Lake Erie fishing charters

Where have all the walleye gone, people ask. Fishermen seem to think that when the dog days of summer arrive in July, there favorite quarry vanishes. Everyone seems to think that walleyes leave the western basin altogether and migrate to the east. Wrong, wrong, wrong!! The latest of Lake Erie's best kept secrets is nothing new, July fishing is hot!! The past three years, the mid-summer fishing has been fantastic and it's only getting better. Anglers were disappointed during the lean years on lake Erie they experienced in the late 80's. This was due to low fish stocks and poor recruitment during the spring spawn.

Back in the late 80's, the lake experienced three consecutive springs of adverse weather and other unfavorable conditions for spawning walleye. As a result, recruitment was low, while the catch rate remained high, depleting of the numbers keeper size walleyes. Anglers began to notice a lower rate of success and an apparent shorter walleye season. By the end of 1980's, July fishing nose-dived and anglers began to feel different about midsummer fishing. Anglers felt that in order to catch Walleyes on Lake Erie, you have to be on the water in March through June. With mature catchable walleyes at a ten year low, the numbers game finally switched in favor of the sportsmen in the 90's. The recruitment of catchable fish increased steadily with back-to-back record hatches in 1990-91 and in 1993. Lake Erie was finally fighting back.

The average depth of the western basin north of the famous reef complex is between 32 to 35 foot. In late June, anglers can usually mark a thermocline 20 to 30 foot down. When this happens weight forwards are counted down and fished at a 20-25 count to find active fish. When July arrives, the thermocline vanishes and bottom temperature to range between 68 to 72 degrees. When this occurs, expect to locate eyes' near or on the bottom. When anglers run their favorite sonar looking for walleyes on the way out to the `Flats' or their deep water destination on the Canadian line and graph no suspended fish, the first thought is to think the walleyes moved out and headed east. Actually the reason for no hooks on the screen is because the fish generally hug the bottom due to the warmer water. To find these fish, it is necessary to have a boat equipped with a sensitive fishfinder that can separate bottom from fish. This can very from the old style chart recorders to the newer LCD's. Keep in mind that all LCD's aren't alike. Expect the best results from a LCD graph that has at least 128 X 160 pixels on a screen. The more pixels you have, the more sensitive sensitive your unit will be.

It seems that when the summer heats up, big fish cool down. Normally, fish react to warm water much the same way cold water effects them. The walleyes metabolism slows and they expend less energy while pursuing a meal. The `gators' are notorious for choosing an easy meal whenever possible. During the month of July in the western Lake Erie, big walleyes tend to follow the concentrations of newly hatched bait fish around the lake, often into shallow water, where the big eyes ravage them. Many times the average angler overlooks this movement. If you can locate bait early or late in the day, in near shore waters or on reef structure, fishing can be hot. Remember, big walleyes are looking for an easy meal and don't want to work anymore then they have to in the warmer temps. So it makes sense for big walleyes to follow a school of bait and attack at will. Because of the walleyes sluggish nature in warm water, their feeding habits change drastically when compared to late May/early June lake conditions. Hot summer fish are more affected by light and boat traffic because of the brighter days and clearer water. Low light conditions, such as cloudy days or early morning and late evenings can produce excellent catches that will rival any springtime day.

Bigger walleyes are generally looking for a more sedate presentation. As an alternative to trolling, there are methods that often produce consistent and regular catches for the die-hard live bait angler. So many times when novices use traditional weight forward spinners and worms, most anglers often catch fewer fish then charter fishermen. This is often due to the type of presentation and different lures the professionals use. Over the years, another of the best kept secrets and the `bread-and-butter lure' used by many top professional guides on Lake Erie when `Sloooooow' and depth is important, is the worm harness or live bait rig! It only makes sense when using live bait to work a presentation that keeps the bait at the depth where your quarry is more often to react and present it at a speed they desire.

A Key and very important point made when using these bottom hugging lures, as similarly compared to trolling, your bait is presented at a constantly maintained depth where the fish lie in ambush of their dinner. When using weight forwards spinners for bottom hugging fish, generally after 10 cranks or more of the reel when fished at a 35 count, your lure is often to far off the bottom for a lazy and lethargic walleye to follow.

Unlike the higher water temperature's effect on the bigger walleyes caught in the western basin, warmer water doesn't effect normal feeding activity for the younger `eyes in the 17 to 22 inch range. Smaller walleyes only concern during midsummer activities are directed towards eating and getting bigger, so temperature normally isn't a major factor with this age class. Because of this, you can take advantage of good numbers of aggressively feeding and hungry walleyes in the one to three pound range. This class of `good eaters' should show up in the overall success by the angler's with increased numbers caught and by topping off coolers this summer. This will make up the difference between just an average `summer' day to excellent day fishing on the Lake Erie. This undoubtedly should make 1995 a banner year, much like 1992, when limits were common well into August.

With Lake Erie's increased success during the `dog days', don't you miss out on some of the lakes best fishing. The pressure is gone, boat traffic has decreased by nearly 50% and the fish are still hungry. When the Lake begins to feel more like bath water, `slooooow' down your methods and give them what they want, a more traditional live bait presentation. Traditional drift methods do work and often your success can be hot as summer!