The last week of August was a vacation week, so I decided to make it even better by extending the week through Labor Day.

About the third day into my week off my friend Sim Grossman called me up and wanted to reload some .270 cartridges, so I invited him over and we cooked up some hot loads.

During our reloading session, the subject of perch fishing came up. Sim said he'd heard that the fishing was good near Dobbins Landing and out in 55 feet of water off Presque Isle.

This interested me because I had gone to Lake Erie earlier in the year and found the perch fishing to be pretty slow. Fresh Lake Erie yellow perch are great table fare, and I was determined to get enough for a fish fry.

Sim concurred and we called the Edward John Head Boat that specializes in Lake Erie perch fishing trips for parties of anglers at a reasonable rate. We would join a group of about 30 people targeting yellow perch.

I have gone on many private charter boats over the years and, as expected, they weren't inexpensive ventures nor did we always have banner days on the lakes. That's why it's called fishing and not catching

But for $32 ($27 for seniors, 22 for children), I was willing to take a chance on this party boat.

We rounded up Ken Bryan in West Sunbury and made the two-hour trip to Erie.

The captain of the Edward John is a retired 20-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. Capt. John Nekoloff met us at the docks and made us comfortable as we boarded the 52-foot Paasch boat built in Erie.

The boat left the dock right on time at 7 a.m. and would be in the perch fishing grounds until our return at 2 p.m. We would have about 5 hours to catch our limit of 30 yellow perch.

Captain John and First Mate Sean were all business in getting the passengers safely out to the fishing hot spot and they did their homework because they knew the exact location of where we would drop anchor.

Live minnows and salted emerald shiners were provided to all anglers. Those who needed fishing equipment could rent it for an additional $3 fee.

The lines were set up with two or three hooks each, as the perch are known to hit aggressively at times, and a double hit is not unusual and a triple can happen.

Sim had talked to the captain and another regular angler about tackle choices, and he made a deal on a Sabiki pearl white minnow rig used in jigging for perch.

I wasn't sold on the idea until Sim and Ken both started to catch fish with regular success. I knew I was in trouble when Sim asked me how many perch I had in my bucket and I replied, "Seven."

After a moment, I asked him how he was doing, and he replied he had 23 over the rail and in the pail! Ken was doing almost as well, and they were both hooked up with the tackle they discovered in their talks with the captain.

They must have felt sorry for me because Sim handed me his rig and I immediately started getting hits.

The total catch for the boat was nearly 700 fish. First Mate Sean offered to fillet my 30 perch for a small fee and I soon had a nice bag of them. I had promised the wife that I would have a fish dinner waiting for her, but she wasn't sure about perch

However, the first delicious bite convinced her it was worth the trip!

For information on the Edward John, call 814-881-7611.