Open water season is finally here! Like most of us, the cabin fever was very strong up until this point. I used to spend my winter’s guiding in Florida at the St. John’s River and at least breaking up the cabin fever fishing tournaments across the country in the winter, be it when I was on the Bassmaster Elite Series, fishing the Bassmaster Opens, or even the Bassmaster Team Championship. The open water fishing on Lake Erie is largely seasonal, and this “hardwater” period was especially long for us diehard open water guys. The ice fishing on Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie can be killer, as I used to partake, especially when I was in college at Gannon University right downtown. Now, I take the winter to be more involved with my family, friends, church, and prepare for the open water season. Yesterday, after repacking the boat, checking over safety equipment (definitely check those flares for expiration dates), charging batteries, treating fuel, and rigging a couple Douglas XMatrix rods, it was finally time to get the Phoenix 21 XE out on Presque Isle Bay. The intent was to mostly just check gear and run the engine, but I had to partake in some of the excellent early spring perch fishing Presque Isle Bay offers, too. Surprise, surprise. When I cranked up the Yamaha (first turn, thankfully), I began idling around to listen to the engine and dial back in visually with my graphs. The 250 SHO purred nicely all day and the graphs were as crispy and dialed in as our last trip on December 28th - if you want to dial in your graphs and learn how to interpret them to the highest level, book an electronics trip with me. After getting on plane, I decided to start graphing some no-man's land type areas and eventually settled in to do some perching. Lake Erie jumbo perch are something special. Both Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie proper offer some excellent perch fishing, and trophy perch at that. Right now they are about ready to pop as they make their way to spawning areas early on after the ice is off. Both deep and shallow areas play, depending on the phase of those particular fish. I mostly focused deep with artificial trying to dial back in on my FFS game with my Active Target 2. It didn’t take long with my drop shot to start picking off fish. They were a bit finicky, but even with all artificial I was able to pluck some nice eating sized fish out of the depths, 15-30’. Some guys were talking about catching some shallow as well, as expected with the 80 degree air temps! It was a beautiful day to be out and there were a few other boats out enjoying the nice day and coming out of winter hibernation here in Erie, PA. My first bass guide trip will be at the end of March, but if you’d like to come catch some perch for dinner, learn how to use both artificial lures, and your electronics to target them, reach out and book a perch fishing trip while that bite is still hot. I can’t wait to get after the bass here in the next week or so. Tightlines! -Captain Destin DeMarion