Long way for Walleye

[Dr.Ed]

Lately I have been leaving Geneva shortly after 5:00am and following the charter boats or tracking NNE until I find them out some 12-14 miles out and then it's not the greatest pick. Dipseys or TruTrip 50s produce some. Wire back 350 with Long A bombers seem to work the best but I'm not happy when it comes to totals. My biggest complaint is by the time I'm ready to raise the white flag I'm within spitting distance to our neighbor to the north and I keep forgetting to bring my passport or my French-English dictionary. My question to anyone who got this far in my thread is...Have you found any walleye in close to Geneva, say less than 10 miles and if so where? Tomorrrow I am going toward the Perry plant. In years past we used to catch a lot of walleye within 3-4 miles of shore day and night off Perry. Maybe a night troll is the way to go. I'm anxiously waiting for any news where I don't have to put 50+ miles on the boat just to catch a few walleye. I'll be on Ch.68.

[Big Dave Long Point On]

Hey, we speak English up here EH!

I am perching tomorrow but may run long for eyes in the afternoon.

Channel 68, Big Dave

[mrgreenbeam]

Try running east towards Ashta. Start at the 4 line & run NE

[Dr.Ed]

Mr. G, your info was helpful but a little short. Since I am retired and I had just topped off the Holly Lucas and had no better place to go I trailed out a charter to the pro pack on a 030 heading out of Geneva. Around the 42.10 line I found about 30 boats most of them trolling north. Since the wind was out of the north and I don't troll into the wind, I ran ahead of them to the 42.13 line, did a 180 and set up. 45 minutes of silence. Then I heard one captain tell another, "you have to troll east." That said, I started a slow left turn and got my first hit. In the next hour moving along the 42.11 line I pulled 10 fish to the boat. Two got off with only 20' to go, two were throwbacks and the other six totaled 42 lb. SS line back 333' with a black & purple Long A and yellow jacket spoon on a 50 TruTrip back 120' did it. I cannot wait for another calm day. Did I ever tell you guys how much I love boating, especially when it's 25 miles one way? Keep the info coming. It makes life easier for everyone.

[docwet]

25 miles out on less than a 40 ft inboard engine boat is reckless...to say the least...I speak from many years experience on the lake.

Doc W. The Right Stuff

[Dr.Ed]

Doc W, Most of the charter boats I see are less than 40'. I know many of the captains and I don't know any of them to be reckless. I have over 50 years of experience on Lake Erie. I started running a boat on the lake at age 9. My dad, his friends and I are personally responsible for the demise of the blue pike back in the 50's. Most of that was at night. My boat, the Holly Lucas, is a 20' ProLine with an 8 foot beam, all the electronics including GPS tracker, 2 radios, 2 batteries and a brand new 150 Evinrude E-Tec. Cell phones are useless out that far. I held a commercial pilot license with instrument rating for over 20 years and over 2000 hours logged so I know a lot about the weather and forecasts. I took the charter captains course just to be more informed. Current radar on the internet has been an additional blessing. 'Reckless' is disregarding the weather, the charts, the water and wave conditions, your own and the boats limitations, the needs and safety of your guests and of course, drinking. Enough said. I'll be out there again on Sunday...the weather and God willing.

[docwet]

First of all, you and your friends are not responsible for the demise of the blue pike in Lake Erie...environmental damage did that. While you are way out there in your outboard powered boat, what if you hit something and your engine is disabled...how are you going to get back? The towing services may not be available (busy towing others). Wind and wave conditions can change rapidly, the weather service warns us. Waves can really build out there because of the fetch distances involved.

DocWet

[Dr.Ed]

My remark about the blue pike was a joke. I fished thru the pollution years and we never throw anything except urine in the lake. From your tone, I feel you have some stories that might be chilling or is it just uncertainty or fear of the unknown. I read this once and it applies to my everyday living. "If you don't take risks, if there is no spirit of adventure in what you do, then what is the purpose of life?" If I need help, will you come? I would even if it meant towing you 25 miles to port. On a personal note, I am a doctor of veterinary medicine compliments of 8 years at The Ohio State University and you are???

[Buc-Eye]

I’m sure his assertion regarding the demise of the blue pike was a tongue in cheek comment. I routinely make the trip from East Harbor to the Vermillion Buoy in a Thompson fisherman 240. With good electronics, radios, and towing insurance these trips are feasible. When making a trip of this caliber, caution is a must. High pressure setting in along with a clear weather radar and good wave forecasts will lead to a safe day on the lake.

Dr. Ed,
Did Dr. Vernon Tharp teach any of your classes at OSU? He was my Great Uncle…

[sherman51]

i thought about just not saying anything, but after giving it alot of thought i believe i will chime in. it seems acording to your statement about it being reckless to venture out on lake erie without a 40' boat with a inboard engine is reckless. if this was true 98% of the sport fisherman that fishes erie is reckless. i usely fish out of geneva marina and just about all the fishing boats i see go out there are under 30'. i personaly fish from a 21 ft cobia and have never felt i was in any danger with it. now last year while in a 28 ft sea ray we had a water spout get to close for comfort.

i feel if you watch the weather and dont go out when there is a chance of rough weather a good 18' boat is all that is really needed to be safe. there is some 18' charter boats that runs out on erie. i feel just as safe on my 21' boat as i did the 28' sea ray. and an outboard engine is just as safe as inboards. i run a 19' cherokee aluminum with an 80 hp mariner for close to 20 yrs on erie and never had the first problem. i had a 22' sea ray cabin boat that broke the fan belt and had to be towed. it had a 305 chevy engine. i had to be towed in my 21' cobia when a water line came loose and melted the exhaust bellows. then the same boat the oil line came loose on the remote oil filter and we had to have oil brought to us. that was with a brand new 5.7 vortec chevy engine. so anything can brake down. the one good thing about the 28' sea ray it has 2 engines. so if one brakes down you can limp in on one engine. but outboards are just as safe as inboards.
sherman