4/24/26 Report - New PB

One of my fishing buddies and I headed out from home at 3:30 in the morning so we could make the 3 hour drive and launch out of Catawba by sunrise. We couldn't have asked for better weather or fishing conditions. Had about an 8 to 10 mph breeze from the south, just enough to make a nice walleye chop. We started setting our boards just north of the pack of boats jigging on Mouse reef and headed NNE. The water was slightly stained and the further north we went the more stained it became. I had a great satellite image from the day before, which was partly why I chose this area.
By the time we got 3 boards set we had one going off and that's the way it went for the next hour or so until we finally got all 6 boards out. I set the Ulterra at a speed of about 1.9, (thanks for the tip Juls) and had the outside boards at 55 to 65 unassisted and the middle and inside boards from 50/15 to 50/27 with 2 oz. inline weights. It seemed like we had more action on the higher sets. We made the first troll to the northeast about 2 miles and then my buddy suggested that we head back south and repeat it, I agreed because why change what is working. On the next run we landed the largest walleye that I had ever got in my boat. It was a beautiful spawned out female measuring 31 inches. I had been telling my buddy, who is also a taxidermist, that I was not going to get a walleye mounted unless it was over 10 pounds or over 30 inches. Finally, after about 6 years of fishing Erie, we finally got one. It was one of those moments that I had to thank God for undeserved blessings! The fish was caught on a Party Zebra Bandit.
The bandits that did the best for us were Haley's Chameleon and Party Zebra, we also caught quite several on a purple/yellow/chrome PWC lite and the normal PWC Seasick frog and Purple Tiger.
By noon the wind had died down to almost nothing and the bite died down as well, but when you drive 3 hours to fish you want to enjoy as much time on Erie as possible, so we had planned to stay most of the day. Well, apparently God had other plans for us, because by 1pm a cool northeast wind started blowing and increasing in intensity. The forecasters definitely got it wrong on that one! With whitecaps starting to form we decided to call it a day and were very thankful for the good day that we had.