Lake Erie boat advice

[wakina]

If I wanted to go and the weather is fit I would go. The number of boats out there should have zero impact on your ability to fish. While trolling just use common sence and watch for those who don't, they are forever present on the lake. Try not to troll in a tight pack of boats as that can get you hemmed in to the point that you may have to stop and those dipsy divers will sink if that happens, they like to tumble when they sink creating one heck of a tangled mess. Braid is the worst stuff to untangle, and that can ruin your whole day of fishing.

[zeratul]

Wakina,

You have been a tremendous help as well as the other posts. As I stated in my earlier post I have been on charters but this will be my first time trying it on my own. I have tried to do my research and get the correct gear to do things the right way. I have a 60hp merc four stroke I will probably use as the trolling engine. I picked up a drift sock also incase I need to slow the boat down. I have a 6hp onboard for trolling on the river but it is a two stroke and I get tired of breathing the exhaust. Makes me feel safe though having it on board.

Thanks
Joe

[sherman51]

im not sure where you,ll be launching your boat. but it would help you alot if you can find one of the plastic coated map of erie. it shows you where the launches are but it also shows the shipping chanel where the maumee river runs out in the lake. it also shows all the islands and the cans.

when i fished the western basin we launched out of alittle place called coolie canal, i dont remember how to spell the name of the marina there so i wont even try. but its a short run to the lake. and then the water intake for the power plant there is about 4 miles almost due north. then west sister is a 9 mile run. we have caught alot of fise between west sister and the shipping chanel. but we have caught alot east of west sister. you can also fish north of west sister but you need a gps that shows the canadian border. you dont want to get into canada.

i guess there is alot of good fishing farther east around some of the other islands. but you would want to find a ramp alittle farther east. the reason i liked fishing around the west sister island was we did catch fish and at any given time we were close to land. i dont think your sopposed to go on west sister but if we had ever got caught in a bad storm i would have landed there untill the storm was over.

when we fished there we just ran diving crank baits on flatlines and 2 harnesses off downriggers. but they didnt have all the divers they have now to get your harnesses and spoons down to the fish. there were days the fish were up high then we used the storm wee warts. the rest of the time we used hot n tots, wiggle warts, and wally divers and other diving baits. i guess one of the hot crank baits now is the reef runners.

feel free to pm me any time. i will help you if i can. we expect to get some good reports from you.
sherman

[PatSea]

Watch the weather before you go to the lake. Postpone the trip if the weather looks marginal or worse. Listen to the weather radio while you are on the water. Get off at the first indication of storms or increasing winds. Be especially cautious of winds out of the east.
Make sure you have all the required safety equipment. Although not required, I wouldn't consider going out on Erie without a fixed VHF radio. Handhelds are good backup, but they have very limited range.
Finally, if you haven't taken a boating safety course, you definitely should do that before you go. There are many courses available, including the Power Squadron and Coast Guard Auxiliary.
My first walleye trips on Erie were in a 18' open bow.
Hope this helps

[zeratul]

Thanks alot to all of you. I will be very cautious and try to plan according to the weather. I will post reports of every day fishing. I grew up on the Mississippi river so I have been on boats my whole life, and even thow it is not the big pond I take no chances. If the weather starts to get rough I get off the water. I will buy a fixed VHF radio also. I do have a hand held gamin GPS.

Tight lines and heavy fish.
Joe

[OneEyedWilly]

Yeah, if it gets a little choppy and it looks like it's building head for the hills esp. in the little boat. Alot of people say I have boated all my life in XYZ lake, then they get caught in an erie storm and never come back Be safe, stay informed on the forecast and whoever said it, prior to me gave you the best advice, take a safe boating course, one from like the Power Squadron, you can learn alot from these courses. The one from the state is pretty much a joke geared towards 7th graders

[zeratul]

Yeah, if it gets a little choppy and it looks like it's building head for the hills esp. in the little boat. Alot of people say I have boated all my life in XYZ lake, then they get caught in an erie storm and never come back Be safe, stay informed on the forecast and whoever said it, prior to me gave you the best advice, take a safe boating course, one from like the Power Squadron, you can learn alot from these courses. The one from the state is pretty much a joke geared towards 7th graders

Good suggestion, I looked up the power squadron and I will take their online course. Safety is key and I plan on returning for many more trips. Any good links to required gear for navigating lake Erie? I have all the required equipment for the Midwest waters. I even purchased a flare gun.