PALEFACE

Grab a few wine corks and put them in with your tackle. When you're wading, take the corks out and put them somewhere dry. Put them back in the boxes when you're done for the day... Don't fish with rusty gear, it's just not right!

So many ways to catch eyes on Erie it's almost ridiculous. How you approach it really depends on what part of the lake you're fishing. Fishing the shallow West end, guys pull up limits quickly on bottom bouncers with worm harnesses at a slow troll. For the most part, they're fishing close to bottom in water that's less than 35 feet deep. A lot of fish are caught suspended off bottom on cranks too though... In the mid lake section from say Pt Pelee to Long point, guys do well fishing 5 or more miles off shore. Lots of bonus rainbows too. Fish can be caught from 10 - 50 feet down in this area. Here, they troll a bit faster with spoons and medium size cranks. Run cranks on mono or leadcore behind planer boards or on mono off the riggers. Snap weights are another nice trick to get some extra depth on a crank. For spoons... Dipseys, riggers, lead core, cookies Further East, from say Long point right to fort Erie, guys typically fish deep like in the middle section. Slow trolling dipseys with oversize worm harnesses and large cranks off the riggers. There are shallow opportunities here too, but for the most part, fish are in 30+ feet of water. If you are new to fishing worm harnesses, there are a few details that are very important that you need to consider. 1. make sure that your worm is hooked dead straight. When it's in the water, it will stretch out. If you haven't spaced the hooks out right, the worm will sag and spin and won't be as appealing to the fish. It will eventually break and you'll be dragging two pieces of worm... 2. Harnesses are a slow troll presentation. For the most part, under 2mph. You can fish faster, but start off slow. 3. Harnesses and cranks work well together at these lower speeds. Spoons need more speed to get the right action. If you are running a four rod spread, two harnesses on dipseys and two cranks on in line planer boards cover a nice swath. 4. Play with lead length, blade size and colour. Sometimes, you need small blades. Other times, two oversize blades will get more bites. Sometimes, a 3 foot lead off a dipsey will work, but other times, it needs to be at least 8. Obviously, different colours will work better in different conditions.... experiment 5. make sure the leaders on your harnesses are in good shape and those hooks must be extra sharp. Best of luck!

Braided line is a must if you are trolling the lower Grand. Use a rod with a soft tip and back the drag off a bit. For lures, you can't go wrong with ANYTHING but stay under 3" long. Try lures that dive deep, but also try lures that run as shallow as 3 feet. Try crashing bottom in 8 feet. But also try fishing "up high" over 20 feet of water. You can catch fish in any depth and they are quite often suspended off bottom. Don't give up on trolling yet. With the warm water, the best way to contact the active fish on the river is to troll fast and cover water. The walleye fishing on the lower Grand should be peaking or tailing off right about now. As the water temps increase, the fish can't eat fast enough to keep up with their metabolism and the fishing slows until it cools off a bit. I think that the majority of the fish re-locate for the month of August. Where though? Oh, and one other thing, hand hold the rod. The only way I can describe a walleye bite there is that you feel a grinding sensation through the braided line. Many times, they will let go before you feel the weight of the fish. If you're trolling and you feel that grinding sensation, hit'em! You won't feel that if you leave the rod in a holder. Good luck!

Good going on the fish Reefrunner. Always nice to get some action on a new lake. If you want your cork handles to last, take that plastic off them. Water gets in and can't get out. Cork likes to breath. Cork is wood and it can become brittle if it soaks up water and dries too slowly. Of course, if you never get it wet it doesn't matter. But you're gonna be fishing in the rain sooner or later aren't you?

Yeah, it all looks good except the line. Go up... Baitcasters let you launch a 1 ounce (or bigger) bait a mile. As long as the bearings are running smooth (oil is your friend) you can cast thick heavy line just like it was 6 pound test. Just get used to stopping the spool with your thumb, don't rely on the brakes. And picking out birdsnests is actually easier with heavy line. But if you get your thumb control down, you won't have to worry about that.

Sorry, but I don't see the point in running a diver when on plane... I understand that your diver has next to no drag. But I'll reel in my lines when running to the next spot. For your next demo, can you try to show what the rod does at trolling speeds? I'd like to see line angle and tip action more than anything. We all know what a dipsey or a jet diver does to a rod tip. A few boat side demos with lures attached would be nice too. This way, we can see how different lures look behind the diver. Spoons and J13's or Lymans would be good lures to show this.

Musky trolling with a line counter? Don't bother with an accudepth or a magda. Lots of plastic in these reels. A Sealine would be OK. But not the best choice. Get a Tekota or Catalina. Get a new rod too! A shiney new reel deserves a new rod. Wish I could, not in my budget right now. These reels are for trolling, they all have clickers.

Kemper, it's... "well then take off eh, hoser"

I have no intentions of doing anything like that. For some reason though, you seem to have a hate on for the Grand. I'm with Fatherof3 on this one. Please send me some links. I understand that your hatred for the Grand is just an opinion. But it really bothers me when someone is so vocal in a public forum. Next thing you know, people will be spreading rumours about how deadly the Grand river is. Because some guy on the internet said so. Largmouth, QUIT YOUR YELLING!!

I'm new yeah, skipped the intro. Hi!! I've fished the Grand for as long as I can remember. Only started eating fish from the river in the last 5 years. Only walleye, and only from the lower stretches. This fishery continues to amaze me year after year. I fish quite a few places in Ontario for all kinds of fish. If I think I might catch something to keep for a meal, I look in the guide from the LCBO. Most places I read about have warnings not to eat more than 4 meals. Some places that people go to for "bush weekends" say not to eat any... CLofchik pointed out the "warnings" for the Grand. I wonder how many people posting on this thread have actually read "the guide". I dare you, go through it and make some comparisons. According to "the guide", Grand river fish don't have high levels of toxic chemicals in them. There are a lot of places that do, and people eat these fish all the time. The fish in the Grand are living in water that's high in nutrients. They grow fast in the fertile environment. Hey Gerritt, do you eat vegetables? What do farmers use to fertilize carrots and tomatoes? The river flows in even the driest of months. The only real threats to the lower river are accidental chemical pollution or a very dry summer. Water control in the upper stretches has prevented stagnation below through some pretty dry summers recently. I have confidence that we'll see more good management there. And we can only hope that we don't have any big spills or leaks along the watershed. Before you go overboard bashing a great fishery, please give this more thought. Just my 2 cents.