Lake Erie walleye factory

[gino]

Hi there!

Looks like a great year for walleye fishing and Erie is one of the best places to go for them . Been lately on a few occasions my buddies and we limit by noon every single time . It didn't matter if it was wavy or still, trolling was the ticket. We had several double header, even a few triple headers...

Cheers!

Gino

Edited August 21, 2019 by gino

[Old Ironmaker]

Took you until noon Gino? You guys must have gotten out late. LTM. I actually got in a boat last week and we went out of Nanticoke. Ran out to 50 feet of water, lines in the water at 8. 3 man limit and in by 11:00. It was ridiculous. That's a keeper fish every 8 minutes. 

Good going Gino. Some of those you have are the best eaters. Averaged about 3.5 lbs. 

Edited August 21, 2019 by Old Ironmaker

[gino]

16 minutes ago, Old Ironmaker said:

Took you until noon Gino? You guys must have gotten out late. LTM. I actually got in a boat last week and we went out of Nanticoke. Ran out to 50 feet of water, lines in the water at 8. 3 man limit and in by 11:00. It was ridiculous. That's a keeper fish every 8 minutes. 

Good going Gino. Some of those you have are the best eaters. Averaged about 3.5 lbs. 

Lol..it was noon when I checked the clock...??. A lot of them got back to swim .

[OhioFisherman]

https://www.cleveland.com/sports/2019/08/lake-eries-fish-of-the-future-have-arrived-aug-16-fishing-report.html?fbclid=IwAR21Pm-F5IZRViZC7sCviGvPjB6cGiV-HsO7JOEd74AVCWYXLDlOCcMs1ac

Nice catch could you tell what they were eating? That article mentions Emerald shiners are hard to come by on this side of the lake.

[J Roelofsen]

About 35mins for a limit out there before work tonight. Tried to take my time and sort for a limit of 4-5lb fish and ended up with 3 in that range along with 3 more @ 30+"! Not ideal but fun all the same.

And I marked alot of bait out there tonight that I'm pretty sure we're Shiners. But yeah, in general Shiner numbers are way down. 

Josh 

[dave524]

7 hours ago, J Roelofsen said:

 

And I marked alot of bait out there tonight that I'm pretty sure we're Shiners. But yeah, in general Shiner numbers are way down. 

Josh 

With that many Pickeral I wonder why ?  I wonder if it will go the way of Lake Ontario with the average size of fish going down ? Over the years the biggest salmon has lost almost 10 pounds because of the collapse of the alewife population.

[muskybw]

Gino, great share, fantastic pics, and some really big wally's !

[gino]

10 hours ago, OhioFisherman said:

https://www.cleveland.com/sports/2019/08/lake-eries-fish-of-the-future-have-arrived-aug-16-fishing-report.html?fbclid=IwAR21Pm-F5IZRViZC7sCviGvPjB6cGiV-HsO7JOEd74AVCWYXLDlOCcMs1ac

Nice catch could you tell what they were eating? That article mentions Emerald shiners are hard to come by on this side of the lake.

I found one perch in the 3.5 lbs walleye. A few shiners in the others, but not many. This walleyes were hungry, bite was aggressive

[J Roelofsen]

11 minutes ago, dave524 said:

With that many Pickeral I wonder why ?  I wonder if it will go the way of Lake Ontario with the average size of fish going down ? Over the years the biggest salmon has lost almost 10 pounds because of the collapse of the alewife population.

With the Zebra and Quagga mussels fully established throughout the great lakes nutrient levels have dropped across the board. Less nutrients and less prey fish could quite likely mean slightly smaller top end sizes for Walleye than what we saw in the 80's and early 90's.

I just saw an article the other day regarding this year's Lake Ontario Alewife surveys.....not looking promising. 

Josh 

[dave524]

1 minute ago, J Roelofsen said:

With the Zebra and Quagga mussels fully established throughout the great lakes nutrient levels have dropped across the board. Less nutrients and less prey fish could quite likely mean slightly smaller top end sizes for Walleye than what we saw in the 80's and early 90's.

I just saw an article the other day regarding this year's Lake Ontario Alewife surveys.....not looking promising. 

Josh 

On the other hand as one that has fished Erie for 60 years, long before the Goby and Zebra Mussels,  6 is the new 4 when it comes to smallies . 

[J Roelofsen]

The Gobies certainly help those Bass pack on the pounds! But even the average Goby size has been cut in half from what it was little more than a decade ago. It will definitely be interesting to see how their population holds up to the Walleye explosion. 

Josh 

[OhioFisherman]

1 hour ago, gino said:

I found one perch in the 3.5 lbs walleye. A few shiners in the others, but not many. This walleyes were hungry, bite was aggressive

Thanks gino, just was wondering if shad were becoming more of a food species for the walleye with the apparent shortage of Emerald shiners,

[gino]

45 minutes ago, OhioFisherman said:

Thanks gino, just was wondering if shad were becoming more of a food species for the walleye with the apparent shortage of Emerald shiners,

Ohio Fisherman, Erie has potential when u think about the lake as being shallower then all the other big lakes..it's the forage that sustains the walleye population. I think walleye will adapt faster , shad would definitely be a bait that walleye will eat for sure. Perch population is still healthy, I caught 3 jumbos,  all 3 of them over 13 inches while trolling for perch. Will see, time will tell...I saw over 100 boats in 2 days over a small are we've been, everyone got the limit, many walleye were released , bite was hot all day long.

[OhioFisherman]

4 hours ago, J Roelofsen said:

With the Zebra and Quagga mussels fully established throughout the great lakes nutrient levels have dropped across the board. Less nutrients and less prey fish could quite likely mean slightly smaller top end sizes for Walleye than what we saw in the 80's and early 90's.

I just saw an article the other day regarding this year's Lake Ontario Alewife surveys.....not looking promising. 

Josh 

That size issue could be location also, we fished the western basin during the 1980's in the summer, the average size was 2 - 4 pounds, you could catch a limit in a hurry, but if you were looking for bigger ones you usually had to head east.

[OhioFisherman]

1 hour ago, gino said:

Ohio Fisherman, Erie has potential when u think about the lake as being shallower then all the other big lakes..it's the forage that sustains the walleye population. I think walleye will adapt faster , shad would definitely be a bait that walleye will eat for sure. Perch population is still healthy, I caught 3 jumbos,  all 3 of them over 13 inches while trolling for perch. Will see, time will tell...I saw over 100 boats in 2 days over a small are we've been, everyone got the limit, many walleye were released , bite was hot all day long.

Agreed, but the forage sustains a lot of species, there needs to be a healthy balance? I have seen huge schools of shad on this side of the lake that although not full grown were too big for perch and crappie to eat.

[gino]

21 minutes ago, OhioFisherman said:

Agreed, but the forage sustains a lot of species, there needs to be a healthy balance? I have seen huge schools of shad on this side of the lake that although not full grown were too big for perch and crappie to eat.

You're right. Balance will be the key.

[misfish]

Wheres the stringer shot ? LMAO J/K

You guys have a great thing going on there.

 

Nice day out Gino.

[gino]

3 hours ago, misfish said:

Wheres the stringer shot ? LMAO J/K

You guys have a great thing going on there.

 

Nice day out Gino.

Thanks, Brian. Was great, indeed. 

[Whitespinnerbait]

Great pics of those walleye.......??? 

[BillM]

I plan on hauling down the boat on Friday to see if the oldman and I can bag a few walleyes on Erie.  Should I launch out of Nanticoke or Colbourne?   Does it even make a difference this year as far as the fish are concerned?

[gino]

4 hours ago, BillM said:

I plan on hauling down the boat on Friday to see if the oldman and I can bag a few walleyes on Erie.  Should I launch out of Nanticoke or Colbourne?   Does it even make a difference this year as far as the fish are concerned?

Bill, I spoke at the launch(P Burwell) with several fishermen...2 of them went from Nanticoke last week and did very well. Looks like if u are in 40-50 ft of water you'll get them . Just go! Post some pics. ?

[G.mech]

Both Nanticoke and Burwell are on fire and I hear Maitland is good too but I haven't been myself.  I've been fishing Nanticoke south of the shoal the last few weeks with quick limits every trip and some nice sized fish.  Most fish are 20" or so with a few in the 7lb range but not much in between.  There are some smaller ones too but they get released for next year.  They are moving deeper now and my last two trips this week we did best in 75-100 fow with 6,7,8 colour lead cores.  Others prefer dipsy divers or downriggers and they are all working too.    Crankbaits such as ripplin redfins (darker patterns) or spoons (greasy chicken wing, pink panties, blueberry muffin etc) are both producing, I don't think I've changed a lure in 4 trips.  You can launch in Port Dover or Nanticoke, it's a bit further to Dover but the ramps are far better; both are $20 bucks.  

Edited August 22, 2019 by G.mech

[Squid]

Interesting read.

https://mnrwatch.com/ford-is-endangering-lake-erie-with-foolish-decision-to-move-conservation-officers-inland/

[Old Ironmaker]

13 hours ago, BillM said:

I plan on hauling down the boat on Friday to see if the oldman and I can bag a few walleyes on Erie.  Should I launch out of Nanticoke or Colbourne?   Does it even make a difference this year as far as the fish are concerned?

I would choose Nanticoke Bill. The fish are everywhere I hear but are moving west as they do every year. I think many of these Pics are locals fish based on their smaller sizes. Good luck. I don't have to tell you to check the weather and wind sites. They are even catching them in a NE and even due east wind. Unbelievable. Stopped by "The Fish Shack" just up creek from Hoovers Marina where he slips a dozen boats. Everyone limited out that day in 60' of water. You could launch there for 1/2 the price as Hoovers in the past but his dock wall is under water. 

[dave524]

2 hours ago, Squid said:

Interesting read.

https://mnrwatch.com/ford-is-endangering-lake-erie-with-foolish-decision-to-move-conservation-officers-inland/

follow up link at the bottom of the page   https://mnrwatch.com/mpp-says-no-plans-to-move-conservation-officers-from-lake-erie-shore/