Any Lake Erie Walleye Fishermen

[rightcoastrob]

Any one on here fish for walleye in lake erie?I,ve been trolling open water 10 to 18 miles offshore from 58 ft to 72 ft of water.and been having great results.But now all the sudden last two trips out ive got one lol hardly worth the 150 bucks in gas but it was still fun i guess.But at any rate i was wondering if anyone else is having the same issues.or did you change up your pattern.And to what i,ve been usin spoons dipsy divers and wire line with killer results.I,ve changed up all diff combos these last two trips and its ugly.Any one have any tips they may want to share.It just seems everyone is hush hush when it comes to the walleye around here.Guess they dont call em lake erie gold for nothing

 

[mickarch]

Re: Any Lake Erie Walleye Fishermen

I go out with my dad in the west basin from Lake Erie Metropark every now and then, but we have yet to do well. We normally troll crawler harnesses, that's about it. So far we haven't really had a great day, but this was our first year at it. I'm not sure what part of the lake you are in, but 58' is really deep for around here. We usually end up between 12 and 25'. You gotta go out quite aways to get 58' and we just aren't that hard core. We also troll the detroit river around Sugar Island and have had more success there than in the the open water.

You could try this sight: http://www.walleye.com/fishingreports.htm

If you in SE Michigan, you might get in touch with the downriver walleye federation: http://www.dwfonline.com/

My dad joined up the them to try to figure out how we can have more success.

If walleye aren't biting, I hear that now is a good time to go for perch.

 

[rightcoastrob]

Re: Any Lake Erie Walleye Fishermen

There killing the pearch here...here as in the geneva marina bout 50 miles east of cleveland.Ive tryed the crawler harness and had no luck myself drifting and trolling them.You guys should try a jet diver or small dispy diver one that suits your depths you fish in and couple that with a michigan stinger spoon.I know they use them up on the west end with great results.Colors i have good luck with are blueberry muffin,halloween,pearl,kevorkian is probably my best producer of the year but the blueberry muffin has produced the biggest fish bye far....31 incher and aprox 12 lbs i dont know i didnt have a scale and that was with 11 other fish all in the 5 to 7 lb range...Most the charter boats out of my port start the year out in the western basin then move east as the water warms.But you guys should really consider looking into trolling spoons for next year.Its a deadly tactic its just not producing at the moment.I was reading that as the water cools it turns over and the walleye shut right down and i think thats what has happened.and to get to 58 ft of water here you have to go out about 7 miles id say go another 4 miles and your maxed out at about 72 or 73 ftyou can go 18 miles out and still be in 72 ft or so.Thats where i was trolling in the late summer.

 

[mickarch]

Re: Any Lake Erie Walleye Fishermen

...kevorkain Interesting name for lure. I think we stick with drifting and trolling with the harnesses because we really don't know how to rig anything else. When you're trolling spoons, do you tip them with a worm, weight them down or anything? Or just let them out the back of the boat and putt along? I don't think we are coordinated enough to use planer boards :redface:.

I'm convinced the tackle shop outside the park sees us newbs coming a mile away and tells us the hot color is whatever they are trying to get rid of... and the hot spot seems always sure to have some fish that are able to steal our worms but never get hooked. But, we always pick up a few dozen worms and 5 or 6 new harnesses in the color of the day and enjoy our time on the water.

 

[ccarver]

Re: Any Lake Erie Walleye Fishermen

never fished lake erie, but on the lakes we fish at in north dakota, we never travel that deep, we usally stay about idk 10'-20' max! i guess if you have down riggers 58' is fine, but we use spinners with a worm/minnow/leech and always come back wiht at least a couple fish

 

[rightcoastrob]

Re: Any Lake Erie Walleye Fishermen

lol no planer boards here there only efficent in the spring when the fish are shallow.No we do not tip the spoons with anything.And no downriggers either just dispy divers they will get you as deep as u need to go plus get your bait out away from the boat there real simple to run and cheap also there poor mans downriggers.I wne out today and trolled in 42 ft to 68 ft and picked up 3 all in the 6 lb range that was at the crack of dawn nd then nothing for 3 hours.So we went in got some minnows and hit the pearch had 90 in the boat in about 3 or 4 hrs it was nonstop in 42 ft of water.I also fish inland lakes here to with a 3 way swivel a lindy sinker and a soft body jighead tipped with minnows and have good luck but there smaller eye,s nothing like the ones out in the big pond.After all it is the walleye capitol of the world.

How we troll our spoons&plugs and the kitchen sink.We use dipsy divers there an adjustable diving disk it dives acording to how much line u let out.plus it has a setting to make them track right and left sides of the boat to give you a nice wide spread the dipsy has a release on it that pops when a fish hits it and tracks towards the surface.there like 12 bucks apeice 4 bucks for a spoon 60 dollars for a heavy duty trolling rod and line counter reel and that is a must becuse thats what gets you to where the fish are at every time.Different types of line also will give you variations in depth per ft of line out.i run my rigs with stainless steel line on my two outer rods with the dipsys set to track the furthest out with 155 ft of line out im in 55 ft of water.i run a super braid off the back two rods it dont cut through the water like the wire line nor is there any weight so it takes more to reach 55 ft.When the fish are suspened this is a deadly tactic.ok i think im done sorry to ramble and sorry for the typos but that pretty much explains how that system works.

 

[Bard1]

Re: Any Lake Erie Walleye Fishermen

I live in Florida now (past 2yr) but I'm from Buffalo N.Y. , for years we got nice yellow pike by the old steal plant jigging or with salt minnows. Ever hear of story's of the blue pike from old timers? If not ask'em.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Any Lake Erie Walleye Fishermen

...%snipped%...I think we stick with drifting and trolling with the harnesses because we really don't know how to rig anything else. When you're trolling spoons, do you tip them with a worm, weight them down or anything? Or just let them out the back of the boat and putt along? I don't think we are coordinated enough to use planer boards :redface:.

I'm convinced the tackle shop outside the park sees us newbs coming a mile away and tells us the hot color is whatever they are trying to get rid of... and the hot spot seems always sure to have some fish that are able to steal our worms but never get hooked.

Hi, mickarch. I fish in Vermont, and have unfortunately never fished Lake Erie. However, fishing is fishing and I think you are right: often the tackle shops are not staffed by those who have our best in their intentions.

There are other shops where you can gleen good information, however, but not until you've been in there enough that they know your face if not your name. You can go into "Joe's Gas Station, Gunz, and Tackle" and ask for info, but the good shops are not going to tell you what you want to know right off the stick- you have to get a rapport with them. After all, these highly stocked holes-in-the-wall are often owned and manned by guys who are also charter captains. They put clients on to fish for $100+/hour and never let out their "secrets."

I have two resources like that but it actually took a few years before the guy started to talk. Sure, he sold me a few lures and some trolls, but he didn't rip me off- they worked. However, the subtle details and certain letback preferences and the like were only this year starting to be shared.

I also learned a lot this past summer fishing with a friend of mine who was a state Bassmasters Angler of the Year. Although he never had fished for Walleye before, my watching his methodical, intentional approach to lure selection, letback, presentation and pattern development taught me more than I learned the last ten years of fishing on my own.

I *used* to be able to catch a fair number of walleye by trolling Rapalas- they were almost the only lure I owned. I was OK with it; I could catch fish most of the time, and some days I caught fish when others weren't. But I had a lot of skunk days too. Now, however, I have five or six things I can do: the Rapalas still work under some conditions, and when they don't (and sometimes when they do) I can get better results with spinners, crawler harnesses, lead core, downriggers, and dipseys. Each tactic has its place and technique.

So I encourage you to try new things. Vermont walleye waters may not produce the size and quantity of Erie, but by learning new methods these last few years I have upped my catch rate significantly.

Mark