Lake Erie's yellow perch were just perfect for Paul Pressey this week, an avid angler who was in need of having a fishing rod in his hand and a fish of some kind on the end of the line.
Cavaliers assistant coach Paul Pressey is an avid angler, and found some fishing fun this week catching Lake Erie yellow perch. Lake Erie's yellow perch were just perfect for Paul Pressey this week, an avid angler who was in need of having a fishing rod in his hand and a fish of some kind on the end of the line.
Pressey is new in town, and was anxious to find some good places to go fishing.
"I like to catch big fish, but I'm just as happy with a bunch of bluegills," said Pressey, the new assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers. "When I was in Orlando, I liked to go out and catch lots and lots of bluegills. They took a while to fillet, but everyone loved them as the main course for a big fish fry."
With a wealth of freshwater and saltwater action available in Florida, Pressey said that he was well entertained by bluegills.
"Of course, they weren't just any bluegills," he said, with a laugh. "They were big enough to completely cover my hand, with the tail hanging over the side."
A former NBA player, Pressey has some pretty big mitts to cover up.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "They were monster bluegills. It's hard to beat bluegills. The flaky, white fillets taste great."
Assured that yellow perch were also dandy on the dinner table, Pressey was ready to tackle the wide open waters of Lake Erie.
"I try to find some good places to fish, wherever I land," said Pressey, who played for 11 years in the NBA and coached for 16 more before coming to Cleveland. His favorite place was Texas, where he was a coach with the San Antonio Spurs from 1994-2000.
Our first challenge would be to find a location that had some schools of hungry perch. Bob Hanko, the owner of Cranberry Creek Marina in Huron, where we launched the boat, said some smaller perch were being caught just off the beach in 21 feet of water
The bigger perch, though, were reported off the sand bar north of Vermilion, a run of about nine miles.
The prospect of jumbo perch won out, and Pressey and I headed northeast.
Fishing reports are almost always old news, but the sand bar is noted for its good perch fishing in fall, prime time for catching a 30-fish limit. The usual packs of perch fishing boats were noticeably absent when we arrived in the area, so we stopped to check the sonar equipment.
In 45-foot depths, schools of bait and, hopefully, yellow perch were showing up on the sonar screen in the bottom few feet of water.
A light spinning rod spooled with 8-pound test braided line and tipped with a two-hook crappie rig and a half-ounce sinker was ready to go. Pressey threaded on a couple of emerald shiner minnows as I rigged a second rod for perch fishing.
I was going to explain the light bite of yellow perch, but it wasn't necessary. Seconds after lowering his rig to the bottom, Pressey's fishing rod was in full bend and he was wearing a grin. Minutes later, he had his first double header.
There was no doubt I'd brought along an experienced angler.
"I like this kind of fishing," said Pressey, tossing another perch in the live well. "Just when you think the fishing is slowing down, you get another bite."
After a long NBA career, Pressey had been ready to hang out the permanent "Gone Fishing" sign after three seasons coaching for the New Orleans Hornets under Byron Scott.
"Coach Scott asked me to come to Cleveland with him, and I couldn't resist," said Pressey. "The Cavaliers have some good, young players. I'm looking forward to the new scenery, the challenge of building a team.
"And, of course, the fun of fishing some new waters."