It was over in less time than it takes to watch a made-for-television movie. After just 90 minutes of lowering weighted perch rigs into 52 feet of Lake Erie water the five anglers were stowing their gear and battening down the hatches. While the perch were kind and generous, Lake Erie was showing its temperamental side with waves lifting the hull of Marv DeGreen¹s boat by as much as four feet.

Even so the fact that the boat¹s cooler was enriched by 150 plump, sweet-smelling yellow perch was cause for celebration.  "This is some kind of wonderful," said charter captain Steve Jager.  "Another day in paradise."

That was good fortune for Bob Ashley of Mentor and myself. We'd have the opportunity to join the three charter captains on a yellow perch fishing trip out of the Grand River. This way the three fishing guides could keep on top of where the perch were actively feeding. That, of course, was as good of an excuse as any.

"Once again the weather report got it all wrong," said Johnson as we watched the three to occasionally four foot swells. No matter, for the wind and the waves created the perfect perch fishing chop. We had enough of a roller coaster ride to keep our perch rigs riding up and down from the lake¹s bottom.

"There’s a lot of current down there and you need the weight to keep the perch rig from running away," Johnson said. Hardly had the perch rigs touched bottom when the fish began inspecting the baited offerings. Usually one fish was hauled aboard but enough double and triple headers were raised to spark more than a few "he-haws" and "yow-ees" from the quintet of fishermen.

"You might as well put that second rod away," Johnson said, looking at my pair of fishing outfits. "It’ll only get in the way." Johnson was correct as the perch came so fast that the need for two outfits was outweighed by the simplicity of the technique. We only had to lower our rigs and then let the fishing lines go slack for a moment. Next was to jerk the rods up to set the hooks and then reeling in anywhere from one to three perch.

In less than an hour the trash can held a treasure of 100 fish. At that point Jager stopped fishing and offered a running sports television-style commentary. He cajoled when I raised three perch only to see two of them eject themselves before being swung aboard. And Jager offered a bravo when anyone hauled up a particularly impressive perch.

"The perch are really nice size this year, and we’re not catching any gobies and few sheepshead out here," DeGreen said.  And so the fishing trip was over only a short time after it had begun.

For information about fishing with DeGreen, contact him at (216) 970-1246. Johnson can be reached at (440) 487-0002 while Jager can be contact at (216) 531-2754.