any tips would be helpful... fishing on lake erie.

I find perch will hit anything resembling a minnow 2 to 3 inches long. So jerkbaits, live shiners, crankbaits, even small topwater poppers will do the trick. If your fishing in deep water for them throw a crank or a small jig head with a small grub rigged with the hook exposed. Night crawlers will also do the trick- bobber or split shot

Small spoons that you would use for trout like phoebes would also do the trick.

I hate catching those *&$# fish but i seem to catch em on small jerkbaits and crankbaits. I hate catchin em when im tryin to catch some gills as they dont seem to eat nearly as well, at least not in these warm georgia lakes i fish. Ive caught a few in 80+ degree water and they didnt look like they were doing well at all.

The love silver, white and yellow. (Grubs, tiny spinnerbaits, castmasters, drop shots). Chum with clams (catch you own or a can of them.) Put whole clams shell and all in a nylon laundry bag (the type women wash their bras in) with a few fist sized stones. Close it up attach a cord and drop it in. Pick it up off the bottom and let it crash down a few times it'll crack them and the juices will start to leak out. Canned clams... punch a couple tiny holes in the can and throw in the bag with stones. Fantastic method for sheephead too.

Drop shotting works very well in water deeper than 10 feet. Locate them on your electronics and "drop to them". I use a #8 VMC spin shot, a 1/4 oz DS sinker, and a 1" or 2" gulp minnow. If we had bigger perch in my home lake I would use 2" more often, but I use 1" almost exclusively, it still seems to catch the rare bigger than average perch, plus often, big bluegills are mixed in with them from late spring till late fall, and the gills prefer the 1".

i agree with dropshotting for perch, except i use night crawlers as bait. ive caught tons of perch this way on Smith Mountain Lake. except it doesnt even have to be 10 feet of water or more. i catch them in 4-5 foot of water doing this from a dock. works for both white perch and yellow perch

Any mini tube or small crappie grub gives me the best results. Actually i even catch them on spoons and rooster tails.