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Lake Erie Bite

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,743
274
North Carolina
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Presque Isle a couple weekends ago, bass tournament which we caught mostly sheep head 😂
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
Excellent trawl results in 2018 for walleye and very good for perch also. The walleye fishing will be good for the next 10+ years just from this hatch just like it was after the 2013 record hatch. I used to fish Erie 50 days a year. It is as good now and will be into the future as it has been since the late 80's. Pretty easy right now, go get em.
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Carpn

*Supporting Member*
2,234
87
Wooster
Pretty amazing . As awesome as it is now , it's only gonna get better.

I fished out of Wildwood Sunday . Launched at 7 . Ran 17 miles due North . Caught our 18 keepers and threw about 10 small healthy keepers back, and had the boat on the trailer ready to head home at 945. Pretty ridiculous the walleye fishing hadn't slowed down at all in the central basin all summer .
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,743
274
North Carolina
Excellent trawl results in 2018 for walleye and very good for perch also. The walleye fishing will be good for the next 10+ years just from this hatch just like it was after the 2013 record hatch. I used to fish Erie 50 days a year. It is as good now and will be into the future as it has been since the late 80's. Pretty easy right now, go get em.View attachment 64892View attachment 64893
Kim, do they track the smallmouth, in the same way that they do perch and walleye?
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
They do population and size samples but not with a trawl samples study. I don't think the areas of the lake that young smallmouth inhabit is condusive to trawl samples. The trawl samples for walleye are very disciplined, same areas, sames times of year, same duration and then count the young of the year and compare yearly results.

The smallmouth sampling I am familiar with, what I have seen, is conducted with nets in the fall and it is a collection method that kills the smallmouth and a data collection of age and size is performed on the collected dead fish. I don't think they have any other method to collect the data for smallmouth other than angler creel surveys that are active along the lake every year. I know that there was a smallmouth sampling net really close to one of my favorite smallmouth fishing locations near Vermilion for a couple of years. I haven't spoken with Travis in a couple of years I will call him and find out the status of the smallmouth from their studies. I will say that a few years ago I noticed a absence of young smallmouth in the areas of the lake I was fishing and discussed this with him at the time. Everything we would catch in a day, 50 +, would be from 3-6lbs, no smaller fish ever caught. Yet go around the islands and Pelee and there were small fish in abundance. I fished the same area again this year for the first time in a couple of years and again no small fish, just larger ones.
 
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Lundy

Member
1,307
127
I always try to fish Erie for smallmouth in early spring, pre-spawn. We when water temp is 45-50, middle of the day, bright sun, clear water, calm conditions it just doesn't get any better than that.

What is extra nice is that early in the morning and later in the day we catch walleye in the same spots that time of year.

Years ago I use to chase that 50 deg water from West to East. I could get in a good solid month of pre-spawn smallmouth at its best. I would start in Vermilion, Lorain, then move to Ashtabula and Conneaut as the waters warmed West.
 

Big H

Senior Member
4,105
151
Medina
You need to experience the spinner bait bite by the islands over the weedbeds. We used to throw 1 oz all chartreuse and reel them as fast as we could just under the surface. The smallie's would hit them and go airborne! Lots of fun. I haven't done that in quite a while.
 

Big H

Senior Member
4,105
151
Medina
I took a buddy and his son Saturday morning, we ran due North of Edgewater into 72' of water. It was slow but pretty steady. We kept 14 nice eyes, and surprisingly did not hook any steelhead. We would have limited but they had to leave.
 

Lundy

Member
1,307
127
I've caught them in 20' of water on buzzbaits and zara spooks in the middle of the day. We throw everything but our favorites are hopkins spoons, and Big Joshy craws and swims