Re: 1988 travler lake Erie
Easy to answer your question.... 'it depends'. I fished Lake Erie from the early '60s though 2001. Ran charters out of there. So,, depends on where on Lake Erie. The eastern basin, just stay in or within 3 - 5 miles of Presque Isle, forget going to the trenches. The western basin is good fishing early spring as it is the shallowest and warms 1st. Again, not more than 3 - 5 miles offshore. The central basin has the most ports and the most fish. Which port makes a difference. If going out of Ashtabula the river can be ugly and getting back when things turn -- I've seen everything from 24' boats to 40' trees going down after a rain -- even one far inland. Cleveland-- too busy. Geneva is where I preferred. If things turn bad quickly the basin is large enough to hold many boats as the ramps are worked. In spring the nuke plant to port has a warm water outflow near shore. Depending on season you never need to go more than 5 miles off for walleye or perch. An 18' boat is the minimum on Lake Erie IMHO. I have seen it go from 1' to 5' in less than 20 minutes. A VHF monitoring 16 and a weather station is a MUST. I have been on 10'ers that had 2 crashing under a 24' boat. My normal trip was 33 miles at a 330 heading and troll a zig zag pattern back. Careful as that is close to Canada and the canucks don't like you there as they are probably still using gill nets (illegal in US) in US waters. I ran planer boards, down riggers, flat lines, and Dipsey Divers. People think it is just a lake and we fish the Atlantic-- the Atlantic is calm compared to Erie. Make sure ALL your equipment is in top shape and over do it on safety. I ran 3 pumps to 3 different batteries. GPS on board and handheld. VHF in the dash, in the cabin, and a handheld. Handhelds were kept in the ditchbag along with flares and etc. Pick your days. When you have 2' or less and it is to continue the next day- go for it. If you get to the dock and it looks bad, go have breakfast and look again as you may get out,, or just go home. I loved fishing Erie but she is a real *****!
