Geneva 9-8 thru 9-12

[Squatch]

Took my brother and my dad to Geneva to try out the central basin. Drove 6 hours from Indianapolis and when we got to the ramp on Sunday you could see the waves crashing on the shore and could see white caps clear out on the horizon line. Since I'm only in an 18' Lund, and had my 74 year old dad with me, didn't feel like sinking the boat first day on the trip so did not fish.

Monday Sept 9th- Woke up and turned on weather radio and they were calling for 5-9 foot waves and possible water spouts....no fishing today. Stayed at our vrbo and played cards.

Tues Sept 10- Head out of Geneva in NW direction till we hit 74ft of water. Started trolling west, took a little while but started to catch one here and there. We didn't get out on the water super early, launched about 830 am and started fishing around 930. Trolled west for probably a couple of miles then turned around and trolled back east. Continued to make that loop limited out about 500pm. We were trolling bandits on one side with 5 oz weights 50/150, 50/160, 50/170. On the other side ran PWC 5oz weights 50/114, 50/134, 50/154. Felt good to be able to catch a 3 man limit. Was glad I could show my dad and my brother Erie's capability of catching good fish. Smallest fish was 16.5 and biggest was a nice 27"er. Also managed a 23"er. All the fish had big bellies on them, real good fish.

Wed Sept 11- Launched about 830 again, Took us an hour yesterday to make it back to the ramp so today we decided to just go strain North from the ramp till we hit deep water hoping that it would be a short ride back to the ramp. Could not believe how calm the lake was this morning. Made it a faster and smoother ride to deep water. A lot more boats out today. We reached 73.5 ft of water and setup. Same setup as the day before only this time we decided to troll north and south. Trolled north till we got about 5 mile from Canadian border then turned around and trolled same track back south. Got our 3 man limit by 330. Caught fish faster today but these fish weren't quite as big as yesterday. Fish ranged from 15.5 to 23. Seemed to have shorter fish today but they all had big bellies. Did manage a nice 23 and couple nice 22" fish though. Another thing that was nice was no junk fish all walleye.

Thurs Sept 12- Headed straight north from Geneva ramp again today. Didn't launch till about 9am because we had to check out of our place we were staying at. Started trolling at 73.5 ft again, trolling north. Picked one up before we could even get 2 boards out, I thought ya this will be good if they are hitting this quick.....wrong. Trolled for probably an hour before next fish. Decided to take another pole and drop a 6 oz weight with a spoon over the side to see what I might catch. Kept trolling north getting one here one there. Even caught one or two on the black and white spoon I put over the side. Got to about 3.5-4 mile from the border and started checking lines before we turned around. Started pulling lines in and that's when the kaos happened. All our lines were getting tangled, plus as we were bringing in the tangles they had fish on them! Ended up having to hand line a couple of fish in and on one tangle had a monster on the line.....of course, that's the one that got away...figures! So after bringing in lines we had to pause and retie a few lines. Got back trolling south caught a couple but not a lot cause the wind had picked up and trolling into the waves was not working. Big motored back down to starting point and started trolling back north. Trolling north for a while but no bites. They just shut down. It was getting to be about 4pm and we still had a 6 hour drive home so we decided to call it a day. Ended up with 2 man limit instead of 3 but still was a good day on the water. Did manage to catch another nice 27"er though so that was nice.


All in all it was a good trip. I couldn't of had the success I had without all the help from people on this site. I have learned a lot from guys like DW and a few other that post on this forum. I cannot thank you all enough for sharing all your information and tips. Thanks to you, I was able to give my family members a good time on the water, catching a good deal of fish.
I hope you all have a good rest of the season, not sure if Ill make it back again this year but I'll definitely be back next year and I'll be reading all your post to learn as much as I can till then. Tight lines and god bless!

[Squatch]

First day when we went NW of ramp we were about 15 mile or so NW of Geneva ramp. We were basically straight North of the cooling towers at power plant. The next 2 days we were about 7 to 10 mile straight North of Geneva ramp.

[nickpaolini81]

Squatch, you did it! Nothing better in life that what you just described. Family, Fun, Fish...... F-bombs during the "The Great Tangle" I too will echo what you shared about this site - people here are so welcoming and supportive for newcomers. This was my first year with an Erie boat and heavily relied on people here.

I'm probably going to get seething scowls for typing this Everytime I troll, worm-burners and spoons have always outfished bandits, reef runners or other forms of crankbaits. I'm probably doing it wrong b/c guys on here describe only using them and crush it. IDK. When I go out, I try your set up described above with 2 rods straight out the back (clip on weights) and maybe we'll get a few on each drag using bandits/Reefs/PWCs. I prefer dipsy divers on my outsides though and I'm not sure if you can run the crankbaits behind those? Anyone? Go ahead fellas; lemmie have it.

If you've got room for a rod out the back - maybe clip on a dipsy with a spoon? Just to have a variety to help hone in on "the day's preference".

[DW72]

Great job Squatch. I'm still learning new things each time out. A few great guys on this site helping with their knowledge of the central basin for sure. Keep up the good work brother and great job navigating a tough weather trip!

[Budman118]

Great report Squatch! Like DW said, we always learn new stuff when we go out. What gets me laughing sometimes is how the 4 rods on the west side of the boat will catch fish 3-1 to the east side 4 with some of the same lures on. Try new things cause you never know what kind of pattern you will stumble onto. Erie walleye fishing is very addicting!

[Squatch]

Your right about the addicting part, my brother already hitting me up to plan a trip for next spring. This is just my second year on Erie and can already see many more trips in my future! Thanks for the help and see you all on the lake.

[sherman51]

I started fishing Erie's western basin drift fishing back in the late 70s. but after a few years, we started trolling. then moved to the central basin at Geneva Ohio and took a charter out 2 days. the 2nd day he had us doing everything after he set the lines out. we had never even seen a real dipsy or a line counter reel. he ran 3 dipsy divers per side. then we went on our own running 3 divers per side. we learned more in those 2 days than we would have learned in 10 years on our own. I switched my divers to the deeper divers that are the same size as a dipsy with a small ring. but now I run the lite bite slide divers with a 7' leader and don't use the slide part of the diver.

after 40+ years I still learn little things that help me catch more and larger fish. the old saying that you can't teach an old dog new tricks is bull because you will never stop learning as long as you fish Erie. you will have some bad days but you should learn from it. when we went on our own we had a few tangles and still have one every once in a while but not like we did at first.

[nickpaolini81]

Would you ever run a crank or stickbait behind a dipsy divers?