G.mech

The lake Erie walleye in the Western Basin (from Ohio to Long Point) run an annual migration which starts with their spawn in the western rivers (like Detroit River) in April/May. The post spawn fish head out into the lake in search of food. These migratory fish don't relate so much to structure as they do to water temperature and bait. There are of course resident fish in the shallower waters and reefs which are typically the males and smaller fiish but the main targets of Erie anglers are the migratory fish. Typically, the season progresses like this: Mid April - End of May: Jigging in the Detroit River Mid May-Mid June: West end of the lake around Colchester & Sister Islands, trolling worm harnesses off bottom bouncers & in-line weights June-July: West end around Leamigton, Point Pelee, Pelee Island, trolling worm harnesses on in-lines & crankbaits July - Aug: Fishing picks up around Erieau, Port Glasgow, Port Stanley, Port Bruce, Port Burwell starting earlier from west to east. Trolling spoons & crankbaits on leadcore, dipsy divers, downriggers etc. Fish move deeper as water warms and are usually just above the thermocline once it sets up. Often Steelhead are also found in the same areas, typically higher in the water column than the walleye. September: The fish feeding frenzy ends (usually after the lake turns right after a weather event) and they shut down very quickly before heading back west to wait in the shallows for the next spawning run. The Eastern basin (from Long Point to Buffalo) is almost like a different body of water and the fish relate to the tribs in the East end. The fish aren't nearly as plentiful but there are some very large fish out of Nanticoke, Port Maitland, Port Colborne etc. Fisherman tend to troll worm harnesses more and at much lower speeds but I really think that this is just a local thing and that spoons trolled at faster speeds (2.8-3.5 mph) can be equally as effective in both basins as can worm harnesses trolled at 1.8-2.5. Worm harnesses don't work well at high speeds and spoons don't work at slow speeds, simple as that. There are far more junk fish in the Western basin which I think is why guys tend to troll the faster speeds to outrun them so they lean towards spoons and body baits instead of worm harnesses. We did very well at Leamington this weekend but things seem to be slowing somewhat and our next trip will likely be further East. Good reports are coming in from Erieau & Port Glasgow now and a few are starting to show up in Port Bruce and Port Burwell which is a little closer to home. Mid size spoons (gold backed) in greens & purples, & Cotton Cordell Riplin Redfins (blue/silver), run off 7-8 colour leadcore, dipsy divers, & downriggers are my go-to set ups but there are lots of other options too. Hope this helps, there are lots of different things to do in this amazing fishery. Good luck and be sure to post! Detroit River Early May: Leamington Yesterday: Port Burwell July 2013:

Glad you made the trip, looks like you had fun. Leamington is really a nice town with a beautiful waterfront and marina. My son and I ended up going down yesterday too and things were a little slow but we did manage 12 keepers between Friday evening and Saturday morning in the same area you were fishing. We got a few larger ones as well but we put them back so they could carry on with their Eastward journey. As you mentioned, bait is hard to find around Leamington so if anybody is heading down, best to take worms (and lots of them) with you. We burned about 10 dozen in 10 hours.....

They're on fire from the River to Leamington and out at the islands as well!! The Colchester derby is tomorrow so not too many reports this week but all along the North shore has been producing I am told. We did very well around Colchester 3 weeks ago and are heading to Leamington tomorrow (Colchester ramp is closed for tourney). Rumour has it West of Leamington in 32-36 fow has been good pulling in-line weights but I'm sure bottom bouncers will be effective too. Take lots of bait though the garbage fish are thick.

They work really well actually except for when I installed an aftermarket screen saver.....not good at all. This is my second year with my HDS9 touch and they do get a bit slimy sometimes with fishy hands. You just need to clean them carefully to prevent scratching but so far so good.

Standard Lowrance Blue plug. Your cables from your HDS5 will hook right up.....

My donations to the fishing gods include: 2 Cannon speed and temp probes c/w cannonballs in Lake Erie about 6 miles off of Port Glasgow both times (500 bucks per occurrence) Handheld GPS on Cooks Bay 2 miles out of Gilford (how could it possibly find a 6" hole in the ice???) One 10 colour Shimano leadcore rod & reel combo (the good one of course not the el-cheapo) 18 miles off of Port Burwell (some of my rookie guests clearly don't understand the rod holders have a lock for a reason). A couple of offshore planer boards somehow just 'disappeared' while trolling even though the newbs insist the clip was locked down properly (abducted by aliens I guess??) 15 lb Danforth Anchor, tossed over the side with no rope attached near Point Abino. No explanation, I did it and am not afraid to admit it. Various sunglasses, ball caps, knives, tools etc etc My dad went over the side twice trying to do god knows what. We reluctantly recovered him both times although if I had my Danforth anchor still, I may have tossed it to him for floatation. We did try to donate a musky rod while trolling in Callander Bay with Danny Columby one time. We didn't see it go but luckily we had 13 feet of line out on a floating plug and were in 12 fow when it went over. We followed our track back on the GPS and the tail end of the plug was just breaking the surface with the line tight to the rod on the bottom. We recovered that one from the fishing gods.... If anybody finds any of my stuff, please return it.....

Understood Nipfisher and it really does suck. I'm not trying to be an arse but this is really, really frustrating.

So they are legally spearing the fish in a true spirit of cooperation with those that are trying to save the fishery then.....thanks for clearing that up.

I received this very disturbing e-mail from the Lake Nipissing Stakeholder Association yesterday. I was trying to remain positive that all concerned parties were working together for the good of the fishery but this makes it exceedingly difficult to remain optimistic:

I noticed recently that I cannot even get onto OFC using IE on my new laptop but I can access it fine using Chrome....similar problem with a few other websites too. Any ideas????

Just thinking about picking up the Navionics + chip but haven't been able to find too many reviews. It is kind of unique in that it allows you to download various charts for whatever lakes (or parts of lakes) you like up to the capacity of the card. In my case, it would save me buying 3 different cards so I was just wondering what is wrong with it....there has to be something wrong, it can't be this easy. Any feedback would be appreciated. http://www.navionics.com/en/navionics-plus

I got a call from the local Ford dealer who has been doing the endless warranty work on my F-150. They said they were low on good used trucks and suggested it may be a good time for me to upgrade. I told him that unless he wanted to sell me a Chevy it really wasn't an upgrade.....he hung up.

I put in an automatic natural gas fired 15000 Watt Generac about 12 years ago. I had to replace the starting battery a couple of times and do the routine maintenance every year and it's run like a champ. The automatic start and transfer is a really comforting since we are away from home a lot. Our sump pumps must run in the winter or our basement will flood in a matter of an hour or two. It runs almost the whole house when we're home so we have heat, hot and cold water, lights, freezers, beer fridge and big screen which are all the necessities! If you can swing the cost and have the fuel available (propane or gas) I wouldn't think twice about anything else.

I put an automatic unit in about 10 years ago and every time it runs I am sooooooo thankful I have it. My wife thought I was an idiot when I installed it but now she is all for it as well. It doesn't run everything in the house but all the critical stuff is running (sump pumps, water pump, water heater, a few lights and outlets, beer fridge in the garage, fish freezer, big screen, etc). Be patient, someday you will be thankful too. The ice in Norfolk county is building rapidly and it's still coming down quite hard here. Gonna be a big mess if it keeps up much longer. Everybody stay safe, we don't need any more broken legs before Christmas.

I'm sure this has been posted before but it's too funny not to post again and I'm sure there's quality fisherslang in it too....

Check out Pat's Boating in Canada....it is a wealth of information on this and many other topics: http://boating.ncf.ca/license.html In all honesty, if it's an old tinny with no VIN number or anything, the simplest thing is to just make up a bill of sale, nobody will really care nor can they prove anything anyway. If you are not comfortable doing this, give the boat to your neighbour for free and buy it back and get him to give you a bill of sale!!

And the course to operate the VHF radio on board a boat is two days......hmmmm.

R&R Pet Paradise in Mt Forest.....lots of top competetors in agility, disc and such. Angela had her little dog Rally into the Semi finals of Canada's got Talent last year. Might be a bit of a hike from Aurora though.... http://www.rrpetparadise.com/services.cfm

You are very lucky. I have Leafs TV and my kids force me to watch the games....even their last two "wins" were brutal. Their performances last weekend were even worse. Oh well, at least Kessel finally scored last night so we don't have to watch him pout on the bench like a little girl anymore. If Pahneuf keeps up his stellar performances, Kessel needs to score a whole bunch more to make up....

Your Bryant furnace will have an LED on the control board. It should be flashing an error code (2 long flashes then 4 short flashes for example). There is a code index on the inside of the front panel which will tell you what it means. Lots of times it is the inducer pressure switch code which can indicate a plugged intake or vent pipe or just a plugged sensor line to the switch itself. If you check the code and can't figure it out, post what the error code is and I can tell you the troubleshooting steps. These furnaces are pretty simple and there are very seldom problems too large to fix yourself.

With all the other people there, maybe you could have blamed it somebody else....

A few years ago my we bought my son a great pair of row 2 seats to see the Caps play in Buffalo. I got them through Stub Hub, no problems at all. He had them hung on his bedroom wall for months anxiously awaiting the game. Finally, game day, we hit the border at 2pm for the 4 pm game, lots of time. The border officer asked us where we are going and when we told him we are going to the Sabres game he says "you better hurry, the game is at the end of the first period already...". We got the rink halfway through the 2nd period, Caps were up 2-1, OV had scored both caps goals and that's the way the game ended. My son was pretty disappointed. They had changed original game time to suit some TV deal. Moral of the story, buy the tickets (Stub Hub, Kijiji, E-bay all work) but double check the gametime when it gets closer.

I had to give my son a note to get out of school to go fishing on the Detroit river with me one time so I wrote that he had an eye appointment.....walleye that is!!

I was up at the Marina Restraunt a few weeks ago and it appears that it will be under full lockdown again this year. Not sure about any other access but it's looking like about the same situation as last year....

This one isn't too bad...click on the quarter of the lake you want and it will open a detailed map of that area that you can print: http://www.nfl.ca/ice/lake/