2pm were closer to 2 than not. The boat handled great! Way better than my old grumman would have. We'd have lost fillings. Definitely need to gut this boat and design a working interior that's comfortable and functional. Winter project.
 
Engine... I'm thinking that big engine can suck it. Going to dump it for either a new fancy 20, or one of those 28/30 stickered 20 you see around here all the time. I don't care about going fast, ever. I only want to get out to the spot and back. If it takes 20 mins instead of 5, what do I care? I'm not willing to eat waves at full speed anyway. And then I can fish anywhere from here to Erie without issues. If we're headed to Erie and the waves kick up, Wilhelm is right there flat calm. 20 is the way to go. I'd love to hear from guys running smaller engines on Erie, do you really miss the big guzzler?
 
Endcap, on the way home I somehow missed the Meadeville exit and its Sheetz, and almost ran out of gas! Limped into a sleazy Sunoco a couple exits down the road after the truck told me "hey, no gas!" Wasn't my day for gas tanks I guess. Let my buddy take home the perch, which means I don't have to clean any fish (freezer still at healthy levels), so I win that round also.
 
There you go. Erie saga #1. Later in August I'm going to have to drag Porktown and BTDT up there so we can swap lies. I mean stories.
 
Oh, rigging... used mostly a 30 class reel spooled with power pro and a 6 hook sabiki rig. One with #6 hooks I'd say. Kept them tipped with cut or whole shiners. Nothing touched worms. Buddy used a 3 hook spreader rig and did fine also. The sabikis are a bit tangly, and I may or may not have shouted some choice cusses. 1oz was plenty to hold bottom unless you tried to drift, which we quickly stopped doing because it was terrible. I think that's all the details.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
AWWWW c'mon I'm just kidding.............  I been waiting to use that emoji for a looooooong time!
 
Congratulations on your maiden voyage and catching some dandy perch.  
 
Just for the record, I had people watchin' for ya and now I know why they didn't see your boat.  They were looking for and old grumpy dude in a 19.5' STARCRAFT with a 80hp loud motor.  Could of swore, somewhere, you said you bought a STARCRAFT with spongy floors...... silly me!  
 
Hey if you're open for some suggestions for remodeling your boat this winter;  put in a rear bench type seat across the back of the boat, great place to "safely" store life jackets. (like using this one too)
 
Buddy of mine has a 20hp pushing a 19.5' Sylvan and he seems to be satisfied with the performance when he's on the limited horsepower lakes.  Says it gives him the feeling of being in a "sailboat."  
 
However, I would recommend holding onto the 80hp and hang a 20hp along side of it for the time being......  just in case you might need to return the tidal waves created by some idjut strutin his stuff towing screaming kids on an overloaded, rubber replica of the Loch Ness Monster between you and the shore.  
 
There's always some old hairy guy looking for a big motor to show his junk off so, I wouldn't think you'd have trouble selling the 80 if you find your satisfied with a 20/30.
 
Last but not least, I appreciate the thought of an invite to fish Lake Erie with you and some of your friends and to show what kind of guy I am, I'd like you to have these co-ordinates for your GPS.  Please feel free to use them anytime you're headed to the big lake, 41.620193, -80.169384...
 
No, there not the location for a hot spot on Lake Erie (you should know I don't spot burn!) but, they are the coordinates for Sheetz off of I-79 at Meadville, PA. (couldn't resist, honest, I just couldn't)
 
Truly happy to hear you had (almost) a trouble free maiden voyage and wish you many more.  Enjoyed your story, especially about the jumbo Perch.  Unfortunately, we both know, "It Don't Count If, There's No Pictures!"  (uh boy, I bet I hear about that remark)
 
I gotta get...............  (this one also)

Agree.  If you plan on fishing Erie on any regular basis, keep the big motor and get a kicker for trolling the big lake and for use on the restricted lakes. 
Only a matter of time now that you try and rig it for 'eye trolling and that will take you farther from shore.

 
"And dont think the time wont come when you end up in bigger waves than you wish on erie, it happens to everyone who fishes that lake eventually."

Bingo!  Our lake report comes out of Cleveland.  I'll never forget 2 years ago when NOAA was calling for a calm lake and balmy breezes.  But Walnut was getting hammered to the point that boats couldn't make it out.  The lady inside said she just got off the phone with Cleveland and they weren't showing anything like the weather we were actually getting here.  IMO to fish Erie consistently with nothing but a 20 horse is insane.