When the ice is on, ‘Almost Island’ creates everybody’s bay
One glance at a map shows it’s the perfect name. “Presque Isle,” bestowed by the French-Canadian fur-trade voyageurs, translates in English to “Almost Island.”
Presque Isle is a 6-mile arcing peninsula jutting into Lake Erie, joined by its 650foot-wide base to the Pennsylvania mainland. In a promising winter, it is what’s inside Presque Isle’s arc that entices ice anglers — a 6-square-mile lagoon sheltered from Lake Erie proper’s battering surf by the embracing spit. Ice forms on the bay even when the big lake remains a restless inland sea.
“It all depends on temperature, how early the ice-fishing season can start,” said Chad Foster, western regional education and outreach coordinator for the Fish and Boat Commission. Lake Erie’s temperature was already in the 30s in early December. Ice was expected before Christmas, although temperatures warmed up over the holidays.
Mr. Foster said Presque Isle Bay holds something for everyone in ice-fishing season — diverse fish populations, varying depth and easy access from Presque Isle State Park on the peninsula or from the City of Erie to the south. There’s solitude or society, depending on an ice angler’s preference.
“There are good populations of crappie, bluegill, northern pike and yellow perch. Everybody gets excited when the perch bite is on,” Mr. Foster said. “Fishermen like to come off Chestnut Street in Erie and set up all across the bay. You can take a drive across the bayfront and see maybe 300 shanties clustered in hot spots. Ice fishing is very popular here.”
The Fish and Boat Commission’s most recent trapnet survey of the bay, done in 2012, affirms it’s “something for everyone” character.
“Presque Isle Bay has a well-deserved reputation for good panfish fishing,” states the biologists’ report. “Bluegill are the dominant species; however, black crappie and yellow perch were present in good numbers with plenty of quality-size fish available for harvest.”
That survey also found some muskellunge and good numbers of northern pike. Biologists noted that northern pike are recovering in the bay after an unexplained mortality event in 2003. Ice anglers also catch largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye and steelhead, but the survey method biologists used in 2012 was not designed to capture those species.
“We have an amazing fishery here, and the bay has a very low barrier to entry for beginners or visitors,” said Justin DiRado, community outreach and marketing director for FishUSA, an Erie-based online and retail tackle dealer that supports fishing across the Great Lakes.
Mr. DiRado said location is the first consideration to confront anglers who are new to the bay.
“Even though it’s cut off from the open lake, the bay is still big water in most anglers’ experience,” he said. “A lot of fishermen who are new here just look for clusters of huts and fish nearby, and that works.
“Some of the better spots are the smaller inlets connected to the bay, like Misery Bay and Horseshoe Pond. When you get to the core of it, it’s pretty simple to fish here. All you need besides your gear is an auger, or just go out and find holes that have been drilled and start fishing.”
Mr. DiRado said the ice techniques and tackle for Presque Isle Bay can be as simple or as specialized as an angler chooses.
“Most anglers we talk with here in the store use smaller jigs or jigging spoons, fished on 2- to 4pound-test ice line,” he said. “They might refine that a little, like using the spoons tipped with a minnow if they’re targeting crappie, but generally most guys use the same gear and tactics for all the panfish species — bluegill, crappie, perch.”
One Presque Isle angler from Pittsburgh, who asked not to be identified, said he mostly fishes over about 20 feet of water.
“I drill one hole, then rig with a jig and wax worm or small minnow,” he said. “I’ll run a camera and fish the bottom for perch. Always fish the bottom for perch.”
Mr. DiRado said some anglers tweak that same presentation for larger fish.
“Guys who go after [large game fish] rig with heavier line, and they fish where the bay is deeper, on the bottom,” he said. “They can still catch panfish but are ready in case they hook a big walleye or steelhead.”
Misery Bay, agreed Mr. DiRado and Mr. Foster, is the spot to go for bluegill.
“It’s a bay within a bay, and the heavier weed growth in there attracts schools of bluegills,” Mr. Foster said.
Ice anglers at Presque Isle Bay seem to value its community atmosphere as much as the diverse fishery.
“The ice community is very social and friendly up here,” Mr. DiRado said. “That’s probably the single most common theme that anglers talk about when they come in the store, that they enjoy the social aspect. Guys take their grill out there and invite perfect strangers fishing nearby to come over for a burger.”
The social aspect has even kicked off an annual ice tournament, part of the
Western PA Hardwater Series, begun in 2016.
“It doesn’t seem to have the hard competitive edge that a bass tournament does,” Mr. DiRado said. “Everybody in a bass tournament is run-and-gun, but the ice tourney up here is more about sharing the ice-fishing culture.”
“We really want kids, youth and their folks to get involved because ice fishing is such an ideal family activity,” said Gus Glasgow, of Slippery Rock, Western PA Hardwater tournament coordinator.
This year’s Western PA Hardwater Series event at Presque Isle Bay is scheduled for Feb. 22, with other tournaments slated for Lake Arthur, Jan. 1; Lake Wilhelm, Jan. 25; and Edinboro Lake, Feb. 23. See wpahardwater.com for details.
People are drawn to the Western PA Hardwater tournaments, Mr. Glasgow observed, because ice fishing presents a more level “playing field” than warmweather fishing.
“Participants like an ice tournament because a novice is as likely to catch a giant as anyone. Once we got this series going, we had different winners every weekend, which was a surprise,” he said.
He shared one tip that he said seems unique to Presque Isle Bay, aimed at the “jumbo” yellow perch that are the bay’s most prized quarry.
“The guys who jig aggressively, sweeping their arm up a foot or more, are catching the fat 16-inch perch,” Mr. Glasgow said. “Some guys tip their jig with a minnow or maggot, but it doesn’t seem to matter, as long as you jig aggressively. You won’t get the little perch that way, but if you want the jumbos, this works on Presque Isle Bay.”
Anglers are reminded that a new 2020 fishing license is required after Jan. 1, as well as a Lake Erie permit. Perch regulations are different during the ice season — there’s a 7-inch size minimum on perch from Dec. 1 to April 1, with a 30fish limit. For bluegill and crappie, the limit is 50 with no minimum size.