Fishing Reports?

[Prkr314]

How about time of day. Is fishing daybreak that important?

Absolutely earlier is better

[liketohuntlovetofish]

Absolutely earlier is better. You can catch them all day, but you've got far better odds of getting a 3 man limit in 45 minutes at sunrise. As for location, you can catch them almost anywhere near the reefs, but your looking for the larger concentrations of fish to get a fast limit, there's so many down there that you can feel your jig bumping them on the lift, that's when they get snagged. So when people say there're biting, they really mean the males are on the spawning beds heavy and you can snag 1 every other cast. The reason you want to use a 3/4 or 1 oz purple jig is you need the weight to be tight to the bottom and purple because that's one of the most visible colors at depth. All you doing is repeatedly thumping the bottom in the middle of spawning beds and the males are striking at your jig to say get the f out of here and your snagging them, they're not there to eat, only one thing, blow a load on a pile of eggs. That changes on a day to day thing...sometimes even morning and evening bite moves depending on water color, wind direction, sun, storm fronts. That's why some days you'll see a 1000 boats on the reefs in the morning and half the boats will move to the sandbars off the beach in the afternoon. A lot of time a storm front came threw the night before and muddied up the beach and everybody moves out looking for fish in better colored water, then the wind goes south and the mud settles out and the beach bite gets better.

Thanks! This is exactly the kind of conversation I was hoping to get into. I make these adjustments all the time fishing in locations I know, so hopefully this helps me adjust better on the big lake. Driving 2 hours to be there at sunrise might be a hard sell for the family trips, but I can talk a few guys into that next April. Is there a favorite water temp range? I’ve been reading between 44-52 online, but based on your last response of it being almost over, seems like Erie may be a little cooler water trend (I was reading a generic walleye fishing article). I know bass on Erie start to catch fire at 50 degrees, so I am hoping this is another piece I can put in play.

[Prkr314]

Thanks! This is exactly the kind of conversation I was hoping to get into. I make these adjustments all the time fishing in locations I know, so hopefully this helps me adjust better on the big lake. Driving 2 hours to be there at sunrise might be a hard sell for the family trips, but I can talk a few guys into that next April. Is there a favorite water temp range? I’ve been reading between 44-52 online, but based on your last response of it being almost over, seems like Erie may be a little cooler water trend (I was reading a generic walleye fishing article). I know bass on Erie start to catch fire at 50 degrees, so I am hoping this is another piece I can put in play.

Water temp. is kinda tricky way to judge when to go, because different waves of fish will show up for weeks. Even the next couple weeks you will still catch them jigging, but you'll hear less talk of the 45 minute limit.

[lunker05]

What kind of jigs are you guys using?

[waterdog]

What kind of jigs are you guys using?

I use a 3/4 oz bright green hair jig with stinger and tipped with a shiner.
~Water Dog