In the early days of the Erie Beach Hotel, an iconic hotel and dining establishment in the small town of Port Dover, Ont., the Schneider family served lake-caught pickerel to their guests, alongside their signature celery bread, pickled pumpkin and marshmallow salads.

“When blue pickerel was getting tight,” recalls third generation owner, Andrew Schneider, “and they were catching all this unknown, unusable fish called Lake Erie yellow perch, my grandfather went down to the pier and came back with a bucket of this stuff and said to my grandma, ‘what can we do with this?’” They were basically giving perch away, Andrew says with a shake of his head; nobody wanted it back then.

Recommended Videos

Today, diners in the Cove Room, Terrace Room and Perch Patio — all part of the Erie Beach Hotel

See Full Page