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 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. (Sorry for the sideways pic)

Great post and congratulations on a great day. That's a beast! Continued good luck to you.

Congratulations on your PB fish Lynn and thanks for your post.Been fishing Erie for 50 yrs and still waiting for my first 30" fish.Got my share of 29" fish but that last inch has proved elusive.

Congrats and thanks for the info! That Party Zebra has been really good for me too, but I've never caught a monster like that.

Thanks for the comments everyone. Appreciate it! I was actually very surprised that this walleye measured 31". When we caught it I knew it was a was a nice size fish, but after they have dropped their eggs they look so skinny that I was guessing it to be around 28 inches. We didn't get a weight on it, but I'm sure it was a couple pounds lighter than my previous PB that was 28.5" that I caught in February of 2025 that was pre-spawn. I just wish I could have seen what this one looked like a month ago! I wish you all the best, and itsbob, you deserve a nice trophy after fishing Erie for 50 years. I guess it makes me realize how fortunate we were to catch a walleye of this size. Blessings and be safe out there!

Lynn, if you check the Fall Brawl standings every year like I do and see how many fish in the top ten are 30" or more you will realize how rare is fish that size is.The winning fish is usually around 31" with eggs caught near the end of the tournament.A weight around 12#

A 31" walleye is defiantly a trophy and when she recuperates, she would easily go 10#+. I have been walleye fishing ever since I caught my first one in 1980 while ice fishing for crappie and caught a 29 1/2" and 9 1/2# and i was hooked for life and I've caught lots of 30"+ eyes over the years starting when we moved to the central basin sometime around the end of the 80s. most summertime fish over 30" will weigh over 10#. In my experience a walleye weighs a # for every inch of length. a 24" will be close to 4# and a 29" fish will be close to 9# and a 32" fish will be around 12" but this doesn't apply to big females full of eggs in the spring.

I went 10 yrs in a row catching at least 1 walleye over 30 in. and over 10 Lb. All at night or ice fishing > 2 in a day.